Our First Korean Adventure!

Kat wanted Chaz and I to take a break from the depressing-ness of school and learn why Korea is so great. So she took us on our FIRST KOREAN ROADTRIP!

I'd heard so much about Korean Adventures from Kelly and Kat, so I was super excited about the getaway. As promised, Kat delivered a good time. We pushed back the roadtrip to Sunday because not everyone was available, so Kat came and visited us Saturday and took us to Nampo-dong, this great area with Jagalchi Seafood Market and a huge outdoor clothing/street food market. Ah, it was delightful.

Then "to bed to bed" because we had to be up and ready to go by 3:30 to meet our crew at 4 a.m. Our crew consisted of Gon and Ji. Yipee! We had heard so much about these two, so I felt like I already knew them. It was incredibly exciting to actually get to meet them. Gon had borrowed his parents' car, so he was our chauffeur for the day. First, we began the day with ramyun (ramen for you Americans) on the beach watching the sunrise.




We made a sand castle!

And then an old man walking backward along the shore (who does that?) not looking where he was going falls RIGHT OVER our sand castle. Granted, he was a bit distracted by Ji who was doing an impersonation of the man, but he also did not look behind him the ENTIRE TIME. Probably at this moment was when the ice broke, and we became fast friends with the Korean boys.

Well, the day wasn't over yet. We jumped back in the car and drove for three hours (it would have been two but traffic was bad) to GOEJE ISLAND! Assa! Good surprise. So we met a friend of Ji and Gon who lived on the island, and began that leg of the trip with a visit to the Korean POW camp on the center of the island. It was an interesting walk through the Korean War and also revealed great views of the city.

Awkward picture at the POW camp:


Fixing a jeep?


A very strange Korean tradition: Butt gun *shakes fist at Gon!*:

Then it was finally LUNCH! We went to this restaurant near the POW camp and had a DELICIOUS meal of bo-ssam, boiled meat with a bunch of vegetables wrapped in lettuce leaves (you pick and choose what you want). yum! Also, Gon and Ji's incredibly nice friend paid for the meal. So nice, especially because we just met him and couldn't talk to him very much because of language.


After full tummies, we drove to the south of the island to see the sea. We stopped at this great look-out point and got an incredible view of the island cliffs and the sea. Gorgeous! We hiked down the cliff a bit, and Chaz and Ji went all the way down to the edge. They became best friends after that because they did manly things together. Men are strange.


Also on the docket: we went to Windy Hill and checked out the view there. Not as impressive, but still incredibly gorgeous. Where else do you see this? Then, at a fishing village, we caught crabs with our hands and smelled the salty air.

It was a looong day, and we were incredibly tired afterward (especially during the FOUR hour trip it took home....tons of traffic going back to the city, ugh), but it was also very worth it. Memories and friends were made, and felt like they'd been around forever. Dancing, singing, eating, laughing, hiking, beautiful sites, pictures, and hugs: all the necessary components of a fantastic roadtrip. Korea, plus 100 points for being beautiful.

The crew (Ji, Sang Moon, Kat, Gon, me, Chaz):