Jeju

This has been a bit of a hectic last few days, as I took my last few vacation days to visit Jeju Island. Jeju is the southern-most part of Korea, and is known as a sort of tropical paradise. However, for me, the combination of weather and the work I had to do to get around, it was more like normal Korea + volcanic rock and a few palm trees.

While it was nice to be away from classes, the weather for most of the time was cloudy. I didn't even get to see the largest mountain in Korea, the volcano Hallasan, because it was so overcast most of the time. Anyway, here's a bit of a recap :

I arrived Saturday afternoon, and after checking in to the hotel in Jeju city, I went to Samseonghyeol shrine. This shrine is where the legendary brothers who founded the island were "born" when they emerged from three holes in the ground.

There is a bit of a dip in the ground, and the three holes are here.

After that I went to the Folklore and Natural History Museum next to the shrine.

The next day I went to the eastern part of the island, to the Manjanggul lava-tube cave. Manjanggul is supposedly the longest lava-tube cave in the world. It was pretty interesting, and a nice reprieve from the heat. Unfortunately most of my pictures didn't turn out because of the darkness, but here's the highlight of the cave - a 7 m. tall lava pillar :


Monday morning, I went to the southern coast, to the city of Seogwipo. Seogwipo is more laid back than the typically Korean Jeju-si. First I went to Jeongbang waterfall, which is supposed to be the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the sea.


After that I made a trip to see Oedolgae, which is basically just a large rock off the shore that has a legend attached.

My next stop was Jungmun city, which was probably the highlight of the trip. The sun finally came out, so I went to Cheonjeyeon waterfall. Cheonjeyeon is a three-tiered waterfall where (quoting my LP guide) "the seven nymphs of who served the Emperor of Heaven used to slide down moonbeams to bathe every night." It's all beautiful, and there's even a huge bridge crossing it all which allows you to see for miles.




Then I was off to Jusangjeolli. Jusangjeolli is like a miniature version of Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. When the hot lava reached the sea, the rapid cooling and contraction created distinct formations along the coast.



Tuesday morning I went back to Jeju-si. I did some roaming around the city before finding a motel to drop off my backpack, then took a bus along the east coast to Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak). Seongsan is another extinct volcano, and one of the most popular hikes aside from Halla mountain. While it looks huge, it only took twenty minutes to get to the top where there are some pretty great views (when it isn't foggy) and a big grass-filled crater.




I'm glad I got to Jeju, since it is supposed to be one of the not-to-be-missed highlights of Korea. I guess I was just assuming I'd be doing more relaxing and less hiking up and down stairs!

While the election music has finally stopped, things only seem to have gotten more hectic around here. We had the last week of classes for the spring term, and I had to "say goodbye" to some of my favorite students. I have fewer LangCon classes (with the younger kids) and more Avalon classes this term. Here are some of the classes I no longer get to enjoy :

I still have all of these kids, but Danny (the boy in the middle) is so cute in pictures

This is Hunguk - he likes to make faces

I'm probably the most sad about not having this class any more - they're great speakers and so much fun

These girls are adorable - they're trying to make a heart, and they wrestled poor Edan into the middle of it against his will

The lowest class, who could be a handful, but very cute

Dave and Ally (I still get to teach them)

Last weekend was the end of the (in)famous International Mime Festival. We went out on Friday night to see what it was about, and frankly, it was just kind of weird. There weren't really any mimes in the traditional sense - more like contemporary performing arts. Or something like that. It really was a hodge-podge of people and presentations.

The closest thing to mimes at the festival, but these guys talked and greeted everyone at the entrance.

Walking up the stairs you're surrounded by strange, floating things

My first concert in Korea

A traditional Korean ceremony

Some interesting people were in attendance

And in happy news, there is progress on two of my upcoming trips. I now have a date set to Jeju Island, which is supposed to be beautiful. I also have a more concrete idea of what I'm going to do for the China trip, and have even started on parts of the post-Korea travel plans. Even though I've yet to feel stress-free again, at least I'm starting to figure some things out!

Nine-month mark

While there have been ups and down over the last nine months in Korea, I feel like I've stumbled on a pretty big down. Everything has been bothering me lately, and most things are going wrong.

School is being bothersome. The youngest kids are going wild, and the older kids have all grown attitude problems. The end of the semester is here, which means it's once again time to scramble to get everything wrapped up and ready for the next term, so the office has been thrown into complete disorder. Additionally there are new teachers, people getting ready to leave, and a whole new desk arrangement, all of which only add to the chaos.

It's also local election time here, so the candidates have been going crazy. Instead of a deluge of television ads (which I could stand, because I don't have a television), all of the candidates are out on the corner of the main streets, greeting people and blasting poppy music with altered lyrics to support their campaign (songs include : "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," sung by children who shout the candidate's name in every break). It's just so strange. Also, there are choreographed dancers with matching outfits. So strange.

I went to dry clean my blanket (last time I tried to wash it myself I burned a bunch of it because it barely fits in my washing machine). I thought it wouldn't be a big deal, but it takes them three days to wash a blanket. THREE DAYS. And when I got it back, it smelled like old meat. Sometimes it's the little things like that that end up pushing you over the edge.

Then there's the realization that I have so much to do before I leave, and I have so much to plan for (Jeju Island, a China trip, SE Asia, Trans-Mongolian, just to name a few). And with the Korean trips I still have to do that I missed due to illness.... It's just starting to get overwhelming.

I know that most of the things going on here are small annoyances, but they're starting to add up. It doesn't help that some of my older children are trying to tell me that war is going to break out at any moment (I don't think it is, by the way).

I'm hoping that a big weekend at the International Mime Festival will help blow off a little of stress, so I can re-focus on everything I have to get done.

A trip to the doctor's

Plans here can change very quickly. Tomorrow is Buddha's birthday, so I have the day off. I was planning to go to Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla kingdom (which lasted until 935 AD). But last weekend I was sick, and as usually happens after I get sick, I ended up with an ear infection.

So on Tuesday I got my first insight into how the Korean health care system works. First off, there's no appointment necessary. And I didn't have to present any form of identification (though I did have to go with a Korean speaker, and maybe they just trusted his judgment).

Luckily the doctor spoke English. Ultimately, between the appointment and the pills it was only $25, and I'll be reimbursed for it. Kind of strange, though, that in Korea you don't just get one pill. You get a packet of random pills and no drug information telling you what it is. I know one of the pills in the normal antibiotic, but there are four others I'm taking three times a day that I'm unsure about.

The biggest issue is that they don't give you the full treatment, so I have to go back on Saturday to be re-checked and get the rest of the prescription. This means that I can't go out of town as planned. A bit disappointing, to say that least.

Hong Kong, part 3

My last day, I took the double-decker city bus up to the top of Victoria Peak, which looks out over the harbor. The ride reminded me of crazy bus rides in Costa Rica or Hawaii, but with more buildings. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day so the view wasn't amazing, but it was still nice.



I ended the journey with my own temple tour of Hong Kong. The first stop was the Nan Lian gardens and the Chi Lin Nunnery. It was crazy how such a beautiful place is right in the middle of the highways and the city.





After that, I went to the Wong Tai Sin temple, which was also nice (though I think I spoiled it by going to Chi Lin first).




My final stop was supposed to be the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas, but the signage was a bit confusing to get there. I finally thought I found it, and after taking pictures and getting to the top, I realized I was actually in a temple to honor ancestors and deceased family members. It was beautiful, but kind of awkward riding the tiny, cramped inclined elevator back to the bottom with grieving families.



Once at the bottom, I set out in the direction of the Buddhas I had thought I had seen. This time I was in the right place. But by this time it was getting late, so I had to nearly run to the top in order to get there before it closed. I had heard that it was an amazing place, but when I got to the top I was tired and gross, and I had really high expectations, so I wasn't really happy with the tiny temple area that I found.




All in all, it was a fun trip.


Now it's just three and a half more months left! I have big plans for the rest of my time here. I have an upcoming short break when I plan on going to Gyeongju (the "museum without walls" city, which is one of the historically significant cities in Korea). I also have two more vacation days that I plan to use in June to go to Jeju Island. Finally, there's the summer break, and I have tentative plans to go to Beijing. Also, there's a big Woodstock 2010 concert at the DMZ in August. So there are plenty of good things to come!

Hong Kong, part 2

On the third day, I went to Macau. Macau is a very interesting place - it's very confusing because you're never quite sure where you are. One second you're in Asia, then colonial Europe, then Las Vegas. It's quite interesting.

Macau was also interesting because I got off the ferry with very little idea of what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. Because of this, I ended up being roped into a car tour with two strangers - a girl from China and a guy from Egypt. We got to see a lot, though the poor girl had to translate the whole time. It was a different experience.

Here are a few of the stops we made :

The golden lotus, a gift from China

Monte Fort, an old Portuguese fort is on one of the hills. The top of the fort is very pretty, with gardens and a museum.

One of the cannons points at the Grand Lisboa casino

The view from Monte Fort (including the ruins of St. Paul's)

The ruins of St. Paul's

The lady with the amazing egg tarts

The Kun Lam statue

The Las Vegas part (the MGM, where we went later and I watched a weird dice game)

Church of Our Lady of Penha

View from the Church of Our Lady of Penha

An interesting mix of cultures

Largo do Senado

After returning to Hong Kong, I stayed at the pier to watch the Symphony of Lights. The Symphony of Lights is the nightly laser show put on by a number of buildings along both sides of the harbor. While it was pretty, it was packed with people so I didn't get the best pictures, but it's one of those things that is listed as a "must do" so I had to do it.