한국에서 등산을 해본 외국인들이 충격받은 이유!?

한국에서 등산을 해본 외국인들이 충격받은 이유!?

!#$% was really… horrible.. And what really surprised me was that many Koreans seemed to have really good stamina. ㅋㅋㅋ It was a really amazing experience. ㅋㅋㅋ Oh my god ㅋㅋㅋㅋ We don’t do @#$%. Koreans do @#^ on the mountain. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Compared to that, Korean hiking seems easy. But the hikers I met in Korea were totally ^!@#%. I think that’s quite different from Germany. ㅎㅎ Today’s question: Have you ever experienced Korean hiking culture? It was really fun. I ‘ve been to Soyosan, Namsan, and Dobongsan . Soyosan was really… horrible. It was high and really hard. But I managed to reach the summit, and I’ve been there twice so far. But Dobongsan was really fun. The difficulty level and the scenery were really nice. But Korean hiking culture is really different. In the US, we don’t stop and eat in the middle of a hike . (At the summit) But when I hiked Soyosan, when I got to the summit, everyone was spread out and eating like they were having a picnic. Yes! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ It was weird because it was my first time seeing it, but it was really fun. Yes, I ate too. ㅋㅋ When I got to the top, they gave me food. ㅋㅋㅋ Koreans seem to be really nice. They gave me rice cakes and they were really delicious. ㅋㅋㅋ I went hiking in Korea 3 years ago . I went to Seoraksan Mountain, but.. it was summer.. so.. it was really hot and tiring..ㅠㅋㅋㅋ And what really surprised me was that many Koreans seemed to have really good stamina. ㅋㅋㅋ They were really really good at hiking. I think I would be completely exhausted after just 5 minutes . ㅋㅋㅋ While hiking, I felt that there was something similar to Germany: in Germany, we also eat at the top. ㅎㅎ But we also drink beer. ㅋㅋ And there is a special drink that only Germans have, that everyone brings when they go hiking and always drinks it at the top. And they drink a lot of beer. ㅎㅎ When you get to the top, drink the beer and then! We all lie down and sunbathe together. Haha . All of us. Haha. And sometimes, we all dance and have fun together like it’s a party. Haha. But the difference from Germany is that Koreans wear long clothes even in the summer. I think it’s because they don’t want their skin to get sunburned . But in Germany… Men sometimes go hiking without their tops on. Haha. Because it’s so hot in the summer. So even if they do wear clothes, they wear sleeveless tops, very short sleeves, and short pants. But in Korea, even though it’s hot in the summer, people even wear masks. They’re just trying to avoid getting sunburned. So I think this hiking outfit culture is a big difference between Germany and Korea. Haha. Germany does have hiking outfits, but when they go hiking, they tend to wear very short clothes. This is because Germans like to get sunburned. Koreans usually prefer white, clear skin. So I think that’s the biggest difference between Germany and Korea. Yes, Seoraksan was a really worthwhile hike for me. The scenery was really beautiful. Haha. It was really hot and tiring, but I had fun. Yes, it was really great! It was crazy. While hiking, you ‘d see older men, women, grandmothers, and grandfathers, and as they passed by me, panting , they’d say, “You’re almost there! Cheer up!!” and “You can do it!!” Hearing that, I was like… (touched) “Gasp… Gasp… Thank you!!” And the hiking trails were so well-maintained and always so beautiful, and I never saw any trash while hiking . I went to Apsan in Daegu, and it was so fun, pretty, and wonderful. You could stop by temples along the mountainside, and the cultural aspects like Buddhist sites were all so beautiful. It was really cool and wonderful. Most of all, it was a really amazing experience that people, even strangers, would cheer me on as they passed by . Hahaha. Oh my gosh hahaha. In America, it’s not like that. I think we’re kind to each other. But we think about the other person. If someone else is struggling, we don’t notice them struggling . But Korea is different. When we wore hanbok, the traditional Korean attire, at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, many Koreans complimented us on our looks and gave us thumbs up and hearts, showing their delight. So… (touched ㅠ) I don’t know… America doesn’t seem that great. Haha. Hiking in Korea is really great. The mountains are really clean and well-maintained. I think a lot of Koreans do a great job of organizing and maintaining their hiking trails. There’s a mountain right in front of where we live in Korea, so we go hiking every now and then. It’s about 300-400 meters high. We also went to Hallasan Mountain in Jeju Island, the highest mountain in Korea , and it was really, really great. Yeah. Korean mountains are really great for hiking, and Koreans love hiking , so you’ll often see older women while you’re hiking . One difference between Korea and Sweden is that Swedes don’t usually ask strangers if they want to eat the food they bring, so they don’t share food or fruit. But in Korea, they do. Yeah. Especially when you go to remote rural areas in Korea, it seems like people pay more attention to other people . Hahaha So, those people often share candy and snacks . Haha. In Sweden, we don’t do that. If you meet someone in the forest, you might give them a quick hello, but it doesn’t go beyond that. We just chat about the weather and things like that. We don’t share food or anything. Also, Sweden doesn’t have as many mountains as Korea. There are some in Sweden, but most of it is flat and forested, which is another difference. I live in the UK, so I’ll talk about Boston, the UK, and even Korea. In Boston, the hiking trails are more natural. They’re completely man-made, and there are no steps between the trails like in Korea. The trails are made of all kinds of dirt and gravel , leading up the mountain. And they’re not as steep as in Korea. I think Korea has a lot of very steep mountains. We went to Namsan, the Namsan Tower, a mountain with an old fortress, and Hallasan on Jeju Island. They were really beautiful. The trails are well-maintained, but they’re incredibly steep and extreme. Hiking in the UK is a little less extreme. It’s more like a country walk. It’s a bit more hilly and less mountainous, but it’s a beautiful and wonderful hiking spot for anyone who wants to spend time in nature. Americans are also really friendly. So when you see someone while hiking, they tend to be quite friendly and say hello. British people are a bit more reserved. They don’t say hello even if you meet them on the mountain. I think Koreans are much more similar to Americans. They’re incredibly friendly, smile a lot, bow their heads often, and even say “Fighting!” and other encouraging words as they pass. Hahahaha. Yes, Korean hiking culture seems to be very encouraging. And they use hiking sticks. Oh, and hiking sticks? I think hiking sticks are common in the US too. I think we’re used to having more space when hiking . In Korea, on the other hand, the trails seem much narrower. So we have to be more careful when passing each other . And the age range is really diverse! That was really surprising. I was really impressed by how young children go hiking in Korea . Also, I was amazed to see so many older people hiking. In the US, most hikers are between their 20s and 60s . But in Korea, people of all ages hike. And Koreans seem to place a lot of importance on how they dress when hiking (wearing hiking clothes) . Oh, and another huge difference is that in the US, people like to get a lot of sun exposure, but in Korea , they don’t. So Koreans tend to cover themselves from head to toe. We wear sunscreen, but when we walk, we like to spread our arms out and get a tan. So , I think there are a lot of differences in hiking culture . Haha . Yes, it’s really different from Ireland. Korean hiking culture is truly amazing. There are so many people hiking. In Ireland, if you go to the mountains, you only see a few older people. Sometimes you see younger people hiking, but in Ireland, it rains almost all the time, so not many people go hiking. But in Korea, everyone hikes, especially Bukhansan Mountain. There were so many people there. I went there when I first came to Korea, and we chose the long course, but I didn’t realize it would take so long. Haha. So we walked for 4 hours, which was way too long for me. But it was a really, really good experience. Haha. And I saw people eating food at the top . Talking about this reminds me of a funny thing that happened when I first went hiking in Korea . Haha. I was hiking with a friend, and we decided to take a break and have a small picnic (snack time). But then we lost our map. So we ended up getting lost on Bukhansan. We were there for 8 hours trying to find our way back down. Haha. No one was around. ㅠㅠ We were lost, no one was in sight, and there was no way out except to desperately try to follow the path . Haha. So we just kept walking. Haha. But we finally reached the top. When we got there, there were a lot of people having a picnic, and it looked really nice. The view from the top was also amazing. It was so cool and wonderful to be able to see all of Seoul and all its districts . The only difference from Ireland is… we don’t eat at the top. Because the weather is so cold, and it rains all the time. It almost never stops raining. So when we get to the top, we just take a quick look at the view and then go back down. Yes, we climbed Hallasan Mountain in Jeju Island. At first, it was going pretty well, so we planned to hike the 20km course. But when we were almost at the top, it started snowing heavily, and we found out that there was a specific time slot for each course. We should have gone earlier to get to the top. Unfortunately, we missed that time slot and weren’t allowed to go to the top. Plus, our gear wasn’t the best. Our shoes didn’t have any traction, so they weren’t the best for hiking in the snow . Haha. It was a bit disappointing that we couldn’t finish the hike. Haha. We ‘re from the northern part of Germany, where there aren’t many mountains, but many Germans, including ourselves, are famous for hiking a lot. That’s why we’re popular in Korea too . That’s why I went hiking. So, enjoying nature and enjoying hiking seems similar to Korea and Germany. One difference from Korea is that we don’t really wear hats when we hike. Haha. And masks, too. Yeah, we don’t look that professional. (Koreans wear hiking clothes and gear.) We just go in our regular clothes. But the hikers I met in Korea were really professional. I think that’s quite different from Germany. Haha. They had hiking shoes, all hiking clothes, and even hiking sticks! Haha. It was amazing. Haha. In Germany, some people do use hiking sticks, but it’s mostly older people. Or maybe they use hiking sticks on steep slopes , but they rarely use them on flat surfaces. Yes, there are differences from Russia. Hiking in Korea seems to be a bit more casual. And the mountains are smaller. I think the ones I’ve been to were about 200 meters high . But the ones I went to in Russia were… You know Mount Elbrus? It’s the highest mountain in Europe. It’s 5,640 meters high. It’s snowy, windy, and quite extreme. The low oxygen level makes me dizzy and my head spins. Haha. Compared to that, hiking in Korea seems easy. Just looking down at the cityscape. And I saw Korean locals using hiking poles and wearing windbreakers. Yes, Russians also use hiking poles. Some people do, and some don’t. Wearing windbreakers is the same. I hiked Bukhansan Mountain last year. Many middle-aged women came here for morning exercise. I think it’s good for your health, very good. Even though I’m a young student, they were much faster than me. Haha. And I saw them bring side dishes and various foods to eat at the summit. Haha. They even brought kimbap. I ate it with my friend at the summit. Haha . I think Korea is nice because other places are close to the mountain, but Singapore is low-lying and doesn’t have any mountains. Haha. You can’t compare Singapore and Korea. Haha. I had so much fun hiking in Korea that I want to go again. Next time, Hallasan Mountain in Jeju Island! My brother once hiked the mountain behind Yonsei University. He said there’s a small mountain behind Yonsei University. I didn’t go with him, but I heard it was incredibly beautiful and awesome. We hike a lot in Norway, so it wasn’t new to us, but he said it was really great. The difference from Norway, perhaps, was the age of the hikers. My brother said he only met older people while hiking , and not many young people. He said most of the people he met on the mountain seemed to be in their mid-fifties. In Norway, people of all ages go hiking, so there are a lot of young people as well as older people. If I ever get the chance to come back to Korea, I’d love to try hiking there too. I was in Korea in 1988. I was living here at the time, and I hiked Maisan Mountain. I don’t quite remember which city it was, but it was such a fun hike that I remember it so well. The shape of the mountain looked like a horse’s ear. Maisan Mountain! It was such a beautiful hike. The scenery was truly breathtaking. So I went hiking a few times while I was living in Korea . Everyone I met on the mountain was so nice. It felt so good. Hiking in Korea feels so peaceful. It was so long ago that I don’t remember everything, but I knew a little Korean back then, so I was able to chat with people, and it was really, really great. That ‘s one of the reasons I wanted to come back to Korea . I know it’s been 37 years now, but I’d love to go back to the villages I visited back then . Actually, I didn’t go hiking, but I went to Seoul Sky, which is 555 meters high. We all wore clothes and gear and just hung out with other people. The staff was really friendly and nice, and they even took pictures with us. When I went, it was foggy so we couldn’t see everything, but the staff explained the locations of each village and everything about it, and it was really cool. Two of us were scared of heights, but I really, really enjoyed it. Really, really. Subscribe, like, and turn on notifications!

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