Jejudo Part 2

The next day we started bright and early (though we left a little late, as ALL OF THE BOYS were late. Hmph). We headed out to a little island of the coast of Jeju (which is also an island, so we were doing islandception) called Udo Island. Apparently it looks like a cow lying down, so they named it cow island. Udo is cow in like Chinese or something. Gosh I'm so good at this information stuff.

Anywho, we checked out lots of places on Udo, like beaches, cliffs, hills, places to buy peanut makgeoli (the only place in the world to buy it, according to our tour guide. he repeated that like 50 times...), and then we got seafood noodles. Here are some pictures of Udo Island!

View from the ferry over

besties!

Unfortunately, Lauren wasn't able to join us for this day- she either got food poisoning or came down with a bug, because she and two other members of our group ended up getting pretty sick. Thankfully it never turned too serious, but it was still sad that she got sick on vacation.

hiking near the cliffs

loving the view from up here. So pretty!

we always manage to find a giant hill to climb

and animals. we always find those too

Jeju through the fog

Hanyeo, a female diver famous on Jeju. They
hand pick the seafood and can hold their breath
for a super long time. Their practice is dying out 

volcanic greyish sand beach

Because the island supposedly looks like this cow...?

Next, we headed back to the mainland. My food horizons have definitely been broadened while here, seeing as I ate seafood noodles for lunch, and next we went tangerine picking and I ate a bunch of those. Not to mention the squid, seaweed and other mysterious things that are finding their way into my lunches and into my stomach...

delicious seafood noodles

Anywho.

pickin some tangerines that people keep calling oranges.

Another day, another giant mountain to climb. This is called Seongsan Ilchulbong, which means "Sunrise Peak." You can see a pretty great view of the sunrise from here, as it's an uninterrupted view. We didn't see the sunrise, of course, but it's supposedly pretty epic.

I'm clearly excited for this hike, during which a downpour started

pretty houses and buildings

starting the climb

we made it to the top!

worth the effort!

another black sand beach, as seen from above

We had to climb down those. Not scary at all, right?

We even got to see the Haenyo coming in from a dive- they handpick all of the seafood on Jeju. When the industrial boom hit Korea, most people started sending their kids up north to Seoul to get an education, rather than training them (well, especially teh girls, since it's an all female tradition) to be haenyo. Now, there are like 5,000 left, with more than half being over 60. That means we saw the last generation of these women divers. In 10 or so years, there may not be many (or any) left.

Then we conquered a hedge maze

THERE WERE LOTS OF CATS!!!

we also made friends with local dogs at the convenience
store near our hotel. And by we I mean Sarah did.

Next we headed out for another delicious dinner. I had Korean food exactly twice before moving here. Now, nearly 6 months later, I do not know what I will do when I leave and can't access it regularly. That won't be for a while though, so I'm not gonna worry about it.

this is called dak galbi and it's effing delicious

Then we went out for a bit and found this gem

On Sunday, before heading back to the mainland, we checked out the Manjanggul Lava Tubes. That (and Sunrise Peak) are two UNESCO World Heritage sites. It's one of the largest/longest lava tubes in the world, and is the largest on Jeju.

A lava column. Freaking sweet

Sunday also resulted in a looooooooooooong travel day. I'm sad to be back in the cold in Seoul, because Jeju was just lovely. Most people were really friendly and curious, the people we met on the trip were really cool and the food and sites were fantastic!

Getting back into school will be rough. LUCKILY I only have 2 weeks of classes before yet another 2 week break. What is my life? The school year will pick up again in March, and then I'll be back to my regularly scheduled programming (although my life will change a lot, as my co teachers are changing next semester, save for Young Ah, who is staying as an English teacher! YAY! I'm sad to see Seo Hyeon (moving to Abu Dhabi) and Hae In (becoming a homeroom teacher) go, but I'm happy for their new endeavors!)



aand here's your random dose of Kpop



I'm diggin the hair in this video, especially TOP and G Dragon.



SENDING LOTS OF LOVE TO MY LOVELY FRIENDS AND FAMILY AROUND THE WORLD!!!