Update: local and global

You know how they say "If you don't like the weather, just what five minutes." Well same applies here. Sunny is back! Apparently, he is too young to study English in the Philippines with his sister, so he's back. Less then one week later. Go figure.

In other news, we all woke up to the new of Michael Jackson's death at the age of 50. Farrah Fawcett died at 62. North Korea still threatens to bomb the U.S. You know, same old, same old.

We Came, We Saw, We Scooted

Jeju Do (Jeju Island) - the Hawaii of Korea

I'm finding that I really enjoy going places with little to know previous knowledge of the sights and sounds in store for me. I'm lucky that I'm usually with someone who was motivated enough to figure some things out ahead of time or a local who can get me to the path less traveled. It's sad to say, but I really like it when people tell me what to do (as long as I don't already have my own opinion.) =)

Jeju was lovely. By no means did we see all this small island has to offer in the less then 48 hours that we were there, but we fully embraced what we did manage to get to. A perfect balance of ambition and relaxation if you ask me. Friday evening we met up with Megan's local friend Matt, settled into a love motel in Jeju City, ate some Mexican food and found our way to the ocean/sea/straight...whatever you want to call it. Saturday took us to the east side of the island. Oddly enough, we seemed to have the same cloud from two weekends ago follow us to the island, but luckily there was no rain this time. We did a small hike up Songsan (Sunrise Peak), not at sunrise, but it was still an impressive sight to see. Our protective cloud was just rolling across the top of this green crater at the peak. It was incredibly windy up there and Maranda's skirt was falling all over the place. So much that she refused to walk around up there for awhile. Good times. Again, some might have been disappointed with the cloudy view, but we all found it beautiful. We then headed over to U-do, an even smaller island on the just across from Songsan where we were able to fulfill our goal of renting scooters and hanging out on a beach. We even got some swimming done in there. It was freezing and exhilarating at the same time. I had forgotten how intimidating it is to swim in a huge body of salt water. My heart was racing the whole time, in a good way.

List of firsts:
drive a scooter
walk on volcanic rock (it was everywhere)
stand on a white rocky beach with clear blue water

We did not even come close to conquering the island. We didn't even see Mt. Halla (the tallest mountain in Korea) the whole time we were there because of the clouds. We also missed out on all the sweet tourist traps such as Loveland, numerous waterfalls and lava tubes. (Lava tubes sound sweet, don't they!?! Turns out they are just caves...no one want to check them out but me...wah wah) Needless to say we are itching to go back. Talk of moving there to get a new teaching contract has even been mentioned by a few.

And now a brief history lesson: the Haenyo (sea women)

Haenyo are skilled divers who are known to be able to hold their breath for more than two minutes and dive to depths of 20 meters.

Until the 19th century, diving was mostly done by men. The job became unprofitable for men since they had to pay heavy taxes, unlike women who did not. Women took over the diving and, because of the great dependence on sea products in most places on Jeju, became the main breadwinners. Gender roles were entirely reversed. Often men would look after the children and go shopping while the women would bring in money for the family.

Starting from the late 1970s, exports of sea products to Japan such as abalone and conch have made the sea women richer than ever, allowing them to fix their houses, build new ones in Jeju City and send their daughters to college. However, there is a threat to the haenyo's continued success: with their daughters choosing to work in the island's tourism industry or in the big cities, the haenyo will most likely disappear. While in 1950 there were as many as 30,000 haenyo on the island, in 2003 there were only 5,650 sea women registered as divers, of whom 85% were over 50 years old. - Wikipedia

These women are incredible. The very definition of tough as nails. They are such an icon of the island, with statues and monuments all over the place, not to mention all the actual woman out in the water. It's hard to imagine that something so fundamental to this culture's history and still so prevalent today is estimated to die out completely in the next couple decades. The most interesting thing about it is that it's not dying out because technology is replacing the need for the position, it's just not appealing to this most recent generation of woman. They want something better for themselves now that they have an education. Fun how that works....

And thus concludes yet another wonderful traveling experience with the M sandwich of the office. A special thanks to our side of fries Matt, the best tour guide any girls could ask for.

In Memory of Sunny

My favorite little break dancing cherry left for the Philippines today for 3 months with no warning. Not sure if he'll be coming back to Kid's College when they get back. I didn't even get to say good-bye. Wah wah.

Elementary Homework

How would you be kind to someone?

I want to have friendly relations with everyone.

A Chicago Style Weekend

I am a lucky girl to have so many wonderful people to help my celebrate an other year older and another year wiser, but here and back at home. I felt the love via mail from in the form of homemade banana bread, chocolate and butterscotch chip oatmeal cookies, mac n' cheese packets, socks and a note redeemable for a tickets to see a show when I'm home in November from the rents. Madge sent me some Mike and Ikes, colored flame birthday candles and a pot with seeds to grow my own flowers. And last, but not least I got a huge banner birthday card from the Johnson side which will hang in my apartment until I leave. Thanks guys!

As for the amazing people here...they rock. We had quite the crowd eating at the picnic tables outside of UNO pizzeria. We sampled from a large variety of pizza toppings including a regular supreme, cheese burger, sweet potato deep dish and Gorgonzola garlic thin crust. It was a spectacular spread. Suzie even baked a cake! A very pleasant surprise. We then enjoyed some adult beverages down by the lake on a beautiful night and hit up a norebong. Perfect.

Saturday evening was a joint celebration for Liz and I, since Liz's B-day is the 14th. A typical evening out in Hongdae, a college neighborhood, where we spent most of the evening trying to find a well hidden bar called Freebird. We finally made it, but lost many people along the way.

Sunday was great because Megan and Maranda took me to "Chicago". We spent a lot of time debating if it would be in English or Korean. It was all in Korean, except they said the names and "all that jazz" in English. Also, cellophane is cellopong in Korean, which made the song "Mr. Cellophane" very entertaining to listen to.

Thanks for the sweet brithday weekend everyone!!!

Things I missed at home this weekend:
Mom and Dad's 32nd Wedding Anniversary
Ross' 21st birthday
Cousin Micheal and Lindsay's Wedding

Sorry guys!

Crazy and/or Gorgeous

The discovery of MeetUp.com is going to drastically change the shape of the next nine months. I've joined the Seoul Sports and Hiking Group and Hiking in Korea along with the Facebook hiking group I did Bukansan with two weeks ago. Between all of these I've got notification of hiking trips with other expats every weekend. It's possible that my updates and pictures are going to start sounding very similar (if you don't think they have already...)

This last weekend was particularly hardcore, but spectacular. Our group of 44 met at midnight to board a bus and sleep on our way to Samchoek City on the east coast. We arrived as the sun was raising and the drizzle was falling just before 5 am. Each of us slowly departed the warm bus to eat breakfast in the cold rain. We started the hike at 5:25 on the dot. The entire way we were walking in drizzle or mist. No down pours, but we were all soaked in the end none the less. The constant moisture keep my camera in it's bag most of the way, but I did manage a few pictures. The first peek we hit was spectacular. Amazing rock formations with small pools everywhere. Felt like we were in the movie "Into the Mist". It almost made up for the fact that when you went to the edge all you could see was fog. The next peek was not as enjoyable. It was raining a bit harder and we stopped so long the we all started to get very cold. The way down was a long and muddy trail, not without it's fair share of slips and falls. At times it was painful, but oh so worth it. We finally got a chance at a real view of the mountain along with following a river of waterfalls the whole way. All in all, I wouldn't have trading the weather for anything else. It was like walking through the rain forest the whole time. We arrived at the base a good 9.5 hours later excited to get on a warm dry bus and head to the beach.

Sadly, it was not really beach weather, but my companions and I didn't mind. We got ourselves some hot and spicy soup and went to bed. We spent the morning on the beach instead. The next point of the itinerary needs some explaining.

The Legend of Penis Park:
Once upon a time, in a coastal village there lived a beautiful girl who used to gather seaweed. In the distance there was a rock called Aebawi where plenty of seaweed grew. One day, this young girl was taken out to the rock by a man in a boat. The man, who had a pact to marry her, promised to return to the rock to pick her up after she had collected seaweed there and he went back to the village. At dusk, she waited for him the man to come and take her home, but he was unable to come and fetch her due to wild waves. That very night a terrible storm arose and a large wave struck the rock, drowning the ill-fate girl. From the time of her death, the fishing catches turned bad for the village and so a rumor started circulating among the villagers that is was due to the dead girl's bitter soul. Finally, the people of the village decided to offer carved wooden phallics as a sacrifice inside Haesindang to console the bitter soul of the unmarried girl.
Mysteriously, after that, the village again enjoyed a good catch. The ceremony where wooden phallics are offered is still held even today on the first full moon of the lunar year.

And so explains the penis status.

Next, on to Hwanseongul, the largest limestone cave in Korea. 3 km of open space. It was spectacular to say the least.

I left the weekend exhausted, but refreshed after falling in love with mountains all over again. It's funny, but it seems to happen every time I go to one.

June is busting out all over...

and changes are springing up. Nothing unusual of course.

four new teachers, three new kids, two broken teeth, one kid gone and a signed renewal contract

4 new teachers: don't really have the skinny on the newbies yet, but I do know that I will be missing Emily, Joceyln, Denielle and Ari (my Chicago buddy)

3 new kids: Alex started a few weeks ago and Alex Kim and Jack started this week...three new boys brings me up to 12 kids

2 teeth lost: the first new Alex was running during a break time on Tuesday and fell down. I came back to a class room with a screaming, bleeding child. The helper teachers had it relatively under control, but it certainly broke up the day a bi t. Turns out he had to have oral surgery that afternoon. I also had to speak with his father after school. Thank goodness he was a level headed guy.

1 kid lost: Olivia is not coming back. Apparently she was always stressed out about school. It's tough being 4.

A renewed contract: The beginning of June marks my official half way point. 9 months in with 9 months to go. With my contract I also get a plane ticket to come home for Thanksgiving. I'll arrive in Chicago on November 14 at 3:48 pm and leaving from Minneapolis on November 29 at 1:00 pm. I am already really looking forward to those two weeks.