Jeju Island

Two weeks ago I took a little holiday. HJ and I spent a few days on Jeju Island. This was really her invention as she had never been to this little slice of tropicana within the borders of South Korea. Jeju is a popular destination for tourists, especially within Korea. Many are there on honeymoons and a whole lot of families travel there – as my students testify. When I talked to my students afterwards – in almost every class – the majority of them had been there – some more than 5 times. Jeju is quite small and is the result of volcanic activity many millions of years ago. Accordingly, it is surely different geographically than most of South Korea. This was truly the most impressing thing about the trip – the exoticness of it all.

HJ had arranged for us to stay in a condo. Amazingly enough, Universal owns a condo down on Jeju and we were able to make use of this incredible perk. Really, I didn’t feel guilty as HJ works more than enough unpaid overtime to pay for the condo over and over. The only problem with the condo was its location – pretty much away from anything. Luckily, HJ had arranged to rent a car for the duration of our stay. This was in fact our rescuer as all the sites are spread around the island and a bike or scooter just wouldn’t suffice. Especially for all the events HJ had planned for us. At first, I think she was hesitant to get behind the wheel but as the days wore on she gained the confidence of a pro. The awesome thing about renting a car was the inclusion of a navigation system. Without that – we would never have gotten anywhere – considering there is a lack of road signs.

After arriving Monday night, we just took it easy. Good thing too – because the next day we attacked the island hard. If I recall correctly, we did at least 6 different attractions that first full day. In this post, I don’t think I can cover them all – lest remember them correctly. There is an absolute abundance of pictures too – so I’ll do what I can today and just be sure to come back later for more. We started Tuesday off by checking out a small waterfall. It was quite picturesque and not busy either. Actually, that was another great thing about the trip – the lack of people. Because we traveled during off-season, we didn’t have to fight the herds of people. You’ve really got to think ahead in a country of mass-travel.

Following the waterfall, we headed to the beach. This was probably one the best parts of the trip. I love swimming – and swimming in the ocean even more. So, I got my chance. I can’t recall the name of the beach but it was easily the best beach for swimming we came across on our whole trip. When we arrived, there was a bunch of high school students there goofing around. In fact, we encountered high school students everywhere we went – I guess it’s becoming more common for schools to make the trek down there. Anyway, they left soon enough and I got my moment of glory. The water was cold – real cold – and the weather was overcast – but I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. So, after some wading around – I took the plunge and never looked back.

We ate some lunch and ventured out to some unique looking volcanic rocks. They were something else. I’m not sure how these shapes were formed but they definitely look interesting. I wish there was more English explanations but what I could find sounded as though it had been copied from a science textbook. Regardless, there was beauty in its odd symmetry. Beyond the rocks, there wasn’t a whole lot at this destination. We wandered a bit and then decided to move on.

I’m gonna end it here. This is only three of the things we accomplished in Jeju on our first day. Whew. There’s more to come. Be patient and it’ll be up here soon!

-Paul