Sunrise Peak (성산일출봉)

As the weather has been getting nicer, one of my friends and I decided that it was time for new island adventures.  There are only a few months left to this school year and we want to enjoy as much as we can.  And while I'll be staying in Jeju for next year, a number of my coworkers are returning back to their home-places (or just moving on to somewhere else). Thus time is precious!

Audrey and I decided to start our travelling off with a bang by heading out to the far side of the island to climb Sunrise Peak FOR sunrise.  While I had the chance to go to Sunrise Peak at the start of the year, my friend had yet to visit.  And as we get closer to the solstice, the sunrise will only be earlier, making it harder to get to the top in time.

This past Sunday, after church, we began our journey (시작!).  We really lucked out with the weather.  Saturday's rain makes Niagara Falls look like a drizzle. It was awful--especially because of the wind.  I was out with some girls when it started and had to drive carefully as the wind attempted to push me off the roads.  But!  The rain left the world feeling super fresh for our adventure!

We couldn't help but stop along the coast. It was too pretty!

After a brief stop at the Jeju Folk Village (and then a stop for green tea ice cream!), we continued our way along the coast until at last we could see the peak!

We stopped to pick up seashells along this beach.

Destination in sight!

After checking into our hostel and at last eating our first meal of the day (Ha. It was one of those random food weekends for us), we went to explore the peak.  As we'd be climbing it before sun-up the next day, we wanted to see it a bit in the late afternoon light.

The cove around the north side of the peak.  At the bottom of the stairs is a restaurant serving Haenyeo food.

I think the coolest part of this day was when we got back to the hostel (The Yellow Submarine Guesthouse, via Airbnb).  Both of us were pretty tired, having come off a week of overnight shifts, but then the owner came to our room and asked if we wanted to join them for dinner.  Surprised, but curious, we said yes.  There were six of us in total: the owner and one of his employees, two young soldiers on vacation, and then Audrey and me.  While I could understand bits and pieces, Audrey helped out a lot as translator.  It was a lot of fun and a really awesome experience.  We might have stayed up a bit too late as a result, but no regrets. 

Still... 4:45 came early the next day.

Sunrise Peak is open an hour before Sunrise.  Monday morning, the sunrise was just before 6 which meant we wanted to be out of our guesthouse around 5.  It takes about 15-30 minutes to walk to the top depending on speed.  I recommend bringing a flashlight.  Sources on the internet told us it would be well lit, but no. It wasn't.  At all.  We managed with little problem (although it was sprinkling a bit and rocks were wet), but it would have been nice with a bit of ground light.

Unfortunately, Monday morning was really cloudy which meant we couldn't actually see the sunrise (it just steadily got brighter, haha), but there was still a stunning view back toward Halla mountain.  And really, it just means that Audrey and I will have to go again. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

View from the top.

By 6:30 we were back down at the bottom and ready for the next part of our adventure.  But, more on that later.

U island (우도, Udo) as seen from the trail descending Sunrise Peak.

Love and Hugs.

why you should go to Gapado

Two weeks ago I wrote about my unexpected food outing on Gapa Island, and I mentioned how due to the sudden change of events, I would have to go back to really see the island.  Today was that day.

It was sunnier than the ferry ride last time!  BRB Jeju.

Gapado is a small island and honestly there is not much there in the sense of "touristy" attractions. Both times that I went, I really stood out being the only foreigner. There are no museums, no huge famous monuments, no amusement park. If you were to walk around the edge of the island, you would walk a total distance of 4.2 km (according to a giant map standing at the harbour gate).  Small, eh?

So why should you go?

Gapado is the world's first carbon free island (according to a different display in the harbour).  All vehicles on the island run on electricity.  As well, the island is mainly farm fields.  There are little "hamlets" on each side of the island but everything in between is green.  It's so calming to walk through.

View from the middle of the island back toward Jeju.  The tall "mountain" on the right is San Bang San.

There are some cute little restaurants to visit on the island and you can get freshly caught sea food--some caught by the Haenyeo.  It's a wonderful cultural experience.

Another reason?  Do you like hiking?  There are a series of trails called the Olle Trails that go around Jeju's edge.  Each trail is numbered with specific start and end points and a different difficulty rating.  This in itself is a huge attraction in Jeju and many people frequent the trails.  I recently got an Olle Trail Passport that allows me to collect stamps from a number of the trails upon completion.  One of these trails is on Gapado.  It's an easy trail and only 5k, but it's beautiful and relaxing--especially when the weather is clear (like today), and you can see San Bang San and Mount Halla from the coast.

The faint mountain in the background is Hallasan.  Today was clear, sometimes the clouds are so thick you see nothing.

The coast was so lovely to walk along!

Are you still not sold?  I have one more reason, and I personally think that it's the best one:  I have come to love meeting Korean tourists.  Just like last time, I was "adopted" by a group and despite the language barrier and our jilted conversations, we had a blast.  Seriously.  A couple of men saw me with my Olle Passport as I boarded the ferry and attempted conversation first.  They were doing the trail, too, and wanted to know how many I had done before.  When they found out it was my first one, they got excited with me.  A couple of others were walking the trail, too, and we soon were a group of 6.  What was really cool was that everyone was a stranger--except two of the men who were vacation buddies, I think.  But everyone was coming from different cities and age ranges, and yet we all walked the trail together.  It was so much fun.

Shortly after starting the walk, we documented it with a picture.

At the end, we were proud to have finished.

This is why I want to travel--to meet other people who, like me, want to share life together, even if only briefly. Maybe I'll run into them again, which would be a treat, but even if we don't meet again, it was fun for the moment.

This is also why I recommend Gapado.  Both times I met lovely people who were willing to share their time with me, even though we couldn't easily communicate.  That in itself makes the trip so much more than what it would have been.

If you get the chance, just get out and go.

Love and Hugs.

c'qui vient d'se passer

This is the title of a song by the band eXterio.  Though I can never remember all of the words to the verses it is still one of my favourites.  It is a favourite because of two reasons.

(1) I love the refrain
The chorus of this song is as follows:
On va s’souvenir longtemps de ce moment
Mais c’qui vient d’se passer, 

Mais c’qui vient d’se passer, m’appartient à présent 

Tant pis pour les absents

For those of you who don't speak French, here's a rough translation:
We will remember this moment for a long time,
But what just happened, belongs to me in the present,
Too bad (or tough) for those who were absent

This song is a memory catcher.  With each new adventure, this song captures the moment and reminds me that it is something precious to hold tight.

(2) This song was introduced to me by one of my favourite high school teachers.  I had her every year of high school and learned a lot from her.  When I was in grade 12 I was a peer tutor in her grade 9 French Immersion class.  For an activity she had the students get into four groups and write a four  line rhyming verse.  Each line had to be eight syllables and needed to be about something that we did that year.  When they were done writing, she had the students substitute their verses into the song as we sang.

This song caught their memories.

Every time I listen to the song, I cannot help but think of her as well.  As I finish my course work for my B.Ed today, I cannot help but hope to make a difference in a student's life like she made in mine.

This has been such a great year.  I have made so many new friends and deepened bonds with old friends.  Eight months is too short a time to share life with someone and I wish that we didn't have to go our separate ways just yet.  In the words of Shakespeare, "Parting is such sweet sorrow..."

I will remember this year and these people.  As we go forward and out onto our adventures, I will hold tight to the moments that have shaped my journey.  These memories and these friends are so very precious.

Many thanks to all the other Teacher Candidates and all the best in the future.

Click for an awesome video of the song by a Secondary School in Québec which you should watch.

Together Again

Me, Melanie, Candice, Joel

After a long summer apart, the four of us are together again.  Melanie, Candice, Joel and I all started our undergrad together four years ago.  Mostly strangers (except for Mel and Candice), we met through a combination of res, mutual friends and common classes and have been friends ever since.  At last done our undergrad, the four of us are starting Teacher's College today and reunited last night for cake.  Starting off the year with cake is a good way to go, don't you think?

It's a little surreal to think that this is our last year together in "formal education."  A lot has happened in the four years that I've known these guys.  Some light fluff, and some heavy, thick mud--all mixed into the glue of our friendship.  In eight months, we'll be done and (supposedly) ready to start out into the world of teaching.  As teacher candidates, we can't ever really leave school.  We've set ourselves up to remain in that setting and that mentality.  But, we will at last be moving on from student to teacher and that is a big step.  We'll also most likely be moving away from each other as we go off for our own teaching adventures.

I'm both excited for the coming year, but also nervous that it's almost done.  However, despite where we may end up years down the road, with great friends like these and others, I know I'm better prepared for come what may.  These are the type of friends that whatever happens and wherever we go, when we are reunited, we can pick up where we left off.  Even if we end up living in different countries or provinces, I feel confident enough to say that I could reach out to any of them if ever I needed an ear and a friend, or maybe even a couch.

So as we head into this final year, I just want to say thanks to some of the best friends of my university career.  I'm glad that we're together again.