Last year it was around 10 degrees celsius outside, not so much this year...here's an idea of what it was like when I walked out of my apartment saturday morning...
For the last three or four days it has been snowing out consistently, and the wind just makes it even cooler. Mike, Brian, and myself set out at about 9:30 in the morning for the festival. We took the shuttle from E-mart to Lotte Hotel, where we then grabbed a cab to the beach. After walking down a few steps, we were greeted by the ocean scenery...and a rather drunk Korean gentleman, in nothing but swimming trunks.
We made our way to the crowd in the tents, and grabbed a refreshing cup of coffee. They were also boiling some of Jeju's famous black pig, and handed out small plates of it to everyone. We exchanged a few hellos with some locals and visiting tourists from Japan and all over. One group of Koreans even gave Mike and I some of their makgeolli. After a few minutes, some of our other foreigner friends showed up.
I met a lot of my Canadian comrades there, and it was interesting hearing their perspective on Jeju and life here in Korea. There was a stage setup near the tent area where a band was playing music. Nearly everyone at the festival was either huddling around the fires, drinking soju, or doing both. Just when I was beginning to wonder when the festivities were going to start, some wrestling broke out in front of the stage area.
In this video is the older Korean gentleman who greeted us when we first arrived on the beach. He was definitely more inebriated by this point, but that didn't stop him from competing in the wrestling games. If you look just behind them, you can see what looks like a blown up wrestling ring, but its actually a tangerine bath. It was filled with tangerine juice and squished oranges...I found out later on what it was for.
Over by this fire was a group of Haenyo, these female free divers whose whole life revolve around the waters of Jeju island. They don't use any oxygen equipment, just their own set of lungs. What was once a group of female divers numbering in the tens of thousands, has now been whittled down over the years by the growth of the modern day fishing industry. All of these divers are elderly women; Its quite amazing what they're capable of at their age. There was about eight or ten of them at the festival and they were happily cooking yams by the fire.
Mike and I were standing near this coffee tent when we saw this group of Korean men run into the nearby tent. Mike turns to me and says, "C'mon Justin, lets do this!" So we run into the tent and change into our swimming gear. We emerged from the tent to find that we were the only ones standing around on the beach in swimming trunks...and my feet were freezing!
Soon enough, more people came out and a group started to form in front of the tangerine bath. After joining the group, these trainers on stage initiated an aerobic workout. Mike and I laughed; the funniest thing was the camera crews that setup right next to us. Soon, some of our other foreigner friends joined in. I ignored the cameras as best I could, but I was approached by a reporter for a quick interview about the festival...she didn't seem impressed by my comments.
After our warm up routine we moved towards this starting line, while some of the swimmers jumped into the tangerine bath, covering themselves with the juice. I can only assume that its part of the experience and helps with the cold. There was this ex-Olympic Korean swimmer waving a Korean flag in front of the starting line, everyone began cheering loudly. Some random guy came up to us and gave me a high five. I found out later that he was a famous Korean male model, and all the girls were screaming.
A loud siren sounded and everyone rushed forward; we burst threw the crowd of photographers facing us and leapt into the water...
The water itself wasn't very cold, and it actually made my feet feel a lot better. We all swam out about thirty metres or so, when these patrolling kayaks started tossing these inflatable balls around to the swimmers. I didn't get one, but was glad just to be participating in the festival.
When I had my fill of sea water and swimming, I made my way back towards the shore. Once I got out of the water, it got cold fast; I ran to the tent where my clothes were.
I was glad to finally get back into my clothes and joined the rest of the gang near one of the fire pits. It was a bit of a chore trying to get the sand off our feet, but we managed. We all warmed our cold toes on the fire.
Although the festival was only a few hours, it felt like a long day. The water made me feel a lot more refreshed, but I was now cold and sandy. Mike and I decided to go straight to the sauna from the festival...best idea ever.
photo courtesy of Brian Miller
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