JEJU

AMAZING!! This was just one of those trips where you go into it without much planned and not really knowing what to expect.. and EVERYTHING just works out perfectly!!! The trip was fcking awesome! So me and Kimball met up and headed to the airport together wednesday afternoon.. we dont screw up on the trains getting there (so far so good) and arrive at the airport without any problems. A small feat itself considering that navigating this country where you dont understand anyone/anything and no one understands you can get pretty tricky.. so anyway we get to the airport and board this funny little plane with murals painted on the walls of little animals.. AND during the flight the flight attendants auctioned off (i think thats what it was.. but again kinda hard to tell cause i couldnt understand anything she was saying) what i think were free tickets for another flight! The flight attendants stood up and held two tickets in her hand, and then all the Koreans raised their hands and threw out different numbers. After a few rounds of this the attendants gave the tickets to one of the passengers who looked pretty excited! HAAAHAHA Whatever happened it was pretty hysterical to me and Kimball. So anyway after about an hour we land on Jeju (Jeju is an island off the south of Korea.. think Korean Hawaii). And we catch a bus that takes us about an hour to the south of the island where we were staying and we find out hotel no problem. So far so good! So we shower and change and meet up with Wolfish and some people he was traveling with for dinner. We didnt even plan to stay near them but.. it just worked out :)! So yah we all get dinner and then go to some bar and get drinks and hang out for a while before headin home to pass out.

We awake the next day to this:

This was the view from right outside our hotel.. not bad!! haahaha It was hot and sunny and fuking awesome! We were a little nervous about the weather because the forecast said there was a chance of rain.. but it was BEAUTIFUL! So we grab some breakfast at the coffee shop next to our hotel.. find out how to get to the beach and hop in a cab and go! We roll up to the beach at the same exact time Wolfish and crew was which was convenient cause we didnt even plan it.. 

So here it is.. Jungmoon Beach: 

No Maegans Bay.. but not too shabby. Me and Kimball REALLY wanted to surf.. but the waves were too small which was kinda disappointing but wateva. The beach was hysterical.. we get there and there are all of these signs that say 'no swimming.. beach closed after August' We didnt understand why because it was hot and sunny.. and there were plenty of westerners in the water.. but no Koreans! Koreans are so funny sometimes.. they think that because it is September it is all of the sudden not beach weather.. so they refuse to go in the water. But it was great for us.. it was so not crowded! So we chilled in the water for a bit and hung out. We met some more people that we knew were in Jeju.. one person we met was Wolfish's friend Dan.. more about him later. 

After relaxing on the beach for a bit me and Kimball decided we wanted to go ATVing.. so we did. We got some Korean to write down a place that we could go ATVing.. hopped in a cab and went. That shit was pretty sweet. Heres a pic of Kimball and me in our badass gear/masks. ATVing was really fun!! We went on this pretty intense course through jungle right by the ocean and it was just really cool. After ATVing we went back towards our hotel and checked out this waterfall. On the way to the waterfall we stopped and got a snack.. chicken kebob (which was tasty) BUT the girl selling the kebob also was selling what we have been told was cocoons.. ive seen them a bunch of times and they always kinda grossed me out.. but right after we got our kebob some korean came and ordered a big cup of these cocoons.. the lady selling them noticed me and Kimball staring and offered to let us try one.. she described it as 'between bug and butterfly' haahaha (also GROSS) so Kimball tried one.. and then i felt pressured to so i tried it too.. sure enough it was nasty. I feel no need to try those things again. This is what they look like by the way .. they are just as gross as they look.. i honestly felt sick for a few 

seconds after i ate them.. but ANYWAY we continue on to the waterfall and see so many couples in 'couple shirts.' I guess instead of kissing in public, Koreans wear hysterical matching outfits (.... @Dori???) 

SOOOO FUNNNYY!!! Me and kimball took more pictures of the couples then the waterfall (which you can notice in the back of the couple with the rainbow sweatshirts AND matching red sox hat). After some good laughs at the Koreans we headed back to the hotel to shower and change for dinner. Kimball and I grab dinner #1 at some random restaurant we found.. it was dec.. and then went and met up with wolfish and crew which now included Jack.. who is an english teacher living on Jeju and bought a motorcycle from Dan (who was introduced earlier). So Jack, as a local, brings everyone to this awesome chicken wing spot (our dinner #2). The wings were great.. REAL spicy. And they gave us plastic gloves to eat them with which i thought was pretty brilliant. 

So dinner #2 was great.. chicken wings and beer with some good people. It was at dinner that Jack told us that his hobbies on Jeju include spear fishing.. and that if we wanted to he would take us all tomorrow! SWEET! After dinner we headed back to Jacks apt and chilled and drank on his roof for a while.. and then when it got too cold we headed into his room. In his room, he had this 'hot sauce' that was CLEARLY not meant to be tasted straight.. notice the warning on the label.. 

Well the combination of the alcohol and peer pressure led most of us to try it on our tongue.. NOT A GOOD IDEA!! THAT SHIT BURNED!!! AHHH it was one of the most unpleasant things i have ever tasted/experiences.. it burned in my mouth for legit 20+ minutes.. so so stupid of us! But whatever.. now i can say that i did it :)

After chillin at Jacks for a while Kimball and I peaced back to our hotel.. we woke up the next morning.. and hit up Jack to see about the spearfishing.. Weeeellll it turned out that not only were we going spearfishing.. these dudes at the dive shop next to Jacks apt were taking us all out on a boat to some island to spearfish for the entire afternoon!!! SO COOL!!!! We were all real stoked. So we get all wet-suited up and hop on this boat that takes us to this pandoraesque island. Heres the whole crew.Yah.. it WAS pretty bad ass. So we all spear fish for the afternoon. To those who arent familiar with spearfishing.. its pretty much snorkeling (which itself was pretty spectacular) with a huge spear that you kinda hurl at fish that look big enough to eat. It took me a little while but i caught one! Most of us ended up catching something (Kimball ended up catching like 6 haaha) But at the end of the day we had a decent catch! After a few hours of fishing and chilling on the island.. we headed back to shore. Heres a pic of the sweet sunset from the island before we headed back. It really was an AWESOME AWESOME afternoon.. So we headed back.. showered up and went back to the dive shop where Jack and his buddy were cleaning/cooking the fish so we could eat it for dinner! So it was Jack's buddy Weston that was helping us clean/cook the fish.. after talking with Weston for a bit i found out he went to KU.. and played frisbee.. and knows Joey, Justin, Abe and Usem!!! WHAT A SMALL WORLD!!! Its crazy the random connections you have with people.. and how you get connected to them.. So Me -->Weston was I was in Jeju.. met up with wolfish.. who was with his friend dan.. who sold his motorcycle to jack.. who took us spearfishing.. who called his friend Weston to help us cook and clean the fish!!! SO RANDOM!!! And awesome! Weston was a cool dude.. and he is livin large in Jeju! He has like his own 3 bedroom house and is really enjoying his time there. Its so cool traveling and meeting all these people.. i really really enjoy it. But anyway.. Weston cooked up the fish and they were delicious! Then the Koreans at the dive shop took the remains o the fish and cooked up this really good fish stew with rice.. which was great also! Koreans are SO hospitable! Those dudes at the dive shop really hooked it up for us.. it was a great meal and it was free :) WHAT A DAY! Kimball and I headed home earlyish cause we had plans to hike the tallest mtn in korea the next morning..

We get up early the next day cause we were told we need to be at a certain point up the mountain by 1230 or we werent allowed to go higher (or something like that). But of course we slept later then we were planning and ended up having to book it up the mountain.. And this mountain is BIG! It was like 9 kilometers up and 9 kilometers down (about 10 miles roundtrip.. i think) But it was HARD! It took a legit 7 hours! We started hiking at 10 AM and didnt finish until 5 PM. Im in decent shape and i was dying towards the end of up.. But we did it and it was awesome! Maybe the coolest part was that towards the top of the mountain we were literally above the clouds. Here are a few other pics from the hike too.. it was pretty spectacular. And my legs are still sore! 

After the hike we travelled to Jeju City to stay the night because that is where our ferry was leaving from early the next morning. We went to this weird sex themed sculpture garden which was kinda funny and kinda just made me miss Dori.. Kimball and I were probably the only non-couples there together. We were told that place was a 'must see'.. it wasnt. The next morning we got on the ferry which was SO BUMPY for the first hour and half.. i had to take some korean motion sickness stuff cause i thought i was gonna get sick.. but then it calmed down.. then we had lunch with some friends from the ferry in the city of Mokpo while we killed time waiting for our train home.. then we got on the train and another 4 hours later we were back in suwon! 1 hour flight down.. and 12 hours of traveling to get back.. flying was definitely the right move. Overall AMAZING AMAZING trip.. i got to do everything that i wanted and everything worked out SO well!!! :) And now i leave for this orientation tomorrow and so im done with school for the week! My fantasy teams went 1-1 again this week.. both were real close! And when i get back form orientation NBA PRESEASON STARTS!! YES! I cant wait for that.. fantasy bball is starting soon!!! AHHHHH SOOOO EXCITED! AND DORI BOOKED HER FLIGHT TO COME VISIT!!! Shes coming for 3+ weeks for her/my winter break :)!!! CANT WAIT! Aight.. sorry its so long.. thanks again for reading!!! Oh yah, i FINALLY got a cell phone today! My number us 010-2298-4452. HIT ME UP FROM SKYPE/GTEXT!!!