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PyeongChang: A Winter Olympics Adventure
South Korea had one of its coldest winters on record this year, including a January day that was its coldest in 35 years (minus 18.6 degrees Celsius/minus 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit). It was also unusually snowy, providing us with lots of opportunities for winter hiking. Though we don’t ski, we decided we couldn’t miss visiting PyeongChang, Gangwon-do, the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Besides, what better place to spend a cold, winter weekend than in South Korea’s premier ski country? Getting there and staying Getting to and around PyeongChang was probably the easiest trip we’ve yet experienced in South Korea. The KTX train travels directly from Seoul Station to Jinbu…
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Hate is a Virus: A Foreigner’s Perspective on the Pandemic in South Korea
Although the one-year anniversary of the global pandemic declaration has passed, this week marked one year of COVID-19 impact for our household. One year ago this week, the “distant” pandemic became real, as Peter’s university quickly made the decision to go on-line and the hospital where I worked began scrambling for PPE and isolation rooms for patients we knew would present with the novel coronavirus. My gym closed, our church stopped all in-person meetings, and our plans with friends were canceled. It all got very real, and that was before we witnessed the overwhelming loss of human life that was to come. Experiencing the effects of a pandemic first in…
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Tragedy and Resilience: The Many Faces of Jeju Island
In our last several posts, we’ve shared some of Jeju’s beautiful and often startling geography. The island can indeed be a restful place to spend a vacation, whether strolling on a sandy beach or climbing a rocky cliff. Jeju is such a busy tourist destination that the flight path between Seoul and Jeju City is the busiest in the world, with as many as 250 flights per day connecting the two cities. However, tourism is only one element of Jeju and does not begin to describe the scope of the region’s troubled history and resilient people. It would be unfair to Jeju’s people to pretend that the island is all…
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Jeju Island: Cliffs and Camellias on Christmas Day
This was a year for many to re-think their Christmas traditions, and we were no exception. Instead of a Christmas tree, a fireplace, and family, we set out to see more of Jeju’s dramatic sights along the southwest coast of the island. Although we hope next year will be a little more traditional, this year’s driving tour of Jeju Island certainly made for a Christmas Day we will never forget. Suwolbong Geo Trail We began at the Suwolbong Geo Trail, offering a paved pathway along several kilometers of Jeju’s rocky west coastline. Our walk started at the small fishing village of Gosan-ri, known for its locally sourced dried squid. The…
