Diving Grandmas

When I last wrote I was preparing for a trip to Cheju-do...I must tell you, it was an awesome trip. In fact, I may re-visit the island very soon. While I don't think it is quite "Hawaii" as it is dubbed, Cheju-do definitely is an alluring place, with its waterfalls, beaches - one of which is rated among the top non-touristy beaches in the world - and dead volcanoes. Actually, I think it might even be a nicer place than Hawaii as it is relatively undisturbed by tourists. After all, how many of you had no idea there was such a place before I mentioned that I was going there??? It was a weekend well spent, to say the least. While the weather wasn't the greatest - the sky was covered by a light cloud, letting the sun peak out only on occasion - we managed to have a good time. When we weren't visiting the waterfalls - one of which is the only one in Asia to drop directly into the ocean - we were laying on the beach, swimming, watching Louis (another teacher from England who is a surfing addict) surf, or tasting a few of the local delicacies. At the edge of the beach, there are many elderly women sitting in scuba gear. Next to them sit various pails filled with snails, squid or octopus, and many varieties of fish. Also beside them is a small portable burner. Upon request, these women will cook any one of the these "food items" for you. Tobi, the most adventurous one in the crew, decided that she wanted to try some snail and octopus. With a small degree of hesitation, I decided to follow suit...So there we sat, eating octopus and snail on a beach in South Korea and I can report to you that it was a great experience. The snail and octopus legs tasted quite good, the octopus reminding me a bit of crab. I think it helped that she served them with a hot sauce though. If it's spicy, I'll eat almost anything. I felt sorry for the poor octopus though, as she cut the legs off of it live, and then put it pack in the pail to suffer. When she took it out for us, it had already lost a couple of legs, so by the end it was almost a complete amputee! Poor guy. When I go next time, I'm going to have to visit the island's volcanoes. I have seen the pictures of them and they appear very beautiful, with pristine lakes resting in their centers.

Upon returning from Cheju-do, I went on a trip of a slightly different sort....to the dentist's office. It seems a tooth of mine decided to ache, and I needed a root canal! I had been warned by my dentist in Canada that such a thing may happen with that tooth, but it was about a 50/50 chance that the procedure would be necessary. Well, it was. About a month into Korean living, my tooth decided to kick up a storm. However, while I was skeptical at first, the experience was a good one - well up to Canadian standards, I felt - and cheap too. It was absolutely painless, and it cost about 100 dollars Canadian (unreal!!)...and as far as I can tell, it remedied the problem.

At the edge of the beach, there are many elderly women sitting in scuba gear. Next to them sit various pails filled with snails, squid or octopus

While the last week was quite relaxed, this last weekend was crazy. For the most part, it was spent in a bus. The manager of the school organized a teacher's trip to Sulak mountain. While it is only geographically a short distance away, it took us nearly 6 hours driving time to get there - that does not include stopping time. On the way back, it took almost 10! It was absolutely ridiculous. On the way there, we stopped at a beautiful waterfall. However, it was raining the entire day - Monsoon season has begun early, I'm afraid - and we had to walk 4 hours - round trip to see it. This would not have been so bad, had the trail been a normal one. However, it was a long narrow trail, in many places very step. As well, in many places the path was not even dirt, but instead piles of rock which we had to walk across. The experience would not have been near as grueling had the rocks not been so slippery, and had I not been wearing sandals (the ones which lead me to break my foot only a summer ago) instead of solid shoes. There were moments when I was sure I was destined to go sliding backwards down the path. Nonetheless, I was one of only 7 who made it to the waterfall. 10 turned back halfway there, believing the path to be too unbearable.

When we made it to Sulak, it was very late and we all crashed. The next morning we woke and headed to the beach. It was nice, but very crowded and nothing compared to Cheju-do. Cheju-do was lush and beautiful, while this was just a beach. The mountain itself was very beautiful though and reminded me a in some ways to the Rocky Mountains.

Today's tid-bit about Korea:

Along the highway, merchants set-up shop selling seafood. You can buy almost any kind of seafood, usually in the form of a dried snack, as you are driving along the highway. On the weekends the traffic jams are very heavy, as the cars almost slow to a crawl. In fact the speed on the highway during the best of times is not very fast, as it has to wind through the mountains. So, it is not uncommon for a driver, or passenger to hop out of his car, run to the side of the road and purchase some seafood snacks. It is a really strange site! Can you imagine such a thing in Canada, or anywhere else for that matter...?