Part Two: The After Par-Tay!

Where was I?  Oh yeah, on top of a mountain in Korea, naturally.

After enjoying the view, (but not the tranquility!  seriously, how many people are we going to cram on this summit?) Mr Park and I begin our descent of Dobongsan.  For this portion of the hike, he insists that I use one of his hiking poles.  He's pretty appalled with my state of unpreparedness ("your jogging shoes are incredibly inconvenient for the broken ankles!").

Quick aside:  Hiking is HUGE in Korea.  And in order to be a 'proper' hiker, you have to look the part.  I'm not talking looking like a rugged mountain man hiker.  It's more along the lines of, modeling for a Patagonia magazine hiker.  People are decked out head-to-toe in designer label hiking gear.  Women coordinate their gear with their lipstick, and with their husband's clothing.  In addition to the designer outerwear, they seem to have every possible hiking accessory ever made (and these are all, of course, color-coordinated).  i have no idea how much money is spent on hiking gear in Korea.  It seems though, that they have taken a universally accessible activity (walking, duh) and turned it into some sort of elite fashion showroom.

It's needless to say that I stood out for more then the normal reasons.

Well, with the aid of Mr Park's hiking stick, I successfully make it back down the mountain with both ankles intact.  He declares that it is now time to "celebrate, commemorate this momentous hike with some maekgeolli".  Maekgeolli is Korean rice wine, and apparently, all the other hikers are also celebrating with it.  At the bottom of the mountain there is a whole village of open air bars that are absolutely crammed full of hikers drinking!  And I'm not talking about 'oh let's have a quiet toast to the relaxing day'.  No.  These people are downing the maekgeolli like they're survivors of Everest.  FINALLY!  I've found the daytime party I've been dreaming of!

We find ourselves a table ("how comfortable, cozy, snug!") and immediately have a plethora of side dishes thrown in front of us, along with a cool, refreshing bottle of maekgeolli.  I don't know how to describe the stuff except to tell ya that it's delicious.  The atmosphere at the base of the mountain was just pure jubilee.  There just seems to be such a wonderful camaraderie between everyone. You know, the kind that comes naturally after you've all downed a few (many) cups of wine.

However things at our table turn a bit somber when I ask Mr Park's how he's been enjoying life since he retired as an electrical engineer.

"Ah!  Yes, electrical engineer... I must confess, I must admit something to you.  When I told you I was an electrical engineer, I was concealing some information from you.  In fact, I studied electrical engineering for three years, but before my final year in the University, I changed my mind to English literature.  In fact, ahh, oh I am so ashamed....  I am, I was an English teacher.  Can you believe that?!  Eck!  What a thing, no one could ever believe that about me!  With my English? No!  I am not qualified to teach that!  But for thirty seven years, that is what I did.
It is a shame.  I am ashamed...  I am a shame.  Do you know?!  In my whole life, you are only the third English-speaking foreigner I have spoken with?  And then today, I saw you, and I did not pause, I did not hesitate, because I wanted an opportunity to speak English.  But then, oh I am so ashamed of how I speak English, I did not want to tell you that I am an English teacher.  My whole life, other people, I tell them, yes I'm a teacher.  I teach Korean.  That, they can believe."

Wow. He's ashamed of his English?  I was (am still) shocked by this. Quite literally, this man is a walking thesaurus.  And, although his pronunciation is not great, at times he speaks with an impeccable British accent. (He was taught English at a time when having a British accent was more desirable).  And as I later found out during an extended Korean lesson from him, his understanding of grammar is incredible.  I would venture to say that he has a more thorough understanding of English grammar than almost all native English speakers.  Yep.  It's that good.

But what do you say to someone who thinks their entire career (and by extension, most of their life) is a shame?


Really, what do you say? Because somehow I feel that my attempt at encouragement fell short.

I guess that's what maekgeolli is for?