Jeju Do

Jeju Do is an island off the southern tip of South Korea, and it is the most popular tourist destination in Korea. I went for a weekend with Adventure Korea, and it was such an amazing trip. It was a small group, only 15 of us, so we all got to know one another pretty well. That was unusual and made the trip even better than my other AK trips thus far. We had a jam-packed schedule, but I'm so glad we got to see and do everything as it is unlikely I will make it back in my short time remaining in Korea.

Our first stop on Saturday morning was at a horse ranch of sorts. They gave us these silly "cowboy hats" and we went around the ring a couple of times. There was a man leading me and another girl the first time around, and he would not let us ride on our own. There were plenty of people (men) riding solo in the ring. I definitely make an effort to acclimate in this culture, but I will not budge when it's something specifically because I'm a woman. I was so upset! After getting off and making a bit of a fuss, they let me ride again, solo this time. I was so happy afterwards. I forgot how much I love riding.

This was our lunch one day, which is very typical in Korea. They serve lots of onju (side dishes) for everyone to share. It is very common to get an entire fish or entire animal of any kind served at the table. It always reminds me of the last scene in A Christmas Story with the full duck on the table. I will say I have gotten used to it though, and have no problem eating off a fish with its eyes still in tact. Never thought that would be the case...

One of the stops was at a Teddy Bear Museum, which I was not particularly looking forward to. I have mentioned them before in my blog, but they are a pretty big form of entertainment out here, and I just find it to be so odd. At this particular one, they had different areas of a zoo when we first walked inside the building. There were so many different kinds of exotic stuffed animals in a zoo-like atmosphere. The picture above was in the "Art Section" and I thought this was the most ridiculous of everything. They took famous paintings like this one and glued three-dimensional bears on top of them where the people are supposed to be. 

I didn't really take any pictures of the room, and I should have. Everyone came in our room, because it was the largest. Basically, there was one bed, which you can see in the background, and a pallet on the floor with 4 pillows for the rest of us to sleep on. The floors are heated, and I thought it was more comfortable than my bed in my apartment. That is just sad. It was really fun to have everyone get together like this though. We all spoke English, but were from many different parts of the world. I have enjoyed having the opportunity to make friends from such different places. 

This was at the Botanical Gardens on our first day. I have never seen cactus like this before; they look like giant worms! There was an entire cactus house with many different species that were new to me.

More cactus.

At the entrance to the Botanical Gardens they had a waterfall. It was so pretty to see the rainbow.

We took a ferry from the island to an even smaller island, called Udo. This island is famous in Korea for the women divers. It is a really old custom on this island that is slowly dying out, as none of the younger women want to do this for a living. You can see the woman right by the buoy; it was interesting to see something still in practice that has become so outdated. Apparently they dive all year round.

This was on one side of the island, and the sand here is precious to them. I believe it is coral sand, and if you take any off the beach they will fine you. It was actually just really small pebbles instead of what I would consider to be sand. It was very pretty with the volcano in the background. The mountain is on Jeju, and we were supposed to climb it on Sunday. A large part of our group still did so, but I chose not to because of the heavy rains. I definitely made the right choice for me, as many of them said they were afraid they were going to die with the wind and poor weather conditions. Not my idea of a good time.

This was a beach on the other side of the island with some caves on the water. This area was my favorite place I've found in Korea thus far. It was cool to see the black sand and be able to explore around the rocks and in the caves.

This is a view from inside a cave on the other side of Udo Island. They only gave us fifteen minutes to look around here, which was no where near enough for me. This was by far my favorite place that I have found in Korea. I was discussing with a friend before leaving how everything in Korea is set up for you to find. It's not generally possible for you to go out and explore something new on your own; they have everything mapped out and prepared for you. This cave felt very fresh and untouched. It was a very relaxing and calming place for me.

From the outside looking in the rocks appeared purple. It was really beautiful and unusual. A couple of us went off exploring and found this area, our tour guide didn't even know it existed.

This was another stop on Udo Island, the tallest point. It was a great view of the island itself and out over the water. It felt very much like the countryside in Europe to me (saying this without having ever been), and it was like I could have been in Ireland or something from pictures I've seen. A couple of the women from England commented on how it reminded them of home.

Our first stop on Saturday was at a Korean Folk Village. Basically we walked through several different houses with things set up from the past and present of Korea and even a bit of other cultures. It was interesting, and I loved these shoes.

I would assume this is the traditional Korean dress, called Hanbok, but it doesn't really look like the one's I've seen. To me, this looks more like a Japanese traditional gown. Not too sure why that would be here.. 

I don't have any pictures of the airport, but our departure from Jeju gave us all a real taste for the negative side of Korean culture. In spite of it all, I still had such a great trip, but man, what a night. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:25 pm and we did not board the plane until 11:30. There were four flights going to our airport on Sunday, and one at 5 pm was cancelled. The people on that flight protested, and managed to keep everyone from leaving the island. It was a mess. There was no explanation for it; all the planes except the initial cancelled flight were sitting outside, and we were stuck. They completely allowed this group of people to bully them into shutting down the entire process of running an airport. It was mind boggling. Something like that would have never happened in another first world country; they truly have no comprehension of organization or damage control. Everything ALWAYS turns into a hot mess. They seem to really feed off that kind of drama.

Valentines Day - Part 1

Here in Korea, they celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14, March 14 and April 14. Each day symbolizes something different. In February, it's Red Day, and the men are supposed to buy chocolate for the women, and in March, it's White Day, the women are supposed to buy candy for the men (I think). In April, it's Black Day, and the single women are supposed to buy candy for themselves?! Not sure if they are really supposed to buy something for themselves, but it is most definitely called Black Day and it is just for single women. Way to really rub it in with that one.

Anyways, I thought it would be fun to get some girls together for the day. It started out with four of us at a cafe where we ate that ridiculous ice cream fruit treat that you can see in the top photo. We went up to the girlie coffee shop I mentioned before for tea and dessert. It was perfect since the other two girls still there hadn't been before, and it is just so over the top. It is so so so girlie. 

Osaka en Marzo

Weekend flight to Japan in March. Yessss. Flight and accommodations are pretty cheap (very lucky), so I'll just have to worry about the insanely expensive, insanely delicious food. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm going to be oh-so-incredibly poor after all of this is said and done. But, in a good way considering all the amazing places I will get to travel in the course of just a year. 

Japan for me will be mainly Osaka and a daytrip to Kyoto. My friend and former boss, Tomoko, is from Osaka, so I am very thankful to have some local input. I should be there when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom; it will be absolutely beautiful. 

So exciting!!!

subway statements

Protest

Plan F, or something like that.

I've been trying to figure out a lot since I came back from my mini USA trip. I have had several different ideas/plans, hence the title. B or C just didn't seem enough. But, I have a new definite plan, and I am very excited about it.

I will be teaching in Thailand from May to mid-September!!! I am still applying for the Australia job, and if I get it then I will just go there instead of Thailand; but as someone pointed out to me, they are likely going to hire a family as it would be more lucrative for them. Either way, win-win for me!

I will be able to be back in America for a couple months after this, and then the plan is to get a 6 month working visa and move to Sydney. I was shocked to find how easy it is to live and work abroad. I had no idea. But it's nice because I will still get to live in Aussieland. Plus, Sydney will have a lot more options for someone my age.

From the pictures I've seen and the friends I know who've gone, Thailand is just beautiful and absolutely amazing. They do not have the same mentality as Korea, and I think this will be a very healthy move for me. They have a more care-free, stress-free mindset, and I cannot wait to be a part of it.

Tumblin' Monkeys Acquire

We found a game room when walking around in Suwon, and they had some pretty unique games for us to choose from. On the wall they had what appeared to be something similar to Monopoly, aka Acquire, but there was this giant man in a business suit towering over all these buildings and grabbing for them with his hands. It made me think of the guy who does all those deep voices for commercials (including Geico) just saying "ACQUIRE" as this ultra-obv business suity man dominated the business district.

And then, there was Tumblin' Monkeys, our game of choice. They had these giant mallets for people to hit each other when when they messed up in certain games, and this was one of them. It was hilarious. There were some fairly large groups of Koreans there, and all of a sudden we would hear this "squeak squeak squeak"  with lots of laughter as someone was being shamed for messing up in a game by getting knocked on the head with one of those things. We followed suit, and it made the games more fun for sure. Ironically, I feel safer here than anywhere I have ever felt in my life on a daily basis, but they are unusually violent within themselves. From one extreme to the next I guess, such is my life. Either way, this was great entertainment.

These were my monkeys. I won. Yeessssss.

Tetraphobia. It does exist.

The Korean, Chinese and Japanese words for the number four are the same as the word for death. It is their unlucky number in the same way 13 is for us, except it be like saying eleven, twelve, death, fourteen when counting from my understanding. 

Often times in elevators the simply have a capital F instead of the number 4. I assume it stands for "four", which is pretty funny since the Korean word for four is "sa". Seems like it should be an S instead. 

I discovered from Wikipedia (obviously, completely reliable source) that this fear is known as tetraphobia. You'd better make sure you don't have it...

Miscommunications Elsewhere

My friend Lucy is currently living in Azerbaijan working in the Peace Corp, and I thought you all might enjoy an email she sent today. It seems that her daily miscommunications are a bit more extreme than mine, and equally, if not more, entertaining.

From Lucy:

I hopped on the bus the other morning on my way to the local movie theatre. Opening the door to the marshrutka (mar sh root ka or mini-bus) for my neighbor she took an uncomfortably close seat next to me and said (all in Azeri mind you)

“Where is your baby?”

To which I replied, “I don’t have a baby.”

Looking a little perturbed, she stated, “Yes you do,” and asked again, “Where is your baby?”

Second-guessing my language skills a bit I took a moment to translate the sentence in my head and reevaluate my current family situation. Upon feeling confident that I was indeed without child, and correct in my answer, I replied again, “I don’t have a baby.”

Her face scrunched up in a manner that suggested she’d ask the question again, but instead she cocked her head to the side and said to me, “You have very nice eyebrows.”

Feeling more confused than ever and taking an even longer pause to translate, I then replied,  “Thanks,” secretly hoping this conversation was over.

Alas, I was wrong. And she followed my reply with her original query, “So, where is your baby?”

At this point I saw my stop approaching and so I threw 20qapik (ga peak, like cents) at the driver and yelled to the woman, much to the entertainment of the rest of the bus I’m sure,

“I don’t have a baby!”

After telling my story of the oddest encounter I’ve had to date quite a few times, it was later discovered that in fact my translations were correct and that plucked eyebrows are a sure sign of marriage in Azerbaijan. And if I’ve taught you anything you’re already thinking, well, marriages in Azerbaijan = what?

Correct! 

Babies!

No, I am not a cute baby stalker.

Ok, so maybe I am. But I have decided I'm okay with it. Today I had my first Korean Starbucks experience. I went to Emart this weekend, which is one of their two big Wal-Martesque shopping centers. I really loved it; it is so much better than their other supermarket. They have bright, colorful really exotic looking fish in the pet department, crazy shoes with lots of glitter on them, and anything else cool you could think of, including a Starbucks. I was so excited to see it. I don't like going to Starbucks in America, and especially in a city where they have local coffee shops; but I couldn't care less about supporting the local Korean economy. Give me my big, comfortable, makes-me-feel-at home, outrageously expensive corporation any day. We didn't go on Saturday since we had just spent all the money shopping. I had to get cleats for my upcoming hike so I had spent more than I usually would. So, I came back this morning (afternoon, really) before heading off to work. After paying $7 for a small chi tea latte and a muffin, which seemed absolutely rediculous, but is actually probably cheaper than getting in America, I sat down to enjoy my little taste of home. 

There were two young mothers with the cutest little girls sitting across the way from me, and I spent my entire time attempting to capture their cuteness with my camera without freaking them out aka not letting them know I was taking pictures of them. Turns out I possess no subtle abilities whatsoever, and I get too nervous in that situation to even take the right picture. So lame. Usually if I'm going to photograph someone, I just talk to them and make sure they don't mind; but over here, I don't usually have that option. I never even considered the fact that they could speak English. When I was walking out of the Starbucks they turned their babies towards me and very kindly had them wave goodbye. This happened as they were saying goodbye with no accent whatsover. Once I realized how good their English was I felt like I fool. I told them they had beautiful babies and they were very nice about it, laughing at me as I walked out of the store. I am surprised they weren't more upset about me taking the pictures, but they didn't seem to mind at all. I guess they thought it was funny. Either way, I have my cute baby pictures for the day. Success.

 

Also at Emart:

1. Lockers for your pets. I should have taken a photo when we were there this weekend. We walked in and this dog started yapping at us from inside one of these things. It was so sad, but so cute. I haven't decided how I feel about it.

2. Oil resistant face wipes with your post-its. Of course, why didn't we think of this?

3. They really do sparkle.

Choco Monkey Shake

I met my friend Sam in Beomgye, where she lives, this afternoon. It was my first time to get off the train at this stop, and she took me to what she described as a "girlie coffee shop". I thought it was so cool, mainly because it was different than anything I have seen in Korea. Different than anything I have ever seen, actually. In Korea, particularly in Suwon, my experiences thus far have been very similar. Once you see one Hof (Korean bar), you've seen them all, and the same goes for restaurants, stores, etc. It was nice to have the change of scenery. And there was a non-smoking section which was really wonderful.

They had several different mini rooms set up with booths and curtains that separated you from people walking around. It was kind of like renting a table at a club, but they are even more excluded from each other. I guess the idea in the clubs is to be seen, and here they don't care about that. It's a pretty popular place, and we waited about 20 minutes just to get a booth/room. It was interesting that the entire place was so ultra-feminine, yet so private. It was as though they originally set it up for couples and then decided to decorate only for 15 year old girls. They had fuschia floral patterns all along the walls, flower prints on the booths, and light pink velvet waiting benches. They also had a purple and white chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the waiting room. I could have been in Libby Lou.

The food presentation reminded more of Serendipity's in New York than anything else I could think to compare it to. All the drinks were oversized, overpriced and most were  deliciously bad for you. It was wonderful. I ordered the Choco Monkey Shake, and tried to read it out in Korean. Usually, when I go to restaurants, I practice reading whether or not there is English on the menu. Very often the words are the same, though, and I end up looking rather foolish. Today was the perfect example. After reading cho go mong I had figured it out but still tried to go with it. Most Korean is like that, you have to read it like it is, and then interpret it into English the way we think of English in your mind. The cognates are not necessarily obvious.

Often, the waiter will just say, "Nae" (yes, yes), before I'm finished, but today he surprised me. Although his English wasn't that great, he goes, "Yes, yes, chocolate monkey shake" as if it was so obvious how to pronounce this in English. Usually they wouldn't understand it if I pronounced it dry. It was so funny. Here I was working to pronounce it incorrectly in English, correctly in Korean, so that he could understand me and he comes back at me with it in perfect English.

There are many consistent differences in words that I find amusing. They never end words with -er in -er, but rather, they just put an -ah sound on the end. Also, they use the j sound instead of z. For example:

cheese: cheej-uh

tower burger: towah buh gah (this one is really difficult to do correctly in English for me, so it's not exact. The tower burger is what I always order at KFC, my fast food restaurant of choice out here)

sauna: saw une ah 

Sauna doesn't really apply in the same way, but it always throws me off to hear it. Also, we say tomaeto, they say tomahto. In the words of many a Korean, "same same, but different."