Blossoming Seoul: May 2014

In my four years living in Seoul I haven't made a huge effort to explore Korea. I know, pathetic. When the opportunity arose to take a trip to Jeju-do, an island off the southern tip of Korea, with my soon to be departing friend Erin, I jumped at the chance. Some call Jeju the "Hawaii of Korea"--I wouldn't go that far, but it certainly is a lovely destination for natives and tourists. During our trip preparations, tragedy struck in my adopted nation which pierced the hearts of Koreans, expats, and people around the world. A ferry boat, the Sewol, carrying cargo and hundreds of people which left from Incheon and was bound for Jeju, the very destination I was headed, had a terrible accident and sank in the waters off Jindo Island. What made this particularly tragic is the immense loss of human lives, a great majority of them high school students nearing the end of what would be equivalent to their junior year. Lapses in judgement and numerous mistakes made by the adults in charge of this ferry and these young people resulted in literally hundreds finding their death at the bottom of an angry sea. To make matters worse, the recovery efforts are still underway and many families have yet to be reunited with the body of their son or daughter who was lost in the accident.

A few weeks ago a group of students organized a candle light vigil at our school to pray for the survivors, those lost, and the families and school affected by this tragedy. It was a bilingual event and touching on so many levels. As I listened to the prayers of my students and colleagues I thought about the fragility of human life, and my students who have so much life and living ahead of them. The entire country of Korea has undergone a 30 day mourning period, during which time most celebrations have been cancelled or postponed. This includes festivities such as our annual international fair, which would have been held in early May. I heard one student flippantly remark, "I don't see what the big deal is--this didn't happen to us. Why do we have to cancel everything?" It seems that teenagers, being who they are and thinking inside of their own small bubble, don't necessarily understand the impact of something such as this. As a teacher I can imagine the terrible pain of losing an entire class of students--of walking the hallways and knowing that these kids will not return for their senior year, they won't be filling the hallways in the fall, participating in sports activities or clubs, taking their seats in classrooms, chatting with friends in the cafeteria, thinking about prom or graduation, or preparing for university placement exams. The hallways will be eerily empty as students move about during passing time between classes. Their friends are simply gone, never to return. I tried to convey the gravity of this to my sophomore student, but I'm not sure he could truly comprehend it. At the prayer vigil one of my colleagues stood up at the microphone and put out an important reminder. Although we are in a time of sorrow, we cannot stop celebrating the good things that happen in life. We must continue to embrace happiness and joy and be grateful for our blessings. We cannot live in a constant state of mourning. We should not forget, but we must continue on.

On that note, despite the very difficult circumstances taking place with the ferry tragedy, Erin and I only had one chance to explore and enjoy Jeju so we made the best of it. We spent each of our three days in a different part of the island, essentially looking at a map and picking out our top sights from that area. We were quite wise to rent a car, which we dubbed the hamster-mobile because of its small size, tiny can-do engine, and never say die attitude whilst traversing all sorts of terrain! That little baby just kept on going! Our first day had us hitting up the western side of the island. We quickly learned that Jeju is larger than we thought (and the map certainly doesn't do it justice!). It took us about two hours to get from our hotel to Hallim Eco Park, if you count the side trip to the port. Thank goodness for our English speaking navigation system. Sadly all of the controls were in Korean, so it was a bit of trial by fire there, but basically we would input the phone number of where we wanted to go, hit search, and press the GO button. It wasn't fool proof, but we generally ended up in the right place and having a map helped in a pinch. Hallim Park was rich in opportunities for sightseeing. We chose to wander through the Botanic Garden (great for photos!), the Grass and Wildflower area, and Water Garden. There were also caves and a few other options, but we were a little short on time and we really wanted to get to a waterfall before the day ended. The Cheonjion Falls were back in the Southern part of the island so off we went, passing lots of additional sightseeing options. I was a little sad to miss the Glass Castle, but maybe next time. We made a quick stop at the Yongmeori Coast where we sighted a replica of a Dutch merchant ship, looked for a dragon shaped rock, and I photographed some adorable Korean kids. Onward to our intended destination! The waterfall was actually three waterfalls. The first was completely anticlimactic. There was absolutely no falling water whatsoever--not enough rain to get so much as a drip. Yep, none. On to the next. The second waterfall was true to its name and quite beautiful. I enjoyed playing with the different settings on my camera here. On the way to the third falls we encountered a very fun bridge, so rather than hike down to the falls, we decided to cross the bridge and take in the view (a much better choice). As I walked across and commented on how high it was I started rethinking my choice to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge in July…eek! We ended the night at a great Starbucks that was attached to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum.

Most of my photos from Hallim Park were taken in the Botanic Gardens

We caught the end of the blooming tulips!

One of my favorite photos from the Botanic Garden!

One of these things is not like the others...

A beautiful waterfall in the water gardens.

If you use your imagination that rock formation looks like a dragon, right?!

One of my adorable models!

Another smiley model!

The first of the Cheonjion Falls…no falling water!

The second, and much more impressive, waterfall.

A great place to end a busy day!

Our second day plans had us on the East coast of the island. We were going to take a ferry over to Udo Island, rent bikes, and explore but all hopes were dashed when we got to the ferry terminal and were told that the sea was too rough and all ferries were canceled. Luckily we were right in the vicinity of Sunrise Peak, also known as Seongsan Ilchubong, which we had planned to hike anyway, so off we went with the clouds looming overhead. We made it all the way to the top of the mountain that is more like a crater sticking out into the ocean. The springtime conditions meant the crater was quite lush--I just wish I'd been able to photograph the entire crater from the top as I'm sure it would have been even more spectacular! Just as we started our descent, the rain came. It wasn't just a sprinkle either; the drops felt like hail, although it wasn't actually hailing on us. You can imagine how happy we were to exit and find a Starbucks:). Undeterred by the rain, we headed back to Seogwipo to see the Jusangjeolli Cliffs. Along the way, we drove upon the "Mysterious Road" where the car supposedly rolls up a hill. Never one to miss out on a challenge, we flipped a U-turn and joined the procession of cars. We put the car in neutral and indeed proceed to roll up the hill. How did it work? Nobody knows! Now back to the lava cliffs... These are essentially cliffside geometric lava formations that formed in hexagonal tube shapes. Before visiting Jeju I had no idea it was such a volcanic island, but indeed it does have an active volcanic history and the landscape makes you keenly aware of this. The water abutting these cliffs and lava leftovers was the most beautiful electric blue and teal, much like what I had seen in the Caribbean or Mediterranean. I surely didn't expect to see this in Jeju! Too bad it was much too cold for a swim. As it was still early, and we were in Seogwipo yet again, we had dinner in the resort area and returned to our favorite Starbucks!

Sunrise Peak

Looking down into the crater

At the Jusangjeolli Cliffs

The geometric lava columns.

The incredible blue/green water and contrasting lava columns make an interesting photo.

Our final day in Jeju was neither sunny nor rainy--much like Oregon, it was just overcast. Perfect for outdoor activities! We decided to have brunch at the Hyatt Regency overlooking the ocean and it was divine. From there we headed Northeast to visit the lava caves, better known as Manjanggul Lava Tubes. We passed alongside Hallasan and through a National Park on our drive--up, up, up into the fog and clouds. There was supposed to be a cool crater along the way, so why not stop! The description in the guidebook said it was a quick 5 minute walk to the crater from the parking lot and before long we were approaching it--what we didn't realize is that when we thought we were walking around the perimeter we were actually bisecting the crater and strolling right down the middle. Half was lush and green like the crater at Sunrise Peak and the other truly felt like a crater as it plummeted downward and was filled with various types of trees and shrubs. None-the-less, this crater was huge. After about thirty minutes of wandering, we headed back to the car and continued on our course to the lava tube cave. Eventually we made it thanks to our trusty navigation system!

Apparently this says "Breakfast at Tiffany's", the name of our lovely pension.

The Hyatt Regency

San Gumburi Crater

Our trusty hamster mobile

The caves were dark and cool (temperature wise). The uneven ground made it a bit tricky to walk and take photos at the same time without turning an ankle or breaking one's neck, but I managed to stabilize my camera and snap a few pictures. It was pretty impressive to see what a massive flow of lava had created! We walked, and walked, and walked into the cave until we decided we had seen enough lava for the day before turning back and heading for the light. Back in Jeju City we then went on a scavenger hunt for a black sand beach that we had found on the map. Although Jeju-do is an island, very little of the coastline is actually beach so we were quite happy when we finally found some sand. I had never laid eyes on a black sand beach before and found it be quite beautiful. The color was more dark brown, but it was still nice. Too bad the weather was still much too cold for playing in the ocean! All that was left of our Jeju weekend was to find an LPG gas station, return the rental hamster, and make our way back to the airport--all of these things are easier said than done when in a foreign land sometimes and make for some amusing memories!