Biking the Han--my first Korean holiday!!

So in Korea they have something I always thought we should've had in the states: Children's Day. I mean, we have mother's day, we have father's day, and both are important days honoring important peeps, but I mean, what about...the kids?!

Children's Day = holiday for everyone in Korea! Although I am selfishly happy as this effects me, it is truly for the kids. This is good, because the kids here go to school, ALL THE TIME. Everyone I have spoken to has said that the main one focus for their children is education and English English English. If you don't know English, supposedly you are doomed to be unsuccessful. These kids go to public school during the day, private English schools in the afternoon and night, and many of them go to school on Saturdays!! That's practically illegal as far as I'm concerned. I find that I am constantly reminded of this when I ask the kids on Monday, "So, how was your weekend!?" to find majority of them responding with, "Not good, I had school on Saturday." Oh yeah and also, they go to school YEAR AROUND. NO summer break!! What happened to a kid being a kid? I am almost certain that one of the most important things about growing up is having some good ol playtime and even some time to get in a bit of trouble...

But I digress. So Mal and I decide that on our holiday Wednesday, we are going to bike the Han River. We take the subway into the downtown area and are dropped off steps from the river. I have smelled many scents in Korea, however this Wednesday I experienced a new one. That was the smell of silk worms. Yes, eating boiled silk worms is a popular snack here in Korea. To be polite, I would say it smells just like you would think boiled worms would smell.

Anyway...we get in line and rent our beach cruiser bikes--basket and all!! And the trek begins. I have no idea how far we bike, I just know we bike for about 4 hours. Not bad. We take some very precarious routes as we decide to cross the river using some not so bike friendly bridges. At certain points, this involved carrying the beach cruiser up many flights of stairs, in flippy floppies. Ankles, feet, toes a bit banged up. However all in all, it was a great day!