Lance and I are homesick, but not in the way you'd think. Yes, we both want to come back to the states and start building towards a life beyond the Hagwon system (which, by the way, is pretty terrible) but we're homesick for Jeju. In the last six months we spent on our sunny little island we fell deeply and madly in love. We had friends, plenty to do, beautiful scenery and lots of lovely and delicious restaurants to eat at. In Seosan we don't have any of the things we loved about Jeju. Coping has been difficult, but we're making it work. We were reminded about how much we miss Jeju when we joined a camping trip this weekend with some of our friends.
This past weekend was memorial day in Korea, so everyone got Friday off. Lance and I drove down to Mokpo, which is a port city on the very southern cost of Korea. From there we failed to catch a ferry that would take our car -- apparently they were sold out since very early that morning! We booked a night at a love motel across the street and were in line on Saturday at 4 am. We were able to make it onto Palgeumdo Island by 8 in the morning. Palgeumdo is one of a series of little islands off the coast of Korea, connected to three other islands (known as the Angel Islands) by a bridge. The islands main export must have been onions because as we drove through the heart of the island we saw men and women bagging hundreds of thousands of onions out of the fields. It was a site to see.
During the day we cooked burgers and bratz, rameon and pork. We built a fire and roasted marshmallows and then dipped them in Baily's. This treat was about the best thing I've ever had. We waded into the cool yellow sea, enjoying the view of the surrounding islands in the distance. I relaxed under our costco bought beach umbrella and enjoyed my summer book while the sun slow roasted my skin. I didn't realize I was burnt until Sunday afternoon! Some of the people we stay with joined some Koreans camping nearby in net fishing. They brought back a fish, a lot of little shrimp and some crabs. These we threw on the grill and feasted on.
We spent the night drinking and talking and enjoying each other's company. It reminds us of what we left behind, and with more than a little sadness we returned to Seosan on Sunday.
This past weekend was memorial day in Korea, so everyone got Friday off. Lance and I drove down to Mokpo, which is a port city on the very southern cost of Korea. From there we failed to catch a ferry that would take our car -- apparently they were sold out since very early that morning! We booked a night at a love motel across the street and were in line on Saturday at 4 am. We were able to make it onto Palgeumdo Island by 8 in the morning. Palgeumdo is one of a series of little islands off the coast of Korea, connected to three other islands (known as the Angel Islands) by a bridge. The islands main export must have been onions because as we drove through the heart of the island we saw men and women bagging hundreds of thousands of onions out of the fields. It was a site to see.
During the day we cooked burgers and bratz, rameon and pork. We built a fire and roasted marshmallows and then dipped them in Baily's. This treat was about the best thing I've ever had. We waded into the cool yellow sea, enjoying the view of the surrounding islands in the distance. I relaxed under our costco bought beach umbrella and enjoyed my summer book while the sun slow roasted my skin. I didn't realize I was burnt until Sunday afternoon! Some of the people we stay with joined some Koreans camping nearby in net fishing. They brought back a fish, a lot of little shrimp and some crabs. These we threw on the grill and feasted on.
We spent the night drinking and talking and enjoying each other's company. It reminds us of what we left behind, and with more than a little sadness we returned to Seosan on Sunday.
