Grumpy in Geumgang

tonight i leave for a weekend long hiking trip with the Seoul International Hiking Club. we are going to North Korea! yup, the place where evil spins around on an axis like a pinwheel ~ N.Korea! it's a mountain called GeumGangSan (금강산) that is leased by S.Korea and located in N.Korea. we get special visitation passes to enter into that territory (taking a bus right over the DMZ); our Passports won't even be stamped with entry/exit immigration stamps (boo hoo) so we won't be able to prove that we've been there ... which i guess could be a good thing! lol

so i'm trying to forget about that fact that i got hit 8 times last night while i slept by those pesky korean mosquitoes (3 on my face, 1 on each arm, 3 on my ankle - all within an inch radius of each other ... i'm not waiting until next year as i thought i could yesterday for the bed-time mosquito net which i'll be purchasing after i return to seoul) and i will be itching my way up and down the mountain ...

she'll be itchin' 'round the mountain when she comes

and i'm trying to forget about the fact that i started my period and will have that to deal with on this trip: super long bus rides from here to there, hiking in no-mans-land with primitive bathroom facilities with no sink or water or soap for proper hand washing (packed some anti-bacterial hand sanitizer), staying the night in shared accommodations (think a bunch of us sleeping on the floor in one big room - most likely the same room that access the bathroom) where it's gonna be hard to handle private business privately

and i'm trying to forget about the fact that i'm coming down with a cold and will be all snotty (packed two packs of tissues) and coughy (purchased Cherry Robitussin cough suppressants) and achy (packed some Contact Cold & Flu) and grumpy (packed some snacks) and tired (slept for 14 hours straight last night; came home at 4pm, went to be at 5pm and woke up this morning at 7am).

and i'm trying to forget about the fact that i lost my back up camera battery and will be out photo-snapping with only one battery (packed the battery charger so at night i can re-charge)

and i'm trying to forget about the fact that i ~still~ don't have any hiking boots. sneakers have sufficed for all previous hikes in lieu of proper footwear (i just haven't got the budget yet for spending what it takes for good hiking boots) but this time the coordinators have stressed and urged and stressed again the importance of wearing proper foot gear on this hike while at the same time saying GuemGangSan is really no different from the mountains that we've hiked in/around Seoul. (???)

enter a glimmer of hope: i saw a pair of hiking boots on the patio right outside my bedroom door and sure enough they fit (yes, i tried them on, after verifying there weren't any creatures that had made their new home in them of course - the boots have been sitting out there for the past couple of weeks now) and they fit like a glove, they are my size, they are perfect: waterproof and worn-in!

so, as though having those boots on my hike would make forgetting all the other things that i'm trying to forget easier, i've attached myself to the goal of borrowing those boots as though it were a matter of national foot security. the only problem is, i have no idea whose boots they are and no one is home and i leave in 3 hours.

so i ask you: is wearing someone else's worn-in shoes akin to wearing someone else's underwear? (clean! clean underwear! common now!)