Went to Gangneung with my crew.
One of my colleagues mentioned that with the KTX, we could zip there and back, leaving at lunch and returning by dinner. Being stuck in front of a monitor, surrounded by white walls, made the idea of a quick getaway appealing. A quick check online showed that a trip from Cheongnyangni Station to Gangneung takes about an hour and a half. It’s been ages since I last saw the sea, not since my trip to Jeju last year. I mean, it’s not mandatory to see the ocean annually, but still…
On a slightly laid-back day, we grabbed our bags and headed to Gangneung. Before I knew it, while pondering what to do next, the train had already zipped past Yangpyeong. 🌟
Back in the day, a trip to Gangneung meant enduring a five-hour bus ride. As a kid prone to motion sickness, crossing Daegwallyeong was pure torture. The endless twists felt like a centrifuge spinning my mind into oblivion, only to regain composure near the boundary of Daegwallyeong. But in late 2015, the 22-kilometer Daegwallyeong Tunnel, slicing through Pyeongchang and Gangneung, was completed. This cut the travel time from Seoul to Gangneung by bus from over five hours to just about an hour and a half. Hallelujah! Thanks to this, Gangneung and Seoul became a day-trip zone, and the Pyeongchang Olympics was a hit.
Anyway, thanks to this, we reached Gangneung comfortably and without a care in the world. We devoured the famous Chodang sundubu, then set off to the Anmok Beach cafe street. Initially, our next stop was supposed to be the Ojukheon, the birthplace of Shin Saimdang. But after taking in the sea, we ended up lounging on a rooftop cafe by the sunny shores. Honestly, I’ve passed by Nakseongdae countless times in Seoul but never visited General Gang Gam-chan’s birthplace. ‘As long as things are where they should be, that’s enough.’ As I mused, someone piped up while staring at the sea.
Colleague A: How far do you think it is to that horizon?
Colleague B: Hmm, 10 kilometers? 100 kilometers?
If you’re curious, just calculate it!
— Let me do the math for you.
I always carry a pen and notebook, so this was a breeze.
— So, we’re on the rooftop of a 4-story building, looking out at the sea. Assuming each floor is about 3 meters, our eye level is around 13 meters above ground.
— Then, if we draw a line from our view to the water’s edge, we form a right triangle with the Earth’s center. Like this:
— Now, let’s set the distance we want to find as x and, for convenience, call the Earth’s radius y. Using the Pythagorean theorem, the square of the longest side (Earth’s radius + 13m) equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides: Earth’s radius, y, and the distance we want, x. Just plug in the Earth’s radius of 6,400km for y and do the math.
As I expanded the equation and eliminated unnecessary variables, people suddenly said, ‘We’re off for a smoke. You keep calculating.’ Using my smartphone’s scientific calculator, I quickly found the distance to be around 13 kilometers—a distance easily covered by bike in about an hour. Soon, I heard footsteps climbing the stairs.
— Got the distance. It’s, you know…
Colleague B: But do we really need to visit Ojukheon?
Colleague A: Well, since we’re here, we might as well check it out…
Colleague B: Then let’s move quickly!
— …
(Why bother going to Ojukheon when even people who’ve never visited General Gang Gam-chan’s birthplace in Seoul are here? Besides, I figured out that distance everyone was curious about. Didn’t you just guess 100 kilometers? You’d be surprised to see how off that was!)
Colleague B: Hey, is Shin Saimdang’s name Saimdang or Imdang?
Colleague A: It’s Saimdang.
Colleague B: Is that her real name or a nickname?
(Why bring up nicknames? ‘Saim’ is her pen name. Her real name isn’t clearly documented. And, by the way, the distance is 13 kilometers!)
But whether she was a legend, a code name, or just plain cool, my friends didn’t care as they slowly descended the building.
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