... and it worked! Who would guess you need programming code to use blog software!?)
Spring finally really came. Michael thinks it is funny how much I ooh and aah over the cherry blossoms. He had a two week break after Easter, and our travel plans took us from south to north, so we saw maximum blooming in Jeju Island and then Seoul. Upon our return to Ulsan, the azaleas are peaking.
Jeju is a very relaxing place. We visited there in August, and it sure was easier this time because we knew where/how to take bus to airport and also Jeju bus to hotel. Reading Korean and speaking a little helps too. We stayed in the same guest house as last time. It's quiet and we both slept great. The breakfast in the morning is decent. We saw the news the morning NK had their failed rocket launch, so at least we were up to date on that. The worst part of the trip was a 1 hour fishing expedition. What a long hour!!! I keep joking it was the best. It was my idea to go - based on one of my students telling me about it. It was cold and wet, the sea was rough in a fairly small fishing boat, and... we didn't catch anything! The others all appeared to be couples - what a date!!
The real best plan was a day at U-do, a small island off Jeju. We took a bus, which took us on and off the main road and through the main streets of towns where the streets were lined with cherry blossoms. Then we took a short ferry ride. First we rented bikes and rode around the island. It is about a 15K around the main road, which was not busy at all. There were two beach areas and lots of farming plots with rock fences between areas. There is one high spot on the island with old and new lighthouses, which provided me a brief, hard walk. Michael stayed in the ... small electric golf cart/car. He really liked that. We had rented it after lunch and made the around-the-island trip again. The prices of everything were lower than I expected - e.g., 7,200 won for RT ferry, 10,000 won for the 2 bikes for 2 hours. It was a very fun day.
We regrouped in Ulsan for a couple of days and went to church, did our laundry (remember, no dryers, so it takes a couple days for things to be ready to wear), and I taught a 2 hour class. (One of my one hour days was canceled for national holiday of parliament elections). Then we headed to Seoul. It was easier this time too because of our prior experience there. We had unusually warm and good weather the first 3 full days. We were all over the place. I didn't know if I could go up one more flight of subway stairs! We saw three shows, Nanta, Jump, and Miso. The first two are very funny long-running performances here. We got a big laugh out of part where, in English, the actors say onion and then carrot and then a guy says "melon" when it's actually a cabbage. The funny part is that cabbage was three syllables; Koreans tend to pronounce the "e" at the end. We are not laughing at them!! We understand the word and syllable structure that make it hard for them not to say "e." It's also heard in "orange." Miso is more serious and has traditional dancing and beautiful costumes. We rode bikes by the Han River and in a big park. At Olympic Park we rented a bike/jallopy - I am sure it has a name - where Michael had the steering wheel and we sat next to each other and both pedaled. I think that was his favorite. We had Thai for dinner one night and also went to Vatos Urban Tacos. Korean-Americans have opened it based on popular food trucks in Austin and LA. It was a bit strange to be surrounded by so many Americans and foreigners. Michael said you can tell the workers are Korean-American because of how they pronounced mango .... just like an American! Koreans tend to say it with ah sound. The restaurant was very good. We tried the highly recommended kimchi fries, which is fries at the bottom topped with pulled pork, kimchi, salsa, and sour cream. We had a couple of kinds of tacos. The seasoned meats are the key to the delicious menu. Michael had a Subway sandwich one night when we tired and it was late ... just like home!! Some places here are Koreanized (e.g., Pizza Hut), but this sandwich looked just like U.S.
On the last day it was cool and raining, which was ok because we took a DMZ tour and, though quite cold and wet, were in and out of bus most of tour. We went to the Joint Security Area, which not all tours get to do. I took a recommendation to sign up for the USO tour, and I am glad I did. The US military hosted us, and at one point we had NK on three sides. We also went to a meeting room that is officially divided in the middle, so on one side of the table we were technically in NK. The room is first-come, first-served, so sometimes a group has to wait for the other side to clear out. There had been no NK tours the 100 days following death of Kim II, but we were told tours had resumed and been frequent lately. There are NK guards visible at the top of "their side" of this area where a few buildings are just theres. Our US hosts did a great job. We were told more than once not to point or otherwise communicate or try to engage any NK personnel. The release form included "death" as something for which we would not hold anyone responsible.
So, we are back to school and work. It's midterm week, so I gave my test Monday but then Wed. class time did not meet. I also did not meet with students for English language practice. I look forward to seeing them next week and catching up after our travels.
RE: my mom She is home and progressing slowly. Her spirits seem very good. Please continue to pray. It is a long road for her and for my dad.
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