Jeju Vacation

I have just come back from a wonderful and relaxing vacation to Jeju Island. Jeju is a good sized island right off the southern end of Korea. I went with Heather and Lena, a Korean/Canadian teacher from our school. We were there for six days and I hardly know where to start with what we did or how much we enjoyed ourselves.

Hotel

When we arrived at our hotel we were more than impressed. We booked it ahead of time online, but didn't know what to expect. (we booked it because it was decently cheap.) It was up a curvy jungle-ly road and away from the little town. When we pulled up in front of the hotel we couldn't believe it, it was like a resort. Inside the hotel all of the employees were wearing Hawaiian t-shirts and everything was so brightly decorated. When we got to our room there was a balcony so we immediately went out. The balcony looked out over the back side of the hotel and a gigantic pool with water slides. Beyond the pool was a green jungle and then a distant view of the sea. It was beautiful. The next morning we found out that our hotel serves a free buffet breakfast every morning so of course we took advantage of that. It was the best breakfast I've had since coming to Korea. They had just about everything that a breakfast buffet could have. So every morning we had a good full breakfast as we gazed out of the large windows facing and the sea. It was more than perfect. We also found out our first day that the hotel offers a free shuttle into the little town and back almost every hour. So instead of dealing with the hassle of taxi's, we were shuttled around for free by the hotel. I cannot believe all that the hotel offered us and for such a cheap price too!

Activities

We started our vacation off strong wanting to explore the island and see everything, but as the days went on the heat and humidity got to us and we took to just relaxing. Our first day though we took a little hike to a beautiful waterfall. There were lots of stairs going down through the jeju jungle trees and finally we saw the waterfall. It was huge and beautiful. From there we were drenched in sweat so Lena bought us some fresh pineapple on a stick to refresh us. It did it's job and we headed to the bridge. The bridge went all the way over a tree covered gorge with a river at the bottom. From the top we could see the whole surrounding area and a nearby temple. We were also able to get a nice breeze from there as well. Next we headed to the beach. The beach was crowded with beach umbrellas and Koreans wearing their clothes into the water. The Koreans are so modest, they hardly like to show their shoulders let alone their chests, stomachs and legs too. Although, a decent amount of the younger Koreans were also wearing bathing suits. It was just weird to see people swimming in t-shirts and jeans. Ugg, talk about uncomfortable and unflattering.

Another day we visited the jeju botanical gardens. The building was huge and made of all glass. It was kind of shaped like a spider. It had one central area and then off of it were lots of sections. From the outside it was an amazing piece of architecture. The inside was also very beautiful with it's exotic plants and jungle areas. In the center you could take an elevator and then lots of steps up to the observation area. From there you could see everything. It was nice to be able to get a good grasp of what the layout of the area was.

While walking down the street of the little town one day Lena was able to read a Korean sign that said there was a beer and music festival. We thought that sounded like a good thing to do in the evening. So after and amazing dinner of Korean barbeque we headed to the beer and music festival. It wasn't crowded so we found a table, ordered some beer and settled in. Right as we got our beer the band started playing John Denver's song 'Take Me Home Country Roads'. We were so shocked and at the same time thrilled! I think that one thing alone made the vacation awesome! We heard a song about where we were from, sung in English, on Jeju Island!!

Lena left a few days early to spend some time with her boyfriend so Heather and I just wandered around. One day we took a bus with good intentions of getting to another island off of Jeju. We missed our transfer stop though and decided to keep going just for the heck of it. We ended up in another little town. It was a bit larger with lots more shops though so we decided to check em out. After buying cheap shirts we found an indoor market. We explored it and found lots of fruits, vegetables, squid, fish, random kitchen and house stuff, shoes, mens clothing and other random pieces of things. After a while we were pretty hot and sweaty so we went back out on the street, bought some street food and peach smoothies from and old lady and sat on some steps. It was nice to just bum around for a day. Eventually we found our way back to our little town and then the hotel.

The rest of our time in Jeju it either rained or we sat by the pool relaxing, reading, swimming, going down the water slide, and listening to the blasting Korean pop tunes being played on the speakers.

Our last morning at the hotel Heather and I were eating breakfast when this good looking man who was obviously an athlete asked us if he could join us. We asked him to sit down and and were immediately in conversation. He said he was from New Zealand and is the coach/manager for their olympic triathlon team. They are in Jeju training for the Olympics because it's close to Beijing an the air is much cleaner. Heather and I were shocked, but had a great time talking to him and asking questions. He was very friendly. We were also finally glad to know about all the athletes then as well. All week long we had been running into Russian, Italian, Spanish, and New Zealand athletes in our hotel. We saw them every morning at breakfast, sometimes outside getting ready for training and a group of them even had rooms two doors down from us. We couldn't figure out why all these athletes were there, but we finally found out on our last day. Now we will for sure be watching the triathlete part of the Olympics.

All in all, Jeju is a wonderful, beautiful island and this has probably been my best vacation yet. And I didn't even spend much money to have such a cool vacation too! :)

Umbrella Culture

I know I have talked about weather a lot lately, but the weather here truly seems to be more extreme than in the US. So I find that weather is the center of my life these days...other than teaching, playing on playgrounds and learning the occasional Korean word.

With all of the rain that we're having (because it is rainy season afterall) umbrellas are kind of a big deal around here. They are sold on every corner and they are all the same black/blue and silver style. Except for the old ladies and a few others who have flowered umbrellas. The thing is though, there are so many people in Korea. I have never been in such a crowded place in my whole life! I have problems walking down the street with just myself, let alone an umbrella too. Walking down the street in the pouring rain with an umbrella while everyone else also has an umbrella is challenging to say the least. People are so close to each other that the umbrellas are always bumping and eyes are almost being poked out by the pointy ends of the umbrellas. Koreans also put up their umbrellas if is barely sprinkling out and then leave them up way after the rain has stopped.

Because it rains a lot and there are so many umbrellas there seems to be an unwritten rule stating that if you leave your umbrella unattended it's up for grabs. I have already gone through a few umbrellas because of that 'rule'. It's okay though, because I have also accumulated a few umbrellas through that rule as well, haha! Last weekend I was with a Korean friend of mine and it started pouring rain. We were on our way out so she said wait here for a second. When she came back she had an umbrella for me and when I asked her where she got it she said, 'oh I just took it from the umbrella basket." haha, so I guess thats just how it is. When in need, grab an umbrella indeed.

the sound of silence

In the last few days I have been eerily struck with the sound of silence while walking to work. Usually when I take my 15 minute walk to work at about 1pm is when the elementary schools are letting out. Between my apartment and the hogwan I work at, there are two large elementary schools and tons of apartments where I'm sure all of the children live. I usually walk right past the elementary schools and then through one of the large apartment complexes. On the way, there are probably five or so playgrounds that I pass as well as a mini soccer turf. Usually all of these places and everything in between are occupied with loud children. The children run down the street, bike down the street, walk with their mothers down the street, play in the playground until they are soaked with sweat, sit on the sidewalk and eat ice-cream that drips all the way down their arms, they play tag and chase, the boys play soccer on the turf, I usually get many 'hi's!!' or 'how are you?' comments, and for that short time that I am walking to work the neighborhood is filled with childhood chaos.

Public elementary schools have been out for two days now and my walk to work is so oddly quiet. I can now hear myself think. I can also hear the loud cicadas of summer singing their song in the trees around me. The birds chirp, the wind blows and everything is quiet. Now my walk to work is like meditation. It's peaceful and calm. I no longer have to dodge the flying children on bicycles, or say hello to groups of wide eyed Korean children, or get stuck behind mothers slowly walking with groups of children. It is all very nice, but after two days I must admit that I miss the children. Yes, I work with children for most of the day, but this is different somehow. It was sort of my daily tradition to try not to get hit by the kids flying by and I always felt like a celebrity when the children wanted to talk to me. I guess it also gave me an excuse not to think. I just walked and enjoyed the loud happy sounds of the children around me. Now though, I have no distractions and I am brought back to my thoughts and the singing cicadas. I have a month of this and I'm sure that by the time I am able to enjoy it is when school will start up again. It's funny how the things in life that you thought annoyed you, actually turn out to be enjoyable.

monsoon...typhoon...heavy rain

Whether (haha or weather) it's called a monsoon, a typhoon or just heavy rain, it's all the same thing. It comes down in buckets, it pours like it's never poured before.

On Friday afternoon the clouds rolled in and Seoul had a darkened foreboding look to it. All the teachers and students at school were talking about the big typhoon coming in. It was quite the buzz around school, especially when you say typhoon and not just rain. So I was very curious about this typhoon and figured that it was just a bunch of hype as most weather forecasts usually are. I was very wrong though.

Early Saturday morning I checked outside and sure enough it was pouring down rain. It rained hard all morning so Heather and I stayed inside, listened to music and watched movies. Finally around 4pm we decided to meet some friends for coffee, so we ventured out into the rain.  After getting somewhat wet through our umbrellas, we met up with friends and the rain stopped. It actually cleared up and we could see blue sky and sun. To myself I thought, sure...a typhoon, whatever. So It stayed clear all evening and then once 11pm hit the rain came pouring again. This time unfortunately I didn't have an umbrella and I was stranded outside a bar waiting for friends. When my friends came there were three of us to one tiny umbrella and it didn't end up very well. Lets just say that at least when we got to the next bar we weren't the only wet ones. Everyone was soaking from the rain!

It rained hard all Saturday night and carried into Sunday morning. At 8am this morning it was raining harder than I've ever seen it rain in my whole life. So of course I had to go play in it. I went out in the rain, ran around, splashed in the puddles and had the time of my life. I visited some of the neighborhood playgrounds which in the rain had turned into water parks and I played like a kid again. The Koreans would drive by on their way to Church and slow down when they saw me. They stared like they had never seen a white woman dancing in the rain before...well I guess maybe they really haven't. Anyway, it was the most fun I have had in a long time and now I can't wait for the next typhoon to come so I can do it again! :)

my midnight spot

First of all, I apologize for slacking off in posting blogs. It is not really that I don't have anything to write about, but mainly because I have settled into life and gotten lazy in this department.

Summer is definitely roaring here in Korea and I must say that it is more humid than I would ever have imagined. Even in the evenings when the sun has set it is still quite hot. Despite the hot humid nights, one of my favorite things to do is to take midnight walks and hit up the neighborhood playgrounds. One thing the warm weather in Korea is great for is all of the playgrounds and parks. They practically litter Seoul, I love it!

My favorite place to visit on my midnight walks is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. It is an apartment complex composed of many tall apartment buildings formed in square areas. In the center of each square is a parking lot and a playground area. For some reason I was drawn to the most simplest of the playground areas within the center of four apartment buildings. It is a sand playground with swings, teter-tots, and a very small jungle-gym with two slides, a platform on top, and some chains to crawl up. This is where I go to think, to be by myself, to contemplate the world, my life, my future, the present... It is not the type of place that one would think to go to for peace and serenity, but for me somehow it is more perfect than I can even begin to describe.

The swings are where I go to free my mind. I swing and swing and swing to my hearts content. I pump my legs and swing as high (maybe higher) than the bar that the swing is on. On these hot humid nights the wind that I make from swinging is refreshing and wonderful. Then, when I want to think I head up to the small platform on the jungle-gym. I lay down and from that point all I can see are the four tall apartment buildings that I am surrounded by and the nighttime sky with it's grey clouds and occasional star. Here, I feel small, yet comforted and protected. The apartment buildings loom above me up into the sky. They remind me that I really am so small in this crazy big universe. They also make me feel comforted and protected though because they surround me and enclose me from the 'outside world' at least for the time being. I get the most wonderful feelings when I lay on the top of that jungle-gym and gaze upwards.

I enjoy seeing all of the windows in the apartment buildings and hearing the sounds that come from them. Some lights are on, some are off. Some are bright, some are fancy, some are dull. Sometimes there are people in the windows looking out, maybe at me, maybe not. Some of the sounds that I hear are families hanging out, tv's playing, babies crying, children laughing, the clinking of utensils against plates, the low muttering of conversations...etc. I enjoy laying there looking at all of these apartment windows and trying to think of each of their stories. Maybe they are a family, maybe a couple, maybe they just had their first child, maybe the grandparents live there too, maybe they have a dog or a pet fish. The possibilities are endless and I could entertain myself for hours just thinking up stories for these apartments. I usually get distracted thinking about life though. My life is kind of like all of the apartment windows, the possibilities are endless and there is so much to choose from. It's wonderful, yet somewhat daunting at the same time.

Weather

Before coming to Korea I had been told that the summers are hot and humid and the winters are cold and snowy. Ok, thats cool, I figured it would be just like Virginia weather...not!

It may be humid in Virginia, but at least it cools down at night and the humidity drops. Here it is humid 24 hours a day and the temperature doesn't drop much overnight. Getting up to jog at 7am seems like a good idea until I get outside and feel like I'm swimming through the air. The air is so thick that it hits you like a wall. I have never experienced humidity like this before. The weird part too, is that it may be a nice 75 degrees out, but with the humidity it will feel like 85 and I won't stop sweating. I try to tell myself that it's only 75 degrees and that I must have a sweating problem because this is ridiculous, but then I look around me and realize that even the plants on the side of the street are sweating from the humidity. (it's weird, something I've never seen before)

Along with the humidity, this is also the rainy season. That means that it rains at least four times a week, and when it rains, it pours. I really enjoy it actually...well, when I'm not walking to school that is. The walk from Heathers and my apartment to school is about a 15 minute walk. In the spring time weather it was a wonderful walk in the warm sunshine filled with rose lined sidewalks. Now in July though, it's the walk of death. If it's pouring rain outside and I'm walking to work, by the time I get there just about all of me is wet but my head and shoulders. I think maybe I should get a poncho or something...although, I don't see anyone wearing ponchos here. It is pretty funny to see delivery guys on their mopeds in full rain suits driving through the rain though. (I wonder where I could get a rain suit...) So then on the days that it's not raining, it's just plain humid outside. I have to wear one set of clothes to work, and then change out of those humidity soaked clothes into to a dry set of clothes at work. It's crazy!!! I think I'm just damp all of the time now. Especially in our apartment because all heather and I have between the two of us is one little fan and a window that opens into the back ally where there is no cross breeze whatsoever.

So far it's been a steamy hot and humid summer. At least in a few weeks we will be vacationing on Jeju Island where maybe it will be cooler and if not then at least the ocean can cool us off. Then I will dread August, the worst month of summer in Seoul, where apparently the humidity is unbearable. The Koreans say, 'oh this humidity is nothing, just wait until August!'

Life's dance

It's so great to be able to sit back and look at life on occasion. To just stop and take a moment or even a few hours to just watch life happening around you. So much can be seen and it's kind of like a dance.

Last Sunday, like every Sunday Heather and I headed to Olympic Park. Saturday night we had decided that we couldn't go to the park this week because it was supposed to be rainy and gross out. When we woke up Sunday morning though, it was the most beautiful day we have probably seen in Korea yet. The downpour of rain on Saturday night must have cleared everything up. It was incredible, everything was so clear and sharp, there were puffy white clouds in the blue sky and you could make out every detail on the tree covered mountains surrounding our part of Seoul. So of course off we headed to Olympic Park! We brought our blanket, books and snacks and found the perfect shady spot under a tree out-looking one of the big recreation fields in the park. It was there that I was able to sit and watch the wonderful dance of life happen all around me. So many things were going on. Children played, dogs were walked, lovers basked in the ecstasy of spending time together, families were picnicking, babies were being oogled by young mothers, bikes were ridden, kites were flown, ice-cream was eaten, father and child played soccer, friends gossiped and giggled, birds chirped, clouds passed, breezes blew, and everything was in rhythm. It was beautiful, far too beautiful for me to be able to describe any more than I already have. And that, I realized, is life's dance.

Other than watching the dance of life, I was able to spend some glorious hours reading and chatting with Heather. We were sprawled out on the blanket enjoying the afternoon to the fullest. We talked about life, faith, school, living in Korea, hopes and dreams, and ideas. It was the most perfect afternoon that I have had in a while. I am so grateful for the rain that makes things new and fresh again.

Saturday Night

Sunday was great and relaxing, but Saturday night is a whole other story. It all begins with my Korean friend Do Yeon. He called me up and said that he had VIP tickets to a very well known exclusive club in the part of Seoul that is called the Hollywood of Korea. Do Yeon used to be a model, so he has quite a few connections with the high-life of Seoul. (How I make friends with these kinds of people, I have no idea...) So I tell Do Yeon that I'm interested, but I had plans to hang out with a few other friends. At that he said no worries, I'll try to find tickets for them too. So he found tickets for me and my four friends. 

We began the night meeting at Do Yeon's friend's bar. There I met up with my friends, Do Yeon, his sister, and a few of his Korean friends, one of which is an up and coming Korean movie star. (haha?!?!) So we got some drinks, met everyone and socialized before hitting up Club Circle. Finally we headed to the club. 

While I thought that everyone in our group was dressed pretty nice and looked good, I was in for a shocker at the club. Never in one place have I seen so many incredibly beautiful people. I couldn't stop staring! Not only were there beautiful Koreans, but there were beautiful foreigners from all over the world. Once I got over the shock of all the amazing looking people I was able to get into the scene. There was a stage with a DJ pumping away some awesome house/techno'ish tunes, a dance floor, and a circle bar surrounded by tables and couches that were littered with beautiful people and lots of liquor. 

After I got a drink I wandered over to the dance floor and danced for a good long time. I finally realized that I should probably find the group that I came with so I headed back towards the bar. On my way, a group of good looking Japanese people asked me to join them at their table in celebration for one of their birthdays. So I did for a while, had some fun, and then continued on to find my group. When I found them, the group had grown. They were at a table with some couches and tons more Korean's had become a part of the group by this point. So I jumped right in with meeting people, socializing and dancing. It was one of the best times that I've had in Korea so far...and come the end of the night I realized that a lot of the people I was socializing with were Korean celebrities and bar owners, hahaha! Crazy Korea.

We have this saying called T-I-K...kind of like 'when in Rome' but for Korea. It means This Is Korea and while we're here we're going to do it all and experience it all. :)