Tongyeong Part 2: Geoje

Upon saying goodbye to our church companions, John and I took a walk along the beach and enjoyed our snacks while watching the sunset. When the sun went down we went in search of dinner. We had resigned ourselves to a meal of expensive raw fish when one restaurant owner invited us in and asked if we wanted kimchi soup.  Yes!  I will be happy to eat cheap kimchi soup over expensive raw fish any day.  Success!

In the morning we played a quick game of badmitton and then took to the open road, taking a bus, and then a ferry back to the mainland where we saw some art, took artsy photos, and enjoyed decent cups of espresso.  From Tongyeong we took a 20 minute bus ride to Geoje and toured the site of a former POW camp.  It was much bigger and more impressive than I anticipated. I hope we go back soon because Geoje is supposed to have great beaches and hiking trails.

Crazy spider!

Watching the sunset.

Eating snacks.

The light on the water was awesome. No photoshopping.

Looking down on the town we eat dinner in.

Waiting for the bus.

This cat is having a good day.

Geoje outdoor sculpture garden.

POW camp.

They had special parking spots for pregnant women!

Tongyeong

Last Saturday John and I went on another excursion with his co-worker's church. We ended up parting from the group and spending the night on a beach (totally planned), but I'll share those photos a little later. I'm not feeling inspired to write, so I'll let the photos and the captions do the heavy lifting.

Here was our first of many group photos, taken at a rest stop.

The first stop was a "cable car" (gondola) ride up to the top of a mountain.

At the top in true Korea style they had "improved" the natural scenery.  This is a fake rock that I am knocking on.

Can you tell which one is real?

View from the top of the mountain.

On our way down we treated ourselves to a mountain berry/persimmon/vinegar drink.  

Lunch was a very famous regional specialty.  Seaweed, rice, and kimchi.  Very special...

Then we took a lovely ferry ride to the sight of a famous naval battle between Korea and Japan.

This was John and my final destination.  I'm not sure why there is a black strip across my chest.

We said goodbye to our fellow passengers (and our bus) reassuring them that we would survive.  And we did!

Jirisan National Park

Over the Chuseok Holiday (also known as Korean Thanksgiving) John and I headed out of town for our last long weekend for awhile. We caught a 7AM bus (well, the bus was delayed for an hour) and took a 3 hour bus ride to the closest town to Korea's largest national park for a few days of backpacking. All in all we spent 3 days and 2 nights in the Park. When we got there we learned that you cannot camp in the national forest, but instead had to stay in "shelters" that needed to be reserved months in advance.  Ooops! So we ended up carrying our tents the whole trip and not using them (sound familiar Jeremy?)

Fortunately we were reassured by some fellow Korean backpackers that we would probably be fine and we should continue on, and we were.  The hiking the second day was some of the hardest hiking for the longest period of time that I have ever done.  There were zero switchbacks, and instead the trails just went straight up, and straight down. While the hiking was challenging, the weather was rainy, and our packs were unnecessarily heavy, we had a great time with the best part by far being building a little mobile community with our fellow backpackers.

Our friend Darren asked us a couple weeks ago what is the most "Korean" thing we've done. I think this now is the most authentic Korean thing we've experienced.

A short hike from where we stayed the first night.  So foggy!

Each shelter had a common area where we eat with the fellow backpackers.  Mostly it involved us eating our pre-made sandwiches and then people pitying us and giving us food and having us eat with them.

John outside shelter #1. Still foggy.

We could tell there was probably a good view here, but we couldn't see one.

Outside shelter #2 before we hiked down the mountain.

Finally, just as we were leaving the weather cleared and we were able to see the beautiful mountains and countryside.

After we hiked out we ran into fellow backpackers we had met on the mountain and shared a few 11AM drinks in celebration.

The one guy who could speak English tasked his friend (above) to make sure we got back to Busan. He did with much hospitality.

Friend Fest

One of the hardest things about being here is that as soon as I feel I've made a friend, their contract ends and he or she leaves. When Jeremy was visiting he said we must have going away parties every weekend, and unfortunately, he's not that far off.
A couple weeks ago we said goodbye to 4 of the closest friends we've made here.  It's sad not having them around more, but we made the most of their last few nights with an epic friend fest.

After a great day at the beach we went to a huge beer hall with live music.  Most of the songs were in Russian.

We made a lot of friends. I believe this picture was taken in the middle of a good spirited dance-off between myself and this lovely lady.

Did I mention we all wore silly hats (except when then got in the way of breaking it down on the dance floor).

Friend fest!

Gifts

Almost every morning last semester we would see a grandmother and granddaughter walking to the closest bus stop for the first leg of our walks to school.  They are a very cute couple, about the same height, always holding hands as they walk down the street. We've had a few stunted "conversations", managing to convey where we lived, and thinking maybe we understood the word "kimchi".
At 7:45 AM the first day of the semester there was a knock on our door.  The grandmother had come to deliver homemade kimchi (tied for first place for my favorite kimchi), two hard boiled eggs, and three boiled sweet potatoes.  It was the sweetest gift.  Now that we've finished the kimchi we're brainstorming foods to make and give back to her.  Any suggestions are welcome!