This post will be short on words because I have a lot of pictures to unload. During week 2 in Jeju I did a lot more exploring on the island and am starting to become familiar with names of places. I took a night to learn the Korean alphabet called Hangul and it’s been a fun challenge to try to read all of the Korean signs.
On the 9th they bussed us to Jeju City to get some immigration paperwork out of the way and I took off with a group of Americans into Dongmun market. It was full of food, souvenirs, distinct smells, colorful cloth in tailor shop windows, and people. There were women with enormous machetes hacking at fresh fish and packaging it for customers on the spot, enormous heads of grinning pigs, and mounds of spices.
On September 10th, the school took the staff on a trip to the famous Sunrise Peak on the east side of the island. It was quite a long bus ride but well worth it. When we got to the mountain it’s crater top was swallowed by fog. I soon realized that the Korean concept of hiking differs from much of the world. They seem to want to make it as comfortable an experience as possible. At the base of the climb there was a Dunkin’ Donuts. From there you walked on a paved path and continued up stairs to the top of the mountain. There was even a rest stop halfway into the ten minute climb where you could get some snacks. The only challenge was a vicious wind that seemed to want to pluck people off of the peak. From there we walked into town and got a delicious meal of very fresh seafood. I had a stew that was packed with crab, clams, and prawns and then walked to a Buddhist temple at the base of the mountain.
When I Get Home 