Oh no! (Why I have a love/hate relationship with Korea)

On Friday I was informed that I had not paid my electricity bill for 9 months.  It was supposed to have been deducted from my account automatically but something went wrong and it wasn't.  Since my banking account is written entirely in Korean, I definitely didn't notice that it wasn't being paid. 

Great. I thought. Nine months of electricity to pay TODAY or they're going to turn it off. This is going to be expensive. I hope I have enough to cover it.  Visions of eating nothing but ramen noodle for the next few months started floating in my head, as I have been using the AC 24/7 this summer.  I just assumed I had been paying it all along and since nothing terribly expensive had been deducted I didn't care that I kept my place cold.

Then I was told it would be 87,000 won.  That's about $72. 

"Wait.  87? For one month?" I asked.
"No. For the entire thing.  Plus 14,000 next week as a late fee for not paying."
"Um.  Sweet."

This is exactly why I have such a love/hate relationship with Korea.  I love that 9 months of electricity only comes to 87,000 won.  I hate that it took them 9 months to tell me that I wasn't paying my bill and when they did tell me it was "pay today or no electricity for you."

Part II: Enjoying nature

With the start of the trip starting off as wonderful as it did, I was afraid the rest of the trip would be a let down.  It wasn't!  These islands are absolutely amazing.  There is definitely a little bit for everyone no matter what you like.  Although, I was joking with Reuben saying the only thing missing was a massage palor for after the long hikes... 


After the swim and bike ride around the islands (the three main islands are all connected by these little narrow bridges.  This is nice as this essentially means the only vehicle that can cross is maybe a golf cart which adds to the feeling of actually being out in nature), we all headed in to shower before the sunset.  The sunset was an absolute blaze of glory as it lowered behind the mountain.  

After the sunset we enjoyed an amazing Korean dinner with the rest of the group and the ventured off to the beach again with fireworks in hand.  Between the guys in our group setting off the fireworks and the local men from the island with their boys setting off the fireworks, we had quite the display going on.  We had a very relaxing evening down by the water enjoying the stars and listening to music until we eventually wandered off to our beds.  


In pretty traditional Korean style, our room fit four people on floor mats.  It is pretty comfortable to sleep on the floor as it's a little softer than a normal hardwood floor.  Unfortunately, since I was outside all day near the trees, I had a tickle in the back of my throat that would not go away.  After coughing on and off for about 45 minutes, I decided to take a walk so I wouldn't keep everyone else awake.  


It was such a beautiful night out.  Since it was such a clear night and on the water it was a little chilly so I brought my blanket out with me.  The few locals I saw probably thought I was crazy walking around with a blanket wrapped around me, but I didn't care. :)  


I walked the shores from 3:30am until sunrise at 6am.  It was such a relaxing and peaceful time for me.  I was able to explore the other side of the island that I wasn't able to see the day before.  As I was walking down the trail, surrounded by dense woods on either side, I noticed something in the sidewalk.  Huge paw prints.  It looked like when they laid the cement, an animal walked the path before it had a chance to dry.  As I continued walking the trail I would notice that whenever the woods became dense on both sides the paw prints would show again.  

The above picture was taken with my cell phone.  They don't appear very large but they were about the size of the palm of my hand.  Dog or not, I was hoping that I wouldn't run into that animal during my walk! 


Eventually, I made it to the end of the trail--a beautiful (and long) deck leading out into the sea.  I walked to the very end of the deck and just soaked in the stars above me.  It was so dark that the billions of stars shown brightly down upon the water.  It was such a nice moment, especially since it's so rare to see a star where I live.  I stayed out there until it started becoming light and then searched for a place to watch the sun rise. 


I found the perfect bench around 6am and watched the sun come out greeting the morning with its happy rays.  I only had my cell phone with me (and can't figure out how to turn the picture right side up) so I only have a crappy upside down picture that doesn't even do justice to how beautiful it truly was--although I have to admit I was more of a fan of the sunset.  

After watching the first part of the sunrise, I decided that perhaps it was time to go inside and try to sleep.  


I shall write about the next day in part III. :) 

Seonyudo Island Part 1

Last weekend I took a trip to Seonyudo Island, located South West of South Korea.  I have finally gotten the time to sit down and write about the trip. I am going to write this in fairly long detail for myself.  It may be a little long for a casual reader though!  If you would like a summary of below, Seonyudo Island trip was positively amazing.  :)   


~ ~ 


Friday night, after school, four of us from Geumchon got together for a game night.  While the night was a lot of fun, I had to kick everyone out "early" (a little after 11) as I still needed to pack for my trip the next morning.  Since I had to be at the meeting point at 7, that meant I had to get up around 4:15 am to get there on time.  


By the time I finished packing and was in bed it was after 2am.  Which meant that when my alarm went off the next morning I definitely turned it off, rolled over, and went back to sleep.  Thankfully, at 4:55 I woke up realizing what I did, and jumped out of bed.  The absolute latest I could leave was 5:10 in order to make the 5:30 subway.  Since I still had to shower and pack a few things, I was seriously doubting my ability to get there on time.  


Somehow I made it (with a lot of running and weird looks from the locals out and about so early in the morning) and met up with David, who was also going on this trip, at the next stop.  Finally, the weekend in nature was about to begin! I was super excited about this trip as there is never enough greenery in Korea for my taste.  


Once I actually arrived at the subway station, the rest of the (long) trip was simple as we went with Adventure Korea, who organized everything.  From 5:45-a little after 1, we took the subway, bus, and finally ferry in order to reach our destination.  


I was greeted with the view of this mountain as the ferry came closer to the Islands:

While it's not a terribly high peak (only 370ish feet if I recall) it IS incredibly steep.  David informed me that this was the mountain I was going to climb.  I informed our new friend, Francis, that she wanted to climb the mountain with us.  Hey, if I was going to die, I might as well take others with me. ;) After dropping our bags off and recruiting one more person, Rueben, we headed off towards our adventure.      


At the foot of the cliff there is a rusty old sign, written entirely in Hangul.  I was convinced that it said we were complete idiots for attempting this climb and apparently I was correct; David later got the sign translated and it basically said something along the lines of "Extreme danger. Do not climb. It may result in serious injury or death." 


We were on our way.  First, we had to walk through thick weeds to even make it to the base.  We were joking about how at the rest stop before arriving David saw a machete that he almost got and decided he wouldn't need.  When in doubt, always purchase the machete! 


We finally made it to the base and it was time to start climbing.  As I mentioned earlier, although this wasn't a tall mountain, it was extremely steep.  So steep that the locals tied rope to help with the climb.  So, we started the climb up; David first, then me, then Francis, and finally Reuben.  


This was the view after climbing the first rope: 

At this point, I was pretty nervous.  I don't like heights at all.  As we are about to climb the second rope, David says to all of us, "Let me know if your arms or legs start shaking and we can find a place for you to rest."


"Um, mine haven't stopped shaking yet."


"I meant from muscle fatigue, not from fright. Let's go." 


And off we went again.  With each landing it became easier.  As long as I remembered not to look down.  This was fairly easy to do, however, as it was so steep it was important to only look exactly at where my hands and feet were located.  Eventually, we made it to the top! And we were greeted by this view: 

Reuben and I at the top! 

It was totally worth the climb.  The trip down was actually a little more eventful than the trip up as I definitely slid down using the bottom of my feet and hands at a few points since it was so steep.  Also, there was one point where (thankfully) I was holding on to two different tree branches where my feet slid right out from under me and up into the air.  That was fun.  But! This climb definitely helped me get over my hatred of hiking (I have decided that regular mountain hiking is too boring which is why I don't like it) and over my fear of heights.  


After the climb we headed to the beach for a little bit then took a long bike ride around the islands.


~~~ 


I'll finish the second part later!