Jeju Island - Day 2

After that exciting Fan Death interlude, let's continue.

We woke up on Sunday and, after drinking the worst coffee in human history, walked south to the largest waterfall on the island with fellow soccer fans Lon and Lisa. En route we saw a little park with a number of Japanese statues which seemed odd given the troubled history between the two countries, but unfortunately we couldn't find an English explanation. We did get some great views of the water though and the waterfall itself was rather impressive.

We then decided to head to the Chocolate Museum, as Jeju is famous for its chocolate. However, I apparently misjudged the location of the museum, as it was about 30 minutes away by taxi (a $40 round trip fare). Mercifully the cab driver waited for us while we were in the museum. I have no idea how we'd have found another taxi out there. The museum itself was strange, with a kitschy assortment of old chocolate-making utensils, Christmas decorations, and McDonald's Happy Meal toys (inexplicably). On the plus side they did have a history of chocolate in English, admission included a free cup of coffee and a bon-bon, and the gift shop was predictably delightful. Brenda still hasn't brought herself to finish off the box of chocolate.

At that point, it was time to head to the main event: the Jeju United vs. Daejeon Citizen game. The 42,000 seat stadium was built for the 2002 World Cup, but given that the island itself only has about 500,000 residents, it's something of a White Elephant. Only a couple of thousand people were at the game, less than a dozen of them Daejeon supporters. We arrived about 10 minutes late, and at that point it was impossible to get to the visitors section, so we had to holler abuse from the Jeju section. The game finished 1-0 to Jeju, after Daejeon had a perfectly good goal disallowed for offside. On the plus side, Jeju's mascots, based on the famous Jeju oranges, were perhaps the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

We met up with a number of foreigners who support Jeju and headed back to Gecko's for dinner. After that we met up again with Kate and James, who had been off touring a smaller island to the north all day. We managed to find a decent bar, but they kept the door open ensuring infestation by mosquitos. Lisa led in confirmed kills with at least a dozen. We had to be up by 7:00 for our flight, so we called it an early night.

On Monday morning we "enjoyed" a free breakfast at the hotel. Korean breakfast is pretty much the same thing as Korean lunch and dinner. I'm sorry, but rice and kimchi does not a breakfast make. We then hopped on the airport shuttle and caught our flight in time for the work day.

Pictures from day 1 and 2 below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2426987&id=10712264&l=c5aec6849b

Fan Death - Yes, Some People Believe This Bulls***

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

Jeju Island - Day 1

Just to the south of the Korean Peninsula is a small island, Jeju. This is probably the most popular tourist destination for Koreans. Considering this, and the fact that Daejeon Citizen had an away game there, we decided to fly there for a weekend vacation a few weeks ago.

Now, we teach until 10pm so that ruled out the possibility of flying out on a Friday. Instead, I booked tickets for myself and Brenda, Lon, Lisa, James Nelson, and Kate at 7:40am on Saturday morning. Of course, this meant waking up at 5am. Yikes. We did manage get a van to pick us up at 6am for the trip to Cheongju airport, just north of Daejeon. A quick 40 minute flight via 737 and we arrived in Jeju International Airport.

If you look at a map, Jeju doesn't look very big, but it took an hour to get to the south side of the island, where we were staying. Our hotel had a kind of creepy appeal to it. It wasn't unclean by any means, but it looked like it had barely been touched since about 1981. It seemed virtually deserted, which probably contributed to the $40 a night price tag. We hopped into a cab and headed towards the beach. Our cohorts went exploring, but Brenda and I were too afraid of getting sand in our shoes, so we headed to the Teddy Bear Museum. Here, they use teddy bears to recreate a number of historical events, from the destruction of the Berlin Wall to the Thrilla in Manila. I'm still trying to decide if Teddy Bear Gandhi was offensive or adorable.

Next, we headed to a casino. Only foreigners are allowed to gamble in South Korea, which is a clever way of raising money without financially devastating a section of your population. Perhaps as a result, the casino was almost empty, despite the fact that it was very nice. The games were somewhat curious though. Slots were a reasonable 500 won ($0.50) and the minimum roulette wager was only 2,500 won. But if you wanted to play blackjack, you'd have to shell out 50,000 won ($50!) a hand. Needless to say, we didn't stick around long. Instead we headed for a restaurant called Gecko's, which served pretty much the best damned food I've had in Korea. The fact that it was American food didn't hurt.

Next, at Kate's suggestion, we all headed to a Buddhist Temple to witness a 7PM service. However, we accidentally participated in the service, which involved an incredible amount of kneeling, bowing, then standing up again. Even the elderly monks seemed to have no problem with this, but our knees were aching. After the longest hour of my life, we left the temple to find that a downpour had begun. As you might have guessed, not too many taxis drive by the temple. Luckily, we found some friendly (and inebriated) residents who invited Kate and James into their home and helped us call a cab. Naturally, we returned to Gecko's to dry off and drink away our joint pain. Thank God we found one of the few places in Korea that serves Jaeger Bombs!

I'll describe Day 2 soon. In the mean time, enjoy these photos of the Teddy Bear Museum:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2427035&id=10712264&l=93eca308d8

Yelling "Fire Extinguisher!" In A Crowded Classroom

In the middle of my first class today I heard a commotion outside. I peeked out the door and saw what appeared to be a cloud of chalk dust and a number of children running around, while my fellow teacher looked on with a grim expression. Luckily, our classrooms all have CCTV for training purposes, so we were able to watch the replay. A student was supposed to be writing an answer on the board, but instead this gem of a pupil decided to play with the fire extinguisher, with predictable results.

Heaven

Today we ate lunch at a place that serves giant bacon cheeseburgers, fries, pancakes, french toast, and omlettes. In addition, they played James Brown and Maroon 5 on the radio. So, this is the best place ever.

Wow.

One of my 3rd-graders knew what a "gerund" is. I don't think I knew that word until I was in 8th grade. And that was in America.

An Incredibly Cheap Korean Joke

At the National Museum gift shop in Seoul:

Me: What do you want to do tomorrow?

Brenda: I want to see a park.

Me: There are probably 14 Parks in this room.

Ba-dum-*ching*