PICTURES FROM JEJU!!

Alright, so blogger's punk attitude about changing pictures around in the post kept me from doing this for a while, but I figured it's now or never. So here are a few faves from my Jeju/Chuseok trip. ENJOY!

Just in case... no fire escapes here, we repel!! It's safe and fun!!
Uggh! It's soooo early! But we're ready for vacation!
Look! Same, same!
Taaaaaaaking off!
Misty morning mountains.
Coming into Busan...
Beautiful blues of Busan.
Busan to Jeju.
Morganne and Andrea can't wait to get there!
Me and Colleen are exciiiiiiited!
Whipping through the mountains on the crazy cab ride.
Lady divers and harubang - two things Jeju is most known for. Other things include: Honeymoon Island, beautiful beaches, gianormous spiders (actually all of Korea) and fun times!
Fishermen, fishing.
"Don't fall!!" You will die.
A farmer, farming.
Delightful.
Group shot in front of a tangerine grove (we later won a crate of these, singing in a grocery store, back home in Youngtong!)
Look how big my feet look!!
Rainy view to the Southeast.
Group shot on the top of Jeffy's (Andrea and Morganne's friend we crashed with) apartment in downtown Seogwipo.
The cages for these animals made me want to go rogue and bust 'em out at night.
Harubang - Jeju is known for these Easter Island-like statues scattered across the island; they date back to some time or another.
WARNING: This spider will kill you.
Colleen and I stopped for a photo-op on our hike.
Nighttime waterfall. One or another - they all look the same, eh?
Crossing a Korean stepping bridge... no, sadly, not all bridges are like this.
Another waterfall AND a rainbow!
Pretty picturesque.
Talk about fresh food!
Fresh water waterfall - Donnaeko.
On top of the waterfall.
Ponies out to pasture!
Love Land. This is probably the least graphic picture from the set, and I think most artistic(?) - I like the lighting.

Andrea and Morganne laughing at the World's Funniest Home Videos.

Show and Tell

Olivia brought an eraser for Show and Tell today. Eric forgot his yesterday and thank goodness he brought a dinosaur book today, because it would have been really hard to kill 20-30 minutes playing with an eraser. I mean, we don't even use pencils in class, it's all crayons.

Yeah, an eraser. She was so excited, too. "Teacher! Show and Tell? Playroom?" was the first thing she said to me this morning. "Eraser!" I told her not to show me, because we're supposed to guess, then I said, "Wait. What? An eraser?" "YEAH!" "Wait. Eraser is your Show and Tell?" "YEAH!" I just laughed, said "Okay" and put it in her bag.

Needless to say, the boys enjoyed the plastic bag the eraser came in a lot more than the eraser itself. It was actually too distracting while we were guessing Eric's Show and Tell so I made them put it away. Good times, good times.

Another reason why I love Korea!!

Class let out at 2:30p today and Andrea asked me if I wanted to go with her to get her Halloween costume. It being a beautiful autumn afternoon and she being totally "jokes" (I thought it was a Canadian thing, but I just asked and she said it was probably more of a just her thing - whatever, I think it's fun to say) and all, I, of course, said yes. So, we're walking back from the shop and she says that she wants to pick up some apples from the grocery store that's across the street from our school. I'm not ready to go back and write in the memo books, so I go with her.

We're in the store, picking some apples out. Right next to the apples is a little norebang station set up (y'know, TV, microphones, some tambourines...) and there is a table full of boxes of fruit and bags of seaweed wraps. Naturally, I start singing along to the song - it's in Korean, so I just make up words and mumble along. Then, Andrea comes over and knocks one of the tambourines off the table. Of course we're being noisy Westerners, attracting attention without even meaning to, and one of the store workers comes over to see if we want to sing a song. "Oh, no no." We say and try to walk away. "But wait!" he seems to say with his gestures towards the table, "Look at what you could win!" I think about it and take a step forward, but then realizing what singing in a semi-crowded grocery store in the middle of the afternoon would actually be like, I take a step back. He goes from offering the huge bag of seaweed wraps (which, by the way, I love, and wouldn't mind winning a year's supply, which is what it looked like) to offering a big box of Jeju tangerines. "One song." Ayeyiyi. Well, if it's only one song. In this whole thinking time, an English speaking worker came by and told us basically everything we gathered from the guy gesturing, but it was nice and helpful and made everything seem that much more enticing - the offer being said in words.

What to sing? Oh, how about "Funky Town" as nothing else looked familiar. But, no no no, it's not the Funky Town that you think, it was something about living in a funky town and every other phrase was in Korean. Oh my! We shook our tambourines and giggled red-faced through it, breathing a sigh of relief after it was over. We went to take our tangerines, but then they offered the seaweed wraps for one more song. We looked at each other and said, "But we already sang one!" Then they offered Andrea's apples instead, and threw a few more in the bag. Allllllright! We sang "Choosey Lover" because obviously these aren't real English songs. I JUST FOUND IT ON YOUTUBE!!! (it doesn't really sound like we sang it...)

Again, this was a song where we sang, "Please" a string of Korean words that I mumbled and sang along, repeating previous words or "that looks like a five and I don't speak or read Korean" and "Choosey Lover", etc. you can hear it in the song. "The bass is tight.... all night." We shook those tambourines like nobody's business and totally earned every tangerine in that box!! The English speaking dude asked us to come back at 5pm for a contest, I have to teach so I declined, but I sure hope Andrea goes... I mean, I helped her get those apples, so what's a little singing for seaweed wraps, eh? Eh?

I love Korea. I do. :)

PS- those shiny suits are so hot right now, so hot. Seriously. I see them daily. Businesswear.

I Survived Parents Day!!!

Today, my class and I performed for Parents Day. Huh, what? you say. Performed? In a Parents Day? Yeah. Basically a dog and pony show for the parents to see how awesome, or not awesome (but my students are soooo awesome!) their children are in English school.

Two weeks ago, we, as in the English teaching staff, found out this was going to happen with a visit to each of our classrooms by Amy Teacher and then Sunny Teacher (or vice versa) – remember, their two of the Korean staff, aka the bread and the butter that keep the whole meal of our hagwon edible – observing for the day. Both visits went fairly well, in my opinion. Sunny Teacher wanted me to get my little distracted monkeys more excited about our flash cards that dealt with healthy and unhealthy foods. Um, yeah? Really? Because this theme is stupid for four year olds – they can barely recognize themselves in English, let alone foods they eat. But, yes, please more excitement. Okay, I’ll try. And I did, and I’m now happy to report that Sunny Teacher made a comment to our principals/owners, The C’s, and my class is, as of Monday, studying the body – starting with the head/face region. And(!) each student finally got their own theme book, so no more copy-making for me!! This makes me enormously happy. Where was I?

Oh, yes. So, the last two weeks have been used pretty much as prep time for the Parents Day “festivities”? “judgments”? – call them what you will. We start – after hand sanitizer – with a song and dance routine, ours being “Where is Thumbkin?” sung to the tune of “Are you sleeping, Brother John?” It’s a cute song and on most days the kids really enjoy it. Sometimes I have to run around tickling them so they sing, doing different voices for each finger – they really get a kick out of that. We do that, then we just started – after the sit-ins – doing routine questions of, “What is today?” and “What is the weather like?” and then, “How do you feel today?” Their choices on that are yellow smiley faces of: happy (big smile with a piece of lettuce/mint stuck in the teeth), sad (waterspout tears flowing down the face), angry (frowny), hurt (a sad face with a band-aid on the forehead), and tired (yawning face). For a while it started out that everyone was happy, or hurt (a band-aid anywhere was considered hurt), but then it grew to angry – which they would shout, laughing. As soon as one kid changed their answer to angry or sad, they all wanted to change their answer. So it goes. Also, before the questions we pick seats; they were having trouble staying in a certain seat before, always changing and someone would get upset. Blah, blah, blah. So they pick seats from a laminated set of cards that has a match stuck to the table, and that’s where they are for the day. They love it. They also love playing magician and hiding the card when I come around asking for it back. Hilarious, again – so they think.

That’s how we started the morning. Then we had introductions, “Hello, I am Kate Teacher and this is my mother.” My mother wasn’t there L so I used “Koala Baby” as a substitute which, needless to say, got a few giggles. But I only just remembered that on Tuesday, so there was only one day to practice. Oops. They did just fine… in practicing. Then there were flash cards; we do flash cards every day, it takes a while, but it’s worth it, I think. The flash cards sync up with what we are studying in the theme book and after flash cards we do 2-4 pages of worksheets in that. Then there was the Potato book – the one with repetitions of “In the Morning”, “At School”, “At the Park”, or “At Home” (which is where we are now). And there was more time to kill after that, so we read Scary Party (monthly book that comes with a fun read/sing along CD; “Bones, bones! Look at the bones. Dancing in the dark. OH NO!” on and on through arms, hands, eyes, legs, feet, bodies, and then it’s just a Halloween party and not scary at all – the kids like to read it) and did a worksheet in the corresponding workbook.

Okay, so that was the plan for today. Usually the kids are running around singing in the morning, laughing, hiding under the table, and that’s exactly what they were doing before their mothers came in. It was magic when we practiced “Thumbkin” and everyone sang along with motions and everything; I was really excited to show off my kids, like my college playwriting professor would say, “I feel like your proud Jewish mother” (he was Jewish, although a man, he knew about the moms, obviously, right? having one himself and all).

Dilemma. As soon as the mothers came in, the kids waved to them and stayed in their seats. Time to sing, and they’re all glued to their seats, mouths zipped. Oh no! I’m thinking as the sweat is pouring down my neck and back, and forming at the top of my forehead (I’m coming down with something, maybe? or perhaps it was all the nerves). And I’m running around to each kid trying to get them to go along with me. No go. The introductions weren’t so terrible (I think that’s what we did next, even though I wrote otherwise above… it would just make more sense, and it does in my memory, too) except after the first three, the second three really didn’t want to go, especially Arthur and Roy. Arthur totally froze up and it took about three minutes or six of him rolling around on his mother’s lap to whisper out, “Hello, my name is Arthur and this is my mother.” Roy (or as the Koreans sometimes call him, “Loy”) had been confused in the practicing and instead of repeating what I said, “Hello, my name is Roy” he would mumble something about his mother. No, no, no. We tired many times, and the other children would try to help as well. Oh, poor, sweet, confused Roy. He did a pretty good job and I heard both, “Hello, Roy and tis mother.” So, they all got stars which I’m sure the moms loved.

Flash cards and theme book were both successes, and Potato, too, minus Arthur’s rolling around on the mat and Danny hiding and giggling behind me after he held my hand and snuggled his face on it. Strange, but adorable, kids. Scary Party, too. And I finally stopped sweating after the theme book and other routines. Oh, yeah, the routine questions were alright, Arthur didn’t answer, and most of the boys laughingly said they were angry – I’m going to take that option away.

After the whole shebang – which I thought was going to end in flames (I had dreams about completely sleeping through it, which lead all the parents to remove their children from the school, which led to my being sent home on a slow boat) – I had 5 minute “conferences” with each mother. For half of them, Sunny was with me and translated for us, but their were three who spoke pretty good English and it was nice to talk to them, directly. Eric’s mother worried (he spent two years in America) that class isn’t challenging enough for him, and I have to agree as much as I hate to, but he already knows everything we’re going over, and I talk with him, but he’s on a whole other level than the rest of the class – so y’know, I told his mom that she had to do what’s best for Eric, all the while hoping that he stays, because he’s a great kid and she said he loves me. Aw. These kids are little rays of sunshine and always make me laugh, and I love watching them finally grasp ideas that they’ve struggled with, or just act like goofballs. So, yeah, that was a bumming talk, but then Olivia’s mother had no complaints and just wanted to tell me how satisfied she was that I was her daughter’s teacher J (last week she called because in the memo book from the week before the mother wrote that Olivia would sometimes come home saying, “I got another “X” today [in the workbook] and I’m always wrong. I am so sad.” So I wrote back, “Oh no! I feel so bad.” and explained that it was okay to make mistakes and that I would reinforce that to the kids. So she called to tell me not to feel bad and she understood – and blah, blah, blah, she’s a nice lady and we laughed about sweet Olivia’s shenanigans). Roy’s mother also told me that after the first day of school Roy said that I “scares” him, and I was so shocked and saddened to hear this, but then she said it was because he said my eyes were so big! Hilarious! I thought that might happen sometime while I’m over here, but at the same time figured it was just a stereotype on my part. The other mothers were pretty good, nothing really to report, I thanked them all for their lovely children and they thanked me for teaching them. It was nice to finally put a person the words in the memo books (I have to write reports on each student at the end of each week to send home – taxing to say the least, and I only have six kids). Although Arthur’s mother did want me to use playroom time more effectively and come up with some sort of English-speaking game… I took it into consideration and then dismissed it, because c’mon, lady, these kids are four and being forced to speak in English all day long. Let us just say “Lion!” and recently added “angry dinosaur”, “tickle dinosaur” and call it good, okay?

So, yeah. All in all it went well and I survived and didn’t ruin my sweater from sweat. Unrelated, I bought a guitar on the streets of Itaewon (in Seoul) over the weekend. It was also my first experiencing with haggling, I talked him down to 85,000 won… from 90,000. Yeah, I know, I’ve got some work to do, but it’s hard to talk someone down more than that after my first response was squealing with delight while jumping and clapping. I’m learning every day. It’s a Yamaha – and(!) I got a bag with it – and I haven’t really had a chance to play it yet because I don’t really know how to tune without a tuner and I don’t have a cell to call my guy friends here who have guitars to be like, “Hey. Come tune my guitar.” So, hopefully I’ll get that taken care of in the coming days of this week, or weekend. Yeah, this post turned out to be a long one, eh? Sheesh. No real time to read before I hit the sheets – I just started “The Fountainhead” and so far I’m torn as to whether or not I like it… but it’s such a classic, right? So I’m going to give it a try… we shall see, we shall see.

For now… peace and love from across the sea.

**I know I wrote “today” and it is, right now, as I type, actually today, which is Wednesday, but I’m posting on Thursday, which, incidentally, is your Wednesday… so it works out, I guess – either way. Just throwing that in there for you. Just so you know, y’know?

The Laughing Yogi

This TED Talk with designer Stefan Sagmeister is interesting, fun to watch, and I especially loved the laughing yogi at the end. So here it is for you.

Getting Lost and Finding The Way Back

I spent my Sunday afternoon getting lost in the wooded mountains that surround my house. It was my intention going in to get a little lost, while remaining somewhat on track, as I had nothing planned for my day but to run, read and relax. I explored these particular trails on Friday morning and vowed that I would come back over the weekend to explore more. So, Sunday rolled around and that’s exactly what I decided I would do. I laced up my shoes and headed out the door.

Fifteen minutes into my run and I had passed all familiarity of the trails I knew, but the uncharted areas held certain similarities in the workout stations scattered with benches. I promised to keep to the left going in and down, so I would come up and out on the right. Of course the way in was smooth sailing and I assumed I was going the right direction because I was making my own way. Some of the steeper hills caused me to slow to a hiking pace, but I was feeling good. I hit a road with no recognizable markings and decided it was time to turn around being a little over 30 minutes into my adventure and thinking that an hour would be a good afternoon exertion.

I don’t know where I went wrong. Up and right, up and right. The first seven minutes were good and then I got to a little workout station that I thought I had zipped through on the way in, but when I went to continue on the trail there was none. Huh. Okay, well, um, back the way I came? So, I went out, and naturally turned right. Oh yeah, this is looking familiar… right? The trees were the same; the ground the same golden dirt; and the stairs turning into recognizable roots, but it was different. There was no fence when there was supposed to be a fence. Great, I thought as I could feel the afternoon darkening on my wooded surroundings. I’m going to be stuck in here forever. I’m going to have to learn the ways of the wild. Forage berries and eat bark, maybe even kill a bear for the winter months and fashion myself a suit out of his skin. But what do I use to kill him, my hands; where do I find a weapon, or how do I make one? I don’t even know how to make a fire without a lighter!

It felt as if some vengeful Korean gods were looking down on me and laughing as they moved the trails around in front and behind me, Look at that silly little waygook ("foreigner" in Korean), not being able to see what is put right in front of her. She is surrounded by nature and all she can think of is destroying it for her own survival. Another said, Ahh, but she is but mortal and has a fear of the unknown, naturally.

Yet she goes in looking to be lost.

To be found. To discover.

Then why is she so scared?

Because she didn’t actually expect it to happen.

I ran faster when I thought I saw something I knew. I’ve passed this antennae before! But did I come from the right or left? Constant questions plagued me as to which direction I came before. I got mixed up in the coming back. I didn’t stick to the left and then to the right like I said I would. I slid down one particularly steep mountain pass and was spit out on a street that looked like every other street in civilized Korea: two to three convenient stores, a restaurant or two, a gas station and seven identical apartment buildings, the only thing differentiating them were the giant numbers painted on their sides. Now the question was do I stay on the road, running, hoping to find home, or go back in the mountain. I went back. The cicadas and crickets burned my ears as the sweat trickled down my face. I really wished I brought my water belt with me as it’s getting past an hour into my run.

I climbed up the steep hill I slid down and went back to a previous turning point only to be spit out at another road, this time I ran across a parking lot and found the first road I was spit onto. Uhhh!! I needed to find the place where my initial mountain connected to the second mountain. And, of course there are signs scattered throughout the trails, but I can’t read Korean and don’t know if they’re directions, well wishes or DANGER UP AHEAD!

Turning left then right, running down and struggling up, constantly asking myself, Have I been here before? If yes, then where did I go? The trails reminded me of getting lost in the National Parks in Columbia, Missouri with my friends on cool college autumn afternoons after class was done for the day and studying seemed hours away, the same temperate forest and the winding hills, except I was in Korea and I was alone. I wished I could’ve seen myself from up above, so I could get a sense of the direction I needed to head or see all the places I’d been. I also wished that I had pulled a Hansel and Gretel and brought some bread crumbs or beads or washable spray paint along to mark my way. I huffed and puffed and was spit on a final road.

I was about to break down in a string of profanity and scared frustration when I looked up and saw a sign pointing to Youngtong Catholic Church (there’s a church right next to the entrance of the trail by my house, don’t know if it’s Catholic, but I live in Youngtong and this seemed to be a good thing). YIPPE!! I screamed in my head as I felt a smile spread across my face. I ran up the winding pavement to the place where the two mountains met and headed back up the first one to the left. So far, so good. I remember this, and this, and then I went this way, and oh! this looks familiar. Growing happier and happier until it happened again, I got turned around. You’ve got to be kidding me! I took a deep breath and turned around, went down the path that I didn’t think I took in the first place, and there I was, remembering where I had been again. Familiarity fastened my grip on the ground and I leapt and bounded down the mountain passes; each step drawing me closer to home and happiness.

Two hours later and I was back where I started. I got lost exactly like I wanted to and I found my way out without shedding one tear. Baby steps towards finding myself and my way in this crazy place that’s called Korea. Perseverance and an active imagination do wonders for your soul. Sometimes all it takes is trying something new to find your way back home. The only thing I’ll do differently next time is start out earlier and bring water, and maybe a handful of bread crumbs, or my camera so at every turn I can take a picture pointing which way I went – hey! that sounds like a pretty good idea.

PS – another thing happened when I was lost. In addition to being reminded of central Missouri’s hills and wildlife, I felt as if in any moment I’d be sucked into Haruki Murakami’s novel, “Kafka on the Shore.” There’s a point in the story where young Kafka is staying at Oshima’s cabin in the woods and he goes out to explore farther than he’s been before, eventually leading to the place where lost souls sit and stay and wander through each day. Winding through the hills made me feel like I was in a labyrinth that would never revel itself to me and I would spend the rest of my days walking up and down, round and round, looking for that green fence that would take me out. It’s a good book, and I highly recommend that you read it – or anything by Mr. Murakami, really. It’s brilliant stuff, insightful and magical and wonderful. Do yourself the favor.

Why You Love Old Men?

Some of Rachel's kids in Phonics yesterday were talking about the Korean pop band, Big Bang, and asked me if I loved them and G. Dragon (one of the members of Big Bang who also has a solo career, think J.T. of N'Sync), specifically. I told them I wasn't very familiar with the music, so they started singing some songs then asked me what band I did love. Instead of going the usual route of "Of Montreal" without even blinking about it, I said the Beatles. They'd never heard of them. I was kind of shocked, aren't/weren't they loved internationally? I know the height of their popularity was in the 60s and 70s, but they're the Beatles, man; they're timeless, and my children will grow up on Beatles' nursery rhymes. Anyway, they asked me to sing a song - I shoulda done "Yellow Submarine" but "Rocky Raccoon" was the only thing that came into my mind and I figured it too obscure for their pop infused minds to understand/appreciate, especially with my voice behind it. Then I said, "Well, they're older so maybe you've never heard of them for that reason." They asked how old and I said a couple of them were dead - I didn't want to get into explaining assassination to 7 and 8 y.o.'s. Then this Alex kid asked, "Why you love old men?"so honest and true that I couldn't help but laugh. I explained that I loved their music and not not then said, "Hey! This isn't Phonics we're talking about here. Let's get back to work so we can play Simon Says at the end!" False motivation that was as we didn't finish early enough to get a game in, maybe next week... if they're good.

Silly Boy

I call Danny “silly boy” because he is silly, he is a funny kid who always has me in stitches. I love him. I want to steal him. Shh! No, not really. At least, shh. Don’t say anything to anyone. No, but seriously, I can barely take care of myself or my cat (when I had her, but then left her with my bestie and old roomie, Erin) so there’s no way I’m gonna go take a child who I’d have to hide and provide for. Booo that idea. Anyway, what I was saying, oh! Danny is so great. Yeah, I call him ‘silly boy’ on almost a daily basis, and have since day 2 pretty much. Well, today I found out from Amy Teacher that “silly” translates to “stupid” in Korean, and that I guess Danny had said something to his mother about this and she was worried and I saw her and Amy talking today, but didn’t think anything of it. And, oh! My heart just broke. Tears welled up in my eyes and a frog leapt up my throat. “No. No! That’s not what I meant at all!” Amy said she knew and she explained to Danny’s mother that it was a cultural misunderstanding, but just to make sure they knew how incredibly sorry I was and how not stupid Danny is, I knelt down to Danny after lunch, cupping his chubby cheeks in my hands and said, “Danny is not a silly-stupid boy. Danny is so smart. Kate Teacher thinks silly means funny. Kate Teacher thinks Danny is a funny and very smart boy. Oh! Danny is so smart. Danny knows this, right?” and bashfully and smiling he says, “Yes.” Just to make sure that his parents know this, because I think Danny is just an agreeable child I wrote a note home to his parents, apologizing.

Ahh! These cultural differences!! I also learned just this weekend! that to wave someone over you face your palm down and wave them towards you rather than palm upward waving towards you – which is a way to beckon an animal. Oy vey! It’s like this every day. I make such a ‘tard outta myself here. I’m trying, but it’s hard.

‘nother thing, on Monday, Danny came up to me in the middle of me explaining something to another student, put his nose against my nose and giggledy-whispered “playroom?” AH! These kids kill me! They’re so cute, smart and hilarious! It’s hard to be strict with them when they’re only four and make me want to laugh with their enthusiastic shenanigans. Though I did get evaluated today and there were no complaints from Amy Teacher just bigger actions with the new vocabulary and more attention paid to my new student Arthur, who wears a gold bracelet and seems to be a bit of a momma’s boy in terms of needing constant attention which is hard to give in a class of 5 other students who also need attention, but he’s great and he’s smart and today he didn’t cry at all and his mom didn’t have to come to school with him, so already he’s making improvement and it’s great and he’s cute as a button – and oh! this job is hard, but it’s good. I just wish we didn’t have to sit inside when we’re through teaching, but the pro’s outweigh the con’s in most of the situations, so I shan’t complain any longer… today. Farwell, adieu.

Chu-chu-CHUSEOK!!

It was so nice having a short work week and a long weekend. So nice! And then add an awesome island adventure holiday with friends to that, and YES! Best weekend, ever.

Two weeks ago we teachers found out that there would be no school on Thursday in addition to Friday - yippee!!, but oh the things to plan. The last Sunday in September, Andrea, Morganne, Colleen and I booked tickets to Jeju-do ("d’oh" is island in Korean). Our flight left for Jeju Thursday morning and we flew back Saturday night; three days and two nights of tropical bliss.

Wednesday was a long day, as always, but seemingly shorter with Eric's birthday celebration and the knowledge that there would be relaxation until Monday as soon as the clock hit 6:55pm. Also, Phonics was not as bad because I only had to deal with 11 kids and I took away stars (which affects playroom time) when they weren't behaving - it's amazing how quickly kids will shape up when you threaten to take away their fun.

Because we flew out early Thursday morning and that was also the beginning of the Chuseok holiday for the rest of Korea, we were warned that we should leave Wednesday night. So we took a private taxi to Incheon and we stayed in a really nice and really cheap hotel; we ate at a seafood restaurant across the street and watched Korean TV in bed. Then we woke up at 5:30a and headed to the airport via free shuttle.

Blah, blah, blah. We hung out for a couple hours, excitement and anticipation escalating as we waited to board our first plane at 8:05a. We had to do a layover; two flights, an hour each. Basically we boarded, ascended, flew for 20 minutes, descended, deplaned - repeat. It was really awesome to see the Korean landscape from above, as when I first flew here I was in the middle section of the plane. So, Incheon to Busan, Busan to Jeju.

We arrived in rainy Jeju around 11am. After we were given our government issued hand sanitizer we flagged down a taxi who we were certain was trying to rip us off (Jeff, Andrea and Morganne’s friend from back home, said the ride would be about 30 minutes and around 30,000 won, but the driver said an hour and 60,000 won). Colleen called her friend, Brian (a Korean), to talk to this guy who ended up being very nice after all, and only worried about the foggy mountain pass – expect the worst, hope for the best in action, though it didn’t translate at first. It seems all taxis are out to get us because we don't speak Korean and it's happened to them in the past. This guy was great and zipped us through and over mountainous Jeju, in the rain, much to Morganne's stomach’s and nerve’s chagrin. He also played the happiest, most islandy music: Cliff Richards' "The Young Ones," "Oh Diana" (Paul Anka), "Sealed With a Kiss" (Brian Hyland), "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Percy Sledge), "What a Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong) - it really is, annnnnd "Sister Golden Hair" by America - an absolute favorite. So that made me happy.

Upon arriving in the Southern coastal town of Seogwipo, Jeju's second largest city (to Jeju-si on the Northern coast) and Jeff's home, we ate a tasty lunch then headed to his apartment. The only thing was that Jeff had to work until after 5pm and we needed a place to set our stuff while we explored in the interim. Long story short, Morganne put a ring my mother gave to me on her wedding finger, said she was Jeff's wife and the super let us in. Let the adventure begin!

Since it was rainy on and off, we decided umbrellas were a necessity and purchased a couple at a nearby GS25 convenient store. I had a raincoat, but it was more insulated than not and not so much suited for a tropical environment. First stop after water-snacks-umbrellas, Oedolgae (or the Lonely Rock). I didn’t get a great picture of the rock itself, but really good ones of the scenes around it… apparently the story that goes along with it was during the end of the Koreyo (or Goreyo, k and g are seemingly interchangeable in Korean) dynasty/14^th Century, General Choe-Yeong was sent to Jeju to suppress the Mongol invaders who occupied the island since the early 13^th Century. The Mongols were all hanging out on Beomseom, (Tiger Island) which is a little seaward from Oedolgae (the island folk pronounce it “Woedolgae” – weirdoes), having their last stand. I guess the rock is also known as “General Rock” because General Choe-Yeong dressed the rock like a general (however you do that, you’re guess is as good as mine… drapery? busy cloth makers?) and that so terrified all the Mongols that they committed suicide. Well, that takes care of them. Giants, schmiants. But then that got me thinking about dragons (there’s a rock up north called “Dragon Head Rock” or something, but then if you look at it from a different angle it looks like a bunny rabbit…) and how even though overseas cultures weren’t really aware of each other’s existence, a lot of them had stories dealing in dragons. So, basically what I’m saying is that dragons existed and so did giants, and Jurassic Park could totally happen.

So, we dug Oedolgae, then continued on the coastal path, snapping pictures of the giant island spiders that blotted the scenery. I don’t like spiders. If you know me, you know they usually make me cry, or at least have in the recent past. I’m getting better about this, as you can see with my excellent zoomed-in close as you can get without receiving a bite to the jugular shots of them. It rained, it stopped raining. We walked, we talked, we slipped, we laughed. Then Colleen and I adventured down to the rocky seashore and climbed out on some slippery lava rocks, seeing fossils along the way – WAY COOL!

Then we took some pictures by a tangerine grove and headed home to shower and get ready for the evening’s activities. Once we were squeaky clean and good to go, Jeff directed us to a delicious galbi place down the road a piece. Being in Jeju really made all us Yeongtong folk seriously glad to be a resident of a mainland metropolis, the accessibility to everything and the ease of getting by on slow, broken English and little to no Korean. That night we imbibed on some Jeju soju and sat in the hallway of Jeff’s apartment with the rest of Jeju’s English teachers. There are tons of foreign teachers living in this building giving it a very communal dorm feel – they were having a pot luck that night, we brought the soju. After a while our stomachs were warm and we decided to head over to a norebang where we shouted every song our hearts’ desired. Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” was Andrea and my anthem for the night, and apparently we were a bit of mic hogs, though everyone shouted along regardless of if there was a mic in your hand or not. I slept on the floor, but wound up on the bed sleeping on top of Morganne’s legs.

Friday – oh, it was only Friday and we had so much weekend to go! – we went to a beach… I can’t remember the name right now, but it was by a Hyatt and a waterfall and there were trampolines on the beach and a cage of penguins and two cages of seals/sea lions that made me, for the first time in my life, honestly want to come back in the night, dressed in all black and bust them out of there. These cages were so small and the animals looked so sad. It was way worse than any zoo situation I’ve seen. But the water, oh the water! And to be swimming in the OCEAN in OCTOBER! ON AN ISLAND IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN!!! WOW! Wow. It was pretty awesome. Better than awesome; amazing, wonderful, marvelous, ecstasy. Then it did get a little chilly and Colleen, Jeff, his friend Joey, and I decided to go on a little hike – that’s when we found our first island waterfall, it was pretty sweet. After that we ate at a Western (well, American-ish) restaurant and I had my first hamburger, which was alright, but I really prefer Korean food – I mean, when in Korea, come on, it’s delicious!! Then we got a free restaurant shuttle to take us back to their apartment and took another little hike to one waterfall, but that was closed, so we walked over to another one and that was all lit up and pretty sweet. After venturing through the natural Jeju nightlife we stopped in at a shop and bought some postcards and knick-knacks and got stomach aches from all the Jeju chocolate samples the shopkeepers gave to us. Every time one of us would pick up a box to try and decide whether or not to buy, the ‘keepers would unwrap a piece and say “Try.” Oh, I will, thank you. Jeju is known for their island chocolate – a sandwich of sorts, though in a piece form, there is either hard orange flavor inside or purple cactus (I saw other colors too, but the orange and purple are most popular, I think). Then we walked back to Jeff’s apartment and Colleen and I took a nap thinking we could rally ourselves to go out, but no, that didn’t happen and instead we stayed in, watching “Hocus Pocus!” (it’s October, after all) and eating popcorn.

We got an early start on Saturday since it was our last day on the island, but since it was Chuseok, nothing was open outside of the corner stores, and so we had a breakfast of saran-wrapped apples and cold honey pancakes (not really pancakes, except that they’re circular and not really filled with honey, unless by honey they mean jam) – yum. Then we went off to explore the waterfall that was closed the night before and my, it was beautiful! There was more Jeju chocolate to be had, and so we did. Then we went over to a fresh water waterfall and swam in some chil-lay! water, but oh so refreshing. There was some more hiking and ooh’ing and aah’ing at the beautiful landscape. We cabbed it back and changed to trip up to Jeju-si, closer to the airport and destination of Love Land. Oh! My! But first we ate what we hoped was the black pork that Jeju is known for, but it was probably just the neck and stomach of a regular ole piggie – the restaurants again were limited because of the holiday. Yes, so Love Land. The land of love, or at least giant sex-engaging sculptures and hilarity to a group of Western twentysomethings. My friends and I had fun taking pictures to say the least. The Koreans also enjoyed the pictures we took, with the ajumas (old visor wearing grandmas) giving us thumbs up and giggling as we posed alongside the statues. It was a great time and totally worth the 7,000 won admittance fee – they even let us store our luggage in their staff office, how sweet! For Korea being such a conservative culture in most respects, it was so strange to have giant penises and vaginas scattered around a “theme park” dedicated to sex – but, then again, Jeju is known as the “Honeymoon Island.” There were even children – under 5, I assume as the ones we saw could barely walk, and the park is restricted to those under 18 – and loads of old people in tour groups; a good time for all.

After we got our jollies we headed to the airport – stopping into the duty free shop where Andrea, Morganne and I battled through the bustling Koreans at the Chanel, Fendi and other designer counters to the candy corner where we each bought a $16 bag of peanut M&M’s (now resulting in a stomach ache) – the most I’ve spent on one bag of candy, ever, and not the biggest L.

Oh! but the best is yet to come – that’s right! On the flight home (a, it was direct) they played “World’s Funniest Home Videos” and they.were.so.funny!! Apparently my laughter was drawing Korean eyes, but I didn’t know I was too busy slapping my thighs. Babies, animals and old people never fail to make me gasp an inhale. (Sorry, sometimes I get an awful rhyming tick.) Best idea ever, because it made the quick flight seem even faster and totally took away from the fact that we were on a plane, so I was happy.

We landed, blah, blah, blah, took the airport shuttle home getting back at midnight, blah, blah, blah, and I slept for 11 hours to wake up and do yoga to a neighbor heaving and dreading his decision to drink that third bottle of soju on Saturday. It’s good to be home.