My First Week in South Korea.

Stepping off the airplane, I knew I was in for the biggest adventure of my life. The two hour drive from the airport to my oneroom was filled with watching as we passed through different areas of the country. Having barely settled in, I was anxious to explore so I messaged two of my friends from Portland and we met up.

Bingsu

   We took the subway to Myeong-dong, a popular shopping center. We walked down the main street taking in all the sights, getting some street food and just exploring. We eventually found our way to a small place that sells bingsu ice (빙수). We chose and apple-mango ice. After eating, I made my way home to get some rest. 

   The place I am staying in Seoul is close to Hanyang University--just a short walk down a very steep hill. I am also close to a small shopping center called Wangsimni. There is also a subway station there that has already proven to be the best one for traveling around. 

   My place is small, a new cultural adjustment to be sure. Less than 100 ft². Walking into the room there is the shower on my right. In the shower is the toilet and the sink, with a hand-held shower attached to the faucet. To the left, a desk with shelves above, a mini-fridge below and a cupboard for clothes all the way against the wall. Taking two steps from the door, I reach my bed, which fills the remaining floor space. In some ways, I enjoy the smallness of the space for my time here. It forces me to get out and go places. 

 

Melon tart with Chan

My second day in South Korea, I made my way to meet Chan. For all of you reading my posts on Korea, just for an update on him; it was great to see him. I met him in Gangnam and he took me out to lunch; of my choosing. I choose to have chicken and we found a great restaurant. We ate our chicken, with cheese and he showed me how to make it into a wrap. After lunch, Chan found us a place to get tarts and tea. We shared a melon tart, he made me practice Korean with him-- I mostly protested from still being shy about my Korean-- and drank our tea while catching up. I told him about this years K-Night and what he has been missing in Portland. He told me about his new job and showed me his schedule so that we could coordinate meeting up again. He told me he wants to meet every week so that he can help me with Korean. He asked me where I wanted to travel in South Korea and decided that he will travel with me. We finished our drinks and conversation and said our goodbyes; with plans to meet again.

   My third day was spent getting errands done. Settling in further, getting my sim card and wandering around the area I live to get familiarized with everything, wandering around campus, etc.

Eliane

 Tuesday I was planning on having a lazy day at my place. Making plans and going over my to-do list was all I had planned; maybe a trip to the store thrown in, but nothing else. That was until I saw a message on the group text. I have a group on KakaoTalk with other international students going to Hanyang University. It's hard to keep up with sometimes, but I just happened to check this time and saw a message asking if anyone was near campus. I replied and met up with a new friend, Eliane. She is from Monterrey, Mexico and it is also her first time in South Korea. For lunch we had 닭갈비, chicken stir-fry. Afterward, we made our way to a raccoon cafe. I had never

Princess

heard of a raccoon cafe before, but Eliane brought up the idea after I saw someone advertising a cat cafe. While we were eating lunch I searched up raccoon cafe and found one called Blind Alley. At the cafe, there is a corgi named Cookie, two pigs named Honey and Map. After feeding the pigs and finishing our smoothies we got to see the raccoons. We held one named Princess and got to feed all three that they had in the back room. Princess even crawled up on my shoulders.
South Korea. We went to Myeong-dong again to explore and get lunch. We had

   On Thursday I went to orientation for international and exchange students at Hanyang University. It was mostly a lot about classes and registration but at the end, they had a taekwondo performance and introductions from various student groups. When I first got to the orientation I didn't know anyone, and I soon made friends with a girl named Nanami. She told me about where she was from in Japan and how she was the only one from her university studying at Hanyang. We made plans to meet up at the welcoming party on Friday after we finished our campus tour.
   Later that night I met up with two other Portland State students to go to Hongdae for shopping and to watch people busking. We never actually made it to shopping though. We watched some busking and then went to get dinner. We found a BBQ restaurant for dinner and spent almost three hours eating and talking. By the time we were finished, it was almost midnight and we had to catch the last subway home.

   Friday I slept in after a late-night then woke up just in time to meet some friends for lunch. We

Muzi

went to the Kakao Friends store to explore and got some drinks at the Ryan Cafe. We later made our way back to Hanyang and did some home shopping before getting chicken and pizza at a restaurant just by our place. I then got ready for a welcoming party that Hanyang Global Lions Student group was putting on.
   I met up with my friend Georgia and we went to the party together. The theme was black and neon and it was in this underground club inside a hotel. The place was reserved for Hanyang Students only so it was designed as a good way to meet other students. Georgia and I made several friends that night and after the party went to a local bar with a student from Toronto.
   The trip to get to the bar was farther than we thought, so by the time we got there we each only had one drink and played a quick game of beer pong with some locals from Korea University.
   Now for the rest of my weekend. After a fairly busy week, I think I'm going to take the weekend to relax and prepare. Probably walk around campus and familiarize myself with where I'll have classes. Tuesday is my first class of the semester, and the following week I'll start my Korean courses.

Why I Needed Laketrails

  For the past two summers I have spent my time working at Laketrails Base Camp; a canoeing camp for teenagers. It is a great camp in Northern Minnesota on Lake of the Woods that teaches teenagers life skills through five-day long canoeing trips. During their time at Laketrails, a camper signs up for a nine-day session. They hand over their phones the first day the make it to the island, and that is when the true magic starts. They plan and pack for their trips and then on the third day, guides lead trips of up to ten campers into the wilderness of Canada.
   Laketrails was a part of my childhood memories; visiting the island when I was around five years old. Even though I remember Base Camp well, I never got to experience what it was like to go to Laketrails as a camper. My first full experience of the "Laketrails Magic" came when I was 19. I got a call from my grandpa suggesting I should apply to be a guide, and that was the start of my journey into what Laketrails is and what it does.
   Having finished my second summer as a guide at Laketrails Base Camp, I look back on my time there and all that it had done for me. Both summers I have learned something new about myself and the world around me.
   To start, there is something calming and reflecting about being outdoors away from technology. Admittedly it was difficult this summer to be 'unplugged' with all the planning for my travels to South Korea. Last summer, however, it was a blessing. It can be difficult to put down your phone in this day and age, but when you are forced to spend time without it, it begins to feel like a blessing rather than a punishment.
   Additionally, I have been living in a city for the past two years and am about to move to an even larger city within the week. I like the noise and bustle of city life and I do enjoy the stimulation of a fast-paced world. As much as I also enjoy the outdoors, I did not expect to be entranced by it as much as I am. Returning to the lake and having the land around me be the same as it was last year was calming.
   What I most like about the landscape staying the same was that I didn't have to focus on it. Weird? To spend all summer outdoors and not want to focus on the beauty of nature around me? Not for me. I live in Oregon, with beautiful scenery and I spent my childhood growing up on that lake. While I can always see more of nature, explore more and find new beauties, I liked the familiarity. I felt that I was able to focus on those around me more and make new connections.
   When you are in the wilderness with a small group of people and no technology, the bonds and stories made are more captivating than the trees that surround you. After the hours spent in a canoe, I remember the stories and laughs I shared with campers more than I remember the number of bald eagles I saw. The look of success on a camper's face when the successfully light a fire for the first time is more memorable than that beaver I saw swimming by in that one place on the lake.
   With that, I am glad that I came to Laketrails as a guide. I often wonder what kind of camper I would have been, but knowing that is in the past and cannot be changed I reflect on our philosophy of "Be Here Now". Whatever I may have missed from being a camper lead me to be the guide that I am no.
   Not to say that I was a perfect guide either. I spent a lot of time learning, and if I go back again, I will learn more each time I guide. Sometimes I learn more about guiding, sometimes I learn more about life, and sometimes I simply learn more about myself.
   This summer the biggest trait I learned about myself is to go with the flow and to have patience. I still have not mastered either of these yet, but this summer I was able to show myself that I am capable of both these traits. I spend a lot of my time planning for what is next. This spring I was planning for Laketrails, while at Laketrails I was planning for South Korea; I also talked to my dad about my plans for grad school, for career option 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. My dad joked and made a comment about how I always have at least five plans for my future brewing in my head. And he is right. Even last year when I would plan for a trip, I would plan our route and at least two other back-up options. I was proud of myself for being able to plan my trip this summer and adjust as needed. I was able to have a more go with the flow attitude this summer.
   Walking away from this summer, what I am most grateful for is not all the hard skills I learned or even that proud moment of being able to live in the moment and not the future. What I am most grateful for is the connections Laketrails brings people. Every club, sports team or organization will tell you that they are like a family, but the 'Laketrails Family' is a unique one. This family spreads from all ages, all over the world. What I like most about the Laketrails family is not that my staff this summer is now my family, but any Laketrailer is my family. I now understand now that just the mention of Laketrails creates a bond between people that have never met before.
   I think this family comes from the stories that people are able to share. Some of the names of islands or lakes are different then they were years ago, but the trips are pretty much the same as when Laketrails started. The locations are the same, but I have a different story from each of the three times I have been to Mason and Reid. That same location holds a different story for everyone that has been there.
   I could spend days talking about my time at Laketrails and maybe be able to get you to understand the true magic of it, but what it holds for me is my own magic for me to cherish in my heart. I do not know when I will return to Laketrails again, I just know that I will.

Day 4: Pee Island

   Yes, the title of this post is appropriately named. We spent our last night on trail sleeping on the last place to pee before Base Camp; appropriately named by Laketrailers as "Pee Island".
   This morning we got up and early to get a good start on the day. This time we made it through the portage with a breeze and paddled hard making it to South Twin Island early in the evening. We would have made it earlier, but the day was hot and we took lots of breaks to enjoy swimming at different islands. Also on our journey, we stopped for lunch and met an old Laketrailer on the lake. After filling our bellies and a quick chat with him about times in the past we were on our way.'
   At South Twin, we suffered through cactus and created a new pasta meal, since we forgot our spaghetti sauce. We improvised with salsa, beef crumbles, and day four shredded cheese. After dinner, we told riddles while we waited for the wind to die down.
   When the wind stopped, we began our sunset paddle to Pee Island. Quin leads the way, while my canoe and the camper canoe raced in a pirate battle. When the stars came out we shared stories of alien encounters and talked about our lives until we finally pulled up to Pee Island.
   We set up our tents in the dark and bugs, then rewarded our campers with cheese-its as a midnight snack.

Day 2 and 3: Reid

   Thanks to the winds we had a long day of paddling yesterday. There were several times that we had to find an island for shelter from the gusts of wind. Even with the stops, we were able to make it to our portage relatively early and the campers worked well as a team to get through it together. The reward of this hard day; well earned Pita Pizzas.

   Today was our layover day at Reid lake. It started with an early morning swim, followed by a struggle to reclaim a purposely swamped canoe. There was also some fishing and breakfast. 

   After breakfast, the boys asked me if this canoe trip was the Hunger Games and I had to break it to them... that it was training for the Hunger Games. I let loose the secret that Quin and I were past survivers of the games and that our job was not to take them on a canoeing trip but to train them for the games on day 8. From there the boys mostly did what we asked because they knew it was a part of their training. 

   They took the training into their own hands and started to whittle spears to fish and hunt with. One of my campers used rock, wood, and grass to make an ax to fight with and another collected birch bark and sap to create a torch; that we later let him light over the lake. 

   Their hard work earned them the reward of s'mores tonight. 

Day 1: Moon Rise Bay

   We left Basecamp as one of the last groups around 10:00 a.m. this morning. It was looking to be easy today since we were starting with a tailwind helping us. However, within the first hour of leaving, Quin remembered that he had forgotten to pack our tent. Luckily he remembered early on. We still had to find a spot to rest, while we called Sue and waited for her to bring us our tent. After a short wait, and getting our tent, we paddled on. Even with the help from the tailwinds, our paddling was slow.
   In the early afternoon, we left the option of continuing on to Mason and Reid up to the campers. They were tired and chose the easier option of staying the night at Moon Rise Bay, then going to Mason and Reid tomorrow.
   Making it to camp early we had plenty of time to enjoy fishing, swimming, and exploring. When the campers were done swimming, a few of them went off into the woods to collect sticks to build a sailboat but came back empty-handed.
   When they were hungry, Quin taught two of them to build and start a fire, while I explained how cooking on trail works to two others. The group of them worked together to cook our dinner of tacos. For the remainder of the night, the campers swam some more and just enjoyed hanging out and talking to each other without the distraction of real-world living.
   Although not a lot of distance was covered today, I can see that they are learning a lot of this trip already.

Session 6: The Final Session

   Between sessions, I went down to Alexandria, MN to visit family and partake in our Stone Family Reunion. I missed Staff Appreciation on the Island because of it, but it worked out very nicely since I was able to ride the bus down and back up to Laketrails; with a nice break in between.

   When I made it back up to the Northwest Angle Quin told me that I would be guiding with him this session. At first, I was surprised, because we were supposed to guide together during the second session, but he got sick. I thought that meant that we wouldn't be able to guide at all together this summer. Nonetheless, I was very happy to hear that he was my co-guide for the last session of the summer. 

   Our plan is to provide an easier option since the other trips are planning more difficult trips this session. This plan proved to be useful as there are a few campers this session that has never done anything like this before and Quin and I are providing a great entry and teaching trip for many of these campers.

   I am also excited for this group of campers because two of the campers coming on my trip are two students that my grandpa told me about. He mentioned during the family reunion that he is sponsoring two campers to go to Laketrails, and what are the odds that they would end up on my trip.
   Already I can tell this will be a great trip. This group of campers has never done anything like this before and are all eager to learn. Most importantly, I can tell that this will be a great trip for this group to experience my favorite "wilderness commandment"; be a kid.

Middle School Session: The Story

For our campfire skit, we wrote a scary story to end our spooky trip. We wrote the story of our fearless soldiers; named Zara's Army.

Zara's Army

   Not long ago, on a trip much like this one, with campers very similar to this group, there was a gathering of ghost hunters. They spent five days traveling the lake in search of spirits and paranormals, lead by two guides and their fearless leader, Zara. The first night the group paddled until they reached camp. They were greeted with rain as they set up tents. When the rain stopped and they were able to get dry the filled their stomachs with popcorn and headed back into the tents to sleep. Little sleep was given that night, however. Just as darkness took the last light from the sky, the group of campers saw a dark figure circling their tent. They told themselves it was just a bear, but when they looked outside they saw a ghostly white man retreating into the woods.
   The next morning the army packed up camp and headed to the next site. On the way, they stopped to investigate some abandoned cars, but their monitors showed no sign of paranormal activity so they continued on.
   The second night the group had planned to spend the night at a site that has no background of being a spooky site. They walked into camp with the courage of having no spooky sitings. That was until one soldier ventured into the woods to gather more firewood. As he bent down to pick up a stick he soon found himself eye to eye with a coyote. The brave soldier held his ground and one the staredown with the coyote. The group ended their night with popcorn and scary stories around the campfire.
   To this day, the group still will not talk about day three.
   A true horror appeared on day four. While Nate was taking down the tent he stepped in bear poop. Shortly thereafter, our fearless leader took a wrong step, landing in poop... human poop.
   After the incident, the guides mysteriously went missing and Addie was put in charge. She lead the soldiers bravely, trained them well and fed them popcorn. However, no amount of training could prepare the soldiers for what was about to happen next.
   As the paddled to their final campsite a dark hooded figure emerged from the woods. The spirit cursed the group to sleep on rock and cacti. In the morning the spirit stole all their words, leaving them to communicate using only "Yo". They made it through the struggles and ventured on.
   Finishing with one last meal of popcorn the troop assembled and made it back to Basecamp. At Basecamp they were reunited with their leaders; only to inform them that they lost one of their members.

   Now we stand here, in remembrance of our fallen soldier; Woahgan, Your beauty line made the spirits too attracted to you. May this flattened soup spoon forever hold your memory.

Day 5: Campers are on Their Own

   After having a session full of sleeping in, today we actually woke up early. We had early morning swimming and popcorn marshmallow balls. After breakfast, we packed up and headed out. We took the long way back to hide Bridget from other groups. 

    Going around Oak Island to approach Basecamp we made a quick stop. The campers dropped Nate, Zara and I off at the back of Basecamp. Then Bridget changed back into the outfit she wore last night and lead our group from her kayak into Basecamp. After we heard that our group made it, Nate, Zara and I waited about twenty minutes, before we ran to the campers, wearing white sheets over us.

   The rest of the day was spent cleaning up. After dinner, Nate, Zara, myself and a few other guides tried the blueberry wine we attempted to make on trail. It did not really work, and just tasted like sweet blueberry juice. 

   Day 8 was filled with games to occupy the campers. I mostly was hidden away with Zara painting our Wilderness Award for our camper Addie. When we got to the closing campfire, we wrote a story for our skit and then presented our WA for Addie. On her paddle, we painted a ghost surrounded by popcorn with the quote "Addie is in Charge". Tomorrow, I will be riding the bus down with the campers. 

Night 4: The Hooded Figure

   Today was our latest day. We woke up and had breakfast at 11:00 a.m. Looking at the winds again, we knew that we would not be able to leave camp for a while so we decided today was a good day to make trip donuts. 

   The majority of the day was spent playing games. We did several rounds of Mafia as well as Zoomie Zoomie. 

   It wasn't until after dinner that the winds finally calmed and we were able to leave. We packed up camp at 8:00 p.m. and made our way to South Twin; our final destination.

   On the paddle over, my campers Keith and Isaac* told me that on our first night, the mysterious man and dark figure were actually them trying to scare the other campers.

   As the sunset, South Twin was in our sight. We paddled around the corner and waiting for us was Bridget. She had brought a wig and robe so when we approached South Twin this dark, hooded figure came out of the woods. The campers in the first canoe saw her and started to paddle backward; he was not having it.

   The campers realized it was a prank and we set up camp in bug-thirty. After camp was set up, the guides sat in our tent until the bugs were gone and then we ended the night with star-gazing.

*Names changed for privacy

Night 3: Wind Bound

   Again this morning when we woke up, the campers were all already up; and again, they had made more popcorn. For breakfast, was my favorite food to have on trail; toasted bagels. After breakfast, my co-guides and I decided that we should go to North Twin instead of Lily so that we can have an easy day tomorrow. With that decision made, we packed up camp and headed out.

   As we passed Lily, we told the story of the island and told our campers that we would not be staying there. As we passed Lily and turned around Falcon, the winds hit us. We struggled to make it to Porcupine and decided to sit there and wait out the winds.

   As we were waiting for the winds to die down we heard a clap of thunder, and again had to change our plans. Instead of going to North Twin tonight, we decided to stay at Porcupine. When we decided to start dinner, it began to rain and we were not able to cook dinner. We all went into our tents and ate Bay Bread. The guides read more Grimm's fairytales and the campers apparently were playing a game called Worm Wrestling. 

   Eventually, the rain stopped, close to sunset, and we were able to cook dinner just before bed. 

Night 2: Coyote Stare Down

   When we woke up this morning the campers had already been up for a while before the guides. They had made a snack of popcorn and our camper worker was starting to make breakfast. As we walked closer to the fire ring the campers bombarded us with stories about last night. Apparently, they had seen a dark figure around their tent in the middle of the night. They also saw a white man in the woods. They told us about what they saw as we ate chocolate chip pancakes. When we finished breakfast we headed out to the next campsite.
   On the paddle over, we passed the three abandoned cars in the Tug Channel. The story we tell campers about the car, true or not, is that there was a robbery in the town of Warroad in the middle of winter. The robbers stole money from the bank and started to drive to Canada. The island where the cars are now is where the robbers ran out of gas. They were forced to leave the money and the cars and run. The money is buried somewhere on that island and no one has been able to find it. The campers did not believe that story so we moved on.
   We got to our campsite in a short time so we decided to prank the campers and paddle past it. A move stolen from John. When the campers realized it was their campsite they told us they were never going to trust us again.
   We had them start to set up camp and collect firewood. When our camper Isaac* came out of the woods and told us he just stared down a coyote. Then, the coyotes howled at us and we all went into the woods to try and see them. I did not see any coyotes, but they did sound very close and they would howl back at us.
   With all our free time we spent the day swimming, catching crayfish and riding in the canoe-a-coaster. Created by Zara, the canoe-a-coaster involves someone sitting in a canoe as others roll the canoe underwater.
   When we caught enough crayfish we boiled them as a nice appetizer before dinner. After dinner, we sat around the fire telling scary stories and eating s'mores.

*Names changed for privacy

Night One: The Dark Figure and the White Man

   Today starts the spooky trip. We woke up this morning at Basecamp ready to go; however, the winds had a different idea. After breakfast, the winds were coming straight from the south, which would give us a headwind all day and leave us in wide-open water. Zara and I both had rough experiences with the wind in the south the last session and do not want to have another situation. Nate has also decided to join us on trail and agrees that going south is not a fun idea. We decided to go to Little Triscuit for our first night.
   The day was spent paddling up the tug and we arrived at our destination in the early afternoon. Just as we pulled up and finished setting up the tents a rainstorm hit hard. We took shelter in our tents, the guides read fairytales and the campers played games. When the storm passed we had beautiful weather to cook dinner.
   Our dinner tonight was supposed to be Mac & Cheese, but we realized that we forgot to pack the boxes of Mac & Cheese. We did, however, pack extra pasta noodles for another meal, crumbled beef by accident, cheese powder for popcorn, and couscous for our emergency meal. With those ingredients and a can of mixed vegetables, our camper worker was able to make a type of Mac & Cheese. We named the new meal Yellow One Pot or Cheeseburger pasta. 
   After dinner, we three guides collected blueberries in an attempt to make blueberry wine. We finished the evening with a snack of popcorn and headed to bed. In the tents, we read a few stories, including Grimm's fairytales and a story of The W.

Middle School Session: A Spooky Trip

   This week we have middle school session coming up. My co-guide this week is Zara, and we decided that if we ever guided together we would do a spooky-themed trip. Now we finally get to do it. Our plan for the trip consists of the following locations;
   Night One: Massacre Island. This island is the supposed location of a great massacre of voyageurs by the Dakota tribe. On the island, there is a giant cross marking the site of the massacre. The site of the cross is our campsite.
   Night Two: Little Triscuit. This site has had numerous reported sitings of a white figure in the woods. The last two sightings have both been by newer guides that do not know of the story.
   Night Three: Lily Island. Lily island does not have a set-in-stone sighting. However, guides will occasionally tell a story about a camper drowning there. The story we made followed this plot.
   In 1968, an all-female trip went around the lake. Going to islands with no names and exploring and naming them. On their last night, they stopped at the island that is now called Lily. After they finished cooking dinner they decided to go for a swim to wash off. While swimming their camper named Lily, quietly slipped under the water, none of the girls saw her go under and they assumed that she had just decided to go to bed early. The girls finished swimming and dried off. When they went into the tent Lily's sleeping bag had her clothes inside. This made it look like someone was in the sleeping bag and the group went to sleep with no knowledge of what happened. They woke up in the middle of the night to their sleeping bags all soaking wet; everyone except Lily's. Now to this day, guides and campers have seen a girl underneath the water as the pull up to the island. In the middle of the night, the spirit of Lily will crawl into girls sleeping bags in an attempt to get warm.
   Night Four: South Twin. This is the scariest location we have planned. South Twin has been the hotspot for W sightings. We won't tell the campers this during trail or possibly even after, but both Zara and I know why it is included in the spooky list. There are also two groups staying nearby and we have plans for them to come and scare our campers this night.
   Lastly, we have scary stories planned to tell and we will be bringing lots of popcorn to eat during story telling.