My third weekend in Korea was the most impressive experience yet. I had been told I would be going on a work retreat to Jeju Island (the Hawaii of Korea) and of course I had every hesitation known to man. I was excited to see a new city but I honestly had no idea what to expect and I was very nervous. Amy and Mr. Lee picked up Steve, Marie, and myself on Saturday morning. Of course Marie and I being of the same mold packed entirely too much. We headed to the ferry terminal where we would join the rest of our party and begin our almost 5 hour ferry trip. The others included 6 Chinese teachers, 6 Koreans that work on the administrative end, and of course the 3 Americans. Talk about a melting pot of language and culture. Regardless of language barrier everyone was welcoming and my fears immediately subsided.
As we boarded the ferry I followed the group to a room that lacked chairs, beds, mats or anything comfortable. That’s right... this is Asia and they like sitting on the floor. The men of my school sat on one side of the room and the women on the opposite end. I was thinking ok this is going to be weird and than the director of my school along with all of the guys pulled out a ton of beer and some gimbop (or as I like to call it "inside out sushi"). I was starving and relieved to learn this was breakfast gimbop with egg and ham.
The working part came next; this was my first big meeting! Keep in mind the drinking had already started so the meeting was a 20-minute "one" ended conversation. Steve presented some ideas, and the director nodded like he understood even though he speaks very little english. Amy translated and badda boom work time was over and that’s when I thought... I like their style. I fell asleep on the floor of our "ferry room" and woke up to a note from Marie explaining they had gone for lunch in the dining area. As soon as I walked in I was blown away by how truly awesome Korean people can be. They moved quick, one person directed me where to sit, someone else put a beer in front of me, Mr. Lee took off to get me a sandwich, and Amy got me a strawberry shake. In a matter of 3 minutes I was still rubbing sleep away and repeatedly saying "Kam-sa-ham-ni-da"
We arrived on Jeju Island with a chartered bus waiting and headed straight to a museum. We walked through Korean history and stopped to eat giant green spicy pancakes, biscuits with red beans, and drink Moccali (Korean Wine). It was pouring and we were all soaking wet, ordinarily I would be miserable. But I loved every minute of my Korean culture overload. Eventually we headed to our "pension". Men in one pension and women in the other, everyone sleeps on thick mats on the floor like a giant slumber party. We dropped our stuff and walked down a hill for some Korean BBQ. It was a long picnic table with grills built into the table. We cooked meats and drank beer and Soju for nearly 3 hours; it was nothing short of a complete blast. Mr. Wong who is very important but speaks no English actually said "f**king cool". I just sat there once again thinking...I like their style.
The next morning we had to be at breakfast very early. The men looked like they were in pain from their drinking. Our Korean breakfast was a beef broth and rice. No it wasn’t a bagel but it could of been worse! A while later we went to a botanical garden museum that was gorgeous. We went to lunch at a seafood restaurant and my Korean hosts catered to my seafood allergy and ordered me ramen. This was the only occasion I was relieved to be allergic, Koreans eat seafood that no one would ever touch back home. Steve tried to grab what looked like an ear in a shell and it moved. Needless to say we did not expect some of the food to still be alive!! After a long nature walk near the ocean it was time to head back. The ferry ride was rough and I ended up taking medicine for seasickness. It didn’t matter though; nothing could have ruined the end of an incredible weekend with such amazing and thoughtful people. I love Korea :)