24 Hours in Jeju

On the ferry leaving Jeju

We returned to work on Thursday after Chuseok for two days of work before the weekend. For the second consecutive Saturday I woke up early (though this time before the break of dawn) to get to U-Square to catch a bus. I met the rest of the our little traveling gang (two other teachers and the mother of one of them, who was visiting from the states) to catch a cab to the station and we took the 6:20 bus to Mokpo. The sun came up during the 50 minute bus ride, and after arriving in Mokpo we made our way via taxi to the ferry terminal.
The idea of going to Jeju thrilled me when they invited me to go along, but I underestimated just how interesting and enjoyable the ferry ride would end up being. It was a large boat with four decks with cabins above the space for vehicles. There was a restaurant with Korean food, as well as a bakery, a convenience store, and a souvenir shop (that I saw...there were parts of the boat I didn't fully explore). After boarding, we made our way to our ticketed space on the ferry. We were in an economy cabin, which was an open room about the size of my apartment. We left our shoes on a rack in the hall and went in to claim our stretch of floorspace along the wall.
If I end up going back to Jeju by ferry (which I plan on doing at some point) I'll get economy tickets again. Soon after we sat down, our room and the rooms around us began to fill up with Korean hikers, most of whom were chatting jovially and many of whom were toting boxes and bags of food and drink. The atmosphere was very friendly and lively, which felt appropriate given my own excitement about visiting the island.
When I first started thinking of trying to work in Korea I toyed with the idea of trying to get a job in Jeju. It's a very popular vacation destination here. Its southern location makes its climate milder than the rest of Korea, and the tallest mountain in South Korea, Hallasan, is located on the island as well. We postulated that many of the people we saw wearing hiking clothes and toting packs and poles were on their way to climb Hallasan. The combination of these volcanic sites, the warmer climate, and the lush vegetation lead to Jeju being considered sort of Korea's version of Hawaii.
Thinking of it this way intrigued me when I started daydreaming of going halfway around the world to teach for a year. This was also when I still figured I would be living like a hermit for a year, so being on a semi-remote island halfway around the world didn't seem to daunting. Now that I've been here a while, it seems that working on Jeju could be inconvenient for someone looking to travel often. The island isbeautiful, and there seemed to be a lot to do there to stay busy. But living on Jeju would add several hours and plane or ferry ticket expenses to any travel on the mainland.
This may not be too bad, however, as the ferry ride was very enjoyable. We grabbed some food from the bakery and restaurant after the boat set sail, and spent a couple of hours out on the decks just watching as we passed dozens of islands off the southern coast on the way out of Mokpo. I was still tired from the early wake-up and travel, so I went back to our little room and stretched out on the floor for a nap. I ended up sleeping for around an hour, which was much longer than I expected to manage on a floor in the daytime surrounded by strangers. I felt surprisingly comfortable, though, and shortly after I woke up we arrived at Jeju.

The boat brought us in on the north side of the island. From there we took a taxi to our hotel on the south coast of the island. The ride took less than an hour, as Jeju is not a very large island. The hotel was right on the coast with an ocean view. We grabbed some lunch and went to explore before night fell. The coastline near the hotel was rather rocky, but there was a spot to climb down on the rocks at the water's edge, which I loved. My parents sometimes reminisce about a trip we took to Yellowstone when I was younger. Along the way, we stopped in the Badlands in South Dakota. They tell me that I had a blast scrambling around some of the rocks there, and I can believe it. I don't have any technical rock-climbing experience, but this spot provided just the sort of minimal challenge that I find enjoyable. We played around there for about half an hour, and I took some video.

Since we weren't able to get in the water on this part of the coast, we ended up requesting a cab from the hotel desk, and went to a beach area a few miles away. We arrived shortly before sundown.

Although Jeju is the closest thing Korea has to a tropical vacation spot, the weather was already slightly chilly, it being October, so I was a bit nervous about going into the water. Even so, we made our way out into the surf. There was a long stretch of clear, shallow water that was barely to my knees. We walked through the water for about 200 meters before we finally reached a spot that was deep enough to actually swim a bit without scraping against the bottom. There we dove into the waves, bracing for the cold.
I'm very glad we found this beach and got to it before sundown, because it was a thrill to be floating in the ocean again, for the first time since being in the Outer Banks this summer. As much as I love the mountains, as it gets colder I find myself reminiscing more about staring out at the waves crashing in or of treading in the surf, bobbing up and down. As I floated out there, I tried to capture some of the spirit with some video looking back over the stretch of shallow water we walked through to get out to the waves. Sorry for the shaking. I was treading with my legs and one arm while holding the camera with the other. Hopefully it does give an idea of what a gorgeous scene it was:

Before long, that sun had sunk beneath those buildings, and we trudged through the water back to shore, shivering from the chill. We caught a cab back to the hotel before having dinner and enjoying an evening exploring the hotel grounds. The next day we took the taxi back to the other side of the island (while taking in some spectacular views of the forests on the island's interior) and were on the ferry back to Mokpo that afternoon. The photo at the top of this post was taken as we were leaving Jeju. It was a lovely ferry ride, as we were able to watch the sunset over the ocean.
It was a fantastic weekend, the second in a row for me. Even though we were only on the island for about a day in total, it provided a restful break and felt like a wonderful escape. Jeju was much quieter and quainter than I expected, at least the parts we saw. It is likely much busier during the regular tourist season, but I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the natural beauty of the place, especially the little stretch of coast near our hotel. Sure, it was chilly and short-lived, but I really did feel as though I'd had a taste of paradise, especially while floating out there in the waves.

Before I sign off for this post, I want to thank the other teachers who invited me to join them for this trip! They've taken great care of me while I've been here, making me feel very welcome and helping me find my way around here. I really enjoyed traveling with you guys and I look forward to doing so again soon!

The Rest of Chuseok in Seoul

On Sunday morning, September 30, I woke up around 7am and had a bagel and milk for breakfast courtesy of Hyun-ho's parents before heading off with Hyun-ho to his church, which was a tall, beautiful building about a ten minute walk from his apartment. We walked across a stream to get there, and from the other side we took pictures with the apartment building visible in the background:

I was able to do some sightseeing in Seoul, as I wrote in the last post and will describe in this one, but visiting this church service was a great example of how wonderful the less obvious experiences can be for me. We went early because he was helping with the music for a service for middle-schoolers. I met a few of his friends from the church and then had some tea and listened to them practice the songs for the service. The church usually has an English language service, apparently, but so many members were traveling for Chuseok that the service had been cancelled. The pastor giving the sermon for the middle-schoolers was usually the English language service pastor, and he introduced himself to me before the service. While giving the sermon he was kind enough to pause from time to time to give me a translation of what he'd been saying. It made me feel self-conscious at first, since I was the only foreigner there and would not have minded just listening to Korean service, but it was a warm gesture and I appreciated his making sure I had a better idea of what he was preaching.

After the sermon a couple more songs were sung, and I actually joined in the final song once I recognized the melody:
"All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In his presence daily live
I surrender all, I surrender all
All to Jesus I surrender
I surrender all."
This is another one I've heard and sung countless times back home, and hearing it again here, I couldn't help but grin. I also really enjoy hearing the songs I don't recognize as well, but some nostalgia is nice once in a while too. Nostalgia is not quite the right term, though. It's more a thrill I feel in recognizing that these things I grew up with can be found halfway around the world as well, and the thrill is much more profound when it's a hymn instead of a hamburger.

After a delicious dinner back at the apartment (pork galbi, if I remember correctly, with more pajeon and lots of great banchan) Hyun-ho and I caught the bus to Jongno. Our first destination was Gyeongbokgung Palace. We spent about an hour looking around the palace grounds which were beautiful and expansive. There were many foreigners touring the complex, and also a lot of the Korean children were wearing hanboks, traditional Korean dress, for the holiday. One family was kind enough to let their kids get in a picture so you can see what the hanboks look like:

I went relatively picture-crazy with my new camera at the palace, as it was filled with gorgeous designs and interesting juxtapositions of traditional design with the modern skyscrapers of Jongno district outside the palace walls. Here are a few of the better photographs I got there:

After leaving Gyeongbokgung we crossed the street to a festival that was being held across from the palace with musical performances and booths set up with various activities to take part in, including making different foods and crafts.

In the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that I debated for sometime whether or not I should share this picture, as I realized my intimidating look would be disturbing for some of you. However, I decided it had enough cultural relevance to merit its inclusion. I also had my picture taken with King Sejong, creator of Hangul:

King Sejong is the big golden figure on the right side of the picture, by the way, and not the hanbok kid intrigued by the awkward waygook in her way. It made for a nice goodbye to summer to see all the bright colors of traditional Korean dress for the Chuseok festivities, as shown in the picture of festival performers below:

From here we began walking toward Insadong, a popular area for tourists with lots of shops selling traditional items. Along the way I was pleasantly surprised to run into a couple of new teachers from my hagwon, who had just arrived in Korea about two weeks before. They had mentioned at work the previous week that they were considering going to Seoul during the break, and I told them I would try to meet up with them if they did. Unfortunately, I forgot to take along my iPod to send messages and they didn't have phones since they were so new to the country. By some stroke of fate, however, we happened to be walking down the same stretch of street at the same time and we stopped and chatted for a bit.
Following this Hyun-ho and I went to Insadong, an area well-known for its traditional shops. It was interesting to see the various goods available in all directions. We stopped for a drink in a green tea shop specializing in green tea from Boseong and Jeju and had green tea lattes, which has become my go-to drink at coffee shops recently. We sat up on the second floor and looked out through the windows onto the passing throngs below, which made for an intriguing contrast between the peaceful interior and the bustling crowd on the other side of the glass.
It was getting close to the time we were meant to be at Hyun-ho's grandmother's home to meet up with the rest of the family for Chuseok dinner. We caught a bus and were there about half an hour later with an appetite built up. Honestly, though, from that first lunch in Gangnam until the time I arrived back in Gwangju Monday evening I was not hungry at all. They fed me so well while I was in Seoul. Every meal was delicious and plentiful. The Chuseok dinner was the biggest, and I was very happy to have the chance to share this holiday meal with a Korean family. Here's a picture of part of the feast:

There were so many different foods! Soup, kimchi, pajeon, sweet potatoes, beef, chicken, noodles, and songpyeon, traditional rice cakes. I'm a slow eater, and I was at the table for over half an hour helping myself from nearly all of these dishes. I'm especially a sucker for pajeon and chapche. It was all very delicious and satisfying. By the time I left the table I was stuffed.

Tomorrow is American Thanksgiving, and this will be the fourth year I haven't been at home for the holiday. During college my break was only Thanksgiving day and the next day, so it was impractical and expensive to fly home for a four-day break, though I did enjoy it the one year I flew home on Thanksgiving morning. Luckily, my freshman year my adviser actually invited me to join her family for Thanksgiving dinner, which was a wonderful and heartwarming experience. My sophomore year I went home, and the last two years of college I had my older brother up there with me as a grad student so I had some family with me, which was great. However, recently the family is spreading out more and more and the Thanksgiving crowd gets smaller and smaller. Christmas has been the holiday for which all my brothers come home and everyone gets together, whereas for Thanksgiving we've learned to celebrate remotely.
That being said, for Chuseok I really enjoyed being able to join Hyun-ho's family for their celebration. They were all very friendly and really made me feel comfortable and involved, despite the language and cultural barriers. Smiles and good food is a powerful method of doing that. Hyun-ho and one of his uncles both speak very good English, so they were able to converse with me and translate when necessary, but I felt very content sitting on the couch enjoying fruit and songpyeon for dessert and watching and listening to this family enjoying their time together and opening their hearts and home to me. Toward the end of the evening they made a video call to my neighbor back in the states to include her in the family celebration, and I got to talk to her for a while. Seeing and talking to her on the phone while I was with her family in Korea and she was back near where I'm from in the states, in conjunction with the hospitality with which her family was treating me made me feel very close to home.
The next morning I packed my things to prepare for my return to Gwangju. I had a couple of hours before I had to leave for the bus station, so I had more time to visit with Hyun-ho and his parents. His mom showed me how to make kimchi jiggae, which I had requested to eat for lunch. I actually tried making it for myself just the other night, and mine turned out okay, but not as good as hers. We had another delicious and filling lunch, and as I left they gave me a container of kimchi and a bag of flowers for tea to take back with me. I thanked them again for being so kind and generous and for giving me a taste of home while being so far away, and Hyun-ho led me to the bus station.
Before I got on the bus back to Gwangju, Hyun-ho showed me the Krispy Kreme shop at the station and bought me a couple donuts to take along. I got a kick out of that. There's a Dunkin Donuts here in Sangmu, but I hadn't seen a Krispy Kreme in Korea until then (although I've since heard that there is one in Gwangju), but it's the more popular brand back in St. Louis and the company started in North Carolina where one of my brothers goes to school.
With my bag of donuts, I thanked Hyun-ho for hosting me for a hugely enjoyable weekend and boarded the bus. I slept about half of the four hours it took to get back to Gwangju, and read for the other half. From the Gwangju bus terminal I decided to walk back to Sangmu. As I walked I reflected on the weekend and on my time in Korea. It was October 1, and I was starting my third month here. Thinking of it now I can hardly believe that was nearly two months ago now. Of course, there was a lot that happened during that time that I still need to write about.
When I arrived back in Sangmu I met up with a few other teachers for dinner, and they invited me to join them for a trip to Jeju that weekend, which will be covered in my next post soon. Until then, thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving!

Chuseok in Seoul

Gyeongbokgung Palace

After failing to write a post in October, it's time to get back in the swing of things.

A few hours after publishing my previous post, I woke up and grabbed a taxi to the bus terminal in Gwangju just in time to catch my 8:00am bus to Seoul, where I would be spending the Chuseok holiday with the friend I wrote about in this previous post. I had been a bit nervous about traveling that day, since Chuseok is one of the major Korean holidays (like Thanksgiving back home) and is supposedly one of the busiest travel periods here. There were no delays on the bus ride to Seoul, fortunately, but for much of the way going into Seoul the traffic leaving the city was nearly at a standstill. Many people visit their families in their hometowns for the holiday (again like Thanksgiving back home) so the number of people leaving the city is much greater than those going in.

Hyun-ho met me at the bus terminal in Seoul and guided me to the subway. We caught the train to Gangnam and had dakgalbi for lunch. This was the first time I'd had dakgalbi, and it was very delicious and filling. I really enjoy how at so many restaurants here the food cooks right in front of you. With samgyupsal there's a charcoal grill in the center of the table, and with dakgalbi there's a gas burner in the center of the table, and the server adds the chicken, cabbage, and any other ingredients right there. I hadn't seen Hyun-ho since he visited Gwangju back in August, but I was so entranced by watching my lunch cook and brimming with anticipation that I didn't say much. Also, I have to admit that using chopsticks was still a task that required some concentration for me. I'm still no expert, but I have made great progress since I arrived, and I'm better now than I was a month ago.

After lunch Hyun-ho wanted to show me Itaewon, which is famous for its plethora of Westerners and Western establishments. Before we went back down to the subway I asked to stop to get a photo using the camera I'd bought the day before. Up to that point I'd been relying on my iPod touch to take pictures. It did a nice job, but I thought an upgrade in quality would be a good idea since I sometimes send pictures back home so my parents can show them to my grandparents and others. Also, I think it will be neat to look through them when I do make it back home. Since Gangnam is a very well-known part of Seoul I wanted a photo from there so I took one just outside of the subway station, and here it is:

Gangnam subway entrance

We were only in Gangnam a short time, but I'm glad we stopped there. Even just from the buildings you can certainly tell it is a very upscale area.

Itaewon was a few subway stops away on the other side of the Han River, and it made for one of the more bizarre feelings I've had since arriving in Korean. It's very near an American military base and is packed with international style restaurants and stores. Here I am in front of the subway station there:

After walking around checking out the various offerings for a while, we stopped for some coffee. This is where I was really thrown. While we were there several American families came in with children. I see plenty of 20-30 something native English speakers pretty regularly here, and sometimes even people slightly more advanced than that. In Itaewon, however, I saw older people and Western children for the first time since I left the states. This made me think a couple of things: first I imagined how neat it will be for those kids when they get older to realize they spent a part of their childhood in Korea, and then I thought of how I shouldn't feel daunted by being away from my home country because here are kids who probably weren't even ten living over here. Living in Seoul is probably quite different from living in Gwangju, and it's becoming extremely rare for me to feel daunted by living here, but it seemed notable. I remember thinking, "This will have to go in my blog." I just didn't think it would take me six weeks to actually write my next post.

From Itaewon we caught a bus to the area where Hyun-ho lives. We passed by the American military base and the Korean War Museum, which I would like to visit sometime. Hyun-ho also pointed out Seoul Tower and Namsan and said I should visit them next time I go to Seoul. I definitely will make a trip there sometime in the coming months, and these spots are on my list of sites to catch. The bus ride was pleasant. I was able to catch up with Hyun-ho and he pointed out many different sites along the bus route. We had a bit of a shock when the bus was involved in a non-serious collision. It happened on the side of the bus opposite where we were sitting, so I had a sick feeling when I heard the tires squealing followed by a bang and scraping noises. People on the other side looked out of the windows with deeply concerned faces and I hated to imagine what may have happened. Fortunately we just caught the extreme front end of a car that was hanging slightly over into our lane. The bus took off the car's front bumper, but it was a glancing blow and no one was hurt. We filed off the bus with the rest of the passengers after about ten minutes and walked to a nearby stop to catch the next bus.

When we arrived at the apartment I met Hyun-ho's parents. They don't speak English, and I still don't really speak Korean other than the minimal basics, but they were just as sweet and welcoming as I imagined, all smiles and pleasantries. Hyun-ho was kind and patient enough to do a lot of translating for us. I tend to get a bit nervous about being a guest at homes because I don't like to create too many inconveniences and I want to make a good impression, but they immediately made me feel at ease and excited to have made the trip. While waiting for dinner we turned a Korean baseball game on the television, and Hyun-ho's dad offered me some dried squid, which I actually enjoyed. It takes some work to chew it, but it has a pleasant, more-subtle-than-you-might-think marine flavor. They prepared a wonderful bulgogi dinner with various side dishes, including some of the vegetable pancakes that I love with squid tentacles cooked into them. It was delicious and I ate more than I had in a long while, which was to become a common theme on the trip.

After dinner, Hyun-ho and I headed back out to catch the bus to go see "Taken 2". I hadn't gone to see a movie since I'd left the states, so I was excited for the new experience, as well as for revisiting the adventures of Liam Neeson. Ever since I left "The Grey" during the end credits I've been feeling as though I missed something, and "Taken 2" seemed like it may be just the backscratcher to reach the spot.

The theater was located on the upper floors of a very tall department store building, something like 16 stories high. The seats in many Korean theaters are assigned, so we grabbed some Cokes from concessions and went into the auditorium to find our designated seats and settle in for the show. The lights dimmed, and we were treated to exactly what you'd expect from "Taken 2": several dozen more pieces of evidence supporting the argument that one should not mess with Liam Neeson.

I found the movie-going experience, like many experiences here, comfortably familiar while still being different enough to be exciting. As the movie played I began to stop noticing the Korean subtitles so what was on the screen seemed the same as watching back home, but when the credits started rolling and the lights came back on I stood up and remembered where I was and realized I seemed to be the only foreigner in the auditorium. I've always enjoyed going to the movies, and my first trip to the movies in a different country was one that I'll certainly remember.

After we arrived back at the apartment I watched some EPL soccer with Hyun-ho and his parents before taking a shower and retiring for the night. I'd been on the go since 7:00 that morning. Six months ago that would be a typical day for me, but working afternoons and evenings has shifted my routine rather drastically, so by midnight I was pretty well worn out. I also wanted to be sure I was rested for the next day, which was set to begin with a visit to Hyun-ho's church, which I certainly did not want to miss.

Now it's getting a bit late here in Gwangju and I have one more day of work until the weekend, so I'll save the rest of my trip for the next post (including our visit to Gyeonbokgung Palace, shown in the top picture). Don't worry, I won't wait six more weeks to post that one! Maybe tomorrow night...

An Extra Note

For those of you who are curious, I wanted to explain a bit more about how I came here. After dealing with several different recruiters, I was set up with an interview at my hagwon by Dan and his team through Teach ESL Korea. I believe they've posted my blog on their website and it seems like I'm getting some readers from there. If that's how you got here, welcome and thank you for reading! I've been here nearly four months now and am loving it. If you're interested in learning more about what it's like to teach in Korea or about opportunities to pursue it for yourself, check out their website. They have some great resources that were helpful for me as I was doing research for what has turned out to be a terrific experience so far.