With love, from South Korea: Outdoor Adventures Adrenaline Junky

One of the best things about living abroad is the inner pull you have to make the most of the year. Going into a journey such as this, everyone tells you, "live it up, you are young, do as much as you can, experience as much as you can, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Something about going abroad makes you want to LIVE LIFE. You are taking this huge step, a big journey, a risk, an adventure; and surely, you want to take advantage of the opportunity while it's here. I wish I lived my life like this EVERY DAY, no excuses, no restraints. Living abroad, the novelty of the new place and the awe does wear off, but the urge to constantly be doing something exciting doesn't leave you. I have become so aware of my being here. I always want to explore and DO. It leaves me thinking, now that I am used to living every day life in Korea, it seems more like a normal life, but it's still more jam packed with thrills and exciting experiences, because... I go looking for them. I take advantage of the city around me and the land beyond the city. I find AMAZING things to do here WEEKLY... things that at home, I might not make the time for, because I'm too busy living every day life. I've come to the realization that every day life should be just as exciting as life abroad, and if I've learned something in Korea, it's to take advantage of my time in order to live my life to the fullest. I should be living life like this at home, as well as here. Climbing mountains to sit at great heights overlooking this beautiful land we have been so fortunate to live on, jumping off a bridge JUST to feel free, finding a beautiful cafe to sit in and actually enjoy the surroundings without an agenda, appreciating the beauty around me, going on weekly adventures and learning more about myself. All of these things I have been doing have slowly peeled away my layers. I have been revealing parts of myself that I didn't know existed. I used to think I was a teacher, a reader, a young heart with a big spirit. Now I have found I am far more things than just that... I'm also a writer, a wanderer, an artist, a musical enthusiast, an adrenaline junky, a nature thriving spirit, a runner, an adventurer, a extrovert AND an introvert. I've come to this, I don't want to "live it up, experience as much as I can, do as much as I can, and be young and adventurous," just this year. I want to do this every day, for the rest of my life, and I sincerely hope I stick to that goal. It's not a once in a lifetime opportunity, it's a once in a lifetime life. I'm going to live it appropriately.

With this said, in the past month I have taken advantage of the outdoors quite a bit. The weather just before summer ended and fall hit was amazing, although the fall weather itself is absolutely wonderful. I have really been taking on myself lately... going on trips without anyone I know in order to force myself into groups of new people, become more socialized among both Koreans and expats in Seoul, wandering around on my own personal adventures (nothing new there), and doing more physical outdoor activities, as well as things that tested my own fears and courage. I have participated in a few nice hikes, kayaked down a river in Gangwon-do, gone white water rafting, and bungee jumped off a 72 foot bridge. All of these experiences gave me the opportunity to experience Korea beyond the city and take it to another outdoor level. I have sincerely enjoyed the mountains here from day one abroad but the past month I have really taken a liking to a lot of other outdoor excursions! I went on the kayaking trip, as well as the hiking trips alone, and took it upon myself to meet new people. Part of the reason I came to Korea was to meet new and interesting people and I'm trying not to let my comfort level with the good friends I've made prevent me from doing so. Doing these outdoor trips with these groups of new people has been really good for me. I met a lot of other expats and of course it's always nice to hear their stories... how they got to korea, why, and what their plans are for after this. I also met a lot of Korean people during these trips and had to opportunity to surround myself with the culture more by being around them. Hiking Suraksan was absolutely beautiful and afterwards I got to go to a traditional Korean barbecue with a group of Koreans and two people I met from the middle east. I had gone to dinner with a group of Korean friends in a while and I had almost forgot how much fun it is to meet new Koreans and spend time with them! Kayaking was a fun day. I ran into some of the people I had done some other group hikes with and I'm beginning to recognize familiar faces among the out door adventurers. We had a wonderful time on the water, having splashing wars like we were all old friends, and eating together while chatting. White water rafting wasn't exactly what I would call a legit "white water" experience, but our group of people were a lot of fun so we really made the most of it and laughed a lot with our guide. Bungee jumping... deserves it's own paragraph completely, however, I have a video that pretty much says it all. Bungee jumping was not something I've ever had the longing to do, but something about that whole, "live it up while your here," inclined me to do so. I didn't think I would be able to go through with it the week leading up to the event, but suddenly as the time drew nearer, my doubts started to subside and I really believed I was going to do it. Something about the idea of it was suddenly very appealing to me. Jumping off a bridge is like self inflicting pain... your brain is telling you, "NO NO you don't want to do that, it's going to hurt you." Bungee jumping is a similar experience. Your brain is telling you that you really don't want to jump off a bridge, it's dangerous, and you could die. However, when you are standing up there, you have to find the ability to convince your brain otherwise, and when you do, it's an amazing journey down. When I took the leap off of that bridge, I'm not sure exactly where my mind was, but it was somewhere in the middle of a song and pep talk, then, onceI jumped I let out a freeing scream. I was falling, it was just quiet and free, and THEN it was like having the most amazing adrenaline rush ever after the first bounce back. I'm not sure I came down from my high for the next two days proceeding the jump. What a thrilling month it truly was, and as always, below are pictures of the journeys. Thanks for reading :)

Hiking at Suraksan

The group I hiked with. CIK

The hike was trying at times, this was a huge boulder we had to climb up the side of. It was somewhat scary and definitely tested my balance, but a nice accomplishment in the end. You can see me crawling up on the right side.

A rest stop just a bit up the mountain with a nice view of the city.

The man sitting to the left of me was incredible! He must have been in his sixties and in the best shape of his life. He hiked the entire mountain without shoes on. When I asked him about it, he said, "my feet are happy." Now that's what I call being one with the earth. Glad to have met him.

Boulder pioneers.

Climbing boulders and hanging out!

It started out as a cloudy day, but as we reached the peak it had turned into an incredibly beautiful day. Looking at this picture makes me want to go back, build a shack, and stay there forever.