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Walking Through the Woods on a Snowy Morning: Odaesan National Park
PyeongChang may be winter sports country, but it’s also remarkable hiking country. After our trial run the previous day in the cold and snow of PyeongChang’s skiing mountaintops, we were prepared for our wintry hike of Odaesan’s Birobong Peak. This 7km course offers an elevation gain of about 1,100 meters. We easily found a taxi to drive us to the trailhead at Sangwonsa, the first of three temples along this route. In order to reach the trailhead, we drove past Woljeongsa Temple, famous for its fir tree forest, which looked worth a visit if you have time. We were anxious about transportation and timing, so for this visit we kept…
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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…
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Jeju Island: Christmas Eve on the South Coast
Jeju Island’s unique geography and fascinating history will take several posts to cover. In this post, discover the beauty of the island’s south coast with volcanic cliffs and waterfalls. We filled our Christmas Eve day with visits to some of Jeju’s most famous sites. Since we couldn’t be home for Christmas, Jeju was a wonderfully soothing place to spend the holiday. As a bonus, we even put an international spin on an Italian Christmas Eve tradition: The Feast of the Seven Fishes. In our Japanese-insired Korean version, it became the Feast of the Fourteen Fishes! First, though, we had some walking and exploring to do. Jusangjelloi Cliffs This volcanic rock…
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Jeju Island: The Northeast Coast and the Diving Women
These posts easily could have been called “How Jeju Island Saved Christmas” because that’s exactly what it did. Knowing that we would be away from home at Christmas for the first time, we planned a trip to the place we were most excited to visit outside of Seoul: Jeju Island. Lying just south of the Korean peninsula, Jeju is a volcanic island often called the “Hawaii of Korea.” Although it is not tropical, the climate is moderate, the water is aquamarine, and there are plenty of palm trees. Our time there was a perfect way to refocus on making a new tradition rather than focusing all our energy on what…
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The Great Wall of… South Korea? Hwaseong Fortress
This is essentially one post in two parts. In this post: Hwaseong. In the last post: Namhansanseong. The Korean Peninsula’s strategic position between China and Japan has increased its risk of military invasion for centuries. Vestiges of this history remain in the form of protective fortress walls in Seoul and beyond, many of which are now maintained and utilized as hiking trails. The ease of accessing these trails, as well as their tendency to be well-maintained, have made them a go-to for our hiking adventures since we arrived in Seoul. In addition to trekking the Seoul city walls, we have visited Namhansanseong Fortress just outside of Seoul, and Hwaseong Fortress…
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The Great Wall of… South Korea? Namhansanseong Fortress
The Korean Peninsula’s strategic position between China and Japan has increased its risk of military invasion for centuries. Vestiges of this history remain in the form of protective fortress walls in Seoul and beyond, many of which are now maintained and utilized as hiking trails. The ease of accessing these trails, as well as their tendency to be well-maintained, have made them a go-to for our hiking adventures since we arrived in Seoul. In addition to trekking the Seoul city walls, we have visited Namhansanseong Fortress just outside of Seoul, and Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon. Each is worth the trip from the city and provided very different opportunities for exploration.…
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Good Grief! What’s so Shocking about Culture Shock?
If you’ve ever traveled outside of your hometown, you probably are familiar with the highs and lows of experiencing a culture different from your own. Traveling (even to another state or city) can be exciting, challenging, and full of learning opportunities. It also can be scary, frustrating, and overwhelming. Add a worldwide pandemic into this mix, and you have a recipe for lots of potential stress. The term culture shock describes the mixed emotions and sense of disorientation that are commonly felt by travelers to a culture different from their own. As I’ve spent my social work career helping people coping with grief and loss, I find it helpful to…
