SIGHTSEEING, VOLCANO RIMS, AND PROBABLY ILLEGAL FARM-RELATED MANUEVERINGS

For its size, Jeju Island is relatively dense in the sight-seeing and awe-inspiring activities. My friend Lindsay's fellow English teacher, Mr. Kim, has been kind enough to take us around to some of the more out-of-the-way locales.



Buddhas leading the way into Kwanumsa, a temple near Jeju City. We caught the end of a chanting session and bowing session in one of the main temple buildings.



This little hollowed out cave had some candles and a Buddha image in it ... and most probably belonged to a hobbit.



Stone statues of Buddhist nuns gather in the ampitheatre for the annual Buddha vs. Jesus gladitorial games. Yeah, I have no idea what all this symbolizes, neither did our guide.



We next went to a rock and tree sculpture park which was, well - spectacular, seriously. I hadn't expected it to be, and I feel like a granny for getting excited about it. But man, Jeju rocks and trees can be damn pretty. This one's entitled "Walking Virgin Forest" (Treebeard's daughter perhaps??).



Our guide Mr. Kim routinely brings his "lady-friend" (or LF, in the parlance of our times) with us on these little excursions. She doesn't speak English and is quite shy but is prone to short-lived bursts of absolutely ridiculous energy sometimes. Here she demonstrates what was explained to us as on old Korean bath ... rock. When you take a bath, you're supposed to make that face, aids in pore cleansing.



The next day, my friend JiHyoung, her roommate and I went on a trip to Mara-do, a small island of 90 people off the southwest coast of Jeju-do. It's basically a plateau maybe the size of a football stadium or a little bigger. This pic reminds me a little of the Cliffs of Moher ...



Bikers and the windy grassy plain of Mara-do.



Back on Jeju, the plot thickens as JiHyoung and I discover that the volcano rim we wanted to explore seems to be in the middle of privately owned farmland and horse fields. The solution - law-breaking! ;) Mere barbed wire fences are no match for JiHyoung's wily powers.



Me and a horse on the way up the forbidden volcano.



As they say in Korea, "Assah!!" (Aww yea!) We made it to the top of the volcano, feeling at this point much like Frodo and Sam (wow, three LOTR references in one post! definitely a good weekend). With our hairy hobbit feet tumbling red volcanic rock into the crater, we scrambled around the rim and found a much easier path back, which incidentally led right to the tourist road. But ... it was fun to at least pretend and believe we were criminals for a time. ;) All in all, a perfect sunny Sunday, with only warm weather to come ... Jeju, gimme a kiss! You're swell!

A GLIMPSE INTO KOREAN MEDICINE

Well I've been sick for the past couple of days. Some of you know I loathe doctors more than -- well, I loathe them. Not personally of course. Categorically. A trip to the doctors' in the States usually requires a complete barfing-up of your entire medical history, that of your parents, grandparents, cousins, and known ancestors - in fact, a family tree is probably the best thing to take along. I don't know if this is the same with everyone, but doctors' offices in my mind carry with them that "oh-god-there-goes-the-afternoon" feeling.

So after sniffing and coughing my way into several classes and teachers' offices, it was the general opinion that I needed to go to the "hospital", as its said here in English. Oh god. So after stalling a few days I finally acquiesce. The first "hospital" (they're really just storefront clinics) is filled with maybe 20 elementary schoolers and their parents, though I did get a glimpse of a side room that looked a little like the oxygen bar I went to in the Bangkok airport. I was intrigued, but we moved on.

The second place was a lot less crowded and my coteacher and I went up to the desk. The woman got our name and the name of our middle school, and then told us to sit down in the waiting room. As it turns out, the "waiting room" and the "examining room" were the same thing. We sat down on a long bench next to a young army officer on one side and an ajjuma (middle aged Korean woman) with her son on the other. Right next to the army officer were beakers (yes, 10th grade chemistry class beakers with little spouts for your mouth and condensation on the inside. I think this is what the kids were using in the "oxygen bar" in the last place. My coteacher said they are a "form of treatment". Ahhh. Another apparent "form of treatment" are headphones placed all around the room with tiny stools (the chair variety) next to them. One guy was using a pair (of headphones that is), with his eyes closed, possibly hearing the soothing sounds of the sea, wind through a pine forest, or perhaps getting the wax sonically blown out of his eardrums. Or maybe previewing a CD before purchase? I'll never know. All around the room, apparently controlling nothing, were dials and pressure readers that looked like they belonged to a defense network supercomputer circa 1959. The dials were most concentrated near the Chair in the center of the room. The procedure went a little something like this: the doctor called a new name, the patient sat in the chair, got a little tongue depressing, a little nostril and mouth prodding, two puffs of Something in each nostril, a prescription note passed to the nurse, and pat on the head (one little boy did actually!) - of course while being oggled by the rest of the room. Turnaround time: approx. 50 seconds. I was about 4th in line. The doctor was a gentle man, spoke a little English, and with that and my coteacher's translations we explained my symptoms. One of the prodders turned out to be a nasal camera, and with it the doctor showed me, in at least 32 bit color, the inner workings of my nose. No pat on the head, but the whole thing cost me $12, and about 15 minutes. Honestly, it was almost worth it to be sick, just for the experience. ;)

I guess there's been a lack of posting lately, but I guess that's because I've just settled into a busy school routine. I'm teaching more classes this semester - doing an advanced class in the mornings at 8:00 three days a week, and I've been putting more time and thought into my lesson plans. My days look pretty much like regular working days. This week has had its highlights though. I had my butt poked by frisky first grade boys (it's a thing here, apparently). I explained, in a moment of good-humored and mutual understanding, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to a pair of wandering Mormons in Seogwipo. I've driven my scooter through the rain and loved every minute.

In other news, I went to a soccer game last week! I live right across the street - literally - from the Jeju World Cup Stadium, which has been in disuse since the World Cup games were played there in 2002. Last week marked the first game of the new Jeju United team, which competes with other teams around Korea. It was my first *real* soccer game, and though nobody scored, everyone was a winner. Awwww. Especially these kids who collected all the toilet paper they could find and paraded around with it:



and a taste of the game itself, in the fabulous stadium:

A lot of you have asked me what a normal day in Korea might be like. Well, kinda like this:



Welcome to my world! ;)