Saturday, August 6, 2011

Summer Vacation: Part 1

Our vacation from school for one week started on a sad note. We said goodbye to our Foreign Teacher Supervisor and my good friend. He was leaving Korea after being here for 18 months. We had a final chicken&beer night at the local chicken restaurant and said our goodbyes on the next morning which was the first day of vacation. After saying goodbye, I headed for the subway to get to the airport to get to Jeju Island!!! Jeju is a beautiful island between Korea and Japan, that is tropical and gorgeous. I was ready to relax and enjoy the sun!!

Immediately upon arriving in Jeju, we started a very busy and detailed guided tour of Jeju. We went to an arboretum of Jeju agriculture, an Asian-themed circus, an underground cave, a glass-sculpture park, a Jeju Island history museum, a black sand beach, and much more! I can't pick which part was my favorite because we did so much and saw so many great things. I was really happy with the tour and can't believe how inexpensive everything was.

We did many great things and the vacation was a lot of fun, but a few moments are worth sharing with everyone. One thing I never thought I would see in my life happened in Jeju Island. We were in the bus and stopped near a mountain side. I look out the window and a large herd of wild horses come into view and start eating grass on the side of the mountain. I was amazed at how large and beautiful these animals were. I was so amazed that I forgot to take a picture :) Another thing I never thought I would do happened in Jeju. We were at an actual village of Jeju Island where people lived and we were learning about the customs of the village. The tour guide goes around and puts this grain-like substance in our hands and tells us that it is very healthy to eat and people in this village eat it everyday. Come to find out that it is dried horse placenta! I was very freaked out, but I figured "hey, if these people eat it everyday, then I can eat it just one time." So, bottoms up! It wasn't that bad actually. The really bad part was just thinking about what you were eating. Another thing I ate in Jeju was Sushami, which is raw fish and vegetables. I wasn't that bad, but I'm not a huge fan of fish.

After we were in Jeju for three days, we hopped on a plane and went to Busan which is a beach city in Korea. We ended up spending a day on the beach along with 500,000 other people. That was the estimated number from the Korean government. It was so packed and all you could see was a sea of umbrellas and the first 50 feet of the water was only people packed together. Busan was a fun city, but the amount of people was unbelievable. I did have a nice time, just laying down and resting on a beach after three days of non-stop Jeju touring. It was a great way to end my vacation. But, my vacation wasn't over because I still had three days until school started!! I was ready to sleep, relax, and prepare my mind and body for school. However, relaxing and sleeping would be the last thing I would do for the rest of my vacation.....

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