Consequences (6 June)

We awake just in time to get ready for the ferry at 9:30am the next morning.  Following our drinking of the previous night, we decide to take motion-sickness medicine for the ferry ride back to the mainland and we’re grateful that we do after the events of the previous night.

Back on the mainland, we head to Suncheon’s Traditional Folk Village where we have about 90 minutes to look around.  Although the village is impressive and interesting, I feel awful and impatient to get home.  Catfish thinks it’s rather funny that I’m so grouchy after last night’s drinking session.  We’re soon delivered to the Suncheon Bus Terminal and fortunately, we’re just in time for the next bus to Jeonju where we head to T.G.I. Friday’s for a proper dinner at 19:30 before getting on our final bus back to Gunsan.

Ridge Walking and “My Seokjin” (5 June)

Every time we go on an AK trip, we have every intention of waking up early to see the sunrise.  To date, we have yet to get up in time for sunrise and this trip does not change that.  Instead, we wake up in time for breakfast and then rent bikes to go for a 2 hour bike ride around the islands.  We also chat for a while on the concrete stairs at the beach since the tide is in, and we can’t help but reflect on the different tide patterns that Korean beaches seem to have. 

It's an Easy Climb?

All too soon, it’s time to return the bikes and head back to our hotel for a delicious lunch of kimchi jigae.  After lunch, it’s time to hike.  Seokjin assures us that it’s more ridge walking than hiking and that it’ll be easy.  Sold on the fact that I can probably keep up, I soon discover the first kilometre involves an extremely steep incline to get to the actual ridge.  Thinking that I may pass out before I reach the ridge, Catfish and ByungMin point out that I’m not actually the last person and somehow I find myself atop of the ridge.  The ridge walking itself is actually very pleasant but the weather is rather humid this afternoon and the brief respites of shade are insufficient.  I’m starting to wish that I’d chosen to stay on the beach with the roaches but the view from the top is worthwhile as we make our way towards one of the oldest lighthouses in Korea. 

My Seokjin

After a humid afternoon on the ridge, we’re more than ready to cool off in the cold waters before heading back to our room for a refreshing shower.  We’re still hungry after a dinner of fish and side dishes and we decide that we will find the chicken restaurant that everyone has mentioned.  We spend another evening relaxing in front of the same convenience store of the night before, eating fried chicken and just generally chatting, before deciding to call it a night just before midnight.  We’ve no sooner changed and got into bed when ByungMin phones Catfish to tell her, “My Seokjin wants you to come drink.”  I wish her fun as I assume that only she has been invited down.  She barely makes it downstairs before I hear Seokjin say something to her and I hear her calling me down.  A few seconds later, she’s back in the room telling me that she’s been told to fetch me to drink and, as I dress, I can’t help but realise that this is going to be a long night of drinking with the boys and I’m right:  We don’t get back to bed until 2:00am when we simply pass out much to our roommates’ disgust.

Geomundo (4 June)

After a long and fairly sleepless bus ride, we arrive at the harbour at 6:00am and scrounge around for somewhere to buy breakfast.  With limited options, we settle on the breakfast of champions at the GS25: a packet of cookies and coffee.  When the time comes to board the ferry at 8:00am, we scramble for and manage to secure seats on the upper deck where we promptly fall asleep.

100 Islands

We arrive on Geomundo at 9:45am, which is earlier than anticipated.  We leave our bags at our hotel and Seokjin guides us on a walk to the British Memorial Cemetery where, for some reason, there are several British soldiers buried.  It’s a beautiful location on a hill overlooking the bay, and a good chance for us to orientate ourselves.  At 11:00am, we take a ferry to see the famous Baek (100) Islands.  Apparently this is considered one of the most beautiful areas in Korea and one that many Koreans aspire to see in their lives.  Catfish’s description is that it’s a pile of rocks in the middle of the sea and once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.  The ferry ride is extremely windy but we’re also offered rice cake by a couple of friend Koreans sitting near us.

A Dip For the Brave...Or the Stupid

Back on the island, we have a quick lunch and change into our swim suits to head down to the beach.   This is not the type of beach we had in mind though!  It’s small, the sand is covered in seawood and other brick-a-brack from the ocean including disgusting sea roaches that creep up on us and the cold water is extremely salty.  Determined to make the most of the situation, Catfish, ByungMin and I head out into the water where we horse around for nearly an hour.  Seokjin seems pleased so see that some people are willing to brave the waters. 

Happy Birthday, Catfish!

After an eventful dinner back at our hotel and a refreshing shower, we relax outside of the local convenience store overlooking the harbour where Catfish and I drink lousy beer with our two roommates.  Suddenly, Seokjin, the bus driver and ByungMin arrive with a chocopie birthday ‘cake’ for Catfish – surrounding a huge white candle. 

With the birthday celebrations over, the four of us decide that we would like to go to the noryaebang across the road.  Unfortunately, all of the rooms are full.  However, while enquiring about the availability of a room, some ajeoshi’s invite us to join them in their large room.  As we enter, two of them promptly leave and return a few minutes later with several ice creams, which they insist we eat.  Unfortunately, the next 30 minutes are not as much fun as we’d hoped as the ajeoshi’s are a little too touchy-feely for our liking and have clearly had too much to drink.  We eventually manage to escape and Catfish and I decide that we’re probably better off just going straight to bed.

Happy Birthday, Catfish (3 June)

Today is Catfish’s birthday and we’ve signed up for another great AK trip for the long weekend in order to celebrate her 24^th birthday.  After a regular school day, I head to the Gunsan Medical Centre for an acupuncture appointment.  I’m excited yet nervous as I’ve found a great English phrase book for Cute Doctor.  Last week he showed me his English language book, which I think is too easy for him and having recently been in an ELT Bookstore this week, I have found a great book that I think will be very useful for him.  When I give him the book, he seems very surprised and at a loss for words.  I leave the GMC wondering if, perhaps, I’ve overstepped a line and doubting myself as to whether or not I made the right decision.  I don’t dwell on it too much though as I head to my apartment to pack a bag quickly and meet Catfish at the Express Bus Terminal.

We take an 20:30 bus to Seoul and arrive at 23:00.  We have approximately an hour before the AK bus arrives and so, famished, we decide to have bagels for dinner before heading to the meeting place.  We’re delighted to see the AK staff again whom we greet like long-lost friends.  We leave Seoul’s EBT at around midnight on an overnight bus to Nokyeophang (I think) harbour on the south coast where we’ll catch an 8:00am ferry to Geomun Island.  Although it sounds ridiculous for us to have up to Seoul when the harbour is probably only about 3 hours away from Gunsan, it really is easier since figuring out the bus transfers so late on a Friday night and then finding accommodation near the harbour is just to confusing.

Dinner With the Mayor (1 June)

I often work late at school.  There have been a couple of days where my colleagues have actually had to tell me to go home so that they can lock the office.  Today, I’m given a key to the office and told that I can now stay as late as I like but that I should go home at the end of school.

The Kiwis and I leave school at 16:00 and head to City Hall.  All of the NETs in Gunsan have been invited to a dinner with the Mayor of Gunsan.  The catch is that we first have to attend a “short training” session which turns out to be us all introducing ourselves (although we know most of the EPIK teachers in our city), a short speech by several prominent people, a couples of clips of various foreign teachers introducing their schools and classes, a video clip of the Mayor’s plans for Gunsan and then a Q & A for which we are completely unprepared.  Apparently, the Mayor would like to know how to improve working and living situations for foreigners and is relying on us to give him suggestions.  Although we come up for a few things, the general consensus is that if the Gunsan Office of Education had told us in advance that this is the main purpose of what we were told was a training session, it would have been more beneficial for everyone present. 

Gunsan: The City the Whole World is Watching!

The video clip that we’re shown, however, is quite entertaining.  In the video, the cheesy North American accented voice (because North America is the reference for all English-related things in Korea) informs us that Gunsan is the “new Dubai” and “the city that the whole world is watching”.  There is also a great map of the world with arrows showing planes heading from major countries around the world directly to Gunsan; within Korea, all roads lead to Gunsan and we can’t help but laugh at this video which also reminds of Gunsan’s slogan: The Dreamhub. 

There are a couple of reasons that this video is so entertaining:

1.      Gunsan has a population of approximately 300 000 people.  I’m uncertain as to whether or not this number include the huge US Air Base in Gunsan too, which, if it does, would make the size of the city even smaller.

2.      Gunsan boasts two cinemas, two large market stores, two parks and let’s not forget the Saemangeum Seawall.  Obviously, we also have lots of coffee shops, restaurants and boutique type stores but these are our main sites.  Although I’ve never been to Dubai, I’m fairly certain that is has far more attractions than Gunsan. 

3.      The US Air Base in Gunsan is apparently the second largest in Korea.  Consequently, many of us have heard on numerous occasions that this makes us a prime target for a North Korean attack after wiping out the base in Seoul.  Whether or not there’s any truth to this story remains unclear.  What is clear, however, is that it would seem that only North Korea would be watching Gunsan as many people outside of Gunsan – especially outside of our province – don’t even have a clue where this prime city is!

4.      The arrows showing planes from around the world going straight to Gunsan is a farce.  Gunsan has a small domestic airport – on the air base apparently – that only seems to have daily flights to Jeju. 

One thing you cannot deny, however, is that Koreans dream big and, in all fairness, there has been a lot of development in Gunsan over the last few years.  The section where Catfish lives, for example, and the area around the cinemas, Lotte Mart and where the Arts Centre is being built were rice fields until about six years ago – there weren’t even buses to those areas then because it was just fields.  If Gunsan continues it’s development boom in this manner, it could very well become a major city although it doesn’t have a beach since it’s an industrial port.

Please Take Advantage

We’re shuffled out of City Hall and onto a bus to take us to a samgyeopsal restaurant for dinner.  Here, the conversation turns lively and foreign teachers seem to scramble for seats away from the prominent people.  Catfish and I end up sitting across from Peter Jung, the head of the Gunsan English Learning Centre that is next to my school, and the Mayor’s assistant.  The meat is not yet even on the grill and the alcohol is already flowing.  We’re introduced to Baek Soju, which seems to be even stronger than regular soju.  Shot after shot, our glasses keep being refilled despite our attempts to just sip our soju. 

Suddenly, the Mayor’s assistant is indicating for me to follow him and to bring my shot glass.  He takes me over to the Mayor and motions for me to pour a drink for the Mayor.  One of the interpreters then tells me that the Korean custom is for the Mayor to now pour me a drink in return then we have a brief chat.  The Mayor, via the interpreter, asks me the usual questions: How old am I?  Do I like Korea?  How long have I been here?  Do I have a boyfriend?  He then tells me to “take advantage and find a Korean boyfriend” at which point I excuse myself. 

Towards the end of the evening, Catfish is approached by two of the interpreters who offer to teach her and I Korean – something that Catfish asked about during the earlier Q & A session.  After a short chat and exchange of numbers, we excuse ourselves and tipsily leave with some friends to our Kiwi-mom’s apartment for birthday cake to celebrate Catfish’s upcoming birthday on Friday.

Sea Rafting and Paintball Fun (29 May)

Despite our intentions of the previous night, we don’t get up for sunrise the next morning.  We do, however, get up in time for breakfast and a walk on the beach before heading out for sea rafting. 

The sea rafting is one of the things I’m most anticipating on this trip as I love water sports.  I was an avid rower and canoeist at school and, having experienced white water rafting in July 2010 while working at a summer camp in the US, I’m eager to compare it to sea rafting now.  Unfortunately, Korea’s idea of sea rafting means 15 people per boat, which is simply too many.  The company that offers the sea rafting though is fantastic and we have a good time warming up before heading out to the water.   I’m delighted to hear the conversations of my teammates who are all talking about having been avid rowers themselves; I’m hoping that this means we’ll all be keen for a bit of water fun.  I’m disappointed, however, when the majority of girls on my raft complain about getting wet.  Who signs up for a sea rafting trip and then complains about getting  wet?

Crazily, ByungMin, whose military service was completed in the marines, is swimming behind the boats rather than rafting.  When we head back to shore, we’re told that we can play around in the water for a bit before we commence with more games.  Again, the girls complain about not wanting to get wet when we have dragon races and, as is customary on AK trips, Catfish and I are in the front egging people on to participate.  Despite losing the dragon race, and failing hopelessly in the chicken fights, we have a lot of fun but are famished.  After a quick lunch, we change and our group splits: we head to paintball while the rest of the group heads back to the beach for a chilled afternoon. 

You Shot Me!

This is the first time I’m playing paintball and although I’m fairly confident that I’m not a bad shot, I’m a little nervous.  The uniforms that we’re given to wear during the games are actual Korean military uniforms and they’re hot – particularly since the Kiwis at work advised me to wear jeans and a long sleeved shirt for paintball!  I feel like I’m suffocating when I put the helmet down and I can feel the sweat trickling all over my body; we’re all feeling uncomfortable but we’re ready to play after a short demonstration of how to shoot the paintball guns and safety rules.  We’re also a little unnerved when we learn that some of our group members are actually military guys and have a distinct advantage in combat.

With less than a minute to the end of the first game, I’m shot in the head by one of my own team members.  Disappointed to be killed so late in the game, I’m eager for a second chance in the next game.  Unfortunately, while lying under a bush where I think I’m well hidden, I feel a fatal shot in the back of my neck.  I later learn that the shot was administered by one of the GIs who tells me that he actually stepped back several feet before shooting me so that he didn’t hurt me.  The final game is Last Man Standing.  I find a hiding spot early on and can hear two guys near me discussing their strategy.  When I see someone stand, I open fire and, on hearing the screams, I realise that I and the two guys near me have shot Catfish who is shouting that she’s dead.  The two guys then turn on me and, despite shouting that I’m dead, continue to fire off several paintballs in my direction – one of which hits me squarely on the elbow.  Catfish is walking past us on her way off the field and helps to tell the two guys to stop shooting so that I can leave.   We take a few action photos while waiting for the game to end and then get changed.

Thankful to be out of the hot uniforms, we head back down to the bus to collect our bags before making our way to the Daecheon bus terminal to go back to Gunsan while the AK bus heads back to Seoul.  On the way home, I can’t help but think of Cute Doc’s response when he sees the nice welt and bruise on the elbow that he had just been working on for previous pain.

Pumba Festival (28 May)

Pumbas are traditional Korean beggars.  Poor people would go from house to house and perform various tricks or perform in some way while begging.  Korea now has a Pumba Festival where you can dress up in costumes and participate in various activities.  It’s a big festival and there is a very popular photography competition attached to this festival.  As you can imagine, foreigners dressed as pumbas make for very interesting photographs and makes us very popular with the photographers.

As usual, AK trips leave from Seoul.  Catfish and I are uncertain as to how to get to the festival from Gunsan and so, as is increasingly the case, we decide it’s easier to travel to Seoul on Friday night after school.  We spend the night in the Central Spa jimjilbang at the Express Bus Terminal in Seoul, something we haven’t done since early December, because it’s cheap accommodation and convenient since one of the pick-up points for AK trips is the EBT. 

This is our first AK trip since the Booze Cruise in March, and we’re curious as to who will be staffing this particular trip.  We’re delighted to see ByungMin once again and Seokjin’s brother-in-law, YoungMin, who we met on the Booze Cruise, is also staffing this trip.  We’re soon heading to Eumseong in Chuncheongnam Province where the festival is taking place. 

Becoming Pumbas

Once at festival site, we quickly get costumes and head to the face painting section where we are transformed into pumbas.  We’ve barely finished having our faces painted and we’re surrounded by photographers eager to take our photos.  With her blonde hair and azure blue eyes, Catfish is a magnet for photographers who love her even more because she plays up to the cameras, obliging the photographers by posing and being playful.  We have an hour or so to walk around and enjoy the festival before lunch. 

The entire time, we’re pursued by photographers and we start to understand celebrities sometimes turn violent with the paparazzi: We quickly tire of being constantly followed and treated like performing monkeys and even non-professional photographers start pestering us for photos with us on their mobile phones.  We decide that the best course of action is to ignore the cameras and just enjoy ourselves come-what-may. 

Not the Smartest Choices...

We enjoy watching the professional pumbas and other performers.  We’re approached by a clown on stilts who makes a balloon flower in a heart and is accompanied by two still mimes painted in gold.  The mimes are particularly impressive and we reverse the roles by taking many photos of them too before heading to the restaurant area for a bibimbap lunch. 

After lunch, we decide to explore the other side of the festival which is across a small lake.  We see traditional Korean dances performed with incredible skill, strength and precision before discovering a very small fun-ride that kind of resembles a caged hamster wheel.  It turns round and round like a never-ending rollercoaster loop and Catfish and I decide that this looks like fun.  The Koreans around us are only to happy to let us go for a ride that is clearly built for very small people as we only just manage to secure the safety bar that is crushing our thighs. 

Catfish and I take up an entire row of seats and most of the kids seem to decide that they’d rather watch us from the outside than be in the cage with us.  There are two little girls in the seat behind us and one in the seat in front of us.  One of the little girls behind us keeps shouting for the operator to make the wheel turn faster as we are repeatedly thrown forward on what feels like an out of control ferris wheel ride.  I’m starting to realise that such a ride so soon after lunch is not one of my smarter decisions for the day but all I can do is close my eyes, clench the seatbelt straps across my chest and hope that I don’t throw up before the end of the ride.  Mercifully, my lunch stays down although I certainly feel a bit greener around the gills as I exit the ride.  As seems to be an ongoing trait with Catfish and I, however, we seem to have inspired a few other foreigners to also try out the ride although we don’t hang around to see the result.

All too soon, we’re heading back to the main festival area where we watch a taffy breaking competition.  Taffy is a hard type of nougat-like sweet that is popular in Korea.  We stand chatting to ByungMin and we soon find ourselves being roped into an all-waegook taffy breaking competition.  Each person is given a stick of taffy to break in half.  Inside of the taffy are air holes, which are obviously revealed when the taffy is broken.  The winner of the competition is the person with the biggest hole in their taffy.  Catfish and I are quickly eliminated and sent away with our taffy to eat. 

Undoing the Pumba

Sadly, the festival experience is coming to an end and we’re soon returning our costumes and facing the challenge of trying to remove our face paint and make-up.  Catfish opts for the “water-and-scrub” approach resulting in a comical effect.  Seeing the outcome of Catfish’s attempts, I decide to leave the make-up on and attempt to remove it on the bus with wet wipes and a mirror which, fortunately, is more successful.

The bus ride to Boryeong, specifically Daecheon Beach where our hotel is, is a long one – particularly since the mix of foreigners on this particular trip includes a significant number of very loud, very obnoxious and very inappropriate girls who discuss intimate topics at the top of their voices from their location in the centre of the bus.  We try to tune out the conversation by cranking up the volume on our ipods and, when that doesn’t work, we attempt to sleep.  By the time we finally get to the hotel, we’re slightly fed-up and just want to put our things in our room so that we can head down to the beach.  We’re a little miffed that YoungMin doesn’t step up and insist that a room that already has guys in it also take the guy who ends up in our room but so be it.  We can’t help making the comparison that Seokjin, the owner of AK, would never let such an arrangement happen – something that ByungMin knows but, being younger than YoungMin, cannot do anything about.

Beach Shenanigans

With our bags stored in our room, we immediately head to the beach that is a mere 100m away from our hotel.  We’re delighted by the view and relish the thought that the hot summer that is fast approaching also means that we can spend time on a great beach that is only an hour’s train ride from Gunsan.  We spend a few hours goofing around on the beach, playing in the sand, taking silly photos and watching the sunset before heading to a nearby Western-style restaurant (since most of the surrounding restaurants are seafood restaurants and I don’t know how to order dishes without shellfish), Orange, where we have pizza and the best chocolate-kalhua milkshakes ever!    Unfortunately, this is where many of the other foreigners in our group also go for dinner and, once again, we find ourselves shrinking in our seats in our desire not to be associated with their overbearing and obnoxious behaviour.

I'm Just an English Teacher

I must clarify:  I’m not anti-America!  I spent two fantastic summers working at a summer camp in the US, have several American friends, enjoyed travelling the in the US and Catfish, my best friend in Korea, is American.  I am, however, as is she, averse to obnoxious, loud, overbearing and inconsiderate behaviour regardless of where people come from.  Unfortunately, the US military in Korea tend to have a reputation for bad behaviour and we’re quick to distance ourselves from the US military by telling people that we’re English teachers.  Equally unfortunate is that often times large groups of North Americans tend to become a bit too loud and too overbearing in inappropriate places.  This is not to say that other nationalities are not also guilty of such behaviour though.  There have been many occasions where I have been equally embarrassed to be associated with other South Africans, Brits and Kiwis. 

Unfortunately, the two groups in Orange who are currently reinforcing these negative stereotypes are predominantly North American and some of them are with the military – both with the AK group and separate from our group.  This is something that has not escaped the observations of the restaurant staff, one of whom asks us if we know the other two groups when we pay our cheque.  Again, we quickly distance ourselves by stating that we (Catfish and I) are English teachers and we claim not to know the other two groups – one of which we genuinely do not know, the other being the annoying group on the bus ride.  We realise that there is a distinct cultural difference with certain behaviour but, sometimes, it would be great if foreigners would try to remember that many of us are judged based on the actions of one or two people.

More Beach Shenanigans

After dinner, it’s back to the beach to play with sparklers – something we can’t do in our home countries but that is freely done in Korea.  You can set off any fireworks, including rockets, on the beach which many people are currently doing.  When the sparklers are finished, we decide to go for a walk in the water as we reflect on a few experiences in Korea and what we would like to do in the months to come.  When ByungMin texts Catfish to come for a drink, he meets us at our hotel and escorts us to the restaurant where he, YoungMin and a couple of people from our group are sitting and drinking.  We have a drink with them and excuse ourselves from a late night of drinking when the party moves to outside of the GS25 convenience store.  Proving, once again, that we’re dorks at heart, we play a few card games in our room before calling it a night so that we can be up in time for sunrise on the beach.