March 3rd, still in a winter climate, there was warm sunshine and refreshing air. I was hiking on the way to the Bukhan Mountain with my roommate. By the way, he had been studying at the Kookmin University for 3 years, and this was his first time exploring the Bukhan Mountain. This was also my first time visiting a National Park in Korea, so we couldn’t wait to see what was waiting for us.

When we just entered the National Park, here came a big surprise.

A small black striped yellow squirrel appeared right in front of us, so I quickly pulled out my digital camera. But, before I could press the button, my roommate’s cell phone rang loudly.

The squirrel quickly jumped into the nearby underbrush and hid inside a small hole. But with some luck, I took its picture before it completely hid itself. Suddenly again, some rustling came from the grove and it was a squirrel as well. But different from the last, this squirrel was brown, big, and had hairy ears. It kept climbing the tree and jumped from one tree to other like a circus clown in the forest.

Then, we kept walking on the trail for about an hour and saw a thin river covered in snow. It was my first time seeing such a beautiful sight in nature. I finally could understand why the ancient poets wrote so many poems about the snow. I like the four-seasoned climate countries. Unfortunately we can take the same seasons to all the countries. This time on April 7th, I decided to explore Bukhan by myself with complete equipment. In spite of being scared of getting lost or heading into trouble, I figured we need to live our lives to the fullest.

This time the weather was warmer and the birds came to join the spring carnival. The sounds of flute carried from a faraway temple as if to tell the story of the mountain. At the same time, the powerful sounds of the waterfall and the clear and quiet sound of trickling stream seemed to be having a conversation. This time the trail was filled with some yellow flowers, and the white coat of the river was taken off by the spring. I was eating some rice balls as lunch with grape juice next to the river and whoever said the most delicious food is the most gorgeous cuisine at the most expensive restaurant? The nature always taught me lessons from the heart.  

Then, I saw some families bringing bottles to get the water from the spring, so I also got my bottle and filled it with water, which tasted very fresh but had some bubbles inside.

I kept climbing the mountain for 3 hours and I finally arrived at the top of the mountain. Then, guessed what was waiting for me? It was the unbelievable view of Seoul. I could see the Namsan Tower and Kookmin University.  This was the very spot I always stared at from my campus. A little farther away, I could only see the white apartments that looked like a white ocean around the mountains.   

Last but not the least, one of the famous sculptors once said, “Beauty is everywhere. It is not that she is lacking to our eye, but our eyes which fail to perceive her.” Although I did not find ‘spring’ in the mountain, when I observed the smiles of other climbers’ faces that maybe the ‘spring’ is always with us, but our eyes fail to perceive her.

Oliver Hsu(An exchange student)

123sun@livemail.tw