Jeju Island Introduction Course

So many you aren't aware of this, but just south of Korea there is a little island called Jeju. Jeju-do (do in Korean means island) is beloved by all Koreans. Seriously, when I lived there I thought this place must be freaking paradise because of how everyone talked about it. It's the honeymoon island and traditionally where the older generation traveled after they got married.

Illustration done by a local artist whose website can be found here

Jeju has a big beautiful mountain in the middle of the island, and plenty of strange and interesting attractions (like a museum dedicated to the local, elderly female divers or the sex themed sculpture park). I will say, as I've traveled to many beautiful places in my life, I was a little underwhelmed by Jeju. Sorry! Maybe an unpopular opinion. Perhaps don't go there expecting it to be like Hawaii. Because it's not. It's different, and that's ok!

The plane ride from Seoul is about one hour. So that says how small Korea is! It's super cheap and easy to get there as there are a lot of airlines that fly to and from there. I recommend Jejuair or Eastar Jet. Once you arrive you have a few options. You can either rent a car (I'd do Lotte rental car because if you become a member you get a serious discount) or you use the bus/ taxi system. Every SINGLE time I've gone, somehow my international drivers license got messed up and I have yet to rent a car. Super annoying! So guess what? We took the bus everywhere. It is definitely cheap, not sure how easy it is to navigate if you don't speak Korean. In the summer the car rentals fill up/ sell out insanely fast so I highly, highly recommend booking in advance!

The first time I went to Jeju was in the middle of summer. I think it was July. It was super hot. And because we didn't have a car rental (this time we didn't get one because they sold out too fast) that meant buses and walking. And let me tell you, bus drivers in Jeju are mental. They drive super aggressively.

One night we were taking the bus back from a day trip and the driver was honking the horn at everyone, flying over speed bumps, and in Korean kept groaning, "I wanna go hooooooooome." He stopped at a stoplight in the middle of a town, got out, peed, and got back on the bus. I can't make this stuff up.

 Even though there is no "aloha" spirit here and it's maybe not as exotic or tourist developed as other islands, I love Jeju. My boyfriend's parents live there, and I've been many times. As a quick overview and in fear that this post could become just way too long, I'll write my recommendations below. Later I'll go more in depth about specific day trips, places to visit, and small neighboring islands to go to!

• Eat Hallabong oranges. They are native to Jeju and the best oranges I've ever had... in my life. you'll get a bunch of orange themed products. Try them all! They are cheaper in Jeju and eaten all over Korea. The only time you can't get them is in summertime, when it's too hot for the oranges to grow.
• Visit the beaches on the west side of the island! There is Hallim park, where you can pay an entry fee to see lots of beautiful botanical wonders, caves, and man-made waterfalls. Across from the park is a really great beach, and there is an Italian style pizza place nearby (pictured above)
• Go to the green tea fields and sample some products. I didn't get to do this but I still want to!
• Go hike/ drive through Hallasan (Halla Mountain). It's so beautiful and peaceful year round.
• Drive east and visit Udo (Cow Island). In my opinion, the best beaches in Jeju! So fun and cheap to rent a bike or a little electric car and go around the island, eating the local peanut ice cream or peanut sauce hot dogs & burgers. May sound weird, but even for a picky person like me I loved it. 

Have you been to Jeju before? What's your favorite warm weather locale? I'm gonna sit back now and dream of those oranges... 

Dominos in Korea

As I begin trying to pump myself up for this insane move that I am actually going through with in real life, I keep researching different aspects of Korean culture so as to lessen the culture shock. I usually find this works quite well, so much so that sometimes people are confused about why I know so much. I'm just a researcher at heart, what can I say, facts are interesting.

Moving on, I found the Dominos Pizza Korea website and let me just say, finding a plain cheese pizza is 1) impossible 2) what they have listed as cheese somehow includes chicken and barbecue sauce 3) why are they always lying about what is in their food (I ordered veggie gimpap and it had crab in it?) 4) why is everything so supreme?

Here are some of the toppings you can choose from. I don't know what angel snow cheese is and what are double crust bloomings? Maybe I just won't have dominos for a year, then -.-

Though you can order online and that's always a plus.

Bonus: when you have their website open on your computer, this is what the tab reads

So the Big News...

I'M MOVING TO SEOUL, KOREA.

So it's offish guys, I signed a contract and took passport pictures and everything. Look at the double chin the lady at wolf camera gave me and look at my murderous eyes:

SO yeah, that happened. I'm sure after this whole thing in a year I'll look back and look completely different. I just have a feeling I'll be changing a lot when I'm there. 

Even though I'm not leaving for 52 days or something like that (honestly who's counting) I'm trying to document all the pre-trip stuff as well because I'm so nervous// excited and I know I'll want to look back and remember what I was thinking and expecting and things like that.

First things first (I'm the realest). First things first, I've signed to work in an area called Sungbuk-gu in Seoul. I won't put the name of the school I'm working for b/c I don't want to get in trouble or say something I don't mean one angered day, but hopefully they will take care of me! I will live next to a women's university in the Northeastern-ish part of Seoul. I had no idea how large Seoul was, I assumed it was like Paris where you could get from one important area to another one in about 30 minutes or so but NOPE. The areas I want to visit, the parks I've looked up online, and all the other cool areas of Seoul I want to explore are mostly one hour away by metro. Uhh, homie say what? 

Here are the things I'm worried about at the moment: 

#1 I don't speak this language at all except for a couple of phrases I learned from k-dramas. So I'm worried about the stress of trying to find basic groceries and also wary of the inability to have small talk with people. Language miscommunications just suck and I always feel like an idiot. 

#2 I really don't like seafood and from what I've read it's everywhere and even in soups, you'll just find little shrimps floating (?!) Not sure if this information is accurate but also I might have a shellfish allergy so I'm a lil' afraid
#3 I'm worried about people staring at me already (b/c of my eyes, hair and skin for one) but I feel like my weight and height will just draw negative attention/ comments from people. We will see if this is justified in about two months.
#4 Missing my family. I've lived at home for a little while now and am used to the creature comforts in this area, instant access to best friends, and the instant emotional access of my parents. Losing all of that will be hard.

Other than that, I'm pretty excited about a lot of things. I've been trying to listen to a lot of Korean songs and have watched a lot of Korean shows in an attempt to understand the culture better. There are bloggers like eat your kimchi who live in Seoul who I want to meet. There are also boarders from the high school I used to attend who are from Korea and are currently living in Seoul. I'm excited to reunite with them and go singing and shopping and eating and everything. I'm also really excited to teach cute little children. I know there will be devilish ones but I'm holding out for the cute ones I want to hold until the end of time.

Well that's about the end of this rant. I hope everyone is enjoying their night and get excited for more blogging guys. Who knows, maybe I'll start vlogging. Ohhhhh. Ohhhhh. Oh wait, I'd need more memory on my computer to do that -.-

Here's a new k-pop video for your enjoyment. No idea what they are singing about and I don't necessarily like the video but they are a new band and I like this song.