SUMMER DAYS

IN KOREA

 

I think that quote is appropriate seeing as I'm so behind in my blogging that it's now winter. Sorry about that, guys. Things have been absolutely crazy! So anyway, on to my summer adventures!!! The three this post will be dedicated to are my school's field trip to a mine, my trip to Muuido, and the first mountain hike I went on here in Korea (don't ask me to recall the name of the mountain this long after the hike because that ain't happening).

 

Adventure #1

School Field Trip to a Mine

 

It had been super humid already for a few weeks so the prospect of going to a cave/mine was like heaven. We went on a 45 minute bus ride through the city and then up a mountain. At the entrance to the mine, we were given hard hats to wear (some kids loved that part and others not so much). I made sure to pack a sweatshirt just in case I got a little cold inside (which turned out to be a good plan). It was dark and damp, but also nice and cool once we entered the mine. This mine had been modified to be educational for both children and adults and it had a lot of cool passageways and cavernous rooms. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

 

This was a view up to the entrance from the parking lot.
Very pretty scenery.

Right when we came inside, they had tanks filled with different plants
and fish. I'm not sure what for because the tour was all in Korean.

This display case showed different tools they used when the mine
was still in operation.

Some stairs that led down into the belly of the beast...or just further
into the mine. I don't know because it was blocked off.

Another shaft, but this one led up instead of down. Had I not been so
out of shape and had it not been illegal, I probably would have
climbed up just to see where it went for you guys ;)

I'm assuming these were creatures that used to inhabit the area
millions of years ago (apparently it used to be under water).

 

More sea creatures.

And this was the last room they brought us to before we left.
It was a massive cavern that was turned into a huge theater.

 So that was it for the mine. Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pictures. It was quite dark inside and I only had my phone camera.

 

Adventure #2

Muuido

 

Muudio is an island off the western coast of Korea. It's actually really close to Incheon, which is the city I live in. It still took about an hour and a half to get there. We (my friend Karli and I) had to take a subway, a taxi, and a ferry just to get to the island We found out after there was an easier way, but oh well. It's all part of the adventure, right?

 

This was our ferry :)

 

We enjoyed a nice, albeit short, ride over to Muuido, which you
can see in the distance.

 

This is Karli, the friend who convinced me to go with her and
did the majority of the planning. Thanks, Karli!!!

 

After some walking we had to stop and figure out
where we were and where exactly we wanted to go.

The pretty scenery from where we stopped to get our bearings.

We decided to go to Hanagae Beach which was made
famous by a Korean drama (I'm not sure which one...)

I was a little disappointed by the beach to be honest. I had hoped for something with more swimming possibilities. What we were met with was a lot of tourists (not entirely unexpected), course sand (not very nice on your feet), and mud flats instead of ocean water (probably the biggest disappointment). The mud flats were kind of cool though. They extended out maybe a mile past the sand and dozens of people were out digging for clams and whatnot. Karli and I decided to venture out, but decided against taking our cameras seeing as there was still a little water covering the mud and we didn't want to risk dropping our phones. So sorry, no pictures from the mud flats.

This was one of the better views of the beach.

At the end of our little tour of Muuido, we decided to stop off and get some bingsu (a delicious Korean dessert with ice, frozen fruit, and sweet red beans).

A bowl of sweet, cold deliciousness :)

In the little cafe where we had the bingsu, we found
a Korean copy of Sherlock Holmes and the nerd in
me couldn't resist snapping a photo.

Adventure #3

The Mountain Hike

 

Some friends decided they wanted to go on a hike (not too uncommon during the summer), and seeing as I didn't have anything planned, I decided to go along since I hadn't hiked a mountain yet. So we met at the subway station and took a bus to get to the base of the mountain, which was almost in the center of the city. We started off and the hike wasn't too bad. It progressively got more steep, though thank goodness there were stairs on the steeper parts. We hike for maybe two and a half or three hours to get to the top, by which time I was soaked through with sweat, had jelly legs, and was a tad dizzy (remember I'm out of shape). I was quite surprised how many people were on the hike, everyone from old men and women in their classic Korean hiking outfits to small toddlers clambering over the rocks. I loved being out where I could see and touch and smell nature rather than being surrounded by concrete all day every day. And the views from the top were pretty amazing too!

 



We saw this near the beginning of the hike
and I though it was pretty.

The easier part of our trail.

Nearing the peak.

Just a pretty view.

 

This is my beautiful self at the top. I was sooooo
exhausted and sweaty.

This was one of the girls who came with us (a
friend of a friend) who I bonded with a little
seeing as we were both out of shape and at the
back of the pack.

I told you I was sweaty...

This was a picture of our hiking group at the Buddhist temple
at the top the mountain.

 

After I had recovered, we expolored some of the places on the
peak. This is a pagoda we saw from a distance.

A closer view of the pagoda.

I'm not entirely sure what that tower was. I was
too tired to try that path (other hikers said it was
the hardest part of the hike).

A view down into Seoul.

The Buddhist temple at the top of the mountain.

Thankfully the trip down was much easier than up. By the end, other than a bad case of jelly legs, I was feeling pretty great. We took the bus back to the subway station and decided to stop for lunch and ice cream. Then one member of our group proposed a trip to Namsan Tower to watch the sunset. Most of our group decided against it because it meant climbing another mountain. I must have been half out of my mind that day because I decided to go. The hike was much easier than our previous one and was stairs the whole way up, but was well worth the view over Seoul as the sun set.

 

And we also made a new friend. We were on our way to the entrance of the hike when a Japanese man stopped us and asked for directions to...can you guess where? To Namsan, of course! We told him we were on our way there ourselves and asked if he wanted to join us. He said yes, so we spent the hike getting to know our new Japanese friend (well I actually did more listening than talking). Apparently he does a lot of traveling, he's a life coach of sorts, and he's big into yoga, which may explain why he looked younger than he was.

 

Here's our group with our new Japanese friend, Yoshi :)

There were so many people I had to hand my camera over to
Brad (the tallest member of our group) to take a photo for me.

Seoul at sunset :)

Pretty city lights.

Namsan Tower all lit up.

And my last shot before we left the mountain.

Let me just say that if you want a really good night's sleep, all you have to do is hike two mountains in one day :)

 

 

So those were the majority of my summer adventures squeezed into one blog post. I hope you guys didn't overdose from so many pictures. My last summer post should be up either later today or tomorrow. Then I'll do my fall adventures (not too many of those) and the one winter adventure I've had so far. And then I'll be all caught up :)

KDRAMA

"TO VISIT" LIST

 

 

You've probably heard me mention kdramas (Korean dramas for those unfamiliar with the lingo) a few times before. I watched my first (Boys Over Flowers) when I was in college for which I can thank a couple of my Korean friends (thanks, guys!!!), but I really got into them when I started preparing to come to Korea to teach. They were great introductions to a little of the culture and language (although obviously there are many things you have to take with a grain of salt--it's like Hollywood: you can't believe everything you watch).

 

Anyway, moving on. As I've watched kdramas, I've started acumulating a list of places I've seen in the dramas that I would like to visit. Jeju island being one of the major ones (it's also a major vacation spot in Korea).

One of the first dramas I watched and also one that is a few years old but still very popular in Korea is Coffee Prince. I won't get into the story too much, but the setting is the important part here. It takes place in a little cafe, which the owner turns into a "prince cafe" where only handsome boys/men can work. Long story short, a girl is mistaken as a boy and decides, when she gets a job at the cafe, not to correct people in their misconception. The cafe is quite small, and in the beginning of the show, is quite the fixer-upper project. By the end, you have something that looks a little like this:

 

 

The cafe is very small, but it also wasn't too crowded. There were surprisingly few people there (though I guess it's had a few years for the tourist rush to slow). The show first premiered in 2007, so it's been about seven years now. Sadly, the cafe isn't run by "princes" anymore. When I went, there was an ajusshi (an older gentleman) and an ajumma (an older lady) who were running the place. I have to admit I was a little disappointed I couldn't buy waffles from this guy (if you haven't watched the show, this will mean very little to you):

 





Although I knew the possibilities were slim to none, I secretly hoped some of the cast would stop by. But, alas, it was not to be. Oh well. The cafe was still cool ^ ^

Here's a few more photos. This first is a quick view of the inside. For anyone who hasn't seen the show, it won't be all that special. Anyone who has seen the show, will probably be geeking out right now. The cafe is very small. It actually has two levels, but the second floor is off limits.

 Remember how I said the second floor was off limits...Well, one of my friends who came along for the trip got us a free pass :) On our way up, we found some Coffee Prince barrells (I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that there's no coffee in them).



And then this is what greeted us upstairs:

A nice life size-ish poster of the two main characters of the story.

This poster was gigantic! It took up an entire wall, almost floor to ceiling!!!

The deck (which, once again, you will recognize if you've seen the drama).

 

After heading back downstairs, I snuck in a couple more pictures before we had to leave. The first was of the iconic flower paintings (though sadly we learned they weren't the original, nor were they actual paintings). The original had been done in chalk (I think that's what it was, but I can't quite remember), which doesn't last long. The new "paintings" were actually stickers. Sad, right?

 

 

And then we have the classic old western style swinging doors which lead to the kitchen (in which a few pivotol scenes were filmed).

 

Sorry about the glare, and the little bit of my friend's face...



 

The last picture I snapped before we walked out the door was the sign posted on the inside of the door.

 

I liked the Coffee Prince logo :)

 

Only a couple more pictures from this venture. I had to get a picture with me in it (just to prove I was actually there) and one of the sign outside.

 

 

 

It was a nice relaxing day to say the least. And I got to go somewhere cool :) That equals a good day in my book.

 

I know I've been terribly behind on my posts. This trip was actually a few weeks ago. I have a couple more to do (hopefully both of which you will be seeing soon).