jon in korea

I'm grateful that my friend Jon came out to Korea during his vacation time. Him being here though really made me miss home and even now, I feel a bit homesick. Luckily, I only have three more months left before I fly back to California!

Jon's flight came in late on Friday night so he could not bus to Daejeon, the city I'm living in. I made him stay with my friend Brian who he had never met and I met him the next morning. We hung out in Seoul for the day and then flew out to Jeju Island the next morning. My friend Tim who lives on Jeju Island picked us up. Jeju was probably the highlight of our trip. On Monday morning, we hiked up Seongsan to see the sunrise. Seongsan is a mini crater that juts out from mainland Jeju. I guess it's famous for sunrises and since everybody's does it while they're there, we did it.

Immediately after, we took a ferry to Udo (Cow Island) and rode scooters. While scootering around, we happened upon Haenyeos, really really old woman divers. These women dive and catch sea creatures for food. They can hold their breath for about three to five minutes and from what I saw, most in their seventies. Despite their age, it seemed as though most were in better shape than I was. According to one Haenyeo who we talked to, most woman start diving at the age of ten and continue to do it until the day they die! Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take pictures with them and we dared not to secretly sneak one after we saw a haenyeo punk a father and son who had done so without their consent. 

I think Jon actually did better with the food that I thought he would have. Granted, I kind of know what he likes and dislikes... I was still surprised at how adventurous he had gotten after Tokyo.