MASKS ON, WHEELS UP

Well hello! Been a long time. As you’ve likely guessed, the reason I haven’t posted in so long is due to my incarceration for public nudity the global pandemic. I didn’t think you’d want to see my trips to the market or my daily study sessions in a coffee shop (milk tea is so good you guys. So good.) HOWEVER, the world is slowly but surely inching its way back to normalcy, and I figured it was time to rejoin it. I booked a week off work and went to Jeju Island!

Jeju is a beautiful delight that’s still in Korea, so no passport needed. 🙂

Sunrise Peak (성산 – Seongsan Ilchulbong) is a crater made by volcanic eruptions, and it is GORGEOUS. Inside is a protected ecosystem, and if you listen closely in the video you can hear the birds calling to each other. The video doesn’t do the beauty justice, so here’s an aerial view:

I met a friend from Seoul and we spent the week on the island. We went to Hamdeok on the north-east coast, then Seongsan on the east coast, then Hyeopjae on the west coast. It took us about four hours on a bus to get from the east to the west, which gives you an idea of the size. Alternatively, we scooted around U-Do on that pink scooter in about two hours. U-Do is a tiny island off the east coast of Jeju. An island off an island… an islandception, if you will.

U-Do is famous for peanuts (something I learned when I got there, so maybe not THAT famous). I had some ice cream with crushed up peanuts and you guys… it was so good. Jeju is famous for producing mandarin oranges (huge, super sweet and very juicy), and also green tea. We visited the green tea fields and had some green tea treats.

In fact, I had a LOT of amazing food on this trip (and throughout the past couple years) so I made a short video devoted to food. I am who I am:

Because Jeju is so known for their oranges, we kept seeing people of all ages wearing orange hats… not just the colour, the fruit. It was truly delightful. These three ajummas chatted the whole trip and they were so cute, I wasn’t even mad.

If the scroll in the video was hard to read, these guys were all over the island (I mentioned they looked like penis-men, and my friend informed me that they’re supposed to. They’re for fertility, and legend says if you touch it with your partner, you’ll get pregnant soon. They’re the grandpas of the island, and the mermaids (also seen everywhere) are the grandmas. This is because women were generally the divers, gathering seafood, so their motif became mermaids.

It was awesome to get away from normal life for a week, but I also have to remind myself that the life I’m living is anything but ‘normal’. Yes, I haven’t been on many adventures in the past two years, but I still live in Busan! Here are some random clips of videos I took whenever I saw something beautiful / interesting / weird:

The past two years brought a lot of changes (three different schools and as many moves). I also started a masters program, and have been slowly (ever so painfully slowly) improving my Korean. Life trudges forward, even in a pandemic. 🙂

I’m now teaching at a middle school, which means no more babies. I miss my littles, but it’s nice to be able to teach more advanced subjects: creative writing, conversation, and debate. In fact, I was asked to build the debate class from scratch, which was an adventure in itself.

My students are sassy, which you know I LOVE. We were discussing how the pyramids were built, and how there are still a lot of mysteries surrounding it. One of my students said with a straight face, “You were there, Teacher, why don’t you tell us?” Any kid who can burn me in his second language gets an A, no questions asked.

In terms of restrictions, we’re still wearing masks and taking our temperatures in most public places, but for the most part, things are open.

Spotted at the market:

Backpack Dog, I love you. Speaking of dogs, my new apartment building also houses a dog grooming parlour, so I get to spy some puppers through the window every day.

Occasionally I’ll walk into class to find my students have drawn me:

An accurate likeness, I think! Okay, last one, here’s a picture of my day at Luge: a “unique wheeled-gravity ride that provides riders full control over their descent on a purpose built 1.5km Luge track.” You ride a soap box car down a hill, basically. It was fun!

And that’s that! Thanks for popping by. Hopefully it won’t take me two whole years to post again. Stay safe out there, friends!