Jeju

At the end of my time in Seoul my parents came to meet me for two weeks. We did a three-day trip to Jeju, a tropic-ish island off the southern coast of Korea. We went with a tour group and went to touristy places.

Lady gathering seafood on the sea floor (it is shallow)

Top of a volcano!

We went to a garden. The whole place used to be rocks before a guy cultivated it.

Bonzai!

Kimono fish in the middle

Carefully pruned trees

Not sure if chimney or decorative tower

Hike along the coast

I went on top of that warty land mass on the right later

Boat ride

It's supposed to be a walrus

Red due to iron in dirt

Volcanic island

Ladies selling seafood

Note the hammer used to break open the shells

They call it the 'Grand Canyon' of Korea

Tidepool

Tiny mussels the size of your pinky finger

Obligatory cheesy ad

Hike number 2 to the top of a volcano

That is the top of a volcano

It was crowded with Chinese tourists

Rainbow. That's in DC

Going to Europe tomorrow! Starting out in London, doing some wwoofing further up north, then Ireland, Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland, and France is the plan. Be back in December. I'm not taking my computer so won't be blogging too much but will post pics up in oh two months.

Farmstay 2 etc

I did another farmstay in Korea, at a tea farm. Most of the teamaking happens in spring apparently and I was there August, so I mostly just hung out.

host sister and new friend

ocean, supposedly

tea ceremony

view from the roof

Lily field. Tea is made from these leaves

tiny frog

And then I went to the beach.

Walnut pastry--a walnut shaped pastry with walnut pieces with a red bean paste filling. Sold at Korean rest tops freshly made. One time this old lady sitting next to me on the bus gave me some, totally taking candy from strangers. She was like "oh I'm an old lady what can I do, here eat some. And careful, they're hot."

Free magic performance at the airport!

lunch today

best meal i've had in Korea