Hwanseongul Caves

For the long weekend at the beginning of June, my friends and I headed up to Gangwon-do. On Saturday we went to the Hwanseongul Caves, where we climbed to the top of a mountain before exploring the caves. While it was a bit sheep-herdy at times, due to the huge number of people also filing through the caves, they were definitely worth checking out!

Jecheon

In mid-May John and I went back to Jecheon, the town where he lived the first time he worked in Korea and also where we took our first trip together back in December. After finding our hotel, we headed out to the artificial lake and had a nice walk before relaxing for a bit with some bingsu and beers.

After we were thoroughly relaxed, we went for another walk.

We next headed out to the Traditional Medicine Park, where we enjoyed some photo ops and climbed around the towers and playgrounds.

On Sunday we met up with one of John's old friends to take a road trip out to some surrounding areas. We saw the famous... rocks sitting in a lake and some beautiful mountains. Finally we had dinner and then headed back to the train station to head back to Daejeon.

I'm off on an adventure!

Today I will catch a bus at 13:30 up to Incheon Airport. At 19:15, I'll get on a plane bound for Shanghai. I have a 26 hour layover in Shanghai, where hopefully their visa-free policy will work out for me and I'll get to escape the airport and head to my hostel, where I will wake up bright and early and spend Wednesday exploring the city.

Wednesday night I'll fly to Ho Chi Minh city, where I will arrive around 1:30 AM and be greeted by my good friend Juliet. I'll stay with her there, and spend Thursday and Friday morning exploring the city. Friday evening we will take a bus to Cambodia.

I'll spend Saturday and Sunday in Phnom Penh with Juli, who will head back Sunday evening. I'll have one night by myself in our luxurious hotel before heading to Siem Reap Monday morning on my own. There, I will relax and also see Angkor Wat, which has been a life's dream for me. Wednesday night at 22:50, I'll get on a plane back to Korea, via China again, and arrive Thursday morning.

10 calendar days, twelve hours and fifteen minutes on planes, about twelve hours on buses, three countries, and one last grand adventure before I head home.

Here I come for China (#40), Vietnam (#41), and Cambodia (#42)!



PS: I've scheduled some blogs to publish during my trip, to catch up writing the rest of the trips I've taken here in Korea, and since I most likely won't be publishing anything of substance during my trip.

Packing

Every year, maybe two, I get to do it all again: take all my stuff down off the walls and condense it back into two suitcases and a carry-on. In a way, it's somewhat comfortable of a ritual by now.

So that's what I've been up to this weekend. I also went to the pension office and for some chiropractic care today. Tomorrow I head out on my trip, and two short weeks after that (and only five days after I get back!), I leave Korea for good.

All Done!

I'm done with my job! Whoo hoo! I spent yesterday running around town, getting my teeth cleaned and visiting the doctors, just trying to tie up all the loose ends before heading out. Now all I need to do is pack up and I'll be good to go!

Gyeongju Day Two

On our second day in Gyeongju, we headed out to the outskirts of town where there is a big lake complex along with various museums. So we sat by the lake and soaked up some rays for awhile before having a tasty lunch of bibimbap and pajeon.

Then we relaxed awhile more before having some tasty coffee at an adorable coffee shop with our cute little bear friend.

Next we checked out their Expo Park, full of this skyscraper and many interesting statues and tableaus, like a toro and warthog made of smashed pans and a demon twice as tall as me. You could go up in the tower and enjoy the views in every direction.

Next we checked out the park dedicated to the water horse spirit that saved the Silla Kingdom in myth.

Finally we headed back to the hostel to get our stuff and spend some time with Dori, the weird but friendly hostel dog before catching the train back to Daejeon.

Coursera

Sometimes when I come to the end of a Coursera course in which the lecturer has been particularly engaging and interesting, I feel a sort of sadness. I'm sorry that I won't get to see them or listen to them anymore. I think that's a sign of a good teacher.

Irrational Behavior with Dan Ariely, The Bible with Jacob L. Wright, and Competitive Strategy (and now Advanced Competitive Strategy) with Tobias Kretschmer have all been great, enriching courses, and I'm really thankful that they were available to me, and for free at that! I've been sorry to see each of those professors go.

Gyeongju Day One

The first full weekend in May, John and I headed to Gyeongju, the historic capital of the Silla dynasty. After checking into our hostel, we headed out to see the historical center. First we found this old museum, where we got a personal tour of the facilities from an older gentleman.

After grabbing a quick lunch, we then popped into this strange little museum full of strange memorabilia, taxidermied critters, old currency, and (of course) penises.

It was a fantastic spring day, and there were flowers everywhere.

After that, we checked out the royal tombs, which are now smooth green hills.

We took a break in the clover to enjoy the beautiful spring afternoon and rest for a bit. It was really nice to be able to have some time in a setting approximating nature, in peace and quiet without anyone bumping into me.

Next we went to the Anapji complex, complete with beautiful pagodas and reflecting ponds.

For dinner we had sambab, a collection of beautiful side dishes complementing seasoned herbs and green atop rice. It's a traditional dish from Gyeongju.

Last week at work!

I posted this on Facebook, too, but it bears posting here as well: Today was the first day of my last week at the school... AND it's a four-day week!

Combining that with my dad's super awesome and generous birthday gift, and ignoring the public mental breakdown that happened in my class today (and not from a student, either!), today was a pretty good day.

It's all coming together!

I have an apartment. It's tolerably affordable, but will be quite affordable once John moves in. It's apparently in a great location. My new bike will be waiting for me there when I arrive. My phone is waiting for me at Dad's.

Oh yeah. It's all coming together!

Jeju Island: Dolhareubang Park

Our last full day on Jeju Island, in the afternoon, we got bored of the beach and decided to head to the nearby Dolhareubang Park. It was quite an adventure arriving there, but it was definitely worth the trip!

Cute metal sculptures greeted us the last several hundred meters before we arrived at the park.

Grandfather Dolhareubang welcomes us to the art park.

Wooden Vincent Van Gogh paints a dolhareubang.

my happy face

John in the archway leading into the park.

me in the park with some dolhareubangs

John and the dolhareubangs

This one is ground up and consumed both to conceive sons and to make unwanted pregnancies go away.

so cute, little screw people

the dolhareubang band

heart arms!

John took this one of me, just look how happy I was in this pretty park.