Ringing in another great year!

There is no doubt that the military gives us great-- and often unusual-- opportunities. Case in point: we are spending the next 20 months living in South Korea!  Evidence of these "geographical opportunities" is also found in comparing the pictures of birthdays from year to year.

For instance, last year, Joe celebrated his birthday in Afghanistan. The years before that it was Oklahoma-- and he's had Arizona, Florida, Germany as party locales as well.  As far as setting us up with phenomenal party venues, Uncle Sam has not disappointed!  And, this year was no different: Seoul was at our full disposal.

March is definitely a transitional month in Korea as far as weather, so planning the trip he really wanted to do  (camping in a national park) was not in the cards.  But, the second best option was hiking, so we set out to tackle Mt. Bukaksan in northern Seoul.

The night before the trip (Joe was in the dark about all the details), I called him to remind him that we would need our passports for the weekend-- and of course this really got his curiosity stoked! "Just, where-- exactly-- are we going this weekend?" he asked me over the phone.  I reassured him that we would not be leaving the peninsula-- but would be traversing some highly secure areas of the peninsula where passports were required (again, as you can imagine, the curiosity was piqued--and probably mixed slightly with alarm at this point!)

Can you guess why it's called the Blue House?

Mt. Bukaksan is the northern most mountain that protects Seoul, and contains about 18 kilometers of the original (or nearly original) wall that served to protect the capital city from attacks.  The Blue House, or presidential palace, sits at the base-- and is responsible for the high levels of security in the vicinity.  This section of the Seoul Fortress wall had been closed between 1968 and 2006 after 31 North Korean commandoes crossed the border, traversed the mountain and got within 800 meters of the Blue House in an assassination attempt on President Park.  

The fab 5 with Mt. Bukaksan behind them, and the presidential compound at the foot of the mountain.

    Today, there are guards stationed every 200m along the wall, and you have to submit your passport number before entering the hike.  Every hiker is issued a visitor's badge which must be clearly displayed during your time on the mountain, and returned at the completion of your journey.  I know that all sounds very daunting and not at all enjoyable, but the truth is, it was a stunning hike.  And those guards were a reminder that we found to be relevant and applicable:  everyday there are men and women around the world standing guard to protect their country.

After the hike, I had planned to take everyone to eat at a Greek restaurant that had been reviewed in the base paper.  Turns out the author's directions were AWFUL and incomplete, and after almost 2 hours of searching (which included stoping at a cafe to have an employee call the Greek restaurant for better directions) we were ready to give up. I knew that if I was going to avoid mutiny in the ranks, I had to get food in front of them-- and fast-- whether it was Greek food or McDonalds.  And, then, just as we had nearly resigned all hope of finding this restaurant, aptly named Greek Joy, we saw a crucial landmark that led us to the right door way.  Chorus of angles sang out, light streamed from the heavens... Ok.  It was more like a chorus of "FINNNNALLLLLY", but at that point it was all music to my ears!

This little place was run by a Korean who had immigrated to Canada, bought a Greek restaurant from a Greek guy there who wanted to be done with the business, learned all that he need to know (including how to make his own feta cheese), ran the restaurant in Canada for 5 years, and returned to Korea to set up shop.  What are the odds? A Korean who lived in Canada, running an authentic Greek restaurant in Seoul.

And, he did not disappoint.  We had tzatziki, pita, chicken souflaki, a greek salad with fresh feta, moussaka.... Sorry, I'm starting to salivate, so I'll stop there before it gets sloppy.  And, the great news is now we know exactly where Greek Joy is, so we can get our fill anytime-- minus the drama of hunting for a needle in the haystack that is Seoul!

All in all, a great way to honor the man that has taken us to the ends of the earth, always makes life an adventure, and makes each day absolutely delicious.  Happy Birthday, Joe! Here's to many more mountain top moments in life!