Out and About in Cheonan

Team Wonderland

This week...

On Tuesday we norebanged with Min, Sydney and our newest Wonderland recruit, Alex. I'm beginning to think that by the time I get back to the UK I'm going to be a regular karaoke addict. Korea has changed me.

4D zombies

We also introduced our friends to the wonders of 4D Ride. You know those simulator rides that move you about as if you were on a rollercoaster? They're very popular here; there are shops dedicated to them. They're "4D" because you get given 3D glasses and it occasionally blows air in your face. We chose 'Zombie New York', it was terrifying.

Frozen cow tail

On Thursday we got home to find that our gas had been cut off. It's the school's responsibility to pay our bills, we just give them the bills and they deduct the amount form our monthly pay packet. But apparently this isn't high on the president's priority list. Unable to cook (or shower, or most importantly DRINK TEA!) we headed out for dinner to a restaurant by our house that we have always said looked nice. It's a galbi restaurant where you cook you own meat on a grill in the middle of the table and the waiting staff do their best to fill your table with as many side dishes as possible, usually a dozen small dishes of decaying feet-flavoured kimchi. The meat was pretty diabolical: it came to the table frozen, it was fatty, and I think it may have been cow tail.

And today (Saturday) Jenny Burns came to visit from Suwon. Lovely to see her, mainly because she's excellent, but also because Jenny is ENGLISH and understands my sarcastic bitchy nature. I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here but the ex-pat community of Cheonan is a mix-match bunch. Most of the English teachers are American or Canadian, I haven't met a single English English teacher yet, so me and Ric are a minority. There are a couple of English engineers here, mainly old men who my Dad would get on with really well.

Anyway Jenny and I went to the Arario Gallery next to Shinsegea. Art galleries aren't usually my thing due to the huge scope for interpreting the meaning of "art"; one man's "art" is another man's "pretentious modern crap". Arario fell comfortably into that category; bare, minimalist rooms with creepy monochrome lighting and random items of "art". There was barely anything there either, which is odd considering it's such a striking building with such a prime location. I can cross it off my Cheonan to-do list now though.

 Arario

It was very blue.

This room was called "Scum"

Scum/Artt

The charming postcard I bought from the gallery.

Burning Man Festival

"We believe that the experience of Korea Burn can produce positive spiritual change in the world." -Burning Man

Perfect location for dancing, sharing and getting drunk.

September 8th-9th

Burning Man Festival is a free festival that promotes creativity, sharing, communication, openness, love and all sorts of other goodness. The tickets are free and once you get there no money changes hands, there's even free transport to get to the camp.

It's an amazing concept; a world where money doesn't matter. 

Pink tent, barely big enough for the two of us!

So me and Ric set off late Saturday morning with our newly-purchased pink tent, our picnic, and a large bottle of gin. We took the scenic bus to Taean, stopping at every village along the way, and finally arrived three and a half hours later. After that we took a local bus to the middle of nowhere, and were instructed by the bus driver to get off and walk through a valley for "5 minutes". Half an hour later we found Gijipo beach and were given our festival wristbands.

The camp site.

The festival took place on Gijipo beach, an unspoilt area of beaches and forest in Taean National Park. The camp site was in a pine forest just behind the beach; hammocks hung between trees, groups of friends sat drinking outside their tents, the smell of pine trees, the sound of laugher and the thud of house music coming from the beach... it was an exciting scene to arrive to, even if the pine cones weren't too comfortable to sleep on.

Erecting the pink tent took less than 3 minutes, it was so straightforward that we were sure we were missing a part - whenever I've been camping before I've always ended up with the tent inside out or upside down or something!

The festival set-up was amazing; people had made "camps" where they could share things: face painting, body painting, dancing, yoga, poetry, pizza, kisses, beer, music, singing, art, games, hugs, cake... One camp had brought loads of pizzas to share in exchange for a fun forfeit; one camp was called "bacon 4 poetry"; everyone had been really creative and the camps where beautiful.  

Castle Hill.

We swam in the sea, drank beer on the beach, ate our picnic by our tent, met up with friends, made new friends, danced around a bonfire, admired a stunning sunset and painted each other's faces. I decorated Ric with my interpretation of Huddersfield town's crest: Castle Hill and 3 stars. And in spite of the weather forecast; it stayed dry almost the entire weekend. 

The burning men bonfire.

It was a really fun weekend and it cost us less than £20 each! 

The world is obsessed with money, especially in Korea. It's all about having the latest smart phone, the biggest 3D TV, the new car... Even my friends at home are working themselves into the grave in pursuit of the next promotion, the next pay rise. I wonder how many people actually stop and ask themselves, "Am I happy?". 

I don't want to be a hypocrite; I certainly didn't come to Korea for the kimchi, but I consider myself a relatively non-materialistic person, and it was refreshing to spend a weekend surrounded by people who took such pleasure in giving and helping others so selflessly. 

Let's make a positive spiritual change in the world <3

This guy squirted rum into my mouth and gave me cupcakes. So I spooned him.

The sunset through the trees.

Decorated

One of the "camps" was this beautifully lit chill out area.

Read more about the festival and embrace its message: http://koreaburn.wordpress.com/about/%EB%B2%84%EB%8B%9D%EB%A7%A8%EC%9D%98-%EC%B7%A8%EC%A7%80/

Stand Up in Korea

Last night me and Ric went to a stand-up comedy night at Dolce - a 'western' bar near Cheonan station. We recently discovered Dolce and have decided we rather like it. Most of the other western bars we've been to in Cheonan are dark dingy places full of smoke and arrogant ass-holes, but Dolce was well lit, Louis the owner was very friendly - introducing himself and shaking our hands as we walked in, and what I liked most was that it was also Korean-friendly; I don't like the special treatment westerners get in some of these bars, it's weird and elitist. I want to drink where the local people drink, and if I can get a gin tonic there too then all the better!

Anyway, I had my reservations about the comedy night; I find stand up comedy doesn't really transcend international boarders because so much of the material is culture specific, but the American and Canadian performers were good (with the exception of one guy who's racism didn't quite manage to get a laugh) and the material was mostly English teacher/life in Korea stuff that most of the people could relate to. It was a really good night.

The Oeyeondo Island Adventure

Sometimes thing just work out really well for us...

Thursday night; it had been raining constantly for 7 days (ever since the Taean soaking) and we were facing a weekend indoors. Checking the weather however, a two-day window of sunshine was forecast for Saturday and Sunday; so, at 10 o'clock at night, we hastily packed a backpack ready to set off on an adventure straight after work on Friday.

Motel essentials

Friday night; taxi straight to the train station after work, Lotteria burgers bought and we jumped on the first train to Boryeong with barely a minute to spare. Arriving at Boryeong at 10.30pm we were less than enthusiastic about the prospect of wandering the streets in the rain trying to find a cheap and conveniently located hotel, when, in the station, we were approached by a Korean man offering to take us to his hotel. Now in South America this is completely normal; at every bus, train or plane you get off you're met by a dozen or so people waving leaflets at you and offering to take you to their hostel. In Korea however, this just doesn't happen. Naturally we were sceptical, and when he led us to the back of a mini van and his bandana-wearing accomplice joined us I decided it was either going to work out very very well or very very badly.
Fortunately for us, it work out very very well. He took us to a motel by Daecheon beach, saving us the 10,000won taxi ride there. The room was basic but did come with half-used bottles of massage oil, lotion and a toilet roll next to the bed - classy. Having saved ourselves heaps of time looking for a hotel, we took a romantic stroll on the beach, and just as we sat down on a rock to watch the ocean, a firework display began just 50 meters down the beach. Perfect.

The stormy waters of our outward boat trip

At the ungodly hour of 6.30am we were up and on our way to the ferry terminal to catch the 8am ferry to Oeyeondo island. Oeyeondo is one the 3,000 islands surrounding the Korean peninsula and is the furthest island away from the mainland.

Spoiling the view....

Although the rain had ceased the sea was still in storm mode and I lasted all of 25 minutes before I was throwing up at the back of the boat. I wasn't alone though, half of the passengers were there with me and even Ric looked a little green! We passed countless islands, each one as beautiful as the last with golden beaches, unspoilt greenery and rocky cliffs. We stopped at two islands before finally reaching Oeyeondo two and half hours after setting off.

Oeyeondo fishing village, volcano in the background

Now I'm not going to lie, the small fishing town in the centre is a hideous contrast to the beauty of the island. There's a slight waste disposal problem: rubbish lines the streets and bright blue septic tanks provide an eyesore on the outskirts of town as well as a stomach-turning smell. My first impression of Oeyeondo was far from enchanted.

Basic?!

Our bed for the night was in a minbak, a traditional Korean guest house. I was expecting basic but when an old lady led us to our room I was still a little surprised - 4 white walls and little else, the shower was a bucket with a hose pipe.

Oeyeondo island is amazing though. To the left is an overgrown dormant volcano and to the right a towering mountain. It's a trekker's paradise. Some parts of the island have had wooden paths installed - part of Korea's initiative to turn everything into a "national monument", other parts have sort-of rocky paths and elsewhere, the volcano for instance, there is no path at all.

We did a fairly easy 4 hour trek, mainly sticking to the paths as we were both wearing shorts and didn't fancy having our legs ripped to pieces by nettles and tree roots. We didn't miss out on any wildlife though: the insects on Oeyeondo are HUGE. Every couple of yards we walked I'd jump out of my skin as a kitten-sized grasshopper jumped across our path, or we'd have to stop dead in our tracks to avoid a head on collision with a tarantula casually building its web across the walkway. We saw snakes, beetles, butterflies - all gigantic! We even got a video of a tarantula making it's web. It was incredible to watch.

One of the more civilised paths

The weather was perfect, warm but still cloudy so the sun didn't fry us (although I still managed to get burnt shoulders). After our trek we went down to one of the rocky coves and swam in the crystal clear sea; there was no one there but us - it really was like having our own little island.

The thing about going to the furthest Korean island from the mainland is that it doesn't get too many tourists, lest still westerners. In a town with a population of 300 people I'd say we met half of them in the evening when we went looking for somewhere to eat dinner. Everybody wanted to talk to us, regardless of the fact that we didn't understand what they were saying. We gathered, from mimes, my broken Korean and their broken English, that the previous week's storm had had a devastating effect on the island. As a fishing village, if the fishermen can't go out to fish, the whole island is affected. As a result, many of the town's restaurants were closed and finding dinner was no easy feat.

Grasshopper mating season, so passionate...

Eventually, with half of the town tasked with finding food for the westerners, we had a tasty meal in a family home turned restaurant. I even made a courageous effort to eat the fish they brought us.

Away from the neon lights, traffic and drunk teenagers of Cheonan, sleeping in our room/cell with nothing but the sound of crickets (/GIANT grasshoppers) was wonderfully soothing, even if we were sleeping on a mat on the floor.

Praying Mantis

The next morning we were rushed out of the room at 8am by two old ladies speed-chattering away to us in Korean. They wouldn't even let us brush our teeth before we left! We'll never know why the wanted shut of us so promptly but it was by no means in malice, maybe they wanted to make sure we didn't miss our ferry... (which wasn't until 10!)

The sea was forgivingly calmer on the trip back to Boryeong and the boat ride was almost pleasant. Back by midday, we spent the rest of the afternoon on Daecheon beach. Without the thousands of mud-covered morons the beach was lovely, the sea warm and the sun was out in full force.

Another tarantula boldly blocking our path

Great weekend.

Web making in progress 

Beasty

Oeyeondo, beautiful

 

We walked past the headland and then some

Oeyeondo beaches

Oeyeondo

Deserted rocky beach (burnt shoulders, back sweat...)

The fish that I courageously ate

The fishing port of Oeyeondo at sunset

Ric on the pier

The ferry back to Boryeong - calmer seas

Daecheon beach

Little Monsters....

They look cute.... Don't let them fool you!

Taean - Typhoon

Don't you just hate it when you get the day off work and you go to the beach, only for a typhoon to hit minutes after you arrive?

The 15th of August is Korean Independence Day and is one of those wonderful things known as a bank holiday. The celebration in Cheonan was massively unimpressive/nonexistent. This surprised me; Korea only gained independence from Japan in 1945 - fairly recent, and considering the atrocities the Japanese inflicted on the Koreans I would have thought their independence day would be a huge celebration. The streets were lined with flags at least, and I think some places had festivals.

To celebrate our day off (and Korean independence) me and the boy decided to go to the beach and have a relaxing day topping up our tans. Unfortunately, we didn't think to check the weather forecast when we bought our bus tickets in advance.

We went to Malipo beach, Taean; a beautiful unspoilt beach on the west coast. It has golden sands and hundreds of islands that you can swim out to and explore. The sea front has only a couple of restaurants and hotels that have been built in recent years; beyond them are mountains and forests. It's a lovely place.

The heavens opened literally minutes after we got to the beach. The black clouds were so low I could almost touch them. We lasted less than two hours in the wind and rain then took the 3-hour bus back home again, shivering under the air conditioning in our sodden clothes.

Lesson learnt: always check the weather forecast before making plans in Korea!

Malipo beach

Zhouzhuang, Shanghai, China

After two days fighting the crowds and trying not to get sunstroke in Shanghai, me and the boyfriendman took a 90 minute bus to the quaint waterside village of Zhouzhuang. Known as "The Venice of the East", Zhouzhuang is a gorgeous little place with traditional houses and winding narrow streets that lead you around a maze of shops and restaurants. The atmosphere is so laid back compared to Shanghai; shop owners snooze in the corners of shops or if not, sit slouched on a stool fanning themselves in the sweaty heat. It's a great place to visit for a relaxing day out of Shanghai. 

Although it is a bit of a tourist trap, it still has charm. The market stalls sell hand made arts and crafts as well as the tat you can find in the city centre. The canal banks are lined with trees, flowers and lanterns, making for a very pleasant walk  in the afternoon sun. We took a relaxing boat ride on a traditional boat powered solely by one old guy and his oar.