Welcome to 2010 //Sokcho, South Korea

2010 began in a small port city on the East Coast in-sync with two Korean lads, Aubrie, my Korean partner-in-crime, and Marco, a German couch surfing comrade who stopped through Korea on his move from Germany to Australia. Sokcho is enclosed between the East Sea and Saurak Mountain. The streets are small and the buildings not so high. The city is quiet at night and the white mountain caps are never far from sight.

New Year's Eve was Korean style eating galbi and sitting on plastic stools with a grill in the middle. Pick your meat from the cooler and cook it at your table. The Korean BBQ and drinks lead to companionship with the young Korean-Americans at the table next to us, as well as the adjummas running the restaurant who were sharing drinks with us, telling me about there love lives, and receiving booty taps from a certain light haired someone. ;)

Up at 6:30 AM January 1^st 2010. We made our way to the beach to catch the first sunrise of the decade. The radiant colors from the sun ahead and the white caps in the crisp blue water below offered a beautiful beginning to the year ahead.

Sokcho's quaintness enchanted us all. On our second day we woke up to heavy snowflakes gracing the ground. By the time we had our morning coffee and toast the land was painted white. From our first step outdoors we started a battle with snowballs that lasted all weekend; it was every man for himself.

//Seaside Temple//

At the beach, the playing boys resulted in oranges lost at sea. Six wet shoes and frozen feet were the result of the rescue mission.

Toes were warmed and egos boosted while playing like kids at the bating cages.

The long weekend included two noraebang excursions. One painful due to the tone deafness of our ears, the other due to the snoring coming from the Korean in the corner.

We climbed a bit in Sauraksan. The land was white and bitter cold, but the sun was shining and the clear blue sky encouraged us higher and higher.

[marco sets the scale, and he is one tall German!]

Sokcho's escape from the city was a perfect beginning to the New Year. With high hopes for 2010, we headed back to Seoul with a love for the small wonderland placed between the mountain and sea.