Fun Filled Weekend

The homestay family took off for China this weekend (business trip), leaving me to my own devices. Luckily I had fantastic island-hopping plans...four different islands in four days.

Thursday
새섬=Seh Seom, island #1

My middle school first and second graders (American equivalent 7th and 8th graders) had midterms all day, meaning a free day for Teacher Alicia. I used the free time to go on a longer run, which included a venture across the Seogwipo bridge and around Seh Seom, where I went 2 weekends ago with my homestay family. The island has quickly become a tourist destination; I had to weave in and out of a sea of tourists in the parking lot. A quick strech and shower later, I was back at school to join the teachers for a duck 샤브샤브 dinner.

Saturday
우도=oo-doe=Udo, island #2
Three other ETAs and I ventured off early (7am departure from the apartment) Saturday morning to go see Udo Island, a small but populated island off Jeju's east coast. A bus and ferry later we arrived on Udo only with plans to bike around the island and catch the 5o'clock ferry back. For only 10,000won ($8!) we able to rent bikes for the next 6 hours to pedal our way along the coast. The first stop was one of Korea's few white coral beaches, the next stop a light house, the next stop another breath-taking blue beach. The island seems to have a good haenyo (Jeju's women sea divers) population; we passed numerous haenyo shops, saw several haenyo statues, and even came across a group that had finished a dive. After an adventurous lunch (any meal where I don't know what I'm ordering is adventurous) we found the Cliffs of Moher, or at least a small Korean version of the Cliffs of Moher. Even better was the traditional music concert in the cave. All that and we still easily caught the 5o'clock ferry back to the "mainland".

Sunday
숲섬=Sawp sawm=Seop Seom/Island island #3
It was expensive, but Seogqipo friend Ashley and I decided to go for it; we whipped out some won to go scuba diving. We had signed up for the TryScuba dive, one dive accompanied by a professional (Ralf of Big Blue 33, guidebook featured and the only English-speaking scuba diver instructor in Seogwipo). Nine of us (by nationality: 4 Americans, 2 Hollanders, 2 Germans and a Canadian; or by experience: 2 instructors, 4 certified divers, and 3 novices) went to Seop Seom, 10 minutes by boat from Swogwipo harbor, to dive and hang out in the sun.
Diving is one of the most peaceful things I've every done. There's a lot of concerns, like breathing and oxygen level, equalizing pressure so as to not bust a lung of ear drum, but the best advice from one of the certified divers was to be relaxed like you had just smoked a joint. It's true, you're there just to enjoy the (underwater) scenery. I would like to describe what I saw, but it'd take a writing skills beyond my capacity, not to mention the amount of time. Just go and do it--my 20min underwater was definitely worth the 100,000won ($85) and 6 hour expedition. If I had the time and the money, I would consider getting certified, but just a poor English teacher who has the rest of Korea to see on her weekends....

Island #4? I'd have hoped you'd figure it out by now....I live on an island...제주 (=Jeju)!