Lessons Learned From Jeju Island

Do NOT go to Jeju Island when it’s cold.
Do NOT go to Jeju Island when it’s raining.
& for goodness sakes – do NOT go to Jeju Island when it’s cold AND raining.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get that memo so I went to the ‘land of stone men statues‘ fully prepared to meet the Korean equivalent of Hawaii. Instead, I got freezing cold temperatures and wind gusts that threatened the very existence of my trusty umbrella.

Most people who go to Jeju Island go on bus tours. They’re very much your typical Korean tour – fast paced, affordable, and enables you to see a lot in a short amount of time.  (10+ places a day on this tour).  You’re constantly on your feet, practically running from place to place.  Our 2 day tour cost us 22,000 won each (A little less than $22 USD) with the addition of a $5 tip for our extremely talkative guide. The costs cover the entrance fees, as well as a big delicious lunch.  These tours are essentially so cheap, that people who live on the island take the tours when they want to explore.

Although I’m sure you all would love to be bored by the many details of each excursion, I’ll just summarize the main points I learned during my hectic 2 days.

Koreans like to eat animals.
I’m sure many of you have tried ‘galbi’ or ‘bulgogi’  as Korean barbecue has gained much popularity in the United States. Most of my friends have cracked a ‘dog-meat’ joke towards me at some point of my life, which I can only accept in shame as I think about my cousin who brags about how delicious this delicacy is whenever he gets a chance. Blame my love for all animals or proud vegetarianism, but come on Koreans – rabbit & horse?

SMH has never seemed more appropriate.

The first English newspaper I picked up had a feature that highlights a local restaurant that serves rabbits almost exclusively, in honor of 2011 being the ‘year of the rabbit.’  To top that, I saw signs for ‘mal gogi’ everywhere (horse meat) and sat through a 30 minute sales pitch for horse bone pills that apparently cure everything.  Seriously though… They cure obesity, cancer, smoking addictions, fatigue, and almost every other disease you can think of.  How convenient.

On more optomistic terms, I learned that Korean women are incredibly strong people. Half a century ago, women were the breadwinners of Jeju Island.  They earned their living diving off the coast of the island – finding seaweed, oysters, and other things under the sea.  They were called the Haenyo, and are sometimes referred to as mermaids or sea godesses. Some could hold their breath for more than two minutes and dive 20 meters!  There are few haenyo in Jeju Island today, and the majority of them are over 50 years old.  We had the opportunity to see a few during our short stay on Jeju – and trust me – they are incredible.

Finally, there are stone statues everywhere.

If they weren’t so insanely cute I might complain. But everytime I saw one, I couldn’t help but get an ‘aww’ feeling inside.  I never got a good explanation or what they’re there for, everyone just said they’re called ‘stone grandfathers’ and watch the island.

My dad wants to get 2 and ship them back to our house in the states.

I dig this.

So there you have it! Lessons I learned on the beautiful Jeju Island.

To see more pictures I took from Jeju Island, LIKE my page on Facebook!
To read the rabbit article – click HERE (courtesy of Jeju Weekly)