As mentioned previously, I was able to take 2 days off right after Christmas.  This was basically  the only break that I would have until March, so I decided to take a tour of Jeju.   I arrived in the snow in Seoul on Friday night, then departed for Jeju on Saturday morning.  The landing in Jeju was one of the bumpiest rides I've been on...it was good to be on the ground again.

On Saturday, we started with a delicious lunch at a black pork restaurant.  This type of pork is supposed to be some of the best.  It was good, but I honestly didn't think it was all that spectacular.  After lunch, we headed to the Trick Art Museum.  This place was so much fun.  Basically it was a bunch of paintings that you could pose in front of and take pictures. Very clever idea.  After the museum, we went horseback riding (AKA...short pony ride in a circle).  Not so great, but still entertaining.  Our next stop was the Sungsan Crater.  We hiked up the steps, in the wind & snow, to the top of this mountain.  It took about 20-30 minutes...not so bad except that it was SOOO cold.  From the peak, you could look at the crater and see a great view of the ocean and the city.  Very nice.  After we returned to the bus, we headed for dinner, then to the hotel.  The hotel was right on the beach and had a great view.

Sunday, Christmas day, was filled with sites to see.  We toured a green tea museum, watched an acrobat show at Jeju Circus World, walked along the beach for a section of the Olle Trek, visited the Hallim Botanical Gardens, had our Christmas dinner, then went to downtown Jeju to sing in the noribong.  For me, the most enjoyable part of the day was the walk along the beach.  The sun came out for a bit, the ocean was beautiful, and (of course) there were tons of amazing rocks to look at.  It was very calm and peaceful. 

Christmas dinner was cute.  They told us that turkey would be served.  Yes, yes it was...and they even brought a TUBE of cranberry sauce...LOL!  Aside from the turkey, everything else was typical Korean side dishes...kimchi, bean sprouts, etc.  It was kind-of funny, but I know we all enjoyed it.  As far as the rest of the evening, they did a nice job of decorating the room and they also arranged for a white elephant gift exchange.

The tour continued on Monday.  We went to the Glass Castle, saw some columnar basalt, visited the Cheonjeyeon waterfalls, toured the Jeju History Museum, and walked through Loveland before heading back to the airport.  The columnar basalt was a bit of a disappointment as it was nothing compared to the Giants Causeway in Ireland.  Oh well.  The Glass Castle, on the other hand, was quite interesting.  It was basically a museum of glass sculptures and such.  It was absolutely amazing.  I especially liked the gardens with the glass plants and flowers.  Loveland was also a VERY interesting experience.  If you want to see pictures from there, you'll have to email me as they are a bit much for public viewing.

I have many, many, many more photos of the trip...nearly 400 in all.  If you're interested in seeing them, send me a message.

Christmas is celebrated in Korea, but not to the extent that it is in the U.S.  There are a few decorations here and there, but you really need to look for them.  Since Christmas was on a Sunday, there wasn't a school holiday...the kids and teachers returned on Monday.  Fortunately for me, I was able to take Monday and Tuesday off because I'm not working at a traditional school.  Here are a couple pictures I've taken around Ulsan.  My next post will describe the trip I took to Jeju Island over the Christmas weekend.