Jeju

This is it, folks. My last post from Korea! I'll be leaving in the next week, so this last week J and I took a little trip to forget the stress of packing and moving for a little while, and Jeju was just the ticket! Located just south of Korea, Jeju is the big volcanic island that people here vacation to the way Americans would talk about escaping to Hawaii.

From Korea you can travel by plane or by boat, but since the nearest airport to us is a couple hours north, and requires putting up with the airport experience while we live just 10 minutes from a port town, the choice was obvious. The ferry from Nokdong to Jeju took 3.5-4 hours but is such a pleasant ride it genuinely feels like part of the vacation rather than simply the method of transportation. As a matter of fact I overheard J telling a friend that the ride home may have been his favorite part of the whole trip. Granted we did that ride during sunset and had a few deck beers to pass the time. Ferries here are a very Korean experience, with big open rooms for passengers to sit or sleep, with no seats, a common room downstairs where you can buy ramen or boiled chicken, and two layers of decks with benches, picnic tables, and very little security.

Once in Jeju, a ticket for a dollar will get you almost anywhere on the island by bus. We took the north-south trip (from Jeju city to Seogwipo) on three separate days, and it only takes an hour. Our hotel was in what is called the Jungmun tourist complex, an area of strange museums, luxury lodging, quirky cafes and the best beach for surfing on the island (not that we tried it). We chose this area for convenience of transit, and of course that beach!

On Wednesday we took a formal tour of the east side of the island with two other Americans, one of which also teaches English in Seoul (in any given group of English speaking foreigners here it is very likely that at least half live here and teach we have learned). Our tour guide began by informing us that Jeju has three things in abundance; wind, rocks, and women. The wind we had noticed, not only in tangled knots of hair, but also the wind turbines all over the island that harvest that wind into green energy. The rocks were all volcanic, and Jeju residents have a unique way of stacking them into walls that really doesn't look stable but must do the job given the popularity of it. And then, women, which apparently is less of a thing now that the young people have all migrated to the big cities. But, those local women still in Jeju who live on its coasts, at an average age of 75, are likely to be divers, who dive for show or for actual dinner. We had the pleasure of watching one such show during the tour.

Other tour activities included a very peaceful beach, a stop in the folk village, where approximately 1000 Jeju locals still live, a traditional lunch of marinated pork, whole grilled fish, and all the Korea side dishes, called ban-chan, one could imagine (think kimchi, pickled radish, boiled spinach, fish cakes, etc.), and a trip to the lava caves! The lava caves, called Manjanggul, are a series of underground tunnels that were carved by Island's central volcano erupting thousands of years ago. These days, you can safely walk through only about one kilometer of the colorfully lit caves, ending at an enormous stalagmite, before you shiver your way back to the surface. Jeju in the summer is hot! Like 35 celcius hot, but not in the caves. Within the first ten feet of your decent the temperature drops to 12 celcius! According to our guide, the tunnels are cold in the summer, and warm (as high as 18 celcius) in the winter.

Also on the tour was a hike to the top of a cratered mountain that was formed in one of the many volcanic eruptions long ago and named Seongsan Ilchubong (also often referred to as sunrise peak in english for its excellent situation, high on the east side of the island. The hike was steep, as we have come to find that many Korean trails are, preferring a strait shot involving lots of stairs, rather than a winding back and forth to create a smooth gradual increase to the top as I might expect in the states. The view from the top was spectacular, as the water around Jeju is one of the most beautiful colors I have ever seen, and even the island side of the view is bright green with happy plants grown in volcanic soil.

From the bottom of Ilchulbong

From the rim of the crater at the top of Ilchulbong

On our last full day on the island, we celebrated our second wedding anniversary by hiking a small section of the Olle trail network. The Olle trails are a series of over 420 kilometers of maintained walking paths around the island, broken into smaller sections for easy day walking. Jeju is often referred to as a walkers paradise, for the ease of getting around for even cheaper than that one dollar bus ride if you have all day and a comfortable set of shoes. We did just over 7km as a way to get to our dinner reservation, as a lovely little place overlooking the sea, named Narnia.

Finally, on Friday we left Jeju, sad to go, but excited about the ferry ride home. There is only one boat a day between our county on the mainland and Jeju, and the return trip happens at sunset. The timing is perfect too! Just around 7:30 or 8 as you start to weave through the islands that pepper the South Korean coast, the sun is just disappearing over the horizon, illuminating them in the most beautiful way! I could go on about the best sunset I've ever seen, but I took pictures so you can enjoy for yourself. Just try to image this all standing on a boat with the smell of the sea and the breeze and the sound of gulls...

And that's it for Korea. The next week will be nothing but packing, and panicking, but who wants to hear about that.
Cheers!
K

Jirisan

Hi, all. Last weekend I, (K) did a hike with a few of the foreign teachers in the area, scattered across school districts in about a two hour radius. The hike originated from Gurye, which you may recall from previous posts as a place where J and I often go to enjoy the scenery and temple at the base of Jirisan Mountain (which is a bit like saying ATM machine, since the "san" part of Jirisan means mountain in Korean). The fact that I agreed to go on the hike was a bit silly in the first place, though.

Generally one doesn't agree to an 18km day with a 1000meter climb without any prep or strenuous hiking experience in the last two years unless, like me, you are still shaky on the metric conversion and really had no idea what you were getting into. And to top it all off, also unbeknownst to me, this "sunrise hike" required an hour bus ride to the base, and a steep first three kilometers before we got to the first peak where we were to watch the sunrise. This meant that for a sunrise at 5:15am, we should be hiking by 4:30 am, be on a bus at 3:30am, and be waking up at 2:45am. All things I was informed of around 11pm the night before. So while I genuinely think that what turns out to be roughly 11miles, at a climb of 3280ft, is doable at my current fitness level, doing so on three hours of sleep and at the pace required to beat the sun was a bit foolish.

But we made it! Just in time for the sunrise, and after a bit of Konglish finagling at the gate of the peak which we were unaware required a pre-reserved entrance pass, we were able to enjoy the sea of clouds below us cascading over the mountain range at that perfect moment when the sun just appeared over the highest peak. And here are the pictures to prove it.

Our crew, teachers from Goheung, Suncheon, and Gurye

Descending from sunrise peak to start the biggest climb of the day before the heat set in.

After watching the sunrise for awhile, we had to descend a short distance to find the trail-head to the Banyabong Peak, our final destination.

We traveled along the Piagolsamgeon road until the fork at which
point we began ascending Banyabong.

 

While much of the climb was well guided with stairs, ribbons, and a clear path. The end felt a bit more like bouldering to reach the 1732meter high peak. To make matters worse, hiking early in the morning to avoid the heat meant that the clouds had just washed over the mountain leaving a heavy mist below the tree canopy which condensed onto leaves and rained down on us as we attempted to find footing on the muddy trail, or slippery rocks. We finally arrived at the summit around 8:30am, and tore into packs for our breakfast of kimbab, waffle cookies, and fruit.

That guy there in the blue, with only one shoe on... Yeah he did the Banyabong climb barefoot, only putting his shoes
(toe shoes) on for the descent.

The views were absolutely breathtaking and we could see as far as Gwangju when the clouds cleared enough to do so. We lingered for a good half hour at the top, catching our breath, snacking and sharing the excitement with other early bird Korean hikers, before starting our descent to catch the bus back to Gurye at 11:40am.

While the whole trip might have been a bit misguided for someone as under prepared as I was, I am so glad I went, and, the next few days of ultra-sore muscles was absolutely worth it. I've done climbing and hiking like this before, and every time it is fantastic. The endorphin high, the scenery, and the company are always the highlights, and I'm glad to check one off the Korean bucket list just weeks before I head home.

Cheers,
K

Aromind Perfumery Workshop

Hello! This week, as I suggested in our last post, I’ll be talking about a perfumery workshop that I attended as part of my solo-trip to Seoul last month. The timing is perfect too, because as of this weekend, I am allowed to wear it (apparently it needed to sit for a few weeks in a cool dark place to mellow out and integrate properly). I’d love to tell you that I’m enjoying it for the first time right now, but the process of creating it was so special that I doubt I’ll pull it out for anything less than date nights.

I’ll begin by saying that the workshop was held in Korean, something I was prepared for with a little content-specific studying and the mental expectation that I would simply follow along the motions of my peers and do my best. Much to my surprise, the host actually spoke fantastic English and seemed happy to translate the entire presentation into English just for me, so that she wound up saying everything twice. I was so appreciative, that I think I would have enjoyed the experience no matter how the perfume turned out! I was also the only person there who was alone. The other six attendants were three couples, and everyone, including the fellas created their own personal scent to take home.

We started with a description of what perfume is and how it is built. There are multiple degrees of scent, with what is called "perfume" actually describing the strongest of these. While people call most scents they wear “perfume” the host taught us that what most people actually buy is called "eau de perfume or eau de toillette which are both a bit more dilute than full on perfume. We were making eau de perfume. She then described how most scents, despite what they are named, are actually a combination of several scents, and while we would be combining only three oils, a top note, middle note, and base note, she had actually already blended the oils we would use. That way, we only had to pick three, while the perfume we ultimately made would have nearly a dozen hints of various scents in them.

She started by giving us access to thirty scents via small paper strips that she placed one drop of each oil on as a sample. We then labeled them as she instructed, dividing them into top notes, middle notes, and base notes and writing the letter code associated with the oil on our score sheet. The score sheet was then used as a place for us to take notes on the scents, and rank them. Top notes were generally fruity or citrus-y while middle notes were largely floral, and base notes were woody or herb-y.

In addition to choosing one top, middle, and base note, we also had to determine the ratio in which we wanted the scents to mix. The guidelines she provided suggested a small percentage of the base note with relatively equal percentages of the top two notes, leaning in favor of the topmost, though we were encouraged to raise and lower the strips in our hand as we waived three at a time in front of our nose to determine which strength ratios we actually preferred.

When we were decided, we created a tester - a small tube with our original proportions to try. This was done by dissolving a select number of drops relative to the proportion desired into an alcohol solution to dissolve and then spritzing that on our wrist to test how the scent actually wore. We then adjusted the ratios based on this trial, and created the final product by using beakers and scales to measure the weighted proportion of each oil note in alcohol. The slight scent of alcohol that resulted from this process is one of the big reasons to let the perfume sit for a few weeks to fade before wearing.

As you may be able to see from my notes, I chose sweet citrus as a top scent, magnolia for the middle, and wood & sage as my base. I went with a 35%-37%-28% (top-mid-base) ratio, because magnolia was by far my favorite and I really wanted it to stand out. My second favorite was actually the base note wood & sage, but it was such a heavy scent, I couldn’t use too much or it would overpower the more delicate top notes. The resulting combination is floral, and according to the rest of the class, very sexy! We each passed our concoctions around the room, making notes and complimenting each other on the combinations. I would never have guessed it, but you can tell a lot about a person from the scent they choose to wear.

The whole experience was two hours long, complete with a photo shoot opportunity at the end to capture the beautiful packages we wrapped our perfumes in. My only complaint is that I am now terrified of what I will do when I run out. This scent is so much fun and specific to me, that I doubt I’ll ever be happy with anything else! If you are ever in Seoul, I highly recommend this workshop, and even if you can’t participate, just stop by the Aromind aromatherapy shop to talk with the owner and sample some of her perfumes. She is truly a master at her art!

Until next time,
K

Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Hi, everyone. This week I'll be posting about one aspect of a solo-trip I took to Seoul last weekend. A lot happened, as anyone who knows me know that I plan way too much. So I'll break the trip into smaller posts describing the different excursions. First we have the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art where I spent a few hours Sunday morning.

The first thing I have to say about this building is that the structure is beautiful. I wish I had captured more of the adjoining sections, as they each have their own style. The front entrance is an old brick building that looks very London post office, this is connected seamlessly to a sharp glass foyer that is where you buy tickets and lock your umbrella (yes, there is a special contraption for locking umbrellas at the door so you don't drip on your way to the lockers). The rest of the building continues in this weird mash up of old and new, western and eastern that I see throughout Korea. Another favorite part of mine is that the museum wasn't only a space for display, but also consisted of several classrooms where workshops take place, cafes, and archives where you can check out books or other materials to learn more about art. I could have spent the whole day here, but as I implied earlier, I had a lot to squeeze into the weekend.

 

 

From here on, I'll be showing pictures and describing some of my favorite exhibits to give you a taste of what the museum had to offer. Photos were allowed, and even encouraged with little lines on the floor from which to capture the best angle.

 

First is the "Explaining Could Be Exploiting II" exhibit which described how difficult it can be to define what is appropriate when trying to interpret objects or events. The art piece shown below is the flag of every nation unraveled, and their threads jumbled and knotted together in rectangles, like an enormous, fluffy, checkered world flag.

 

In another, more overtly educational room were flags and stories describing migration, conquered territories and history throughout the various regions included in the broad term "Asia." There were also books (in several languages) on display and seats where visitors could sit and read about a topic that interested them particularly.

Next was a more solemn exhibit titled "Production Line." You can make a guess as to its content. Specifically, this piece was the result of the artist's mother telling him stories and providing pictures of her time working as a laborer at a sewing factory. As a side note, the biography detailing this piece stated (in English) that the location was Taiwan, while it's inhabitants and workers were referred to as Chinese. This displays the complicated relationship Korea has with China and the ambiguity surrounding their recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign nation separate from China or not.

 

A final exhibit used unfinished, two-story, wooden structures and mirrors to capture the beauty in Japanese architecture.

And that's all I have for you today. I'm hoping to write about the perfumery workshop I attended during this same trip next week on Sunday. Until then, have a wonderful first few official days of Summer!

-K