T.H.E. Hotel & Vegas Casino Jeju City

... of Mexico on a horse swiflty evaporated after a few seconds on that noble creature. Mr. Kim, our tour guide, was downright terrifed.

When we returned to Korea we were in a pretty gnarly bus accident. Thankfully no one in our bus was hurt too badly, but we destroyed the car we hit. The man was pretty bloody and I really hope he is okay. Megan, Esther and I sprained our necks and went to physical therapy for two weeks.

... cockroach in sight!


(** Anjumma are the older ladies who are everywhere in Korea, they are awesome and all look the same with bubble perms called "boggle boggle" which they all wear with these big-ass sun visors. They are of intimitable strength and stamina and are often seen scaling mountain walks or ecercising in the outdoor gyms. Over here, to do something with strength, purpose and resiliance is to do it with "ajumma power!")

... but I am one hurting unit :). Last night unconsciously I was keeping my saliva in my mouth and would wake every hour with a mouth full of it and spit in in the toilette to avoid the pain.

August 1

The trip to the doc yesterday was a success. As I checked in with a triage nurse who spoke no English we used hand gestures to get the deal done. It didn't take long for me to see the doc. He spoke English and after looking in my throat and feeling my swollen neck he told me ...

... because of a holiday (Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving, one of the most important holiday in Korea) the boat only departed one city farther... Ok, so the best half-hour of scenic trip was to be forgotten. So I go to the next "town", which really is only a pier in the middle of nowhere, only to be told that the boat was not going any further than the next stop, a half-hour trip, which leaves me not at all where I was supposed to go. So there ...

... we saw a big rock, we climbed in a cave and we swam in this weird little pool with a some Norwegians, Australians, and Koreans. It was fun I suppose, jk of course it was fun. - So I have just completed my first day of teaching and it wasn't bad at all. The worst part was the kindergarteners, which I don't even know if Korea has kindergarten. Anyway they can't talk to me nor I them but we can do flash cards. The little girls were so cute ...

... find the various restaurants from his guidebook, it was already quite late. I did have time to meander on down to the City Hall area and checkout a Mexican Restaurant that Lonely Planet claims has a Korean Chef that studied in Mexico City. I have been without Mexican food for an entire year and my only attempt to find some in Itaewon ended Disagreeably. El Paso, as the restraunt in Jeju ...

Flew from Gimpo airport this morning to the volcanic island of Jeju. The island is situated 85km from the southern coast of the Korean peninsula. The island is referred to as "Honeymoon Island" and is described as a mix between Hawaii due to it's volcanic features, and the Mediterranean due to the abundance of citrus fruit orchards. Will stay here for 4 days before heading back to Seoul. When I arrived in Jeju I headed straight for the Manjanggul ...

... but we did see them. They were bright yellow and parked right beside the island we went to. It looked pretty cool. Our last activity was a dark and wet one, Manjeonggul, Jeju's largest cave. There was a recent rock slide blocking off over half the accessible cave. Fortunately, they reduced the price to nothing, because of this mishap. It was definitely the wettest and least interesting cave I've been to, though I've only been to two others: Mammoth and ...

... from 750 metres with a mist hanging over the mountain, hiding it from sight and bringing an element of mystery to the whole walk. The pathways are covered with volcanic rocks and in some parts boardwalks. The rocks make it difficult walking as they are uneven and slippery. But we climbed steadily and made it to the shelter at 1500 metres in a little over 2 hours. There are a couple of toilets along the way, and at 1500 metres there was a building where you could buy some food ...

... have been dwindling drastically in recent years, but it didn't take us long to spot them. Watching them duck into the water and come back up for air one by one, over and over was fascinating; the sounds they made as they rose up, gasped and then went down for another dive made them seem almost like denizens of the ocean themselves. I remember remarking to Mayu that they sounded awfully akin to the recordings I once had of whale and dolphin calls as a child. Riding along ...