In April, I went on a couple tours to take in the beauty of the season and enjoy the better weather. I am not even a Spring person but it felt so good to that from the winter and get out and talk to people again. I went on a tour with WinK to a strawberry farm. We were given the freedom to roam around and pick as many strawberries to eat as we wanted. I ate so many strawberries I was about to burst. It was wonderful! I even tried a strawberry rice cake which was not as good as I was expecting but something new and different to try. We later went to the Nonsan Strawberry Festival full of vendors selling various strawberry products like jam, cakes, juice and more. They had performances throughout the festival like belly dancing and ballet.
To end the trip we went to Daedunsan (mountain). We took a cable car to the top and faced a cloud bridge. It was a suspension bridge so you could feel every movement people made, which freaked me out. I tried to cross but didn't make it even halfway before I turned around. All of a sudden, one of the girls from the tour came behind me and said, "Walk with me." She coached me across the bridge as she walked backwards holding my hands. She said not to worry because she coached for a living...and it really helped calm my nerves getting across. I was feeling adventurous and decided not to buy a round trip ride on the cable car like everyone else. Instead I would walk down. It sounded easier than it was. As I began walking down the steep, rocky mountain on my own I heard a voice call out to me. Another girl approached me and said, "I'll walk down with you!" I was so thankful because I was getting a little scared, especially since it was raining and slippery. Further down the mountain we ran into flooded and disappearing trails. There was no clear path and I would've had trouble all by myself. She also made me keep up the pace, which was great because at the pace I was going I would have missed the bus! It was quite and experience of ups and downs so it was nice to end the day at the brand new WinK restaurant. Since it was a grand opening we got to taste food samples and really cheap drink specials. I even got to see Suzie for the first time since Christmas. She updated me about her new boyfriend, which explained a lot about her being M.I.A. She also told me she was leaving in a couple months. It reminded me how fast time flew by.
The gorgeous white cherry blossoms were also starting to bloom everywhere. I was excited to see them at Incheon Grand Park so I met up with Anakaren to check them out. She's another friend I hadn't seen since Christmas. It was definitely a beautiful day but it ended early because Ana had other plans later on. Fortunately, I got to go back a couple days later with the principal and some teachers from my school. We actually hiked there from school; up large hills, through tunnels and finally there. I feel like older Korean people are in such better shape than me and it motivates me to become healthier.
Another tour I went on was with the Seoul Expat Global Meetup to see the secret garden of Changdeokgung (palace). It was nice to see a familiar face, Samanthi, who I hadn't seen since the sea parting tour last year (where I met Suzie). She is a funny lady and we talked about our life in Korea and things we find strange. The garden was a very large tranquil space dotted with colorful azaleas in full bloom. Afterwards we went to a different palace to see a traditional royal wedding reenactment. It was interesting but very slow so I only stood through the first part.
I had the pleasure of checking out Wordsmiths, which is an open mic in Seoul for sharing music, comedy, stories and poetry. It was like being home again and being able to enjoy things I used to when I was there. I even saw one of the girls I met in NY when I was taking class for my TEFL certification. I have to admit, it wasn't a surprise seeing her, since we both knew we lived near each other. It was an honor being around so many other creative individuals and be with other foreigners. It's so hard to catch it since it's once a month on a Sunday evening. I hope that won't be the last time.
At the end of April, I went to Gangwhado Island in Incheon. I originally signed up to go with a tour group called Seoul Hiking Group. Since I actually live in Incheon I thought it would be ridiculous to go all the way to Seoul to meet up with them to come all the way back to Incheon. I figured it would be best to meet them there since I could easily walk down the street to Incheon Bus Terminal and take a direct bus to the island. Getting there was the easy part. The hard part was meeting up with the group. There was massive traffic coming into the island, possibly because of the Azalea festival, and while I was waiting for the group at one of the designated tour spots, they called to let me know they were skipping it because the traffic put them behind schedule. I never could catch up to them at the mountain and ended up spending the day on my own. The first stop was the Anglican church built in 1900 with a fusion of western and Korean style. Then, I moved onto Mt. Goryeosan. I didn't actually hike up the mountain to see the azaleas but I did check out one of the famous dolmens. As I was taking a break, a woman approached me and said, "Don't you work at Jodong?" I was so surprised to be recognized outside of school, especially by someone I never met before. She said she saw me there when she was working so I guess she was an after school lecturer last year. It was a long day but despite not meeting up with the tour group and wasting my money on them, I still saw a lot of great things. Gangwha is such a peaceful and historical place and I would definitely visit again if I had more time...maybe to the North Korea Observatory or an upside down house. The people were also very friendly from the few I ran into. One man even took time to help me after he saw me looking lost walking back and forth across the street. He was standing outside of his store and stopped me to try to help me figure out the right bus to take to the mountain. It was so nice.
In April, I went on a couple tours to take in the beauty of the season and enjoy the better weather. I am not even a Spring person but it felt so good to that from the winter and get out and talk to people again. I went on a tour with WinK to a strawberry farm. We were given the freedom to roam around and pick as many strawberries to eat as we wanted. I ate so many strawberries I was about to burst. It was wonderful! I even tried a strawberry rice cake which was not as good as I was expecting but something new and different to try. We later went to the Nonsan Strawberry Festival full of vendors selling various strawberry products like jam, cakes, juice and more. They had performances throughout the festival like belly dancing and ballet.
To end the trip we went to Daedunsan (mountain). We took a cable car to the top and faced a cloud bridge. It was a suspension bridge so you could feel every movement people made, which freaked me out. I tried to cross but didn't make it even halfway before I turned around. All of a sudden, one of the girls from the tour came behind me and said, "Walk with me." She coached me across the bridge as she walked backwards holding my hands. She said not to worry because she coached for a living...and it really helped calm my nerves getting across. I was feeling adventurous and decided not to buy a round trip ride on the cable car like everyone else. Instead I would walk down. It sounded easier than it was. As I began walking down the steep, rocky mountain on my own I heard a voice call out to me. Another girl approached me and said, "I'll walk down with you!" I was so thankful because I was getting a little scared, especially since it was raining and slippery. Further down the mountain we ran into flooded and disappearing trails. There was no clear path and I would've had trouble all by myself. She also made me keep up the pace, which was great because at the pace I was going I would have missed the bus! It was quite and experience of ups and downs so it was nice to end the day at the brand new WinK restaurant. Since it was a grand opening we got to taste food samples and really cheap drink specials. I even got to see Suzie for the first time since Christmas. She updated me about her new boyfriend, which explained a lot about her being M.I.A. She also told me she was leaving in a couple months. It reminded me how fast time flew by. 
The gorgeous white cherry blossoms were also starting to bloom everywhere. I was excited to see them at Incheon Grand Park so I met up with Anakaren to check them out. She's another friend I hadn't seen since Christmas. It was definitely a beautiful day but it ended early because Ana had other plans later on. Fortunately, I got to go back a couple days later with the principal and some teachers from my school. We actually hiked there from school; up large hills, through tunnels and finally there. I feel like older Korean people are in such better shape than me and it motivates me to become healthier.
Another tour I went on was with the Seoul Expat Global Meetup to see the secret garden of Changdeokgung (palace). It was nice to see a familiar face, Samanthi, who I hadn't seen since the sea parting tour last year (where I met Suzie). She is a funny lady and we talked about our life in Korea and things we find strange. The garden was a very large tranquil space dotted with colorful azaleas in full bloom. Afterwards we went to a different palace to see a traditional royal wedding reenactment. It was interesting but very slow so I only stood through the first part. 
I had the pleasure of checking out Wordsmiths, which is an open mic in Seoul for sharing music, comedy, stories and poetry. It was like being home again and being able to enjoy things I used to when I was there. I even saw one of the girls I met in NY when I was taking class for my TEFL certification. I have to admit, it wasn't a surprise seeing her, since we both knew we lived near each other. It was an honor being around so many other creative individuals and be with other foreigners. It's so hard to catch it since it's once a month on a Sunday evening. I hope that won't be the last time.
At the end of April, I went to Gangwhado Island in Incheon. I originally signed up to go with a tour group called Seoul Hiking Group. Since I actually live in Incheon I thought it would be ridiculous to go all the way to Seoul to meet up with them to come all the way back to Incheon. I figured it would be best to meet them there since I could easily walk down the street to Incheon Bus Terminal and take a direct bus to the island. Getting there was the easy part. The hard part was meeting up with the group. There was massive traffic coming into the island, possibly because of the Azalea festival, and while I was waiting for the group at one of the designated tour spots, they called to let me know they were skipping it because the traffic put them behind schedule. I never could catch up to them at the mountain and ended up spending the day on my own. The first stop was the Anglican church built in 1900 with a fusion of western and Korean style. Then, I moved onto Mt. Goryeosan. I didn't actually hike up the mountain to see the azaleas but I did check out one of the famous dolmens. As I was taking a break, a woman approached me and said, "Don't you work at Jodong?" I was so surprised to be recognized outside of school, especially by someone I never met before. She said she saw me there when she was working so I guess she was an after school lecturer last year. It was a long day but despite not meeting up with the tour group and wasting my money on them, I still saw a lot of great things. Gangwha is such a peaceful and historical place and I would definitely visit again if I had more time...maybe to the North Korea Observatory or an upside down house. The people were also very friendly from the few I ran into. One man even took time to help me after he saw me looking lost walking back and forth across the street. He was standing outside of his store and stopped me to try to help me figure out the right bus to take to the mountain. It was so nice. 
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