Portland in Korea

Talk about a small world. One of the women who work at my school moved to Portland for two years to get her master’s degree from Portland State University. I never thought I would move over 5000 miles across the globe to run into someone who knows about Saturday Market, Powells, or Widmer. This is something that Mrs. Park have bonded over numerous times in the teacher’s lounge. This past weekend, Mrs. Park invited Eric and I to Jirisan, a mountain resort, so we could meet her family and her friend, Marie, who also studied at PSU.

When Mrs. Park and her husband picked us up on Saturday afternoon, Eric and I were greeted by the faces of Mrs. Park’s twin boys. They were sitting in the back seat, at full attention, waiting to see what we looked like. And true to Korean children’s form, once Eric and I said hello, the boys immediately looked away and didn’t talk to us. However, this would all change as the day went on. Eric and I spent a lot of time with the boys talking to them about school and sports. By the end of the weekend one of the boys, Sa Young, was attached to my hip.



Jirisan is located about 1.5 hours east of Gwangju and is the second highest peak in South Korea. Our hotel was located at the bottom of a valley created by the surrounding mountains. From our hotel balcony, we were greeted with an immense view of Jiri Mountain. However, from where we were staying we could not get a full view of Jiri mountain because part of it was covered by a wall of clouds. On Saturday night, Marie and Mrs. Park cooked a feast for ten. There we indulged in good wine, good food, and good company. The six adults of the group reminisced about our favorite Portland spots while the kids wandered in and out, asking permission to watch TV and to use the computer.


The next morning we all woke up early so we could get a head start on conquering Jiri Mountain. We left the hotel around 9 and found ourselves at our starting point by 10 am. The next two hours would be filled with sore legs, tired cries from children, and breath taking views. When Eric and I reached the top, we were undoubtedly tired, but we were in awe of the panoramic views which lay in front of us. In one direction we could see mountains rise and fall as the mountain range stretched out in the distance. In the other direction we could only see a wall of clouds. At an elevation of 1507 meters, we literally found ourselves among the clouds. Words cannot accurately express the beauty of the land and cloudscape which lay before us.



After making our way back down to the car, we were all exhausted. Mrs. Park, Eric, I, and her two boys fell asleep in the car until we reached Namwon, our lunch time destination. After refueling on bibimbap, kimchi, jigae and green tea we were all awake and ready for the ride home. By the time Eric and I were dropped off on Sunday night we were exhausted. My legs were tired and my hips were sore, but I couldn’t help but smile about it all. Walking down a Portland themed memory lane created a Korean evening filled with smiles, good stories, and plenty of laughs!