11/11

I've been in Jeju a total of four days now and it has been quite the experience thus far. I spent most of my first weekend sleeping and trying to adjust to the time difference, which to be honest, wasn't that hard. However, I think that was in part due to the fact that I only slept a combined 2 hours through my flights to get here.



The 11th of November has a special importance in Korea, because of its resemblance to these chocolate candy sticks, much like "pocky" for those of you who know what that is. So 11/11 looks like a bunch of these chocolate sticks called "pepero", which are a kind of cookie wafer covered in various chocolates and designs. I wore my poppy today and tried my best to inform my students and fellow teachers of today's importance for North Americans, and most of them I think understood. I now have an abundance of chocolate snacks from gifts from the students, which is awesome. I hope I enjoy them (the candy and students), as much as they enjoy having me around. Just about every student that sees me shouts "Hi!" every time I walk or pass by. I try my best to smile and return the hellos, and hope that it won't become too much of a burden in the future.


Kim Jun-Ho, English name Tom, is my boss and director at the school and he is a very enthusiastic and kind individual. He has made me feel quite at home here on the island, despite the obvious cultural differences. Jeju is one of the most foreign populated areas in Korea because of its tourist attraction, which also makes it terrible for traffic on roads because of the lack of understanding road signs and signals by visitors. I have only seen about 1 traffic light thus far, and Korean drivers don't seem to follow it anyway.

I got my first taste of a Korean dish today, a soup with "Hamdu" which closely resembles wonton soup in appearance and flavour. Traditionally everything here is served with Kimchi, pickled spicy cabbage, cumcumber, or radish. I have tried quite a few varieties, some more spicy than others, but all of them delicious.

Tom and another teacher at the school here were kind enough to take me out to the local superstore, aptly named E-mart, which has just about everything I will ever need. I managed to buy quite a bit of groceries, totaling 95,000 won, and they should last me some time I hope. Jeju is known for its oranges so I thought it would be appropriate to try some and they are fantastic...but more like tangerines or mandarins then like the oranges from back home.

Tomorrow Tom is taking me up Mt. Hallasan, an inactive volcano and the tallest mountain in Korea. We leave at daybreak, which he says is 6 am, but from this morning with the sun waking me up, I would put it closer to 7. I'm really excited for that and I'll be sure to post some pictures and video soon.