Bye For Now, Jeju

Well the day had finally come and it was time for us to leave our beloved Jeju.  Even after being there for only 4 days I had already felt a connection to the place and the people.  It's funny really, because when I first got to Seoul and began the semester getting to know Sinchon, it certainly took more than 4 days, even a bit more than 4 weeks to really feel a connection to my new surroundings.  Yet Jeju was different and we loved every part of being there.  In fact, that became one of our favorite sayings of the week along with "Charge it".  The Jeju tourist organization has signs and billboards all around the island that say We love having you here! and so every time Andrew and I saw one these signs we looked at each other and said, "We love being here!"

We got up and had breakfast and packed up all of our stuff.  We said goodbye to Sylvia and Peter, which like saying goodbye to Ilene, was really sad.  Sylvia took out her camera and asked to get a picture of Andrew and me because she said she likes to take a photograph of all of her guests.  Of course, we asked if we could get a picture with her as well.  We then left and headed for the airport shuttle stop which was right around the corner from the inn.

Sylvia and me before leaving Tae Gong Gak.  Behind us are countless messages, pictures, and letters that guests have left Sylvia and Peter. 

The flight was short and smooth and perhaps the most funny and exciting part was the passenger sitting next me.  To my right was a Korean man, probably in his 50s.  I'm not sure if it was actually his first time on a plane, or if he was just trying to be funny, but as the plane was taking off he put is hands up in the air and shouted "Whhaaaahooo" as we ascended.  He then looked at me and just started giggling, I couldn't help but laugh as well.  It was quite funny and certainly a memorable moment.

A shot from the flight back to Seoul from Jeju.  The distance was so short that we could see the ground or the ocean for almost the entirety of flight.

We got back to campus around 2pm and I had class at 3.  We were certainly not on vacation anymore! While in Jeju Andrew and I talked a lot about if we would actually return to Jeju at some point down the road.  I'd like to think that I would come back at some point; it would be really special to someday show my kids all the things I experienced while I was here.

Jeju Island Day 4

It was our last full day and we were determined to make the most of it.  As Bree told us, we just had to "Charge it!".  Andrew and I had hit up basically every big Jeju sight except for Mt. Hallasan, the Manjanggul lave tubes, and Seongsan Ilchubong, commonly referred to as Sunrise Peak.  Mt. Hallasan, the statuesque volcano that lies in the middle of Jeju, was far too much of an undertaking for the hiking abilities of Andrew and me.  Bree and her friends had climbed Mt. Halla and said it was an "easy" 4 to 6 hour hike, but Andrew and I took one look at each other and said, "Uh-uh, no way", we'll admire it from a distance.

We really wanted to see the famous underground lava tubes though, and we were desperate to climb Sunrise Peak.  We headed out early after having a nice breakfast at Tae Gong Gak and then Sylvia showed us how to take the bus to the lava tubes.  The sky was looking really gray, and considering we had had perfect, sunny weather the whole time, we weren't too bummed.  We'd rather be underground or hiking when it rained, rather than on the beach or at the waterfalls.  Sylvia even gave us rain ponchos with our directions, it felt like Sylvia was our mother and she was getting us all ready to get on the bus for school!

The bus ride was a bit long, almost 90 minutes, but it was fine because we were passing through the rain.  We found the lava tubes right away and without wasting any time bought our tickets and headed on down.  The Manjanggul lava tubes are an extensive system of underground tubes that lava rushed through during the last eruption.  This particular site is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and South Korea takes a lot of pride in it and has preserved the area so well that over 8km are open for the public to walk through.  Unfortunately, we had missed the English tour but it was alright because we wanted to hustle through.  It was chilly down there and we were anxious to get to Sunrise peak.  The tubes were really cool though and I'm glad we had kept them on our list.  It reminded me of Howe Caverns, except that they were way bigger and far more dramatic.  It was hard to get good pictures because it was so dark, but we did manage to get a few good shots.

Oh you know, just hanging out in a lava tube, the usual.

After the lava tubes, we got back onto the bus and headed to the town of Seongsan-ri where Sunrise Peak is located.  Sunrise Peak is a volcanic crater that lies slightly off the east coast of Jeju.  In fact, the crater is the most eastern part of the island, which is why it's called Sunrise Peak, because it's the first part the island that the sun hits each morning.  There is one side of the crater that you can climb up but unfortunately you cannot go into the crater, once at the top the center is blocked off.  The hike going up was not bad at all, only about 20 minutes, and most of the way up there were stairs carved into the path.  As expected the view was amazing.  You could see the ocean for miles as well as a panoramic view of Jeju.

Here is Sunrise Peak, we climbed the crater from the left side but we were not able to go down into the grassy middle.

I made it to the top!  To the left is the middle of the crater and to the right is the small town of Seongsan-ri, which lies on the eastern coast of Jeju Island.

We headed back down the path and then did a little shopping at the base of the crater.  There were many souvenir shops and food vendors.  We were exhausted so we got back on the bus shortly after and headed back to the inn.  We asked Sylvia and Peter for dinner recommendations again and they suggested a popular Chinese restaurant nearby.  Unfortunately, it had already closed, we were starving so we settled upon an interesting looking Korean restaurant in the same area.  Andrew ordered kimchi stew and I ordered a scallion pancake and when our food came we were stunned!  Both orders looked like they could feed a small army.  There was so much food and if we had known how big our meal was going to be we would've just shared something.  The food was pretty good though, but not nearly as delicious as the night before.  

Afterwards we stopped at a little cafe around the corner that Sylvia thought we might really like.  She said a lot of foreigners go there and I'm glad we went.  I had a delicious hot chocolate and it was nice to be around other people speaking English for a little bit; for the first time in awhile I don't think Andrew and I were the minorities, there were many other Americans there.  The cafe had a lot of books, most of them in English, and we had fun reading some of them to each other.  The funniest one I picked up was a dictionary on popular English phrases.  It was fun to read about how they defined phrases like "You gotta be kidding me" and "Fish outta water".  We didn't want to end our last night in Jeju so soon, but we were exhausted and we had to catch the airport shuttle at 9 am the next morning, so we headed on back to Tae Gong Gak (that rhymes!). 

Jeju Island Day 3

It was day 3 of our trip which meant it was time for Andrew and me to leave the Island Guesthouse and travel to another part of the island, Seogwipo.  In Seogwipo, we'd be staying at the Tae Gong Gak Inn.  This inn and guesthouse was recommended to me by a fellow HWS student, Amy, who had stayed there last spring while she was studying abroad in Seoul, also at Yonsei University.

We woke up, had breakfast and then headed out.  We went to go tour a historical, but still functioning, Buddhist temple that was only a few miles from the Island Guesthouse.  Ilene suggested it to us because she said it was really beautiful and had a great view of Insong-ri.  It was really cool to see a temple that had many ancient features but was still currently being used by the Buddhists in the area.  We walked around the temple and even hiked up part of the mountain that it was carved into, Mt. Sanbang, where there was a "fountain of youth".  Andrew took a drink from it, but I wasn't risking a parasite or some other fluke illness!

Andrew and me at the Mt. Sanbang Buddhist temple

We returned to the guesthouse shortly after and packed up our stuff.  It was sad saying goodbye to Ilene, she was such a big help and we liked spending time with her so much.  Naturally, she wrote out detailed instructions for us how to get to Seogwipo by bus and after we hugged and snapped some pictures we left.  The bus ride to Seogwipo was really easy.  We transferred once and while we were waiting for our next bus we ran into to an E-mart for a healthy lunch consisting of chocolate donuts and sliced pineapple!  We found Tae Gong Gak without any problems and checked into our room right away.  Sylvia and Peter, the owners, were so sweet and they were so excited to meet us!  It felt like they had been waiting for us to arrive all day.  Our room was beautiful, for the price of a hostel, it was incredibly clean and roomy and the best part was that we had an excellent view of Seogwipo Harbor.

The goal was to head back out immediately because there was so much more to see, but Andrew fell asleep after just "trying out the bed" and I couldn't help but want a nap either.  We did go out soon afterwards though and Peter and Sylvia showed us exactly where everything was.  Seogwipo is known for the two most famous waterfalls of Jeju, Cheonjiyeon and Jongbang.  With detailed directions from Sylvia and Peter (they actually showed us pictures on a computer monitor of how to get there!) we easily found our way to the first one, Jongbang.  The Jongbang waterfall is said to be the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the ocean.  We bought our tickets and hiked down a small path, and then all of a sudden there it was right there in front of us; it was absolutely breathtaking!  We were so close to it, and there were tons of other people around, most likely from all different parts of the world, admiring the falls and posing for pictures.  We took plenty of pictures but then left right away because Peter recommended we check out the Saeyeon Bridge before sunset.

Having another "Am I really here?" moment at Jongbang waterfall. 

We walked over to Seogwipo Harbor and we hustled in order to make the sunset.  We made it though and it was fantastic.  We walked across the Saeyeon Bridge as the sun was setting and we had a terrific view.  The Saeyon Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that connects Seogwipo Harbor to Saesom Island.  Saesom Island, meaning "bird island", is a beautiful little island that has a small nature path, as well as a path through the lava rock formations, which allow you to get a bit farther out into the ocean.  While walking Saesom, we met a cool guy from Sweden whose name I unfortunately can't remember.  It was fun to talk to him for a bit and share stories; he's just traveling around the world while he's "still young" he says.  He offered to take a picture of Andrew and me, and we returned the favor. 

Andrew and me on Saesom Island, compliments of the cool Swedish guy.

The beautiful Sayeon Bridge just as the sun was setting; to the right is Seogwipo Harbor.

After we left Saesom it was dark and Sylvia and Peter told us that was the perfect time to see the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall.  It was only a short walk away from the heart of Seogwipo harbor and we even made friends on the way!  We met a couple, probably a few years older than Andrew and me, who were also looking for the waterfalls.  The girl is from Canada and she's been teaching English in Seoul for almost 2 years.  She was traveling with a guy who is studying in Seoul but he's only been here for a few months.  Andrew and I believe they are an item, but the verdict's still out.  We pointed them in the right direction of the waterfalls and then kept bumping into them, turns out they were staying at our inn so we even had breakfast with them the next morning!  They even offered to give us a ride to the airport since they had rented a car, which was extremely nice of them, but our flights were at two different times.  Note, I respectfully declined the offer since the second they mentioned "rental car" Andrew couldn't stop fuming.

Cheonjiyeon Waterfall was located in a beautiful manmade park that was all lit up.  The sight of the falls with the lights on it was just gorgeous.  I noticed that at every waterfall we'd been to there were two sets of people, those that just stared in awe, and those that were busy taking pictures, snapping a hundred shots a minute.  I believe Andrew and I belonged to the first group, but then transitioned into the second.  For the first few minutes we couldn't help but just stare and marvel in the falls' beauty, it was such an amazing sight and it felt so good to finally be seeing all the cool things that we had been planning for and reading about for so long.  

Admiring the amazing scenery, Cheonjiyeon Waterfall.

We were starving at this point so we were happy when Sylvia recommended a delicious multi-course Korean restaurant nearby.  In fact, a couple of Sylvia's friends happened to be at the inn visiting Sylvia and they offered to show Andrew and me right where the restaurant was!  It was quite a hoot getting a personal tour from these two ladies; they were both really sweet but spoke very little English.  They did show us around the area a bit on the way to dinner and we got a very nice tour in Korean!  At one point one of the ladies even picked a purple flower from a garden on the side of the street and put it in my ear, so tropical island like!

The area that the restaurant was located in is called "Lee Jung Seop Street".  The surrounding streets were lined with the interesting artwork of Lee Jung Seop, a famous old Korean artist.  The restaurant was really great; our server was so friendly and he even knew the two ladies that had shown us to the restaurant, so when we got there it felt like one big party!  We ordered the multi-course meal (in Korea they refer to that as a "set") for two and it began with a delicious pumpkin rice porridge, and included beef tartare, a scallion pancake, Korean noodles, kiwi salad, stuffed shrimp, spring rolls, fish, and two beef patties.  The food was absolutely delicious, by far the best Korean food that I've had yet.  Perhaps the funniest part of the evening was that every time our waiter approached our table with another course, he would yell "Yooohooo" in a very high-pitched voice.  It was hysterical, if only every waiter did that!

In the spirit of capturing every detail of Jeju, Andrew and I were taking pictures of each course we got and at one point our waiter saw this, took the camera, and began photographing the food for us!  It was so funny and we both couldn't stop laughing afterwards.  But the pictures did come out great and just looking at them makes me crave that Jeju food.  Our last course was a yummy citrus dessert drink, and then we headed back to the inn, quite exhausted but extremely satisfied.

Just arrived at the restaurant with the help of Sylvia's two wonderful friends.  Notice the flower that they attached to my ear.

Our awesome waiter helping to peel the skin off the delicious Jeju fish.  Yooohoooo!

Jeju Island Day 2

I usually don't dream about food unless it's Cinnamon Toast Crunch or pancakes of course, but when I woke up on the second day of our trip to Jeju, I thought I was dreaming about warm, homemade bread.  But I wasn't!  Andrew and I went into the kitchen and Ilene was slicing a loaf of fresh bread that she had just taken out of the bread maker.  Talk about Korean hospitality!

We made breakfast for ourselves with the ingredients that were set out for the guests' use; bread, eggs, milk, jam, coffee, and tea.  I had a delicious egg sandwich and Andrew made a fried egg.  We knew we wanted to head out early so we got ready fast and then spoke to Ilene about our plans.  She recommended a beautiful beach for us to go to that would be far less crowded than Jungmun beach, which is where we went the night before.  She wrote out the bus numbers for us to take, as well as the name of the beach, Hypeojae, so that we could just show the bus driver our slip of paper and not worry about memorizing the Korean.  Without even planning it, we ended up going to the same beach as one of our housemates, Ginger Puffer, and yes, that is her real name.  Like Bree, Ginger's from California and teaching at the international school in Incheon.

The beach was beautiful!  There was plenty of white sand and seashells, and we got to walk around the lava rock that remains from Mt. Halla's last eruption in the year 1007.  Mt. Halla, or Hallasan, is a large, inactive volcano in the middle of Jeju island; in fact, the volcano's eruption is what actually formed the island.  The volcano is visible from virtually any part of Jeju, but typically the summit is covered by clouds or fog.

Sitting on some lava rock, enjoying Hypeojae beach. 

And so it begins, my strange obsession with adorable Korean families. 

We were reminded immediately by the wind and temperatures in the low 70s that it was certainly not summer anymore!  We didn't let that stop us though, we walked through the sand, got in the water (to my knees at least!) and laid out on our towels.  I even managed to get a little sunburned!  It was incredibly relaxing and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.  We only stayed a few hours because there was so much more to do!

Our next stop was the O'sulloc Tea House Museum.  We were pleasantly surprised when we got there, it ended up being far more beautiful than Andrew and I were expecting.  It was a small, but beautifully architected building, with a cafe, observatory room, nature walk, paths through the tea plantation, and even samples and demonstrations.  We were starving at this point so we went straight to the cafe.  We shared a piece of green tea cake roll and some green tea ice cream.  Both items were delicious!  We then walked around the museum and went up to the observatory; we were shocked to see that the green tea fields stretched as far as the eye could see, but it makes sense though, since green tea is a Korean favorite.

O'sulloc brings a whole new meaning to fresh!  Here museum workers are packaging the green tea that Andrew and I bought.  

Andrew and me on the observatory floor; that's a lot of soon-to-be green tea!

Smells like tea!

After walking through the fields we decided to head back since we wanted to go back to Jungmun to have dinner at the Lotte Hotel.  We took a cab back to the guesthouse to get ready for dinner.  After showering Andrew and I both came to the conclusion that the sun is still extremely strong in September and that perhaps sunscreen would've been a good idea (we were looking a bit lobster-ish, more so me than him).  I was so excited to go to Lotte for dinner!  Lotte is a huge Korean company that owns supermarkets, amusements parks, department stores, and hotels.  The Lotte Resort at Jeju is a staple of the island, and by far the classiest hotel there, so naturally I was dying to check it out!  I wore a pink silk blouse that I had bought while shopping with my friend Rachel (she bought the same one) before we both left for abroad.  When we bought it we knew we'd wear it to something special while studying abroad in our respective locations, Seoul and Copenhagen.

Andrew and I had 8pm reservations for Lotte's Volcano Buffet and Lightshow. We arrived a little early to walk around the lobby and check it out.  The place was beautiful, and like the Hyatt, it reminded me very much of being at Disney World.  Everybody we encountered was incredibly nice, and it was just so nice to finally be there.  We headed outside to the buffet and were absolutely stunned.  Everything from the beautiful swimming pools, the hotel's "volcano" structure, the sushi bar, and the tables and tables of food, was just amazing.  We were seated right away and perhaps the most surprising, but nice thing was that we were surrounded by so many families!  We had forgotten for a bit that it was still the week of Chuseok, and often this is the only vacation time each year that Korean families get.  

The entrance to the Lotte Hotel

View of the Volcano Buffet from the lobby terrace. 

Andrew and I ate a ton!  Everything was so delicious we just couldn't help ourselves.  I'm sure that the Korean families at the table next to us began to stare after plate six, but that didn't stop us.  Some of the highlights were the sushi, roasted duck, filet mignon, rice cake filled with red bean paste, blueberry cream tart, and green tea gelato.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!  At 8:30 it was time for the Volcano Lightshow, the event that the buffet and hotel are known for.  The volcano went dark and then all of sudden a flash of light appeared and it began!  There were flames, streaks of light, flashes of water, and even holographics!  I wish I could do a better job explaining it, but it's just something you have to see in person.  Although it only lasted about 15 minutes, it was an incredible show and it certainly made the whole night worth it.  When the lightshow was over, a group of Korean drummers performed, and although they were quite talented, nothing could compare to the lightshow.  We continued to stuff ourselves, and when we couldn't possibly eat another bite, we walked around the patio and pools some more and then headed back to the guesthouse.  

Volcano lightshow, pictures just don't do it justice.

Andrew and I still going strong, not quite stuffed yet!

Jeju Island Day 1

I know I'm a few weeks late in writing about my trip to Jeju, but I wanted to wait until I had enough time to sit down and relax and write about every detail, rather than rushing through a post.  Today seems like the perfect day!  It's a beautiful Thursday afternoon; I've finished class for today; I have no classes tomorrow; I submitted 2 big assignments last night; and now I'm just sitting in the Caribou Coffee shop in SK Global House ready to write!

My trip to Jeju Island was incredible, I went with my friend Andrew and we had such an amazing time!  Jeju is a small island off the southern coast of South Korea and it is considered the "vacation hot-spot" of Korea, it's where many honeymooners go and some even call it the "Hawaii of South Korea".  Andrew and I left on Thursday, September 23rd, which was still part of our fall break for Chuseok.  We took the subway express line to Gimpo Airport, which is a smaller airport than Incheon airport, it's similar to New York's Laguardia Airport.  We arrived and checked in without a problem.  I'm pretty sure Andrew and I were the only Caucasions on the plane, and we were both assigned to the exit seat aisle.  Of course we made plenty of jokes how they would put the white kids in charge of saving everybody, but the flight was smooth and quick, only about a 50 minute trip.

When we got off the plane we could feel it already, warm ocean air!  We grabbed our bags from baggage claim and then our next step was getting to our first guesthouse.  Andrew had his heart set on renting a car for the trip.  We looked into and it would've been extremely affordable, about $200 for the 4 days including insurance!  The only problem is neither of us had filed for an international license, so instead we headed towards the bus terminal.  Andrew was bummed and so was I,  it would've been nice to be able to travel by ourselves and not have to wait for the island buses.  I let it roll off my back, but Andrew procedded to sulk like a puppy dog everytime we passed a rental car.  It was funny at first, but by the third day I told him to GROW UP.

The bus system was slow, but easy.  We took a bus from Jeju airport, which is located at the northern coast of the island, to Insong-ri in the southeastern part of the island, which is where our first guesthouse, Island Guesthouse, is located.  It was about an 80 minute ride with one transfer, and many stops.  We got off the bus and followed the convenient directions sent to us by the guesthouse manager, Ilene.  We were greeted immediately by Ilene when we arrived.  From what I learned, she doesn't own the guesthouse, but she does run it and lives upstairs.

Ilene and me at the Island Guesthouse

The Island Guesthouse was beautiful.  It was eccentrically decorated and the house had this wonderful tropical feel to it.  We put our stuff down when we arrived and were anxious to head back out and explore!  We wanted to head to the beach before sunset and walk around the Jungmun Tourist Complex.  This area was located about 15 minutes away from the guesthouse and it is where the Jungmun beach is located, which is one of Jeju's most popular beaches; also it's where the big resorts are, like the Hyatt and the Lotte Hotels.  Ilene wrote out awesome directions for us.  She drew us a map how to get to the bus stop and wrote us a note for us to show the bus driver so that he knew where to drop us off.  After just two days Ilene felt like a mom to us!

We got to the complex just before sunset and we walked down to the water and along the beach.  After being in the city for a month already it felt great to walk with my feet in the sand and listen to the waves.  We were lucky enough to catch the sunset and then we headed down the beach towards the Hyatt.  The Jeju Hyatt is a beautifully architected resort that overlooks the beach on a hill and it was all lit up since the sun had already set.  We couldn't help but be a little bit curious so we decided to check it out.  The lobby was beautiful, there was a fish pond in the lobby and a cafe and bar with a nice jazz singer.  We sat outside on the terrace that overlooked the beach and ordered a couple of drinks and a small margharita pizza to share.  I had a pina colada, since it was the most "islandy" drink I could think of and perhaps the best part about it was that it was a non virgin!

Me and Andrew at the Jungmun Tourist Complex, before heading down to the beach.  The bridge in the background is  called the Seonimgyo Bridge, or the Seven Nymphs Bridge, because there are 7 nymphs carved into either side in white.

We made it to the beach in time for the sunset!  The building in the background on the right is the Jeju Hyatt.  

While we were sitting on the terrace at the Hyatt, we could see a bunch of children congregating inside at the cafe with some chefs.  We asked our waitress and she explained that every night there's an activity for the kids who are staying at the hotel and tonight they were learning how to make rice cake!  It was so very Disney-like.

We finished our drinks and decided to head back up to the bus stop because the last bus stopped running at 9:30 pm.  We caught the bus and headed back to the guesthouse, completely exhausted.  When we got there the other people who were staying at the guesthouse were there also!  It was so much fun meeting them.  It was a big group of girls and a few guys who were not much older than Andrew and I.  They were mostly Americans who were teaching at an international school in Incheon for the next few years.  It was so much fun talking with them before we went to bed, but it was a little strange sharing a big room with a bunch of people we had just met.  It felt kind of like the first few nights of sleep away camp, when we're all a little bit shy and nervous but we know we're going to have fun anyways.

The group of teachers had been in Jeju for the whole week so they offered a lot of good advice about what sights were worth seeing and which one's weren't so great.  I enjoyed talking to Bree the most.  Bree is from California and she's a bit of a tom-boy with this deep, raspy voice.  She was so enthusiastic about meeting Andrew and I and she wanted to hear all about our plans for Jeju and the other stuff we were planning on doing over the semester.  We expressed some hesitation about traveling all the way across the island to see a particular crater that we were thinking about and her response was "Just charge it!  Charge it!!".  Me and Andrew started laughing; she sounded so funny but we weren't sure if she was referring to charging a credit card or something like that.  The more she said it we realized she meant "charge like a rhino", in other words, just do everything and don't hold back.  So that became our philosophy for the trip, JUST CHARGE IT!

I have CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH and a new roommate!

This past week I flew to Jeju island for the Chuseok break and when I returned I had a new roommate! To be honest I was little bummed at first because giving up my second closet was very sad, but she's really awesome so it's worth the sacrifice. Her name is Joe (that's her English name, her name tag on the door says Pho Sze, needless to say I prefer Joe) and she's from Hong Kong. We really haven't had that much time to sit down and talk but she seems really cool. She's just at Yonsei to learn Korean, rather than to get a degree. She is not enrolled in any other classes, just the morning Korean class from 9-12, so she has plenty of free time. Valerie had such a huge course load that I barely got to see her, so it will be nice to have a roommate who's actually around.

Joe's English is good, but not nearly as great as Valerie's. It's okay though, we have good laughs over some of her cute mistakes and I enjoy helping her. I think the funniest thing Joe said to me was "Last time I was in Korea I couldn't find meat, I NEED MEAT!!" It was hysterical and then we laughed over the fact that we both hate vegetables. She said to me, "I hate vegetables; I just can't eat them. Does that make me weird?" Perhaps she's my long-lost twin from Hong Kong?

Today I had my first group presentation! For my sports medicine class we've been working in groups on a research project on the ACL which is the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee. It basically connects the tibia to the femur and is used to absorb shock during motion as well as to provide a stable range of motion for the leg. The presentation went really well, but boy am I tired! My group worked basically all night last night to put the finishing touches on it and I didn't get to bed until after 2 am. Then we met again at 8 am to rehearse the presentation until class which was at 11. I couldn't understand why we needed so much time to rehearse but then I realized that since English is my group members' second language, presenting a project like this in English is a very different experience for them. It was really inspiring watching them devote so much time to practicing the correct pronunciations. They asked me many, many questions about the English grammar on the power point and my job, aside from researching, developing and presenting a rehabilitation program, was to edit and put the finishing touches on the power point.

Like I said, my job was to come up with the rehabilitation program for our project, and so after researching the topic I developed an aqua aerobic therapy program for our "injured athlete", Jason. It was a bit scary at first getting up to present because I am the only Caucasian in the class. Also I was unfamiliar with the technology system in the classroom, which is very modern, but it was basically just a touch-screen monitor and my group members helped me navigate through the system. All in all, I believe my group did really well. Something that stood out to me was that a different group presented their project in which they included a video clip that was in Korean. The video had English subtitles though, and they told me they subtitled it themselves so that I'd be able to understand it. It was really nice of them and it meant a lot knowing that they had done that.

The best part about today was getting back from class and having a package waiting for me in the lobby of my dorm! Thanks to Aunt Amy and Aunt Linda, I got the best package ever with all my favorite American snacks! And hidden at the bottom... drum roll please... CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH, my favorite cereal!!!! I ran downstairs, and by ran I really mean I stood in front of the elevator and yelled at it to hurry up, then went to the convenient store (conveniently located in my dorm) to buy milk. So I had a wonderful appetizer of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but don't worry, I didn't spoil my dinner because I only had a little bit. This box has to last me 2 and half more months!

I know you're all wondering about Jeju! My trip to Jeju was really incredible, I had such a wonderful time touring the island with Andrew. We didn't even want to leave! I'm definitely going to blog about it very soon when I have a bit more time (and perhaps a bit more sleep!) So stay tuned!

P.S. It seems Aunt Amy and Aunt Linda were pioneers in the international package-sending process, but don't be intimidated by their success and audacity! Don't be shy, if you'd like my address just ask!