Day 4 - Another rainy morning & start of roadtrip

-I can't thank Matt enough for the use of his bike durning my father's visit. Pictured at the right is my dad on my bike - imagine the two of us circumnavigating the island on that! - We set out early in the morning and explored the coastline east of Seogwipo. We followed the smallest roads we could find in an attempt to hug the coastline. First on the list was Jejigi oreum which overlooks the town of Bomok and its harbor. Jejigi is a short hike, but in true Korean fashion, you spend all of the hike going up. The top has a small exercise playground and great views in every direction.

My father was especially impressed with all of the greenhouses that lay below us. We continued along to coast to Soesokkak, a black sand beach about 20 minutes from Seogwipo. A stream empties into the ocean just next to the beach. The water is so clear you can see straight to the bottom. Opposite the stream is a storage of jack-like concrete blocks used for building seawalls. We spent a long while exploring and discussing their manufacture and use. We then got back on the bikes and headed back towards Jejigi to visit a great coffee shop called Two Weeks.

After work we loaded up our motorcycles, grabbed a bite to eat, and set off towards Sunrise Peak. After nearly two hours of riding we found the Seongsan were I asked for directions to the nearest jim jil bang were we stayed for the evening.

Click here for more pictures of my dad's awesome visit.

Day 3 - Rain, Archery, and Oreums

On Wednesday we woke again to the sound of rain. After a quick breakfast we got on my motorcycle and rode to 천지정, the archery center I use. While the conditions were not the greatest, I wanted my dad to see my new hobby. With the weather as it was, I was hoping we would have the place to ourselves, but instead, most of the senior members were there hanging out. They were gathering to go to a friend's wedding and so I found myself shooting alone, shooting terribly, and being corrected. Master O, my Kuk Sool Won teacher, arrived and the whole group prepared to leave as I started a new round.

A round consists of five arrows and to date I had managed to hit the target with only four of the five. When the fifth arrow hit the target I couldn't believe it - my heart felt like it would leap from from chest. I was congratulated by everyone, but couldn't get over the fact that my father happened to be there when I got Jub Jang! My hands were shaking so badly that I didn't dare shoot another round, and I was relieved when all the other members left for their wedding.

I still had awhile before work so we got back on the motorcycle and headed to one of my favorite morning hikes. I'm not sure what the oreum is called, because it isn't on any of my maps. The hike starts at the opening of a creak bed that empties between a temple and a house. After climbing over the large rocks in the creek for 10 minutes or so the trail passes a bamboo grove before continuing to two separate peaks. We opted to explore the first peak which overlooks Seogwipo and has a small shrine hidden below some large rocks.

After a quick day at work I came home and we prepared for the epic weekend that lay ahead. I had asked for Friday off and we planned to cover a lot of the island in the next three days.

Click here for more pictures of my dad's awesome visit.

Day 2 - Seogwipo City

Tuesday's forecast looked promising so we woke early to take full advantage. After a quick, oatmeal breakfast we set out to see Seogwipo. Most of Seogwipo's treasure are within a 15 minute walk of my place, but we had a lot of sights to see so we hopped on the bicycles. We first visited Oedolgae, a spire of rock that juts out of the surrounding waters.

My dad caught his first glimpse of the ocean as we followed a small road down between Sammaebong Oreum and Seogwipo's craggy coastline. Oedolgae itself is a quite a sight, but the area around it is equally beautiful. Cliffs, that drop straight into the ocean, are dotted with dugouts from the Pacific War and shallow waters give the water a surreal, aqua-marine color.

After a stroll around Oedolgae we met up Matt and Joy for an early lunch. The couple have become two of my closest friends on the island and I couldn't wait for my dad to meet them. We chatted over bowls of 만두국 in a small restaurant near my school. I had mentioned to my director that I might want this day off, so I went ahead and let him know I would be wandering Seogwipo with my father - the weather was just too perfect to be inside. Next we were off to see Jeongbang waterfall - Seogwipo's only waterfall which feeds directly into the ocean. We were lucky to enjoy the falls with relatively few tourists around.

We watched as the force of the water blew mist over the rock and out over the ocean before walking a bit further to Jeongbang's little brother, Sojeongban. Sojeongban is one of my favorite spots in Seogwipo. While an Olle trail runs adjacent to the small waterfall, it receives few visitors. My favorite building, an old restaurant converted into the Olle headquarters, sits atop a cliff which overlooks the falls, and in the side of the cliff is a cave - what more could you ask for?

We explored the area for a bit before getting back on the bikes and heading towards Cheonjiyeon waterfall, our third and final waterfall of the day. Here my dad got a full dose of Jeju-Do tourism - it seemed that every girl's high school in the nation had taken the morning off for a field trip to Cheonjiyeon. We managed to claw our way to a good view of the falls, but not without being asked to be in several pictures along the way. Why not? Cheonjiyeon means something along the lines of heaven and earth, and it is a truly spectacular falls surrounded by hundreds of species of plants and animals some of which only naturally occur at the site.
While I've become quite adept at ignoring tourists, it was fun to be accosted with requests to take photos with my father and random, Korean school girls. We finally managed to free ourselves from the tide of tourists and picked up a couple of maps before biking a short distance to Saeseom Island.

We walked around the small island, but spent far more time admiring the bridge and discussing the neighboring harbor. We also took one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.

We had finished our sightseeing for the day and after a quick spaghetti dinner we headed to Hoonie's place for a weekly Korean lesson. Hoonie is one of my favorite people here in Korea. He is always happy, always helpful, and always smiling. We had a great lesson and then my father joined me for Kuk Sool Won (국술원) before we headed home after our long day of wandering.

Day One - A rather soggy Seogwipo

After a full night of rest we awoke to a rainy Seogwipo. As my father got settled in I set to making eggs and potatoes and set up a table in the living room. It was really pouring outside so we took the morning to catch up and make some plans for the week ahead. Tommy took us out for at the restaurant down the road from my place. Tommy and my father struck a common chord with a great chat about guitar players. My single largest regret from my childhood is not picking up a guitar and learning to play from my father - so it was wonderful listening to the two go on and on about something they both loved. After lunch we got back in Tommy's car for a whirlwind tour of Seogwipo with Ozzy Osbourne keeping any silence at bay.

After work 지은 took us out for a seafood course meal with her two sons. This was my father's first real Korean dining experience and it was fun watching him as plate after plate of mysterious food was fit on to the table. I've had my fare share of seafood since coming to Jeju, some fried, some alive, and all of it fresh, but some of these critters were new to me. My dad, being the badass that he is, tried nearly everything in front of him (with the exception of the abalone, a Jeju delicacy, which I ate while cautioning of the rather ear-like texture. After our huge meal we thanked 지은 and decided that I walk was in order. We wandered through the market and then over to my old apartment. After creeping up eight flights of stairs we reached the roof. When I used to live in the hotel the roof was my favorite place to unwind. We stood looking over a Seogwipo draped in a light drizzle and chatted for a long while before heading home.

Dad's arrival in Jeju-do!

My father's arrival fell on a Sunday evening. 은재 was kind enough to lend me her car to shuttle my dad home from the airport. As I turned the key I considered that I had only piloted a four-wheeled vehicle for a total of five minutes in the last six months. As I regained a bit of confidence I became proportionally impatient with the speed limit. 80 km/h (50 mph) feels superb on a motorcycle, but closer to a crawl in a car. It wasn't until my drive to the airport that it really hit me - I was about to pick up my dad! I wondered what it would feel like to see him after six months, and before I knew it, I had arrived at the airport. I had ample time to find my way to the arrival gate and prepared for that Kodak moment when I would see my dad's face emerge from (and most likely above) a sea of Koreans. I had no sooner found my lookout point when my dad snuck up behind me. He had hopped on an earlier flight and had been in Jeju for about an hour. After a big hug I drove home a jet-lagged dad. I remembered the previous summer when we carpooled to Kansas City and it was I who dozed off between sentences. We stopped for 우동 and 참치김밥 (dad's first Korean meal) before turning in early for the evening. We had a full two weeks ahead.

I love peanut butter

Which would you eat?

Holidays tend to be a bit different here...

I spent halloween making my way up Hallasan for the first time. Thanksgiving came around and I had met some great folks to share copious amounts of food with. Christmas morning started with a floor full of sleeping friends, Home Alone, Chocolate chip pancakes, and a walk through a misty orange grove. New Years Eve brought with it a bit of pneumonia and the usual list of unrealistic goals for the coming year. My birthday (one of the best I've had) started with a surprise from my students and Korean family, continued with a fantastic snow storm and a great evening spent with friends, and climaxed as a cake was launched at my face by a complete stranger. Jeju really proved it could go the distance with pyrotechnics during the annual fire festival as they lit the side of an oreum on fire to mark the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. St. Paddy's was spent with the Irish and ended at seven in the morning at the base of a waterfall.

Which, for anyone who is silly enough to still be reading this, brings us to April Fool's Day. I decided I wanted a small change in my day-to-day so I used this holiday as an excuse to stick to one, and only one, resolution. Each day I plan to set aside a block of time to do nothing but write.

When I first came to Jeju-Do I wrote everyday, taking the time to reflect upon the new culture that surrounded me and how I was reacting to it. Not only was I fortunate to capture the day-to-day events of my first months, I saw changes in myself over time. Writing daily also held me accountable. When I keep everything in my mind it is easy to distract myself from what is important. It is simple to justify my failure to get something done and quickly move on to something else. I have found that when I force myself to catch some of those thoughts and put them on paper, it really helps to organize my days, my goals, and ultimately my life.

Better late than never - here is to holding true to one simple resolution for the remainder of 2010.