Showing posts with label jejudo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jejudo. Show all posts

5.21.2008

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. 

2.12.2008

happy lunar new years

I left for Jeju Island early Wednesday morning to catch a flight to Tokyo in the evening. My friend Tim and I decided to meet down there because we would be able to avoid the madness of people traveling in and out of Seoul. Lunar New Years is one of the two biggest holidays here in Korea.


Tim took me to a bar/restaurant called Bagdad in Jeju City that served Indian food. It's a bit random that it would be called Bagdad but a lot of things here in Korea seem random. I never really liked Indian food but the food here was amazing. Definitely would love to go back there again. We then went to the airport and enjoyed what has become one of my all-time favorite fruit - Hallabongs. I believe that they are a cross breed of some Japanese Satsuma Orange and Jeju Island Mandarins. We hung out in the airport for about 3 hours or so. By 11:30 we were in Tokyo.


Tim and I stayed with my friend Takuya who I met in Tokyo back in the summer of 2006. I got to meet his family and they were especially kind and welcoming. We had dinner with Takuya's family every night so it really saved us money. The whole time however, Takuya tried convincing me into moving to Tokyo with him. He even tried looking at jobs for me. I guess it's still an option for the future... I actually would love to live there.

Rather than being tourists, Tim and I just hung out with people. We met our American teacher friends, Emily, Meredith, and Kirsten, who were also in Tokyo, their military friends Davia and Derek, hung out with my Japanese friends Tetsuya and Wataru, and met two British girls who were also vacationing in Tokyo. 


Things I realized in Tokyo:
1) My Japanese is very rusty. Takuya even said that he noticed that I forgot a lot. Kinda disappointing. 2) Only if you want to throw away money, try avoiding Roppongi Hills. It'll drain your wallet fast. 3) I really really like Mister Donuts. 4) The taxis remind me of Transformers. 

12.28.2007

jejudo

This picture sums up well my thoughts and feeling during my two days on Jeju Island. Enjoy!