The irony of traveling, as I've discovered through my limited experiences, is that, as with life in general, the times you try to plan the most are the times when things go least according to the plan. It's a good thing, although at times frustrating. After saying goodbye to V's mom and beautiful Busan, we took a small plane to the island of Jeju. As Hawaii or the Bahamas is to Americans, so Jeju is to Koreans. The small island off the southwest coast of Korea boasts of gorgeous white beaches and crystal blue water. A little paradise. We had booked our tickets and hotel back in the states after hearing from many people that it was a "must-do". It's the only thing was planned prior to leaving Denver.
We arrived at our hotel by 9 am with all our luggage in hand. Check-in time is 2pm, we were told by the receptionist in the lime green jacket. Poor planning on my part. So we left our bags with the somewhat disgruntled front desk staff of our expensive, luxury hotel and took off to see the island. We assumed that since this is a tourist hot spot, navigating the island would be easy, more people would speak English, and we'd get to do some real American vacationing. You know what they say about assuming. With less English speakers and more Korean-only signs, we realized very quickly that our idea of this two-day getaway might be a little different than expected. Still, we managed to catch a bus that would take us to one of the "famous" beaches, Hamdeok Beach. I am still amazed by the public transportation system. Only 1000won each (which equates to less than $1 each) can get you to another corner of the island. So we jumped on the bus, garbed in sunglasses, sandals, and swimsuits. After a few minutes, we realized that everyone else on the bus was wearing coats, jeans, and scarves.
About an hour later, the bus driver let us off along the road of a small, deserted beach "town". Small wooden shacks offering food and souveniors lined the road. The remains of what looked like a once-hopping amusement park stood just off the main road. Pretty much deserted. But as I said before, I love the ocean air, and although I have never been to Atlantic City, I would imagine it to look like this, at its quietest.
The beach was breathtaking. The water just as clear and blue as everyone said it would be. It's the kind of blue that makes you feel like someone has photoshopped what you are looking at. And the many hues of blue were a deep contrast to the nearly white sand and black rocks scattered along the shoreline. We, being the ONLY people there (apparently Koreans don't like to go for a swim in 60 degree weather...), enjoyed the quiet and calm that only the sound of water can create. Walking along the shore, we soon realized the beach was alive. At first, you think it must be the wind or waves pushing shells around. And then you look closer and see the creatures inside the shells running all along the white floor. You have to take the time to really look in order to see it.
After a few hours of walking and lounging at our very own private beach, we took the bus back to our hotel to check in. We arrived not a minute past two and were given our room key. 13th floor with a view. After settling into the room, we both started to notice quite a few blood splatters on the walls and ceiling. And then, again looking closer, we discovered the cause of the blood splatters- mosquitoes. Squished, smashed, and smeared. Gross, but we could deal. I went into the bathroom to find dirty kleenex (the weapons used for the mosquito massacre?) on the back of the toilet. Now, I can deal with a little bug remains, but dirty kleenex on the toilet, I cannot. So we called down to the front desk to explain. They hung up on me. So we decided then would be a good time to take a tour of the hotel, first stop being the front desk. I explained the issue using lots of hand motions, imitating bugs being smashed, and asked for housekeeping. They nodded yes. Problem solved. We then took a tour of the rest of the place. Turns out, when you stay in fancy shmancy places (which we obviously don't do often), you have to pay to use everything on top of the already expensive room. Yes, I was feeling a little whiney at this point. But, we concluded that we didn't come to Jeju to hang out in the hotel all day, so I let the whiney moment pass.
I decided to get a massage at the spa. And I found out a full body massage in Korea is also different from a full body massage in the states. At one point, I had to keep from laughing out loud as the woman (most likely in her 50s) was literally walking on my back. In the end, I wasn't sure if I'd gotten a massage or beat up.
After the "massage", I walked back to the room to find the bugs and dirty tissue. So this time Keith went down to lay the law down (haha). They seemed annoyed, he said, and told him they knew and would send a housekeeper. So we waited patiently. Until the next morning. We called once more and they said they'd send someone. A couple hours later, after reminiscing about all the kind people we had met in both big city and small town alike, we decided it was a good time to say goodbye to Jeju. So, we changed our flight time and destination (you can change flights in Korea for CHEAP) and left "paradise island". Later we talked to our friend Tiana who said we most likely would have had a better experience had we stayed in a small hotel or guest house outside Jeju City. This is why we don't plan.
Less than 5 hours later, we were back in Seoul. Ahhh, it felt good to be back. We found a backpackers hostel, Kim's Guest House, in the Hapjeong area of Seoul and decided to try it. Best decision of the week. Run by the Kim's, this darling, quaint house set in a tree-lined neighborhood is a temporary "home" for its many international guests traveling through. It was simple and cheap, but offered a clean room (with bug-free walls), free internet, toast and coffee, and a common living area. I'll take hostels and guest houses any day to luxury high-rise hotels. These are the places, nestled in neighborhoods, where you get the real flavor of the area.
That evening, Tiana called to make sure we had made it back safely from Jeju. We told her we had. And then we told her we were in the Hapjeong neighborhood. To which she excitedly replied that this was one of the neighborhoods we used to live in and that she would drive down after she finished work (at 10:30pm) to show us a good time. She also told me that she and Veronica had decided the 3 things we needed to experience in Korea were street food (check), a Korean bathhouse (check check), and Korean Karaoke. So at nearly midnight, we met up with Tiana and her friends Holly and Paul (also English teachers) to experience Korea's nightlife. I have come to the conclusion that as hard as Koreans work, they play evenharder. Even on a weeknight, the streets of Hapjeong were alive and crowded. They first took us to get food, which is also a much more pleasant experience with people who can read the menu. Keith and I have done a lot of guessing and pointing to pictures. We had this dish with rice noodles and rice cakes that was so spicy, I felt like I had 3rd degree burns in my mouth. It was delicious. And the company was even better. We realized how refreshing it was to connect with people through language again. They asked us what we saw as the biggest cultural difference between here and home. There are so many. Keith said efficiency- Koreans are much more efficient. I agreed. I still am amazed at the amount of time it takes for an entire bus to clear out (less than 30 seconds). Tiana thought maybe they were too efficient to the point of not taking time to notice those that need help. I told her this is not specific to Korean culture. We talked about Korean mothers and American mothers. We talked about work and travel and life.
Then, after lots of food and, even more importantly, drinks, came the part with the Karaoke. Let me be clear- Korean karaoke is not like American karoake that typically takes place in a crowded bar where the singing gets worse as the night wears on. In Korea, you rent out a room with a group of friends- this room is fully equipped with a sound system and flat screen tv. And then you pick from the thousands of selections and sing and dance. And they are SO good at it. I realized that I actually don't know the words to songs I thought I did, and also, that I frequently make up my own words when I don't know what the artist is saying. However, this didn't stop us from making complete fools out of ourselves and having a blast doing it. We karaoked until 4:30am. At the end, Tiana said, "Yea, karaoke is really different here than in America. Americans are really bad at it".
Tuesday, we slept in until almost noon. My calves were screaming from the night before. Apparently karaoke is also a total workout. We made toast with butter and jelly and sipped on coffee. We met two girls, Avischka and Laura, who were from Poland and had just finished filming a documentary on the life and culture of people in Fiji and on Christmas Island. They talked about the culture shock they were experiencing here in Korea after being on the islands. This is my favorite part of traveling. You find people from all different parts of the world who are on different journeys, and you get to connect for that brief moment where your journeys cross paths. You see how big the world is and yet how interconnected we are. For me, it reminds me how big I can make myself and my problems and my world- it reminds me just how easily I forget that I am connected with something much bigger- the human race in all its diverseness. It gives me the itch to travel more. I really need to start playing the lottery.
Tuesday and Wednesday, we took full advantage of the subway system to explore more neighborhoods in Seoul. Between the two days, we visited the Dondaemun area which is famous for its clothing shops and markets and Ewha Women's University, another famous shopping area. The shopping here is like our shopping on steroids. Walking down the street lined with a sea of shops, it is overwhelming to say the least. Clothes, purses, shoes, jewelry, carpet, sportswear, literally anything you need, you can find. You might not be allowed to try it on for size, but you can get just about anything. We lasted a few hours and then walked away, completely exhausted.
Yesterday (Thursday), we spent the morning at Kim's Guesthouse, chatting with more of her guests. We met a couple from Arizona who are taking a year and a half off to travel around Asia. Jealous (and confused- I need to find out their source of income). After checking out, we traveled back south of the river to the SWS Guest House for our final few days. Coming back to the Gangnam area where we began the trip, it feels kind of full circle. After settling back into the guest house, I again snuck a peak at all the babies, and then we spent the afternoon in the Itaewon neighborhood. It has become one of my favorite things to walk up to street level after getting off the subway. Walking up those last few steps, it's like entering a completely different world every time. Every neighborhood is unique and has a different feel to it. Itaewon was no expection. I would describe it as a small international neighborhood. Over the past couple of weeks, I have become accustomed to seeing only Koreans with the occasional, but rare, white person- Korea is so homogenous. So it was almost shocking to see the diversity of this neighborhood. Shocking, but nice. And, there was every type of cuisine imaginable- turkish, mexican, japanese, italian, mediterranean, you name it. I will let you guess which type we decided on.
This morning, we slept in. It was one of the best nights of sleep I've had here. We woke to the housekeeper banging on the door while simultaneously opening it. I am not sure the point of knocking, if you're already coming in, but I guess it's the thought. She loves us, though, and I love her. Last night, she brought us special down-filled comforters so we would be more comfortable. This morning, it was more towels and linens. Gamsa Hamnida, thank you.
Another thing- the guest house and baby's reception home that I thought was my home here is not, in fact, the original baby's reception home. All my pictures and moments at the beginning- they were nice and all but not where I actually stayed. The original Baby's Reception home where I lived is in Amsa-dong, another neighborhood in this huge city. So this afternoon, my sweet social worker, Miss Lee, took us by cab to the original guest house, where I spent my first months. It is now the Amsa Rehabilitation Center, home to nearly fifty children of all ages with physical or developmental disbabilities. We took a tour of the center and then got to meet the children. Beautiful children who are not perceived this way in society. Miss Lee explained that while many of them are up for adoption, most of them will not find a permanent home other than this one, because most families adopting want the healthy children. It's hard to see the faces that society puts the stamp of imperfection on. Miss Lee also told us that the place could not run without its volunteers- that many of them take the kids home to stay with them on the weekends. There were six or seven women there playing with the kids when we were there. I wanted to hug them all. I am so glad that the place I stayed is still a home for the displaced.
Today, we met another woman, Gabby, from D.C., who is adopting and picked up her little girl from her foster home this afternoon. When we left this afternoon, we heard her new daughter crying from the room. Keith and I both smiled, imagining the little girl screaming "what is going on?!" and Keith figured she was looking at her new mom, saying, "oh my gosh, it's a ghost!". I am going to go check on them both now to make sure they are okay. And I want to tell them that even if they aren't now, they will be.
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