Now that I've been back in the States for a while, I guess it's time that I started putting up some of my journaling from my time in China.
(The first part was written while flying back to Korea from China)
Wow, what an experience. Quite literally the experience of a lifetime. When I first arrived in China, I was so worried about making my next flight during my layover in Dalian that I wasn't able to appreciate the fact that I was actually in China, until I got to Beijing, anyway.
When I first arrived, I was in real danger of missing my flight due to waiting in a long line for the wrong check-in and having a heck of a time trying to find someone who could speak enough English to point me in the right direction.
When I finally arrived in Beijing, I was getting tired. After the half hour airport train to downtown Beijing and the 20 minutes on the subway, I was even more tired. Finally, I arrived at my stop and set out to find the hostel. Unfortunately, I forgot the walking directions to the hostel and instead was relying on a very undetailed map. I wandered around for a while showing various officers on the street my map and following their unknowing fingers in all different directions before finally giving up and flagging a taxi.
I managed the get to the hostel and it exceeded my expectations. The atmosphere was fantastic. It was like living in a Chinese house but with your own room. I shared a room with three other people with a wall separating the beds into 2 to a smaller room. There was a communal area with computers, a refrigerator, maps and guidebooks, a living area with a sofa, table and tv and an outside area with a larger table for eating breakfast and hanging out with fellow travelers.
I set out for my first adventure that very night after spending a bit of time recovering. I headed to Wangfujing, a huge shopping area in Beijing that rivals Seoul and Tokyo. I was totally surprised at the sight that greeted me as I headed down a street lit up with huge department stores, namebrand stores like Nike, Gucci, Rolex, and massive tv screenS advertising various products all over the place.
I also got my first taste of Chinese culture in a famous side street selling interesting foodstuffs ranging from candy to meat, scorpions and bugs on sticks. It was interesting to watch them writhe around on the stick before being fried. No, I didn't try one.
It was also my first experience bargaining. I was still new to the whole idea of negotiating for something and was as yet unfamiliar with the value of the money and while I didn't do too bad, I didn't do great either. My best purchase was a cool Mao lighter for less than two dollars which I had the great misfortune of losing to the overzealous guards at airport security preparing for my flight back to Korea.
I had a great time, though, and spent the evening with a cup of tea made from tea that I had purchased at a great tea shop earlier that night.
Sunday
On Sunday, after a free breakfast of yogurt with fruit and muesli and some green tea, I walked the ten minutes to the subway and headed to Tiananmen Square. It was incredibly crowded but it was still quite the experience standing in such an historical area with the huge picture of Mao overlooking the square.
As I made my way through the Forbidden City, I was amazed by the history, beauty and detail contained there that had preserved over the past 600 years. It didn't take quite as long as I had expected, about an hour and a half, to go through it but I think I may have missed a few things, which is okay because it kept the day fast-paced, which kept me from getting bored.
Afterwards, I climbed the hill in the park behind the Forbidden City and was greeted by the most incredible views one could hope to get of the palaces below and the cityscape on all sides. After climbing back down, I had my first Chinese food, which I found to be a bit greasy for my tastes that have developed over a year of living in Korea.
I set about to find the closest subway station using my handy dandy map from the hostel and, instead of walking the distance, decided to hop into a motorcycle rickshaw(a motorcycle outfitted with two wheels on the back and a box for a single person to sit in the back). A lot of locals use them as I'm sure they're quite cheap. I expected Chinese people to be too much like the Koreans and be fair about charging everyone the same. I was soon to learn that in China, EVERYTHING is outrageously priced for foreigners and EVERYTHING is negotiable. I didn't ask the price before getting in and was charged about $4 after arriving at the stop a few minutes away, about double what a taxi would've cost. Since he gouged me, I figured he at least owed me a picture and consider the picture and experience to be worth the extra $2.
I used the subway to get to the Temple of Heaven, a very beautiful and culturally rich temple used to worship the heaven and designed accordingly - in a circle(the shape Chinese people thought the heaven was as opposed to a square earth). There were some amazing sites there and you can refer to the pictures and video for those.
After the temple, I headed across the street to the Hongqdiao Pearl Market. I was only able to buy a small gorilla pod for my camera(which really came in handy) for $4 before running out of money.
When I came to China, I came with the expectation I received from websites that I could use my visa to withdraw cash from ATM's. Therefore, I brought only $300 worth of Korean money with me. Fortunately, I had $60 in American money in my wallet that helped tremendously because the ATM's refused to accept my pin when trying to withdraw money from my credit account.
I was a bit frustrated but decided to just call it a day and head back to the hostel. I enjoyed a bit of conversation with some fellow travelers before heading to bed for the night.
Monday
I decided to use Monday for a trip to the Great Wall. I got up in the morning, had my breakfast with a few other guys then took the subway to the train station where I would catch a train that would drop me off right by the wall an hour away. It was at the train station that I saw an example of Chinese police power.
A man had apparently gone to the front of the line for some reason. Whether he was in a hurry and needed a ticket quickly or was just asking a question, I don't know since I don't speak Chinese. The police officer(they are everywhere) promptly grabbed him and gave him a good shove towards the back of the line which kind of took me by surprise coming from America and then Korea, where police are very non-confrontational and don't even carry guns.
The communism, minus the blatant communism, was very apparent in Beijing. Or maybe I should say the government presence was very apparent. All the government workers and many store operators, as well, wore red armbands with gold Chinese characters on them. Would love to know what they said. I'm not sure if it's the norm or if it's related to the 60th anniversary celebrations scheduled for next week for the founding of the communist party in China.
Military officers, police officers and regular citizens with armbands reading "volunteer security" were literally everywhere. On the subway cars, at all the entrances of the subways and large stores. Scattered about on the streets, sometimes carrying automatic rifles. I can't imagine there's much of a threat, expect for maybe from those dangerous democratic protesters that might get brave enough to come out of hiding but I doubt it.
After purchasing my ticket, it was time to wait the hour for my train to leave so I decided to buy some candy and a snack from a convenience store located in the waiting area. Chinese candy is very different from American or even Korean candy and consists of mainly dried fruit and differently prepared jellies.
Once on the train, it wasn't a bad ride to the Wall. It took an hour to hour and a half to get there but when the wall finally started coming into view, it was amazing. We were winding our way through the mountains and you could look out the window and see different parts of the wall going in different directions, it was amazing.
When the train finally stopped, after what felt like an eternity, we were finally able to start making the long walk up to the area where all the stores and restaurants were and past that, to the wall itself. It was amazing walking on such a piece of history and on one of the great wonders of the world. At first it was a fairly easy hike but as I got the higher the wind blew harder and I often had to hold onto my hat to keep it from flying off.
I was up on the wall for probably about 2 hrs. and despite how hard it was, it was totally worth it. The views were incredible. Sometimes it was so steep that it was like walking down a 40-ft. step ladder. You literally had to be careful that you didn't slide and lose your footing. Of course, going up wasn't all that fun either.
Once back down again, I bought a "I climbed the Great Wall t-shirt" after much negotiation and went to look for a restaurant. I found one in the area of the shops and got a good chicken and cucumbers with sweet sauce dish and a glass of green tea. It was hard to know what to buy because they aren't easily labeled like in America with "General Tsao's Chicken."
After the long walk back to the train, I discovered that I would have to wait another hour and a half for the next train. So, instead of waiting, I walked back up to the where all the busses were parked and decided to take the bus back for a 1/4 of the price. But, you do get what you pay for, and I was stuffed next to two Chinese ladies and had to endure early evening Beijing traffic on the way back. It was an experience, though.
Once I got back, I thought I knew where I was, but I didn't. Using my map, I walked back and forth and up and down for about half an hour before giving up again and flagging a taxi. I pointed to what I thought was the nearest subway station only to see a sign for a completely different station and realized that I was way off track. I asked him to just go to that one but he couldn't understand me. Suddenly a woman's voice come's over his radio in English asking where I wanted to go. So, though her, I managed to tell him that I just wanted the nearest subway station where I could pay 1/10 of the price and get anywhere in Beijing.
I managed to get back to the hostel in time for the free bbq night. They cook up meat and vegetable on skewers for free for anyone who is there and wants to eat it after 7:00. So along with some of the people I had gotten to know from America, Scotland, Sweden and Italy, it was a good evening of meat and Chinese beer, despite being exhausted. It was really cool to be able to meet people from various countries who were all passionate about traveling and had been so many different places.
More to come!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
1 1/2 Weeks Left!
At the hagwon, that is. Another three weeks until I'm back in the States.
I've gotten a few things done on my list since last time. I took care of those emails, booked a hostel in Beijing, I think I've just about finished planning for that trip and the trip to Japan and I now have three visas in my passport!
Not much happens here during the week but two Saturdays ago, I spent the day with Young-sun, Dongsung, Hansol, Bu-yeong and Sunah at Seoul Land. We had tons of fun, even though most of the rides we went on were for the benefit of Bu-yeong and Sunah(both ten years old). I did go, however, on my very first upside-down rollercoaster, if you can believe that. I didn't realize it went upside down until we were approaching it but I couldn't back out since we were all going together and they were half-going for my benefit since I had to leave early. It was also Hansol's first upside-down coaster and he didn't realize it until he was strapped in next to me. lol
We managed to survive, however, and after having a blast ramming into each other on the bumper cars, I left before them to head back to Osan to meet my old SP-A class.
I met the boys first(Paul, Trust, Alex and David) and we went to a pc room for an hour before meeting Jennifer at Pizza School. Three pizza's later, we wandered over to the nearest karaoke room and sang our lungs out for two hours. I treated them all to ice cream afterwards and they each gave me a video message on my camera. We really had a blast together and I was exhausted by the time evening came.
On Sunday, Hansol, Dongsung, Youngsun, Youngah and I went to Pyeongtaek together after church. We had some really great bulgogi-seafood Deok-bok-ki at a restaurant and coffee at a really great new cafe there. Afterwards, we dropped the girls off at the department store that's connected to the subway station and us guys went to spend an hour at a pc room teaching Hansol how to play Sudden Attack. It's kind of interesting because he's Korean but has lived in Israel for the past nine years so I'm introducing him to a lot of Korean stuff even though I'm the real foreigner. I had to show him how to use the cards at a pc room, introduced him to mini karaoke rooms, and taught him how to play Suddent Attack.
The most recent Saturday was spent mostly in a pc room. I spent two hours there first alone before meeting Youngah, Young-sun, Dongsung, Young-soon, and Gyung-sub. We met at Lotteria and after some Pat-bing-su(shaved ice with fruit and ice cream), we all went to a pc room together. When it came time for them to leave, I met Hansol near Osan Sation and after having pizza together at Pizza Hut, we spent another hour at a pc room together.
On Sunday, Eunbae, Hansol and I had dinner together and spent two hours at a pc room. Eunbae left early and Hansol and I spent the evening eating more pat-bing-su and showing him the local arcade.
And here I am starting another and almost my final week at the hagwon.
Until next time!
I've gotten a few things done on my list since last time. I took care of those emails, booked a hostel in Beijing, I think I've just about finished planning for that trip and the trip to Japan and I now have three visas in my passport!
Not much happens here during the week but two Saturdays ago, I spent the day with Young-sun, Dongsung, Hansol, Bu-yeong and Sunah at Seoul Land. We had tons of fun, even though most of the rides we went on were for the benefit of Bu-yeong and Sunah(both ten years old). I did go, however, on my very first upside-down rollercoaster, if you can believe that. I didn't realize it went upside down until we were approaching it but I couldn't back out since we were all going together and they were half-going for my benefit since I had to leave early. It was also Hansol's first upside-down coaster and he didn't realize it until he was strapped in next to me. lol
We managed to survive, however, and after having a blast ramming into each other on the bumper cars, I left before them to head back to Osan to meet my old SP-A class.
I met the boys first(Paul, Trust, Alex and David) and we went to a pc room for an hour before meeting Jennifer at Pizza School. Three pizza's later, we wandered over to the nearest karaoke room and sang our lungs out for two hours. I treated them all to ice cream afterwards and they each gave me a video message on my camera. We really had a blast together and I was exhausted by the time evening came.
On Sunday, Hansol, Dongsung, Youngsun, Youngah and I went to Pyeongtaek together after church. We had some really great bulgogi-seafood Deok-bok-ki at a restaurant and coffee at a really great new cafe there. Afterwards, we dropped the girls off at the department store that's connected to the subway station and us guys went to spend an hour at a pc room teaching Hansol how to play Sudden Attack. It's kind of interesting because he's Korean but has lived in Israel for the past nine years so I'm introducing him to a lot of Korean stuff even though I'm the real foreigner. I had to show him how to use the cards at a pc room, introduced him to mini karaoke rooms, and taught him how to play Suddent Attack.
The most recent Saturday was spent mostly in a pc room. I spent two hours there first alone before meeting Youngah, Young-sun, Dongsung, Young-soon, and Gyung-sub. We met at Lotteria and after some Pat-bing-su(shaved ice with fruit and ice cream), we all went to a pc room together. When it came time for them to leave, I met Hansol near Osan Sation and after having pizza together at Pizza Hut, we spent another hour at a pc room together.
On Sunday, Eunbae, Hansol and I had dinner together and spent two hours at a pc room. Eunbae left early and Hansol and I spent the evening eating more pat-bing-su and showing him the local arcade.
And here I am starting another and almost my final week at the hagwon.
Until next time!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
In Recent News...
Another former president has died in the year that I've been here. The first by suicide and the most recent of natural causes. When a person of some importance dies here, they set up special places at city halls and major areas in every city in the country. They put up a big picture of the person who died surrounded by flowers with a mat in front of it so the person coming to pay his respects can take off his shoes when approaching the memorial. Each person bows to the picture, then to the people attending to it before leaving. Usually there is a place for people to burn incense for them, as well. Here's a picture of what one typically looks like: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/news/090528_p01_roh.jpg
In other news, I had a good weekend with my former HF student, Edwin, in what was our last time together for quite a while, at the very least. He's leaving to study in China for a year and I'll be heading back to America. We met Saturday afternoon, spent two hours doing karaoke, had pizza, gamed for two hours and spent an hour or so swimming and relaxing in the hot tubs at the sauna where we spent the night. In the morning, we gamed together for about four hours before having lunch at Subway and saying our final goodbyes. I'm realizing it's really not gonna be easy saying goodbye to so many people that I care about when I leave for America.
I already have my ticket for the States and I've been busy with my students planning when to meet for our last time together. Also realizing that I've got only three Sundays left to go to the church where I've been attending for over a year and the first church where I've felt like I really belong in my whole life.
Things have been pretty normal at IPTT. Everybody knows I'm leaving now and then little kids are celebrating while the older kids are all telling me how sad they are and they don't want to think about it. hehe I was walking the same way back home last night with three students from my oldest class. I bought them ice cream and we spent about 40 minutes talking outside. The girl had to leave a bit earlier but was really upset when she found out I was leaving soon. She's one of my favorites cause she tells me that I'm handsome. lol
Around the school, swine flu is the biggest topic of conversation, beating out all the latest pop hits and dramas, which is nothing short of a miracle. About 2,000 people have been infected here in Korea, including 188 in one day recently. All of the students are required to wash their hands before coming to class and I've been giving students drops of purell. :P
Yesterday, we talked about NYC in SP-B and Cody was talking about the "free lady with ice cream" when describing the Statue of Liberty. Some of the things they say and the way they say them often really crack me up. Wish I could remember all of them but, alas, my memory is terrible.
Today was a bit of a long day cause I had to get up early to go to Seoul for my Chinese visa. That was an experience in itself. It takes an hour and a half to get to Seoul so it's no easy trip. The website I was reading from China told me to go to the embassy in Seoul and had rather indescript directions as to where exactly it was. I got to the subway stop and started out walking where I thought it should be. So I walked....and walked....and walked....and couldn't find it. So I walked another way....and walked....and walked....and still nothing. So I asked a policeman and he pointed me in the right direction. I finally got there only to find out that I had to go to another part of Seoul to the Chinese consulate.
After a taxi ride through heavy traffic, I got to the area where it was supposed to be. More walking back and forth and after asking a guy in a convenience store....I never found it. Instead, I settled for a tourist company that only does Chinese trips and gave them my information and let them take care of getting the visa.
After getting some KFC to go for lunch, I managed to get back to Osan just in time to make it to work. Could post more but gotta get back to my long list of things to do:
-Book a room at a hostel in Beijing
-Get more details for my plan of getting around Beijing
-Respond to two emails from the new teachers who want to know what life's like at IPTT
-Try to find a job in America
-Plan my short trip to Japan
Until next time...ciao!
In other news, I had a good weekend with my former HF student, Edwin, in what was our last time together for quite a while, at the very least. He's leaving to study in China for a year and I'll be heading back to America. We met Saturday afternoon, spent two hours doing karaoke, had pizza, gamed for two hours and spent an hour or so swimming and relaxing in the hot tubs at the sauna where we spent the night. In the morning, we gamed together for about four hours before having lunch at Subway and saying our final goodbyes. I'm realizing it's really not gonna be easy saying goodbye to so many people that I care about when I leave for America.
I already have my ticket for the States and I've been busy with my students planning when to meet for our last time together. Also realizing that I've got only three Sundays left to go to the church where I've been attending for over a year and the first church where I've felt like I really belong in my whole life.
Things have been pretty normal at IPTT. Everybody knows I'm leaving now and then little kids are celebrating while the older kids are all telling me how sad they are and they don't want to think about it. hehe I was walking the same way back home last night with three students from my oldest class. I bought them ice cream and we spent about 40 minutes talking outside. The girl had to leave a bit earlier but was really upset when she found out I was leaving soon. She's one of my favorites cause she tells me that I'm handsome. lol
Around the school, swine flu is the biggest topic of conversation, beating out all the latest pop hits and dramas, which is nothing short of a miracle. About 2,000 people have been infected here in Korea, including 188 in one day recently. All of the students are required to wash their hands before coming to class and I've been giving students drops of purell. :P
Yesterday, we talked about NYC in SP-B and Cody was talking about the "free lady with ice cream" when describing the Statue of Liberty. Some of the things they say and the way they say them often really crack me up. Wish I could remember all of them but, alas, my memory is terrible.
Today was a bit of a long day cause I had to get up early to go to Seoul for my Chinese visa. That was an experience in itself. It takes an hour and a half to get to Seoul so it's no easy trip. The website I was reading from China told me to go to the embassy in Seoul and had rather indescript directions as to where exactly it was. I got to the subway stop and started out walking where I thought it should be. So I walked....and walked....and walked....and couldn't find it. So I walked another way....and walked....and walked....and still nothing. So I asked a policeman and he pointed me in the right direction. I finally got there only to find out that I had to go to another part of Seoul to the Chinese consulate.
After a taxi ride through heavy traffic, I got to the area where it was supposed to be. More walking back and forth and after asking a guy in a convenience store....I never found it. Instead, I settled for a tourist company that only does Chinese trips and gave them my information and let them take care of getting the visa.
After getting some KFC to go for lunch, I managed to get back to Osan just in time to make it to work. Could post more but gotta get back to my long list of things to do:
-Book a room at a hostel in Beijing
-Get more details for my plan of getting around Beijing
-Respond to two emails from the new teachers who want to know what life's like at IPTT
-Try to find a job in America
-Plan my short trip to Japan
Until next time...ciao!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Interesting Discussion
We had an interesting discussion in my highest class tonight(SP-A). We've been talking about a guy who was going to get on a plane but got a feeling that he shouldn't take that flight and it ended up crashing into the side of the mountain. They had to write a response about why it was or was not luck, a sixth sense, God, a guardian angel, or his ancestors.
One girl said it couldn't be God because there were a lot of other Christians on the plane so why did He only save one. I thought it was an excellent question and it spurred immediate debate from two Christian students in the class.
Caitlin responded that he was part of God's future plan so He saved him and not the others because they were destined to die on that plane.
Ivy chipped in and gave the most amusing answer - "If he was a faithful Christian, then God would love him a lot(like me!) so God saved him."
To which Caitlin responded with, "but there was a faithful lady at my church who died."
Ivy lost her focus with that one and decided to give us a narrative about an old lady in her church. "There was a lady in my church. But one day her heart stopped. So she died."
Everyone started laughing but Ivy continued with, "Oh no....really, not laughing. Her heart stopped. Oh no."
Today was pretty good, over all. At least, after I had finished most of my classes. :P
During my break time before my last class, Jenny and Jennifer(from old SP-A) came down to my classroom and wanted to talk so we passed the hour talking about various things and I really enjoyed it. Very rarely have real conversations anymore, not in English anyway.
One girl said it couldn't be God because there were a lot of other Christians on the plane so why did He only save one. I thought it was an excellent question and it spurred immediate debate from two Christian students in the class.
Caitlin responded that he was part of God's future plan so He saved him and not the others because they were destined to die on that plane.
Ivy chipped in and gave the most amusing answer - "If he was a faithful Christian, then God would love him a lot(like me!) so God saved him."
To which Caitlin responded with, "but there was a faithful lady at my church who died."
Ivy lost her focus with that one and decided to give us a narrative about an old lady in her church. "There was a lady in my church. But one day her heart stopped. So she died."
Everyone started laughing but Ivy continued with, "Oh no....really, not laughing. Her heart stopped. Oh no."
Today was pretty good, over all. At least, after I had finished most of my classes. :P
During my break time before my last class, Jenny and Jennifer(from old SP-A) came down to my classroom and wanted to talk so we passed the hour talking about various things and I really enjoyed it. Very rarely have real conversations anymore, not in English anyway.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Back to the grindstone...
Back to work again with no foreseeable holidays in my time left here. It's hard to believe it's already been 2 weeks since I got back from Cheju. Time is flying by, which makes me happy. I'm ready to get back to America and chow down on some green beans, Barq's root beer and a bacon cheeseburger, not to mention all the people I haven't seen in a year. ;)
Nothing much exciting has been happening here. Just counting down the days and classes. Had a good weekend and was able to spend time both days with friends. I became part of the praise team at church on Sunday morning. Christine insisted it would be so much fun if I played an Israeli drum for the praise time, plus then I wouldn't be so bored during service. lol
She thought it would be a great way to "praise God with my hands." So after some prodding, and after everyone joined her side, I conceded. During the actual service, Dahea translated everything for me so the service went surprisingly fast. Plus, since she was already talking, we could commentate during the sermon. :P
After lunch and the afternoon service, I went back to Osan with Dong-sung, Young-sun and Young-ah. They had to go to Emart and I went back to my house. Christine called shortly thereafter and brought over a bunch of food that her mom cooked and we had dinner together, watched Mr. Bean on Disney Channel and went to Lotte together.
Eunbae called me while we were there and dropped by with his girlfriend, who was very nice. After we finished shopping, Christine went home and the three of us went to Haru Coffee for some smoothies and some fun conversation. But now it's Monday again and I'm counting down the days for the weekend. :P
Cheers.
Nothing much exciting has been happening here. Just counting down the days and classes. Had a good weekend and was able to spend time both days with friends. I became part of the praise team at church on Sunday morning. Christine insisted it would be so much fun if I played an Israeli drum for the praise time, plus then I wouldn't be so bored during service. lol
She thought it would be a great way to "praise God with my hands." So after some prodding, and after everyone joined her side, I conceded. During the actual service, Dahea translated everything for me so the service went surprisingly fast. Plus, since she was already talking, we could commentate during the sermon. :P
After lunch and the afternoon service, I went back to Osan with Dong-sung, Young-sun and Young-ah. They had to go to Emart and I went back to my house. Christine called shortly thereafter and brought over a bunch of food that her mom cooked and we had dinner together, watched Mr. Bean on Disney Channel and went to Lotte together.
Eunbae called me while we were there and dropped by with his girlfriend, who was very nice. After we finished shopping, Christine went home and the three of us went to Haru Coffee for some smoothies and some fun conversation. But now it's Monday again and I'm counting down the days for the weekend. :P
Cheers.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
August 3rd, 2009
Now to catch up on my last full day in Jeju.
When I got up in the morning, it was raining so I figured I would just explore some local museums and pick up some souvenirs. So after my daily cream-cheese bagel, my first stop was the local tourist information center. Jeju tourism is definitely designed with Korean tourists in mind since none of them speak English. That doesn't affect me too much but the lady managing this location didn't know much about the city/area she's supposed to be expert on.
The first time I went I asked about tent rentals and lockers at Hyeopjae beach. She said both would be there and neither were. The second time I asked about where to buy tangerine wine, only found in Jeju, and she told me, "E-mart?" E-mart, like Lotte, is a huge grocery/supermart. Of course, when I went, the lady told me they didn't sell it. The lady didn't know enough to tell me that many of the souvenir shops hidden along a street near Dragon's Head Rock specializing in tangerine items sells it.
My last attempt(not sure why I tried again) was asking for recommendations on what to do since it was raining. She says, "museums." Yeah, that's great, but you're here to give me ideas on some good museums to visit so I can make a plan. So I ask her for local ones and she tells me the Jeju National Museum. Well, that's one of the local museums and one that I already knew about. But whatever, I headed to the local bike rental place(since the raining had subsided) where I had talked with the guy the first day I got to Jeju.
I rented the bike and biked the 20 to 30 minutes to find the museum which was towards the edge of the city only to find, to my dismay, that the museum is closed on Mondays. That would have been a really important piece of information for a tourist information to know about the biggest museum in Jeju. Yeah....
Also, after intially renting the bike, I made my way to the Dragon's Head Rock to the souvenir stores there and, on the way, ran into some other bikers. The first man said, "hello," in English and asked where I was from and where I was going. We parted ways but I passed them a short while later, they all waved and I passed them on the way back even later and they all waved and said "hello" again. I really enjoyed the friendliness of the people and other tourists there.
On my way back from the closed museum, my severely sunburnt back began to catch up with me. It started out as a slight itch until it progressed to the point where it started bringing back memories of when I burned my back so badly while canoing during a camping trip with my uncle and cousins.
There is no good way to describe the pain of a severe/blistering sunburn. I headed full speed to E-mart to find some aloe or lotion of some kind to relieve the severe pain and itching. After buying some, I went to the store's bathroom and into a stall to apply it to my back. Immediately after, however, the extreme suffering of that first time came back to haunt me. There is no way of describing the pain unless you have experienced it.
The itching is unbearable and yet unscratchable because of the severe pain that is sure to follow. The result is your body starts writing, in a sense, in that you get these involuntary movements and jerks as your body tries to cope with the pain without hurting yourself further. It's in those times that you ask God, "why me" and then regret not having a hotel room to go back to so you can writhe in private rather than in a bathroom stall. :P
Eventually, it settled down enough so that I could put my shirt back on and leave E-mart all the while trying to figure out how to distract my mind from the pain. I settled on McDonalds, since I hadn't eaten lunch yet, where a new adventure started.
In Jeju, for some reason, there are a lot of psychos. Like, psychos who walk around talking to people who aren't there. I saw at least three so I say a lot because that's three in three full days and more than I ever saw on the mainland, though there are people who are mentally retarded up here, just not psycho.
The first guy I saw was an old man with long white hair and a long white beard(like what a castaway on a desert island might look like). My attention was first drawn to him when he appeared to be calling some children playing on exercise equipment "b***ards" and yelling at them in intelligible Korean. He was riding on a fairly new-looking bike with a purse hanging from one handle and another bag from the other. I can only guess he stole them since he didn't look like a man of means, nor does a man typically carry a purse. After passing him, he showed up later walking along the sidewalk yelling at some guy who wasn't there, quite angrily, too.
I later saw another middle-aged man who was talking to someone who wasn't there in the same area.
And now back to McDonalds. After getting my meal and attempting to focus on my sandwich and not my back, there was an old haggard lady sitting at a table nearby eating. She was a bit fat, with curly dirty hair and a bag that she was carrying around. First, she yells "okay, blah blah" at me and I look over and she kind of nods at me. Next thing I know she's standing in front of me at my table and blabbering away in Korean, but I couldn't understand any of it. I managed to avoid eye contact while the Korean tourists next to me were both surprised and did nothing to help the poor foreigner. lol
She later returned to her seat to stare in front of her and talk to the invisible person who was sitting there.
After lunch, and since I already had my bike, I headed towards another tourist location, Samsunghyeol. It's supposed to be the oldest historical place in Jeju, representing the birth of civilization on Jeju Island. It's, like much of the island, steeped in legend and superstition. It was an interesting trip but it took me a while to find it. My back had started feeling a bit better from the cool breeze and so I accidentally overdid it in my quest to find it and began sweating.
That sent my back into a painful frenzy and, after getting my ticket and going in, was unable to look at any of the exhibits with any kind of clarity and, instead, ended up laying on a park bench praying for relief. After it settled down a bit, I was able to take a few pictures and decided just to head back to the sauna and soak in the cool pool.
However, once I got back downtown, I was feeling well enough to try out an interesting looking cafe that I stumbled upon to satisfy my coffee craving. It had quite a nice, relaxing atmosphere and a great menu with interesting coffees such as a cinnamon mocha and a caramel nut coffee. I got the latter and a cup of gelato and was pleasantly surprised by just how fantastic the coffee was, after being thoroughly disappointed by my first coffee in Jeju a few days earlier. I can easily say it was some of the best coffee I've had in Korea, the land where they tend to go heavy on milk and light on coffee when it comes to lattes and other specialty coffees.
I also used the free internet service and computers to devise a strategy on how to best deal with my aching back, which made me feel better just having the empowerment of information and a good strategy. I know, I'm strange that way.
On the way back to the coastal area of the city, I stopped in a souvenir store that I had passed earlier and even gone into the store next to it but had passed this one up. I'm glad I did, too. Earlier in the day, I had bought a small glass bottle of tangerine wine for $15 but it had been bouncing around on the back of my bike all day(yeah, not so smart) so I went in to see if he sold it but maybe a bit cheaper. He didn't have any in glass bottles but had some in bigger plastic bottles for $4 and with 7% alcohol content as opposed to the other bottle's 12%(I prefer the more mellow, sweeter taste of wines with lower alcohol content).
He asked me if I needed anything else. I said no but continued looking around at the locally-made soaps, perfumes, chocolates, etc. He began explaining them to me and after talking for about ten minutes, I walked out the door with the wine and a bottle tangerine vitamin c and b chewables. We had a great conversation and I really enjoyed it.
Next, I went to find some dinner. I walked along the main strip passing restaurant after restaurant specializing in seafood. I had almost decided on one where the people looked especially friendly when I came upon a Jeju pork restaurant. I decided to give it a try and went in and asked the lady if it was possible to order meat just for one person(some places don't serve single servings). She told me "no" but I later realized that she was telling me that one serving would be insufficient for a guy of my....muscular size and stature.
So I got 400 grams of meat(almost a pound), a bowl of rice, and various side dishes and more good conversation with the owner as she cooked the meat for me at the table. She was so surprised by my Korean that she asked how many "years" I had been in Korea. It was a very pleasant meal and when she had to attend to other customers, I ate my meat and watched an old Jackie Chan movie on the tv hanging in the corner.
After finishing, I immediately headed to the seaside arts center for the last concert of my time in Jeju. It started with a chorus group, continued with an orchestra-accompanied soprano, orchestra pieces(classical and movie themes), three tenors, two orchestra-accompanied trumpet solos and duets and finished with the three tenors. It was an enjoyable evening and my back had settled down sufficiently to allow me to really enjoy it.
When it finished, I picked up my belongings from the lockers at E-mart(where I put them every morning before starting my day) and caught a taxi back to the farther, but nicer, Dragon's Head Rock sauna location. After soaking in just the cool pool(couldn't handle the hot tub with a burned back), I headed to bed.
Now this sauna was a bit different than the one I stayed at the first two nights. There, I had slept on the floor in the movie room with about five other people who were relatively quiet but had not been tremendously comfortable. Here, there were many places on the floor to sleep but it also had a room full of bunkbeds, one for the men and one for the women. The first of my two nights there, I slept comfortably but was somewhat disturbed by snoring like I've never heard in my life. I mean, this guy even beat out my grandfather, which is tough to do, not to mention there were about three people snoring.
The second night, there was no snoring, but that was because no one could sleep because people kept going in and out and allowing the door to slam behind them with a loud crashing sound. This happened about 15 times and eventually you start hearing people around you cussing at the people going in and out or just swearing in general anger. Finally, someone got up and put something in the door to soften it when it was left to swing shut and I was able to get some much-needed sleep.
I slept in late Tuesday morning and gathered my things to prepare for my short trip to the airport. I headed outside and started walking along the coast just listening to the waves beat against the rocks and feeling the cool breeze when I passed a Kraze Burger with glass walls two stories high. I was hungry, wanted a burger, and thought the idea of a second floor window seat eating a hamburger while looking at the ocean was fantastic. Even better, I discovered free internet was available.
When I finished my burger, I stood outside for a while taking in my last view of the island ocean. Eventually, with nothing else to do, I flagged a taxi(Or he flagged me, not sure which. In Jeju, everytime a taxi passes you, he honks at you to let you know he's there and available.) and took the 7 minute, $3 drive to the airport. I was quite early and the line for check-in was almost nothing so I had plenty of time on my hands.
I was kind of hoping something would take a while to justify my early arrival. Something did but not in the way I was expecting. When I went through security, the lady looking at the screen called to one of the men while looking at my bag on the screen and said something about "wine." When I checked in, I had placed the bottle of wine in my check-in bag because it's a liquid but the man at the counter didn't recommend that since it is fragile and told me it was okay to take on board with me(apparently Koreans aren't rabid about the 2 ounce thing like the American government is). What I had forgotten, though, was that there was a bottle opener inside the wine box. It's a three-piece tool with a corkscrew, bottle opener and a small knife.
The man there asked me to follow him and we went down to a counter near the boarding gates and he handed it to the lady there who stuffed it in a padded envelope, gave me a receipt and told me it would be placed on the plane as a checked item. Wow, what a relief. I wasn't strip-searched, my bottle opener wasn't disposed of, and I wasn't placed on a terrorist watch list. Instead, they treated me like a customer who simply forgot to check an item. I'll take Korean security any day. :P
Anyway, arrived back home without incident and, after cleaning up my apartment and taking some clothes for dry-cleaning, spent the afternoon relaxing. I'm not too crazy about going to work today but I only have 6 and a half weeks left so I guess I can manage.
That's all for now, folks. :)
When I got up in the morning, it was raining so I figured I would just explore some local museums and pick up some souvenirs. So after my daily cream-cheese bagel, my first stop was the local tourist information center. Jeju tourism is definitely designed with Korean tourists in mind since none of them speak English. That doesn't affect me too much but the lady managing this location didn't know much about the city/area she's supposed to be expert on.
The first time I went I asked about tent rentals and lockers at Hyeopjae beach. She said both would be there and neither were. The second time I asked about where to buy tangerine wine, only found in Jeju, and she told me, "E-mart?" E-mart, like Lotte, is a huge grocery/supermart. Of course, when I went, the lady told me they didn't sell it. The lady didn't know enough to tell me that many of the souvenir shops hidden along a street near Dragon's Head Rock specializing in tangerine items sells it.
My last attempt(not sure why I tried again) was asking for recommendations on what to do since it was raining. She says, "museums." Yeah, that's great, but you're here to give me ideas on some good museums to visit so I can make a plan. So I ask her for local ones and she tells me the Jeju National Museum. Well, that's one of the local museums and one that I already knew about. But whatever, I headed to the local bike rental place(since the raining had subsided) where I had talked with the guy the first day I got to Jeju.
I rented the bike and biked the 20 to 30 minutes to find the museum which was towards the edge of the city only to find, to my dismay, that the museum is closed on Mondays. That would have been a really important piece of information for a tourist information to know about the biggest museum in Jeju. Yeah....
Also, after intially renting the bike, I made my way to the Dragon's Head Rock to the souvenir stores there and, on the way, ran into some other bikers. The first man said, "hello," in English and asked where I was from and where I was going. We parted ways but I passed them a short while later, they all waved and I passed them on the way back even later and they all waved and said "hello" again. I really enjoyed the friendliness of the people and other tourists there.
On my way back from the closed museum, my severely sunburnt back began to catch up with me. It started out as a slight itch until it progressed to the point where it started bringing back memories of when I burned my back so badly while canoing during a camping trip with my uncle and cousins.
There is no good way to describe the pain of a severe/blistering sunburn. I headed full speed to E-mart to find some aloe or lotion of some kind to relieve the severe pain and itching. After buying some, I went to the store's bathroom and into a stall to apply it to my back. Immediately after, however, the extreme suffering of that first time came back to haunt me. There is no way of describing the pain unless you have experienced it.
The itching is unbearable and yet unscratchable because of the severe pain that is sure to follow. The result is your body starts writing, in a sense, in that you get these involuntary movements and jerks as your body tries to cope with the pain without hurting yourself further. It's in those times that you ask God, "why me" and then regret not having a hotel room to go back to so you can writhe in private rather than in a bathroom stall. :P
Eventually, it settled down enough so that I could put my shirt back on and leave E-mart all the while trying to figure out how to distract my mind from the pain. I settled on McDonalds, since I hadn't eaten lunch yet, where a new adventure started.
In Jeju, for some reason, there are a lot of psychos. Like, psychos who walk around talking to people who aren't there. I saw at least three so I say a lot because that's three in three full days and more than I ever saw on the mainland, though there are people who are mentally retarded up here, just not psycho.
The first guy I saw was an old man with long white hair and a long white beard(like what a castaway on a desert island might look like). My attention was first drawn to him when he appeared to be calling some children playing on exercise equipment "b***ards" and yelling at them in intelligible Korean. He was riding on a fairly new-looking bike with a purse hanging from one handle and another bag from the other. I can only guess he stole them since he didn't look like a man of means, nor does a man typically carry a purse. After passing him, he showed up later walking along the sidewalk yelling at some guy who wasn't there, quite angrily, too.
I later saw another middle-aged man who was talking to someone who wasn't there in the same area.
And now back to McDonalds. After getting my meal and attempting to focus on my sandwich and not my back, there was an old haggard lady sitting at a table nearby eating. She was a bit fat, with curly dirty hair and a bag that she was carrying around. First, she yells "okay, blah blah" at me and I look over and she kind of nods at me. Next thing I know she's standing in front of me at my table and blabbering away in Korean, but I couldn't understand any of it. I managed to avoid eye contact while the Korean tourists next to me were both surprised and did nothing to help the poor foreigner. lol
She later returned to her seat to stare in front of her and talk to the invisible person who was sitting there.
After lunch, and since I already had my bike, I headed towards another tourist location, Samsunghyeol. It's supposed to be the oldest historical place in Jeju, representing the birth of civilization on Jeju Island. It's, like much of the island, steeped in legend and superstition. It was an interesting trip but it took me a while to find it. My back had started feeling a bit better from the cool breeze and so I accidentally overdid it in my quest to find it and began sweating.
That sent my back into a painful frenzy and, after getting my ticket and going in, was unable to look at any of the exhibits with any kind of clarity and, instead, ended up laying on a park bench praying for relief. After it settled down a bit, I was able to take a few pictures and decided just to head back to the sauna and soak in the cool pool.
However, once I got back downtown, I was feeling well enough to try out an interesting looking cafe that I stumbled upon to satisfy my coffee craving. It had quite a nice, relaxing atmosphere and a great menu with interesting coffees such as a cinnamon mocha and a caramel nut coffee. I got the latter and a cup of gelato and was pleasantly surprised by just how fantastic the coffee was, after being thoroughly disappointed by my first coffee in Jeju a few days earlier. I can easily say it was some of the best coffee I've had in Korea, the land where they tend to go heavy on milk and light on coffee when it comes to lattes and other specialty coffees.
I also used the free internet service and computers to devise a strategy on how to best deal with my aching back, which made me feel better just having the empowerment of information and a good strategy. I know, I'm strange that way.
On the way back to the coastal area of the city, I stopped in a souvenir store that I had passed earlier and even gone into the store next to it but had passed this one up. I'm glad I did, too. Earlier in the day, I had bought a small glass bottle of tangerine wine for $15 but it had been bouncing around on the back of my bike all day(yeah, not so smart) so I went in to see if he sold it but maybe a bit cheaper. He didn't have any in glass bottles but had some in bigger plastic bottles for $4 and with 7% alcohol content as opposed to the other bottle's 12%(I prefer the more mellow, sweeter taste of wines with lower alcohol content).
He asked me if I needed anything else. I said no but continued looking around at the locally-made soaps, perfumes, chocolates, etc. He began explaining them to me and after talking for about ten minutes, I walked out the door with the wine and a bottle tangerine vitamin c and b chewables. We had a great conversation and I really enjoyed it.
Next, I went to find some dinner. I walked along the main strip passing restaurant after restaurant specializing in seafood. I had almost decided on one where the people looked especially friendly when I came upon a Jeju pork restaurant. I decided to give it a try and went in and asked the lady if it was possible to order meat just for one person(some places don't serve single servings). She told me "no" but I later realized that she was telling me that one serving would be insufficient for a guy of my....muscular size and stature.
So I got 400 grams of meat(almost a pound), a bowl of rice, and various side dishes and more good conversation with the owner as she cooked the meat for me at the table. She was so surprised by my Korean that she asked how many "years" I had been in Korea. It was a very pleasant meal and when she had to attend to other customers, I ate my meat and watched an old Jackie Chan movie on the tv hanging in the corner.
After finishing, I immediately headed to the seaside arts center for the last concert of my time in Jeju. It started with a chorus group, continued with an orchestra-accompanied soprano, orchestra pieces(classical and movie themes), three tenors, two orchestra-accompanied trumpet solos and duets and finished with the three tenors. It was an enjoyable evening and my back had settled down sufficiently to allow me to really enjoy it.
When it finished, I picked up my belongings from the lockers at E-mart(where I put them every morning before starting my day) and caught a taxi back to the farther, but nicer, Dragon's Head Rock sauna location. After soaking in just the cool pool(couldn't handle the hot tub with a burned back), I headed to bed.
Now this sauna was a bit different than the one I stayed at the first two nights. There, I had slept on the floor in the movie room with about five other people who were relatively quiet but had not been tremendously comfortable. Here, there were many places on the floor to sleep but it also had a room full of bunkbeds, one for the men and one for the women. The first of my two nights there, I slept comfortably but was somewhat disturbed by snoring like I've never heard in my life. I mean, this guy even beat out my grandfather, which is tough to do, not to mention there were about three people snoring.
The second night, there was no snoring, but that was because no one could sleep because people kept going in and out and allowing the door to slam behind them with a loud crashing sound. This happened about 15 times and eventually you start hearing people around you cussing at the people going in and out or just swearing in general anger. Finally, someone got up and put something in the door to soften it when it was left to swing shut and I was able to get some much-needed sleep.
I slept in late Tuesday morning and gathered my things to prepare for my short trip to the airport. I headed outside and started walking along the coast just listening to the waves beat against the rocks and feeling the cool breeze when I passed a Kraze Burger with glass walls two stories high. I was hungry, wanted a burger, and thought the idea of a second floor window seat eating a hamburger while looking at the ocean was fantastic. Even better, I discovered free internet was available.
When I finished my burger, I stood outside for a while taking in my last view of the island ocean. Eventually, with nothing else to do, I flagged a taxi(Or he flagged me, not sure which. In Jeju, everytime a taxi passes you, he honks at you to let you know he's there and available.) and took the 7 minute, $3 drive to the airport. I was quite early and the line for check-in was almost nothing so I had plenty of time on my hands.
I was kind of hoping something would take a while to justify my early arrival. Something did but not in the way I was expecting. When I went through security, the lady looking at the screen called to one of the men while looking at my bag on the screen and said something about "wine." When I checked in, I had placed the bottle of wine in my check-in bag because it's a liquid but the man at the counter didn't recommend that since it is fragile and told me it was okay to take on board with me(apparently Koreans aren't rabid about the 2 ounce thing like the American government is). What I had forgotten, though, was that there was a bottle opener inside the wine box. It's a three-piece tool with a corkscrew, bottle opener and a small knife.
The man there asked me to follow him and we went down to a counter near the boarding gates and he handed it to the lady there who stuffed it in a padded envelope, gave me a receipt and told me it would be placed on the plane as a checked item. Wow, what a relief. I wasn't strip-searched, my bottle opener wasn't disposed of, and I wasn't placed on a terrorist watch list. Instead, they treated me like a customer who simply forgot to check an item. I'll take Korean security any day. :P
Anyway, arrived back home without incident and, after cleaning up my apartment and taking some clothes for dry-cleaning, spent the afternoon relaxing. I'm not too crazy about going to work today but I only have 6 and a half weeks left so I guess I can manage.
That's all for now, folks. :)
Monday, August 3, 2009
Yesterday, August 2nd
I'll fill you in first on yesterday, since I was too tired to blog last evening.
I got up a little bit late, and slept better than the previous night but still not fantastic since I was on the floor. After a bagel and a drink and Dunkin Donuts, I made my way to the bus terminal. Unfortunately, the bus left just before I got there so I had to wait another 50 minutes for the next one.
Eventually, I did manage to get a ride to Seongsan and after an hour and a half and a short chat with the friendly guy next to me, I arrived at Seongsan Ilchubong. Ilchubong is a mountain in the shape of a bowl and is left over from a volcanic eruption, which is what formed Jeju in the first place. It's quite a site from the top and gives a good view of Udo and Jejudo.
On the way there, I stopped in a little restaurant and got bean paste soup, Jeju style, with two shrimp in it. The mountain itself was quite a climb and I was completely sweaty by the time I reached the top. The view, however, was well worth it(and the sense of accomplishment ;) ).
With that out of the way, I started for the port, from whence I would take the boat to Udo. On the way there, I saw a few of the famed "hae-nyuh," or "sea women." At least, I think that's who they were. Jeju, and especially Udo, are well-known for their hae-nyuh, women divers who can hold their breath for over two minutes, dive to great depths and have a certain whistling sound they make when they emerge. Afterwards, they sell the fresh seafood to locals and passerbys.
I took the 15 minute ferry ride to Udo and was hoping to rent an ATV but, due to the long line, settled for a bike. I biked down the middle of the island and around the coast. It was quite beautiful and the weather couldn't have been better. Got some great pictures including a couple with me in it, one thanks to a friendly Korean couple who offered to take it for me.
I took the last boat back to Seongsan and after a lengthy walk, made it back to the nearest bus stop. While I was waiting, a Korean man struck up a conversation with me in English but he and is wife gave up and started conversing in Korean after they found out that I could speak it.
After waiting for a few minutes, a taxi pulled up and said he would take us to Jeju City for $5 a piece. Normally, the ride would be about $30 and the bus is $3 so it sounded like a good deal. Another girl who was sitting there and I took him up on the offer. He had another lady in the front seat and never set the timer on his cab. After he dropped the first lady off, he kept looking at bus stops and tourist places trying to find people to pick up on the way to Jeju. My guess is that his shift was finished so since he had to head back to Jeju anyway, he was picking up some extra pocket money.
The other girl, who was about my age, was very friendly and spoke very good English. We chatted a little bit, when she wasn't falling asleep. When that happened, she gradually tilted over(as sleeping Koreans are prone to do) and ended up sleeping on my shoulder/arm. Glad I spent the extra two bucks for a quicker ride and a fun experience. :P
When we arrived, the man I met the previous night came with his wife and two young children to pick me up and take me to a local famous restaurant, one where the president also visited(with his picture with the owner proudly displayed at the counter). Apparently a lot of famous people frequent it, though, as there were signatures and notes all over the walls from various people of note.
There, we had a traditional Jeju meal of various kinds of seafood, including raw fish and raw squid. We also had juice from the fruit of a cactus mixed with sprite, which was really good. His friend and his family also met us at the restaurant and we all went to Halla mountain park afterwards for a stroll.
When we were finishing our walk, he invited me to come back to his house for coffee. I agreed and we all gathered in his apartment for plum tea, watermelon and peaches. It's amazing that these two families that I had never met before would be talking to me as if we were good friends and having me over to their house. His wife even gave me a bottle of plum tea for my mom after I told her how much she likes it.
Finally, it was time to leave and he drove me back to the sauna where I was going to stay and told me how he would never forget me and if I come back to Jeju, then we have to meet. I've never met people in Korea who are as friendly as the people in Jeju.
One lady came up to me with her little girl and was trying to get her to speak in English. So many other adults and children have spoken to me while I have been here.
Anyway, no time to post about today so I'll fill you in tomorrow.
I got up a little bit late, and slept better than the previous night but still not fantastic since I was on the floor. After a bagel and a drink and Dunkin Donuts, I made my way to the bus terminal. Unfortunately, the bus left just before I got there so I had to wait another 50 minutes for the next one.
Eventually, I did manage to get a ride to Seongsan and after an hour and a half and a short chat with the friendly guy next to me, I arrived at Seongsan Ilchubong. Ilchubong is a mountain in the shape of a bowl and is left over from a volcanic eruption, which is what formed Jeju in the first place. It's quite a site from the top and gives a good view of Udo and Jejudo.
On the way there, I stopped in a little restaurant and got bean paste soup, Jeju style, with two shrimp in it. The mountain itself was quite a climb and I was completely sweaty by the time I reached the top. The view, however, was well worth it(and the sense of accomplishment ;) ).
With that out of the way, I started for the port, from whence I would take the boat to Udo. On the way there, I saw a few of the famed "hae-nyuh," or "sea women." At least, I think that's who they were. Jeju, and especially Udo, are well-known for their hae-nyuh, women divers who can hold their breath for over two minutes, dive to great depths and have a certain whistling sound they make when they emerge. Afterwards, they sell the fresh seafood to locals and passerbys.
I took the 15 minute ferry ride to Udo and was hoping to rent an ATV but, due to the long line, settled for a bike. I biked down the middle of the island and around the coast. It was quite beautiful and the weather couldn't have been better. Got some great pictures including a couple with me in it, one thanks to a friendly Korean couple who offered to take it for me.
I took the last boat back to Seongsan and after a lengthy walk, made it back to the nearest bus stop. While I was waiting, a Korean man struck up a conversation with me in English but he and is wife gave up and started conversing in Korean after they found out that I could speak it.
After waiting for a few minutes, a taxi pulled up and said he would take us to Jeju City for $5 a piece. Normally, the ride would be about $30 and the bus is $3 so it sounded like a good deal. Another girl who was sitting there and I took him up on the offer. He had another lady in the front seat and never set the timer on his cab. After he dropped the first lady off, he kept looking at bus stops and tourist places trying to find people to pick up on the way to Jeju. My guess is that his shift was finished so since he had to head back to Jeju anyway, he was picking up some extra pocket money.
The other girl, who was about my age, was very friendly and spoke very good English. We chatted a little bit, when she wasn't falling asleep. When that happened, she gradually tilted over(as sleeping Koreans are prone to do) and ended up sleeping on my shoulder/arm. Glad I spent the extra two bucks for a quicker ride and a fun experience. :P
When we arrived, the man I met the previous night came with his wife and two young children to pick me up and take me to a local famous restaurant, one where the president also visited(with his picture with the owner proudly displayed at the counter). Apparently a lot of famous people frequent it, though, as there were signatures and notes all over the walls from various people of note.
There, we had a traditional Jeju meal of various kinds of seafood, including raw fish and raw squid. We also had juice from the fruit of a cactus mixed with sprite, which was really good. His friend and his family also met us at the restaurant and we all went to Halla mountain park afterwards for a stroll.
When we were finishing our walk, he invited me to come back to his house for coffee. I agreed and we all gathered in his apartment for plum tea, watermelon and peaches. It's amazing that these two families that I had never met before would be talking to me as if we were good friends and having me over to their house. His wife even gave me a bottle of plum tea for my mom after I told her how much she likes it.
Finally, it was time to leave and he drove me back to the sauna where I was going to stay and told me how he would never forget me and if I come back to Jeju, then we have to meet. I've never met people in Korea who are as friendly as the people in Jeju.
One lady came up to me with her little girl and was trying to get her to speak in English. So many other adults and children have spoken to me while I have been here.
Anyway, no time to post about today so I'll fill you in tomorrow.
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