Jeju Island!!!!

This past weekend me and Minjae went to Jejudo Island. For those of you who don't know, Jeju is an island off the southern tip of Korea. It is considered to be the "hot spot" of Korea; its almost tropical, and definitely the warmest place in the country. It is also one of the prettiest places in Korea, and one of the most famous places in Korea. Most people I have talked to that have lived in Korea say you have to go to Jeju at least once.

While we were driving around the island, we actually heard on the radio that Jeju is nominated to become one of the "new" seven wonders of the world. According to:

http://www.new7wonders.com/archives/wonder/jeju-island

Jeju island is one of the 28 finalists. While I am not sure that the world needs "new" 7 wonders (I still haven't seen any of the original 7 wonders, let alone a whole new list!!!) it is kinda great to see Korea recognized like that.

Our trip started off a bit rocky. Or should I say rainy. There were typhoons sceaming through Korea. Never having experienced a "typhoon" before, it was hard for me to distinguish this from a raging rainstorm. But, it was actually a deadly storm, killing 13 people, so they shouldn't be taken lightly. The winds were strong enough to delay our flight for two hours, but once we were off, the plane ride was smooth. It is only a one hour flight from Seoul.

Thankfully the typhoons had not made it down South. While it was cloudy it was super humid!

Jeju is a volcanic island, so the beaches and shores are full of dead black rocks and white sand. Quite the beautiful contrast.

We went to Hallim Park, which is like a giant environmental area. You walk around, and there are caves, and animals, and all sorts of plants. My Grandma, Dad and Trev went there on their trip to Jeju, and it is one of the tourist hotspots.

Minjae and I stayed at a "Guest House". Its very close to a hostel. We stayed at Joseph Tree Guest House, which I would recommend to anyone who is planning on going to Jeju. There is one room with bunk beds for the boys, and one for the girls.

If your looking for cutting costs, Guest Houses are the way to go in Korea.  It was less than 15 dollars a night, super clean, and we got free breakfast (and a semi-western one at that- toast and eggs, not rice and kimchi!!)!!

Our second day was definitely the best, weather wise, but it started off not so good. We wanted to go to Udo island. I know what your thinking... you go to an island, just to go to another island? But this island was only 20 minutes away by ferry and you can rent bikes and ride around the whole island in about 3 hours. But our first attempt to catch the ferry was shut down, because of high winds, so we went for a hike instead.

 This place was used to film a popular Korean drama, "All In" and so has become a popular tourist place in recent years.

After our walk, the ferries were finally running! We went to Udo and rented bikes, and before you lecture me (mum) I realize that I am not wearing a helmet. I do not condone riding bicycles without helmets. But.... they do not give you the option to wear one. Not a single rent place had helmets available for bicycles. On Udo the path along the shore of the island is filled with mostly bikes and scooters, and we were extra careful. It felt really weird though, and I knew I was doing something "wrong"!

As we were riding around the island we saw scuba divers. Why do I mention this? Well, in the picture below you can see the small figures coming in from sea. As it tuns out, Jeju is famous for this type of work. Apparently, Jeju was an island that was known for women working, and men not. The women go out to sea, diving, in the mornings, and work, catching fish, getting shellfish and grabbing seaweed. They swim on shore with giant bundles of their goods, and then sort through them, dry the seaweed, etc... And yes, the men do nothing. Its funny though, because even though men now have jobs on Jeju, this particular type of job is for women ONLY. Men are not allowed to do this job on Jeju island. 

This statue is the symbol of Jeju, and the job of the women divers.

After riding for about 2 hours, we stopped at a seaside restaurant. Since I got food poisoning during my first few months in Korea, which I think was from seafood soup, I have been apprehensive about shellfish and octopus in my food. But, this restaurant catches the food literally 100meters away. You can't get much fresher then that!

Minjae had fish, while had the soup. Hands down, best seafood soup I have had in Korea!

After we finished riding around the island, We went back to Jeju and went to a maze. Actually, it was accidental. As we were heading to the Manjanngul Lava Tubes, Minjae saw a sign for the maze and we decided to stop.

There is a bell that is your goal, and ringing it means sweat victory! And we made our way through he maze no problem!!! Okay. Not really. So we kind of cheated. The maze was actually really hard! 5% of people need to be rescued! We may have followed around a woman who was getting directions from her husband who was on a balcony over looking the maze. But this was only after almost 45 minutes of walking around, literally, in circles!

Our ast stop of the day was the Manjanggul Lava Tube. This is an underground, 1km cave, that was formed by flolwing lava.

The pictures are a bit blurry, and definitely does not do the tube justice, but it was absolutely incredible to be walking through this really dark, bitter cold, and soggy tube.

On our final day it rained. And I mean, it really rained. But we were still determine to keep most of our plans. So we went to the most famous waterfall on Jeju.

Yes, I was determine to get a picture in front of the waterfall, even though it was a complete downpour! The water was murky because of all the rain, but normally the stream is so clear you can see down to the bottom, and the countless fish swimming in the river.

We also headed on another mini hike, this time to the coast where the lava had formed these cylinder rocks.

The cylinder rocks are the ones jutting out on the left

The waves were crashing, the rain was pouring, but the black rocks are freakin' awesome!!!!

Our final stop was O Sulloc Tea Farm. It is the main tea farm on Jeju, and I was really surprised about what tea plants actually look like. They had  museum of tea pots, which I loved- I took about a million pictures of tea pots to show my ceramics teacher when I get om, they were so cool.

You can't go to a tea farm without having some tea, but we decided to skip the drink and go for the icecream. Green tea icecream. If you haven't tried it, you must! Its not too sweet, and has a really nice mild flavour.

Our trip was wonderful, despite minor weather setbacks. I am slowly crossing off my "List of Things to Do While I am Korea" and Jeju was definitely one of those that was worth the trip!!!


Oh..... and because I laughed for about 20 minutes, and because I told her I must inform Bud about this, I leave you with the wonderful parking techniques of Minjae Yu:

Its officially summer....

And it is hot.

Let me rephrase. It is HUMID!

I consider "hot" a nice summers day in Victoria; one of those rare days where the temperature hits almost 30 degrees, the wind is blowing, and the sun literally warms all of the exposed skin of everyone littering the beaches and lakes. You literally feel the heat radiating from your skin, yet, you can find refuge in the shade or a burst of wind. Ah. Victoria.

Currently, I shower, walk to my closet and already I have perspiration drips on my upper lip. No matter how many fans or how much airconditioning, the humidity seeps into every crevice of my entire life. My body has been in a permanent state of clamminess these last couple weeks. Its not just about embarrassing stains under the armpits- oh no. Korean humidity causes unwanted lower back sweat, really unsightly neck sweat, and, if you should be so lucky, underboob sweat. I have even started seeping out of places that I didn't know even had sweat glands, and I played college softball- in Tennessee! There is no cure. You can't escape it.

Having divulged WAY to much information about the state of my clammy skin, I am happy to report that nothing and everything has happened in the last couple weeks. We are busy at school planning new lessons for our summer program, which I am absolutely thrilled about! Our theme? Wild Wild West! Oh yes, that's right. Korea is going Country! Okay, so I know "technically" Wild West isn't "Country" per say, but you better believe that I will be wearing a cowboy hat daily.

It seems that as the weather gets hotter, I find more and more things to do that make me sweat. Oh the irony.
Last weekend we climbed to a pagoda that over looks our "small town" of Ansan.

If you look really closely you can see my apartment! Okay. No. Thats not true. But I do live somewhere in the top left direction. Really. 

Aside from a great view of Ansan a few things happened on our hike/walk that make Korea fantastic.

1) I have a group of friends that not only loves show tunes and musicals, but has no problems belting selected songs out on walks. There is nothing like a medley of songs from Rent, Aladdin, and Moulin Rouge to make an average walk that much better. And hey, even if we scared away some Koreans... once you start singing "Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes..." its hard to stop, and I secretly think they like it.

2) Sometimes, but only if your really lucky, you can find giant dragon statues. And climb them. And then take pictures. 

 3) And just when you think you night can't get any better, you have handsome boys who want to put flowers in your hair- and in theirs too.

So how do you recover from a night hike? Well I go on another one, this time I bit more intense than the other. While I have said this before, and it probably will not be the last time, it is outstanding to see so many apartments in such a small amount of space.

 And, if you look really closely... you can see the sweat marks running down my chest. Hazy day. Humid life.

While most of you will not notice, for those of you who are questioning my "hiking" attire....yes, I am wearing a dress. While I was never the kind of girl to play ball with my hair down, I can hike in almost anything with the right pair of shoes. Thats right. I climbed a mountain in a dress. No big deal. 

Whats a person to do when they are not hiking? Well in Ansan they put on festivals. Ok. Let me not make that sound like they do this every weekend. But since the sun started shining more and the people started sweating more, there have been numerous "festivals".


This one was particularly bizarre, not to mention crowded.

We watched some street performers, and saw a show. At least I could stand on my tiptoes. Some of my smaller companions had to guess what was happening!

This street is about a ten minute walk from my apartment, and I could hear the noise all the way home.....

In other news I learned how to make "kimbab". The easiest way to explain kimbab? Poor mans sushi. It is like a sushi roll, but with different ingredients. It is one of those foods that has to grow on you. At first, the thought of seaweed, radish and leaves wrapped in rice doesn't sound appealing. But, then you discover chamchi Kimbab- tuna, and cheege Kimbab- cheese, and Kimbab becomes a 2 night a week meal. It is cheap- kimbab is usually 1,000 or 2,000 won, depending on the flavour.

My friend Haeho is Kimbab-maker-extraordinaire.... my first few attempts were slightly pathetic. But I got the hang of it! Most kimbab have the following:

Rice
Seaweed
Pickled radish
Ham
Fish cake
Sesame leaves
Carrots
Imitation crab

So there is my Korea "dump" as I like to call it. Nothing too exciting. Blog worthy? Well, for me... yes!!!

Last note: In my spare time I go to batting cages. They are just on the streets in between restaurants and stores. 500 won will get you 20 balls. (Thats less that 50 cents). And yes. I am batting in  a skirt.

I'm back...

Alright friends. Some of you may be wondering why I have not posted in a while. I know.... you are all missing out on your weekly AKA posts. The reality is that a lot of neat things have happened in the last three weeks,  but the truth is that my beloved camera has seen better days. While I used to enjoy taking pictures, ol' silverfox has made it extremely difficult- there is a ten second delay from when the button is pressed and when the actual picture is taken, not only causing frustration and shaking for those holding poses, but also resulting in numerous contorted face shots, none of which should ever be allowed to be posted on the Internet. So, while I wait for a new camera, I need only to take photos when deemed absolutely necessary. This weekend was one of those, and like a champ, my camera pulled through.

This weekend I went camping with my closest friends in Korea. Monday was memorial day in Korea, so it was a perfect opportunity for camping. We went to an island on the western coast: Deokjeokdo. Me, Kelly, Sangdo, Lily, Haeho and Min, travelled together, and met Joe, Will, Jess, Noah, Sharon and Charlotte on the island. Its not quite like western camping. There are no designated stalls, you sent up your tent wherever you want. Where did we get a tent from? Good question. All of our equipment was rented online. Yup. They sent us huge boxes of sleeping bags, stoves, lanterns, and tents. We use the equipment and then send it back when we are finished. Its perfect for people who don't want to buy camping gear, or are limited in the amount of luggage space they have. Since the boys were carrying the tent, I offered to carry our sleeping bags. My pacsac was RIDICULOUS!

Yes, this was the bag I had to carry.

So heavy.

Heading to Deojeokdo

I had to take the subway by myself to meet the group, with a bag that I am convinced weighed at least 147 pounds, constantly knocking small Korean people out of the way with my huge protruding napsac.

The island was beautiful- so refreshing to see the ocean and green! There were small villages throughout the island, but it was not a concrete jungle like we are used to in Seoul. We stayed on Seo Po Ri Beach, halfway across the island. We set up camp in the wooded area near the beach, and conveniently the bathroom.

Our campsite

Me and Will, chillin in his hammock

 We went and played on the beach, and actually went into the water. It wasn't the warmest water but comparably to Witty's in the summer.

The port at Deokjeokdo

Fish anyone? And they wonder why Korea is smelly.

My favorite memory from the camping trip would have to have been Sunday night. A few of us decided to go for a night walk on the beach. There were fluorescent algae in the sand, so when ever you stepped it looked like sparkles were surrounding your feet. We walked over to a bonfire, that was mostly foreigners. After offering us a beer, we joined the group in a beautiful acoustic version of "Don't look back in anger" that I think even Oasis would be proud of. After everyone was introducing themselves and most of the group was Canadian. Most were from the East coast, but there is something so comforting about meeting fellow Canadians in foreign country. Even though you know nothing about that person, the fact that you share the same heritage somehow bonds you. We completed our introductions-- to the Americans dismay-- with the signing of our national anthem. Yup. right there, on Deojeokdo island, a group of Canadians went proud and true!

The great thing about not having an official "camp site" (aside from not having pesky park rangers, and no campist fees) is that there is also no checkout time! Our ferry home didn't leave until 4pm so we took our sweet time in the morning! The early bird I am, was up at 7:30, so while everyone slept off their hangovers, I went for a walk on the beach and through the town. We had a leisurely brunch, and played on the beach some more.

The ferry ride home was quite the experience. I travelled back a different way then I came, and with a much lighter bag. The boys took the gear, and the water, vodka and jello shots were all finished, so the weight was much less. How are Korean ferries different then say, B.C. Ferries? Well seats are hard to come by. There are a few benches if your lucky enough to get them. Most Koreans carry a mat they can unfold and sit on anywhere possible. Separate exit for foot passengers? Nope. Weave your way in and out of offloading cars, while carrying camping gear trying to to get hit, or sideswipe a car.

Camping in Korea was a success!  But boy...was it good to shower.

Reflections....

Okay... so I know its a completely cliche saying, but I have been watching a lot of "Mulan" in my cinema class, so reflections it is! I have now been in Korea for almost 5 months. And I just looked back at my previous posts, and laughed, fully belly, body shaking laughs! Oh how naive I was about this country and this culture!

I am pleased to report that I since my "First Impressions" my eyes have been opened (though not surgically), and my heart and mind has been overwhelmed with the details of this country, that you can only experience by living here.

I no longer crave the warm, soft pillow of heated floor that I did in the winter time. For a while there, I though everyone was lying to me, there was no sign of Miss Spring showing her warm face anywhere. But gradually, those chilly nights, and tear forming winds, have turned into a lovely spring. Almost overnight- literally- the dull, drab brown tress grew leaves, and the whippy wind turned into an almost humid breeze. Stay tuned for thoughts on summer- apparently it gets pretty sticky!

My apartment is still the same. Small. Small. Small. But being only one person, I really don't need the luxury of more than one room. I have learned that many things can double up, and well, at least I have a separate bathroom. You have to look for the good, right! All of the food, toiletries, and random things Trevor left for me are almost gone. Yes, I have gone 5 months without having to buy toilet paper- which really is quite a long time, considering the size of my bladder. And there is something so embarrassing about buying toilet paper- really. I finally found all of the statues from his Doritos bags, hiding on top of my air conditioner, and have donated all his left over hair products to a friend who was in dire need of a hair makeover (meaning he just needed some gel to do it).

I still maintain that the floor is comfier than my bed, because, well, my bed is like a giant 2x4. And at least there is a little bit of cushion on the floor. I will return with a back that looks like a question mark, and the ability to sleep on a board made of nails. You know, just in case I ever had to!

Finally, I will admit, kimchi, like most Korean food, has grown on me. It is serve at almost every meal, and in all different forms. My favorite is "oiesobagi" kimchi, that is made out of cucumbers. The longer I am here, the less I am craving food from home. I love to eat chamchi-kimbab, which is almost comparable to a sushi roll, but made with Korean ingredients (like radish, ham, roots, etc..), and even have had a hankering for
dak -poki, a saucy mix of spice, rice cakes, and fish cake. I know- if you told me when I first arrived that I would be craving this, I would have said, you are crazy!!! And...it has finally happened. I love spicy food. I couldn't even handle some hot chicken wings when I was back home. Just last night I had chicken so spicy, my nose started to run, my lips were burning, and not even beer could sooth the fire! But I found it delicious! Maybe, lack of options has led me down my love for spice, or simply, the overwhelming flavours...whatever the reason, I have been reborn into a spicy food lover.

Throughout these past few months, I have realized how generous and open Korean people are. I have met so many wonderful people from this country, some for only a few hours, while others have become good friends. This country is a different kind of friendly- people don't smile at you on the side of the street- but they will pound your back if you have a coughing fit, or go out of their way to find you a band aid two minutes after they meet you.

Of course, while Korea has so far been beautiful, I think of home everyday. I crave a Victoria breeze and walk along the lagoon everyday. I am missing my family, and friends, and I sometimes think, wouldn't it be great if they could all come on these adventures with me? But, being here by myself has allowed me to really take a look at the person I have become. And these experiences are part of the milestones that build my life. On a completely unsentimental note- if you can believe it or not, do you know what I am missing most lately? Baby spinach. I know. You thinking, really, out of all the foods, that is what you crave? But there is no baby spinach here, and oh what I wouldn't give for a hearty homemade baby spinach salad right now.

Alright- off to lunch. Kimchi of course, seaweed soup and whatever else is on the menu today!

Annyeonghigaseyo for now!!!!!

Soju Queen, the Pimp Cup and sexy-tuplets.....

Indeed...

Life is so funny sometimes! Going to a foreign country, where they don't speak English and you don't speak their language can be intimidating, and to be honest, for some people lonely. But I have been so lucky to find a group of people, who are not only just as awe-inspiring as me (ha!), but open to all sorts of delicious adventures!

This past weekend was so much fun, without anything really profound happening! Okay... well.. we did have a Soju party, which I guess started off the weekend of awesome.

I have wrote about soju before. It is a Korean alcohol, mostly made from rice. It is only about 20% so it doesn't have the shock of vodka, and is a bit sweet. But over the course of time, we have all come to realize that you can mix soju with just about anything. I mean, really, anything. Koreans usually have shots throughout their meals but it can be added to soda, juice, beer,slushies, without adding any sort of terrible flavour. It just sort of mixed in with the drink. Oh, and its cheap. I mean really cheap. I mean, one bottle is only 1,500won, about 2 dollars Canadian. I know. Crazy. People would die in Canada if you could have this much alcohol, this cheap in Canada. Oh the perks of Korea!


And so, yours truly, came up with the idea for a "Soju Cocktail Party". Everyone was to make one drink made from Soju. Everyone gets a taste, and the winner will be crowned King or Queen of Soju, and recieve a number of great prizes! This is where the awesome friends come in. They were just as enthusiastic about it as I was!

All drinks were made with soju as their main ingredient:
- Will: Chocolate cake Shot
-Jessica: Gummy Bear Martini
-Noah: White chocolate
- Joe: Peppero Delight
-Ashton: Blueberry Yumyum (okay. It was actually called "lovertits" but thats a bit inappropriate)

And.... drumroll please... The winner was......

JOE!!!! As part of winning Korea's Next Top Soju Queen his prizes included:

- A cape made out of a Korean Flag
- A staff made out of an old curtain rod
- A pimp cup, decorate by the best (me)
- A weeks supply of Costco macaroni and cheese
- And the title of "Soju Queen" for the rest of the night

The bar we were going to afterwards was having a party- Halfway to Halloween. In our excitement over our Soju party, none of us even thought about costumes. But as you know, a moustache is always a great addition to any party, and can be used as a costume for any occasion. Our costume? The sexy-tuplets (ok-for those of your who are mathematically inclined there are 7 of us not 6-- but thats a minor detail, and you can't make the word "sexy" out of "seven").

And now to plan Round 2....