Koreans have a hiking tradition that I think is great: letting out the loudest yaaaa-hoooo possible once they reach the top of a peak. Some people have told me it's supposed to be good for relieving stress; I haven't personally tried it, but it seems to me that it just might work!
I live at the base of a mountain, so I occasionally hear those barbaric yawps when I'm running on campus in the morning. Today I went for an early-morning hike instead; I'm going on a 5-day hiking trip in Norway in August, and I want to break in my new hiking shoes (and socks, which are a wool-bamboo blend. Yes, bamboo: it's supposed to keep my feet cool and bacteria-free, I think. Seriously, what will they think of next??). Anyway, as I was coming down hill at the end of my hike this morning, I heard repeated yawps from an adult followed by a child's echo. Eventually I met them on the trail; it was a tiny grandma (her size made the yawp she was producing all the more impressive) and a young girl who looked to be about 8. The girl was doing pretty well until she saw me and was presumably embarrassed, at which point her YAAAHOOOO changed to a much softer yahoo. That prompted her grandmother to provide another example yawp and some encouragement: "Louder! Louder!" The girl's next one after she passed me was better - still not that loud, but a much longer yaaaaahoooooo.
My apologies to those of you who check back here regularly for updates, which have been sporadic of late. I'll be spending most of August in Europe, which will hopefully provide some good fodder for travel blog posts. Just eight days now to Vilnius - YAAAAAHOOOOOO!
4 comments:
Just eight days and counting down. Yes we look forward to seeing you as well. The kids are anxious to see "who Heather is". Leandra asked if she could just call you Heather or if she had to call you Miss Heather. I told her because you were cousins, Heather would work just fine.
Yes, it is good to see an update :-) My kids would love to see cousin Heather again!! Thanksgiving? Have fun with Alex, Rachel and kids!! And have a great August...it sounds a lot better than what we have planned!
heidi
Are you prepared for the high prices in Norway? Heard last week that gas is $11 per gallon; you probably won't be driving but those prices affect other transportation as well as various other entities. Gus said he read that a hamburger at McD is also $11. Again, not that you'd eat there, but... He says, "try reindeer stew; you'll probably learn how to order it in Norwegian."
We know that you know how to travel thriftily. Have fun!
The E's
I always enjoy your posts Heather and I especially got a kick out of this one. Earlier today I read an e-mail/forward of Aunt Mary & Kirsten's hiking for a spiritual experience in NC with the GEMS convention and thought about how Mary should have read this before that hike and tried it out! :) We are hoping to do a little hiking yet this summer - we'll see if we are more like the g'ma or the 8 year old...what's up with those hiking Korean g'ma's anyway, are they just fashioned different or just in that good of shape? any idea? Kirsten kept telling Mary about them too. Quite amazing! Anyway, thanks for the enlightening reading material! Have fun on your trips! - kristi stiemsma
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