Jeju Days 2, 3, 4 and 5

I appologize for the delay ay getting this published but here are some photos from the rest of my trip to Jeju. This entry will be almost all photos with little writing - so enjoy and remember all you have to do is click on the photo if you want to see it enlarged.

Day 2

Most of the people in our group chose to spend this day climbing up Halisan Mountain but given that it is 1. very high, 2. looked very difficult and 3. it was raining, I chose to stay back. There were 4 of us that didn't go and we spent the day visiting some of the many tourist sites on our side of Jeju. One of the places we went to was called the Glass Castle. Basically it was a glass factory where you could see demonstartions of glass blowing and wander around looking at all the statues made of glass. It was pretty neat.
Yes, these trees are made from glass.

Day 3

Once againwe woke up to a rainy day. The remainder of our group arrived and the rest of the trip was spent travelling by bus. Given that it was Budda's birthday the morning was spent at a buddist temple. The rain started clear and it looked like it would be a nice day afterall.

After the temple we moved onto Cheonjeyeon Falls. There were actually 3 waterfalls here and you could hike different paths to see all 3. These pictures are of the nicest one.

From the waterfalls we moved onto the rock formations at Jungman Daepo. This area was breathtaking.

Day 4

Today we headed over to Udo Island where we had the option of renting scooters or ATV for a few hours to drive around the island. I was all excited about getting a scooter when I saw 2 of the guys in our group crash. After seeing that I decided that an ATV was a safer bet. I opted to ride on the back of my friend Jenn's ATV so that I wouldn't have to drive. There road around the island that we drive on, stopping half way for some lunch. Udo island is famous for women divers who go to get the pearls from the oysters at the bottom of the sea. Sadly the closest I saw of the women divers was this statue.

Udo Island was great and probably the highlight of the trip. A great place to spend my birthday and funny enough I ran into a friend of mine there. It had been exactly one year since I last saw here as I spent my birthday last year with her touring the DMZ.

From Udo Island we made our way over to a giant maze. We given a map, sent on our way to find the way out. It was great fun.

We finished the day on the beach back at our hotel. That night we dined on bbq pork and grilled mackeral washed down with some makeoli. We were all sunburned but happy.

Day 5

Our last day on the island and once again it was raining. We decided to go to the trick art museum. It seemed that everyone had the same idea as the place was packed. This place was full of painting and illusions that you could pose with so that it seemed you were part of the picture.

From there we moved onto Loveland. This is a sex themed park for adults. It was full of penis statues and sex toys. The best part of the place was watching all the old Korean women look at the statues and start giggling like school girls.

From here we made our way to the airport and back to Daejeon. It was a great vacation,

Jeju-Do - Day 1

When I found out that I had a 6 day holiday in May I thought to myself - what should I do? I knew that I didn't want to stay in Daejeon and briefly thought about going to another country when it hit me - Jeju Island. Then when I saw that Discover Korea was offering a trip it seemed like destiny.
Jeju Island is a small island off the southern coast of Korea. It is nicknamed the Hawaii of Asia and comes complete with palm trees, beaches and tangerines. It is one of those places that everyone says you must see before you leave Korea.
I arrived at Jeju Internation Airport after a quick 1 hour flight. I hopped into a taxi with 2 other trip members and with the guidance of our tour leader, William, we made our way to the hotel. There was already a group waiting there who had arrived earlier in the day and they were about to head out to the island of Marado. Not wanting to miss out I decided to join them. I put my luggage in the hotel, made some quick introductions, hopped in the van and we were off. When we arrived at the pier we discovered that it would be an hour until the next boat, what to do, what to do? We drove over to an area where you could walk down to the beach and see caves that had been built by the Japanese.

Some of these caves were quite large and at one time had been used to hide Japanese guns, weapons and other secrets. Now they sat empty but we entered the first one hoping to find some forgotten treasure. Sadly all we found was an unbelievable stench - reminiscent of the bathrooms in a subway station in Toronto. We made a hasty retreat and we content to stand on the beach and take pictures instead.

Finally it was time to board the ferry to Marado and we piled on the boat with hundreds of Korean tourists. Being the aquaphile that I am I made a beeline for the top deck while the rest of my group stayed in the warmth below. It was an easy 1/2 hour journey and before long we were there.

Marado Island is a small island that seemed built for tourists. Along the side of it were giant cliffs that reminded me of the coast of Ireland. Along the top were ajummas and ajosshis waiting to rent you golf carts to ride on around the island. The island itself is fairly small and could easily be walked around in less than an hour. There was a small village with some restaurants selling their famous black noodles and some small shops. A few in the group wandered away to explore the island while the rest grabbed some beer and snacks and sat out in a sunny field relaxing. After the hectic pace of the morning it was nice to sit and enjoy the sunshine and each others company. After an hour of relaxing we got back on the boat and headed back to the mainland.

From there we made our way back to the hotel where we could watch the sunset from the beach. The hotel looked like a mini resort right out of Hawaii. It came complete with a beautiful pool surrounded by palm trees and cheesy resort music coming out of the speakers . Sadly it was too early in the season for the pool to have any water in it but you could imagine what it would be like in the summer, sipping a cocktail and watching the palm trees sway.

At the hotel we had a delicious meal of bbq pork and then finished the night with a campfire on the beach. We all headed to bed exhausted but happy with the day that we had and eager for tomorrow's adventures.

Journey to Tongyoung

In the late hours of friday night I emerged from the depths of a Seoul subway station to surround myself with the eager faces of 80 expats all ready to embark on a journey across Korea. Our destination was the southern port town of Tongyong where some planned to board a ferry over to the island of So Mae Moor Do while the more daring ones would hike the island of a Sa Ryang Do. With our backpacks placed underneath and the clinking bottles of soju safely stowed away, we were off. Our transportation of choice was a burgundy bus complete with kareoke disco lights and an echoing microphone. After quick introductions around the bus, the lights were dimmed and as the bus rolled down the highway we attempted to get some sleep. At about 5:30 am we staggered off the bus into the cool, crisp sea air and the promise of a great day. Sitting huddled together for warmth we quickly downed some muffins, hopped into some taxis and headed to the pier for the ferry over to So Mae Moor Do. When we boarded the ferry we all eagerly ran to the top deck anticipating the stunning views and photo ops. The views were stunning with glimpses of jagged coastlines and tiny island popping up here and there. The sun was shining and it seemed as if the weather was going to cooperate.

After about 40 minutes, however, the stunning views became less of a novelty as we instead focused on staying warm. The open deck of a ship going full speed across the water in early April is not the warmest of places. Again we sat huddled together with our faces tucked inside our hoods praying that each island that we stopped at would be ours. Eventually 1 1/2 hours later, we were there, frozen and tired but ready for the day.

So Mae Moor Do is a small island that looks more like a giant hill rising out of the sea. There is a small fishing village at one end where sea weathered ajummas and ajosshis sat selling their wares. Offering such delicasies as fresh fish, eels and octopus.

There was a trail heading around the island slowly climbing its way to the top of the hill offering stunning views out over the sea. We headed up the path happy to stretch our legs expecting a nice, leisurely hike. The hike started out great and then it slowly started getting steeper and steeper until suddenly we found ourselves clamboring over rocks at an 80d angle hoping we were almost to the top. Every so often there would be lookouts with cliffs jutting out into the sea where we could rest, catch our breaths and take endless photos.

Finally after about an hour of climbing we emerged from the trail into the brilliant sunshine on the top of the mountain. We were a little exhausted and slightly in awe of the old men and women who had gone running past us up the hill. At the top we found a sunny field where we collapsed for an hour and admired the view looking down over the fishing village below.

Eventually we picked oursleves up , climbed the steep path back down to the village, grabbed some quick lunch and boarded the ferry back to Tongyoung. This time on the ferry we were smart enough not to sit outside and instead we climbed onto the heated floors where everyone quickly fell asleep.

Back in Tongyong we settled into our motel, admired the ocean views from our windows and then rested for a few hours while waiting for those on the other hike to arrive. Finally they made it back and regaled us with stories of steep climbs, sheer cliffs and propelling down rock faces with ropes. I was very thankful that I had opted out of that hike.

Finally the evening was here and it was time to chow down on some traditional Korean bbq. Seated at tables of 6 or 7 people with others milling around at the ends of the tables we feasted. The supply of meat seemed endless and we gorged ourselves with bits of seasoned pork, dipped in sauce and wrapped in fresh lettuce, washed down with icy cold beer. It was a delicious end to an adventurous day. With full stomachs and aching muscles we climbed into our beds and dreamed of the things that we had seen.

The delicious side of Korea

In Korea they love their food. They love to share their food and it is considered rude and a personal insult if you decline the food that they offer you. When you meet a Korean person it is not uncommon to be asked 밥 먹었어요 (pap megeoseoyo) which when translated means "have you eaten"? In most cases this is just another way of asking how are you, but be careful how you answer because if you say no you may suddenly find yourself being whisked away to a Korean restaurant and being force fed food that you may not want. Meals in Korea are a communal event usually with one main dish and then everyone sharing from the various side dishes that are always part of the meal. These side dishes vary usually with some sort of salad, different vegetables, sauces and always kimchi. The best part is that they come with the meal meaning you don't pay extra and you can refill them as often as you like.





Seriously though, there is no excuse to go hungry in Korea as food is available in abundance. There are restaurants everywhere, ranging from small family run bibimbap places, to Korean bbq's to street food. The small family run establishments are great for a quick meal. They usually have a few plastic tables, limited decorations and you can get a delicious and healthy meal of bibimbap and beer for about $5.00. They aren't fancy and often you have to get your own water from a giant water cooler at the front of the restaurant. They rarely have English menus but usually the menus have pictures on them so you know what to order and most neighbourhoods have 2 or 3 of them. There is a particular one on my street that I am rather fond of, when I go in I get a big smile from the ajumma working there, spend $3.00 on bibimbap and leave full for the night. For those who don't know, bibimbap translated means mixed rice. Basically you get a bowl of steaming, boiled rice, it usually comes out in a cast iron dish still sizzling, mixed in the rice are various vegetables, bean sprouts, sometimes bulgogi or hamburger meat and always an egg. You can then mix in some spicy sauce to make it less dry. It is delicious and one of my favourite Korean dishes.


Probably one of the most popular style of Korean eating, and one of the more delicious, is the Korean bbq. BBQ restaurants are everywhere and some of them specialize in certain meats such as pork or duck while in others you can choose any. At a bbq you sit a table in the center with be a small grill, either heated by propane or hot coals that are placed underneath it. Slabs of raw meat are brought to you along with tongs and scissors and you proceed to grill your own meat. Along with the meat you always get the side dishes mentioned above and usually individual portions of rice. Once the meat is cooked you use the scissors to cut it into bite sixe pieces and the feast begins. The appropriate way to eat bbq meat is on leaves ... yes leaves. You will be given a basket full of romaine lettuce leaves and sesamee leaves. You use your chopsticks to take a piece of meat, place it inside the lettuce leaf, put any sauces, salts etc. as you desire, add any other vegetables and then eat. Although bbq restaurants are more expensive than the bibimbap places, compared to restaurant prices at home they are relatively cheap and you always walk away stuffed.


If you are looking for a really cheap meal then there are always street food vendors. They are everywhere and sell everything from hot noodles, to shishkabob meat to my favourite fishbread. Fishbread is more of a snack and is similar to a waffle with a red bean paste inside. They taste the best when they are freshly cooked and the insides are steaming hot.

On the street where I live there is often a man selling hot noodles from the back of his van. He has a portable propane stove set up with a pot of boiling water and noodles cooking. He opens the back door and the people line up to buy his food. I have never tried it but given the lengths of his lines I am guessing it must be good. Finally lets not forget about the pizza. There are just as many pizza shops here as there are in Canada some are cheap and some are not. The difference here has to do with the toppings. I often frequent a little place on my street called Pizza Maru where I wil order an Italian cheese pizza. This is just a plain cheese pizza with some corn mixed in. I have seen pizza here with such topping as pumpkin, potatoe wedges and bbq'd steak. As well with every pizza you order you get a complimentary packet of pickles.

2011, New year, new home

I started 2011 with a dilemma. Do I stay in my tiny, closet of an apartment, or do I move somewhere new. Given the size of my current home you would think that it would be an easy decision, but it wasn't. What my apartment lacked in size it made up for in charm and comfort. I had heard horror stories about other Korean apartments, bugs, noisy neighbours, heat and water that didn't always work. I had none of these problems in my current place and knew that I could regret it if I moved. However, I longed for my space. I wanted to have friends over for dinner without them having to sit on my bed to eat.
After some thought, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to look. If I saw something that I really liked than great and if not then I would be fine to stay put. I set an apartment hunting date with my friend Ally, she speaks Korean and would translate with the estate agent. Between the time that I set the date and the apartment hunting day, I had built in my mind an image of this fabulous apartment that I was going to find. Of course, the image in my mind was based on memories of Canadian apartments, which really don't exist in Korea, especially for the money that my school would pay.
Apartment hunting day arrived and Ally and I headed to one of the estate agent offices on my street. We had plenty to choose from as there are about 10 just on my street alone. In Korea renting an apartment or building is very different from Canada. In Canada you normally pay first and last months rent and then a set monthly rent. In Korea you instead negotiate a key deposit (usually around 5 mil or roughly $5,000) and then the monthly amount is low. You can negotiate to pay a higher deposit and then have lower monthly payments or sometimes no payments at all. You get a portion of this deposit back at the end of your contract. In my situation my school was going to actually make the contract so I had no room to negotiate. The agent took us to look at an apartment near where I already lived and although the building was OK, the apartment was no different than my current place. We then looked at 3 or 4 more places and all of them were the same. They may have been slightly larger, but not much and none were as nice. The image in my mind of this great apartment was starting to fade and I began feeling disappointed.
Just as I was about to give up hope, Ally says there is one more place. It's actually in the building where I currently live and it's 2 rooms. This sounded promising so we went to look. It was actually on the ground floor of my building with it's own seperate door to the outside and as soon as we walked in I knew this was the apartment that I wanted. It had one large livingroom / sitting room in the front and then a 2 other rooms, bedroom and office, off of that. As well it had a small kitchen and bathroom. It was 5 times larger than my current place, brand new, clean and in my same building so moving would be easy. I quickly agreed, we called the administration at my school who promised to come by the next day to sign the contract. I left the real estate with a plan to move at the end of February, plenty of time to pack my things and get settled.
I went home and a few hours later my landlord came by and asked if I would move sooner. Right now is a busy time for university students to be looking for new apartments so she wanted to get my place on the market as soon as possible, so I agreed to move the following weekend. I went to bed excited and happy about my new place, not realizing that the next few days would feel like being on a rollercoaster.
The next day was friday and my school was supposed to go and sign the contract. Late afternoon on friday I get a phone call from Ally saying that they did not go. They were busy and would try and go saturday. I start to worry, will the landlord hold the apartment for me. I am reassured that it will be ok, but still this is Korea and you never know. Saturday morning I get a phone call from Ally saying that the school needs my new work contract before they can sign for the apartment. No problem, I get on the bus and deliver it to the school. At the school I meet the Principal who told me she approved me to move and I leave feeling much better. A few hours later Ally called saying the administartion will not sign the contract until the end of February, as that is when my new work contract starts. At this point I had become very excited about this apartment so the disappointment over this news hit me like a tidal wave. I knew there was no way the landlord would hold the apartment for a month. To make it worse I couldn't express my frustration to the school as no one speaks English. This was one of those rare moments when I really felt the cutlure shock and isolation of living in a foreign country.
Later that afternoon, just as I had come to terms with my disappointment and resigned myself to staying in my current apartment the phone rings. It was Ally again. She had spoken to the estate agent, who spoke to the landlord, who agreed to let me still have the apartment. She would let me move in without the contract being signed, on one condition ... I had to move that day. Keep in mind that it is now 3pm, most of my friends are out of town so no one to call for help. I frantically started putting everything I own into suitcases, bags, anything that I could find and started moving. I worked steady for about 4 hours packing and carrying down the stairs load after load of belongings. At some points I would fill my suitcase up, carry it downstairs, dump the contents on my bed, go upstairs and refill it. However by 9pm, I was sitting in my new apartment eating pizza, surrounded by all my belongings either on the bed or in bags on the floor around me.
As stressful as those few hours were, looking back it was the best way to move. I didn't have the anxious days leading up to the move or the time to feel nostalgic about leaving my old place. Afterall, it had been my home for a year and not just any home. It was my first home in Korea and my safe haven when life in Korea became overwhelming. I know though, that soon this new place will feel like home and I know that I made the right decision.

Christmas in Korea

Since this was going to be our first Christmas in Korea, my 2 friends Andre and Kristina, and myself decided that we should go away. We only had the weekend so we couldn't go far and after some debate we decided on Seoul. We would head up on the 24th, spend Christmas Day wandering and seeing the sights of the city and then go to a restaurant for a great Christmas dinner.

So far this winter hasn't been too bad in Korea, at least compared to what I am used to in Canada. Most days it has been fairly mild with the odd cold day mixed in. WELL ... December 24th I awoke to -12 temperatures and reports that it is only going to get colder over the next few days. At 5 pm I headed to the train station to meet my friends and just in the short distance from my house to the bus stop I was frozen. I decided it would be a good day to splurge on a taxi. At 6 pm my friends and I board the KTX and head off to our first Christmas together in Korea.

When we arrived in Seoul we all looked at the throngs of people waiting for the subway and in unison said the same word ...TAXI! We headed outside to the taxi stand and joined the long of people waiting. The wind there was so cold that in a matter of minutes my hands were numb. Being Canadian, I know how to dress for the winter. I was bundled in sweaters and parkas, scarves and hats and mitts and yet the cold just went right through it. Finally it was our turn. The 3 of us were frozen solid and with a sigh of relief we hopped into the warm car. We told the driver anguk yak (our destination) and he immediately said NO, get out. It seems that we had gotten in the taxi on the wrong side of the road and since we wanted to go in the other direction, we would have to cross the road and find a taxi over there. Cursing all the way, we climb out of the car, back into the cold night, across the road and after some confusion hailed another taxi.

We finally arrived at our guest house, only to be informed that we weren't actually staying there. We were staying at their other guest house further up the road. The young man (Kevin) who was working, piles us all into his jeep and drives us 5 minutes up the road to the other place. He told us not to worry as he sped down narrow alleyways barely missing pedestrians and other cars. Afterall he was a driver in the army.

The place that we had chosen to stay in was called Yoos Guesthouse. We had chosen it because it was a traditional Korean Hanok that had been restored. A Hanok is an old style Korean house built with an outside courtyard in the middle and then bedrooms and kitchens all off the courtyard. This particular guest house was located on the grounds of the former Unhyeon palace.

We thought it would be a very interesting and unique experience, not knowing that it was going to be -12. The room we stayed in was heated but in order to use the bathroom, kitchen etc you had to go outside, and it was chilly. The rooms were traditonal Korean style rooms, which means no beds or furniture. Just a room with a floor and then mats and covers that you lay down to sleep on. Since they use the ondol, or under floor heating, it was warm and comfortable on the floor.

We had decided to spend Christmas Eve inside and given the cold temperature outside, it was a wise decision. We all brought an assortment of foods and beverages and we had a cosy night talking and laughing at all the funny things that we had done and the people we had met the previous year.

The next morning we awoke to even colder temperatures and frozen pipes. There was actually icicles hanging off the tap in the bathroom. We bundled ourselves up and headed to our first destination, a guided tour of Seodemun Prison. The guest house where we were staying had arranged for us to have a tour guide and we thought no better place to spend Christmas Day, then in jail.

At the prison we meet our tour guide, a sweet little girl named Sarah who was all of eleven years old. Her English was excellent and she led us through the prison telling us the stories of all the horrible things that happened there. The prison had been built by the Japanese and many Koreans who fought for independance had been imprisoned, tortured and killed there. At one point we were even led through the torture chambers and shown all the various methods that they used. It was so heartwarming for Christmas day. The first half of the tour was comfortable as it was inside a heated building but the second half was either outside or in the jail cells where there was no heat and by the end we were frozen and ready to go. The tour ended with us standing outside bewildered watching Sarah running away while at the same time thanking us for coming. I htink she was cold too and anxious to get back inside.

We had planned to spend the rest of the day going ice skating and shopping but quickly decided that it was too cold. Instead we headed back to the guest house where we sat huddled under blankets until it was time to go to dinner.

We finished Christmas Day with a meal at La Cigale Montmartre, a french restaurant in an area of Seoul called Itaewan.

This place was truly french and the food was superb. I dined on mussles cooked with ham and garlic and a lime dacquiri. We lingered over the meal, enjoying the food and each others company. It was a relaxing and comfortable night.

It truly was a memorable Christmas and as Kristina pointed out, a Christmas with an international flair. You have a Canadian, and American and a South African celebrating Christmas in Korea at a french restaurant. It doesn't get any better than that.

The new men in my life

So I was recently informed that I was doing a poor job at keeping up with this blog. Frankly I wasn't sure if people were still reading it, but apparently they are, so I promise to start writing more frequently.

About a month ago something happened, which at the time I thought was a little strange, but it turned out to be a huge blessing. One day I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to go home from work, when an older Korean man approached me and speaking in very good English, asked me if I was a teacher. This in itself isn't unusual as here people often speak to you in strange places and they usually fall into one of two categories a) someone who is curious about you and wants to practice their english skills or b) someone who wants to recruit you to their church. The first group of people I am more than happy to speak to and, well with the second group I usually quickly pledge my allegiance to Satan and make a hasty retreat. This man, however, proved to be neither.
He introduced himself as Mr. Bak and told me that he is a retired Engish teacher who volunteers at a nearby seniors center. He teaches an English class and explained that he had an American girl helping him but she returned home so now he is looking for a replacement. Although he never actually came out and asked if I was interested, it's not the Korean way to be that direct, I knew that was what he was wanting. I immediately thought that this might be an interesting experience but also wanted time to consider the idea so I asked him to call me the following week so that I could check with my school. It didn't take much thinking for me to realize this was an opportunity to befriend some older Korean people who I was sure would have some interesting stories.
I agreed to spend an hour every saturday there helping with this class. On my first day I arrived not really sure what to expect or what the students reaction would be to me. I went into the clasroom and met my students, 8 men ranging in age from 70 to 84. Most of these men spoke decent English, enough for us to have a simple conversation, and they immediately started asking me questions about Canada and my life in Korea. I was expecting things to be uncomfortable because age is a big deal in Korea and usually when you have someone younger and older together things get very formal. Not with these men though. Right away they started joking around and teasing each other and bragging about who has the most girlfriends.
I felt instantly comfortable with these men and they started telling me stories about their lives. They all fought in the Korean war and one man told me that during the war they were all taught to say 3 words "I am South Korean", and this saved many of them from being killed by American soldiers mistaking them for North Koreans.
After the class finished they took me downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch where many of the other seniors in the building came over and started talking to me. At one point one man came over and started naming all the American states and which point one of the men in my class became angry and said "She's not American, she is from Canada". Without blinking an eye the man stopped in midstate and started reciting all the provinces instead.
Since that first class, I now go every saturday. What was supposed to be only 1 hour has instead turned into 4. All the men in the class put their money together and bought me a good Korean text book. Every staurday after our English class, I eat lunch with these men and then 2 of them spend 2 hours helping me learn Korean.
Meeting Mr. Bak that day at the bus stop was truly a blessing. I look forward to my saturdays with these men. They have become my friends, they have let me into their circle, and allowed me to see Korean people in a different light. I feel like I have 8 grandfathers and they have made it very clear that if I ever needed anything, they would be there to help. They even promised to be at the airport on my return from Canada, holding a sign with my name on it to welcome me back to their country. I have been given a unique opportunity that many westerners here don't get and for that I am very lucky.