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.