Soraksan: A 3-WW Exercise

This is a true memory from travels in Korea back in 2000. The photo is of the Korean coastline just east of Soraksan National Park. Notice the guard towers and fence along the coast, designed to keep out North Korean spies. One of the places near here, where we were climbing, a group of climbers had been killed in the late 90s by a small team from the North who had slipped into the country. Soraksan means "snowy cragged mountains." Bone provides these three words for this Wednesday's exercise: forgotten, hotel and obscure.

I realized as soon as I’d hung up the phone that I was stupid. I’d forgotten to look at the number on our condo when I left to go downstairs to the lobby to a payphone where I could use a phone card to call back to the States. I looked around. I knew we were on the second floor, but there were at least 200 rooms on that floor as wings went out in five different directions. Feeling obscure, I stepped outside hoping the fresh air would clear my mind. It was February and we were in the mountains, only a short distance south of the DMZ. Snow was piled high and it was bitterly cold. With no coat, I quickly retreated back inside the hotel. I thought about going to the front desk, but I was staying in a condo with friends and I wasn’t even sure whose name the rooms had been registered. I’d just meet up with these folks that morning and with the exception of Chang Ran, whom I’d knew back in the States when we were both doing graduate studies, I didn’t even know their first names. She’d introduced her husband to me as Kim, which was his last name. He’d told me his first name, but said that I could call him Kim. I couldn’t recall what he said, nor could I pronounce or spell it if I could recall it. The other guy with us had been introduced as Cho, which was again his last name. Not knowing what to do, I walked around the lobby a few minutes as my heart pounded. Then I felt led to one of the long corridors. About half way down, a door flew open and Chang Ran stepped out. We smiled and nodded at each other as she headed down to the lobby and I stepped inside the suite. No one knew that I’d been lost, but it felt good to be back inside and I quickly feel asleep on the mat in my room.