Three Days in Jeju

Hot. Dirty. Beautiful. Amazing.

That pretty much sums up the three days I spent on Jeju Island, South Korea in mid-July.

My purpose for traveling to SK was to work at two English Camps. I traveled a week early so that I could visit the Word of Life Bible Institute (WOLBI) in Jeju. I'm not sure what I expected was going to take place during those three days, but I'm pretty sure it was not what I anticipated.

On June 15th, I flew from Yanji, China (the town in which I live) to Incheon International Airport in South Korea. There was an overly attentive and generous flight attendant who showered me with gifts every ten to fifteen minutes, which was slightly embarrassing. But other than that, my flight was very smooth. Upon arriving at Incheon, I was met by some very dear friends of ours. We knew "Uncle" Mike and "Aunt" Alicia Nicholes when we were living in SK when I was little. Aunt Alicia went to language school with my mom, and they are very close. They have three young children: Michaela, Charis, and Josiah.

We drove from Incheon Airport to Gimpo Airport, so that we could catch our flight to Jeju. Once there, we met up with a team from Florida, who had also come to SK to help with the camps (they were AWESOME, by the way). Most of that team were on an earlier flight than the Nicholes' and I. Two of the boys on the team, Harrison and Tevin, were on my flight. Tevin carried an entire pizza through security and onto the plane. I don't think anybody even ate it when we got to Jeju. But thank you for your help anyway, Tevin. :D

The flight to Jeju went pretty smoothly. There was a little bit of turbulence, which was enough to make my heart fly into my throat (there's not much in this world that freaks me out as much as turbulence does!), but other than that, it was great. I love the airline we used. You got your seat assignment by zone instead of by "32 A" or "18 C." I was in Zone B, so I could pick any seat in that zone. The flight attendants wore polo shirts, jeans, and ball caps. It was totally awesome. ;)

After we arrived, Mr. John Spalding picked us up and drove us to WOLBI. I got a kick out of how the Florida team thought Korean driving was crazy. I was excited that the drivers were actually doing what they were supposed to be doing, the majority of the time. In Yanji, driving is crazy. I mean, how many drivers do you know who pull into the far right lane to make a U-turn? But that's for a different post at different time.

I gotta say: I loved the WOLBI campus. There were three cabins, and a fourth was being built. Only the second floor of Cabin 3 had wifi, but that was okay. I only really used it once. I was too busy and tired (...really, I was too lazy) to trudge past two cabins and up a flight of stairs to use it. The cabins were beautiful log cabins, and had a basement, the main floor, and then an upstairs floor. In my cabin, a family (Steve and Rhonda Nicholes and their children) lived in the basement, another family (Mr. John and Mrs. Jean and Daniel Hawkins) lived on the main floor, and the girls (there were five of us) all stayed upstairs.

After we got settled in, three of my four roommates (Jordan Spalding wasn't on the Florida team, so she did not attend) and I went to a little meeting. I got to know the Florida team a bit better. Paul and Helen Shoemaker, along with Miss Elaine White were the leaders. Their team consisted of eight teenagers: Thomas, Luke, Riley, Jacob, Tevin, Harrison, Rachel, and Laura. The group was preparing for this trip 2 years beforehand. And they pretty much adopted me. ;)

Left to right Back: Riley, Thomas, Jacob, Tevin;
Front: Luke, Harrison, Laura, Rachel

After the meeting, we went back up to our dorms and got ready for bed. Jordan Spalding and I stayed up for a loooong time, talking. She and I had been corresponding through facebook for about 3 or 4 years. She's good friends with several of my friends who live in South Korea full time, and had heard several stories about me (many false... truuuuust me!), so I had to put her straight.

The next morning, we walked down to the dining area. Breakfast was pretty yummy. Then we had a QT sharing time. I really enjoyed it. It was awesome being able to see what all God was teaching other people, and He often used what they learned to speak to me.

After that, we were forced to do manual labor. Weeding. I don't mind working, especially if it's outside. I like working outside. So, I didn't have a problem with it, except for the heat. It was... pretty hot. ;) We cleared weeds from five or six flower beds that day, and were rewarded with frozen sprite. Then we washed up and went down to lunch. We each volunteered for kitchen and clean up duty for certain meals, so I helped clean afterwards, then joined the others so that we could go to the beach.

SOOOOOO pretty! I had left my swimsuit in Incheon with most of my stuff (I didn't need to bring both of my bags for a three-day stay in Jeju), so I headed into the water with the intent of just getting my feet wet. Five minutes later, I forgot about my jeans and shirt and waded in waist deep. I didn't care. ;) While at the beach, we inspected some sinkholes (which, in my humble opinion, were made for stepping into), walked on slippery rocks, and played Human Foosball. :D Talk about a fun game. If you've ever played the actual Foosball game, you might be able to imagine what a painful experience I had. What, with the ball being kicked into my stomach, sand being kicked up into my face, my feet getting stepped on by my opponents and allies, my arms sore from having to stay linked to my teammates, my knees hurting from being dragged in the sand by my teammates who were rushing to block the ball... It was awesome though.

We arrived back in time for me to hurry and change clothes, and then rush down for kitchen duty. After dinner, I helped clean and then went to my room. Rachel and I discovered each other's voices and had a sudden moment of bonding time as we sang "Part of Your World" (The Little Mermaid) at the top of our lungs. Then we had a jamming session outside, with me playing the guitar as Rachel and Luke played their ukeleles. Theeeen we had an orientation meeting up in the wifi room. That was pretty cool, as we were able to learn a lot about WOLBI. If you'd like to learn more about this school, you can look at their website, here. It's a pretty amazing place. During the rest of the night, I emailed home and then just chilled until bedtime.

The next day was similar to the first. We weeded some more, and then split up into different work groups which included carving, cleaning the dorms (since we were leaving the next day), and cleaning the entire kitchen. I was on kitchen duty again, along with several other people. We cleaned it top to bottom and were done quicker than expected. So I went to go help clean the girl's dorm. After lunch, we went touring. :) Our hosts took us to Hallim Park, which was extremely cool. There was a Bonsai Garden, and the guys seemed to think it was a great day and place for a photoshoot of them, so... my camera is full of crazy pictures.

There was also a mini folk village, a lava-tube cave, and a water garden.

 
Then, upon leaving there, we drove up to some cliffs where there was an incredible view of the ocean crashing against the rocky cliff edges. Simply breathtaking...

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After leaving there, we went to one other spot that was really pretty. :)

To end our day, we went to a Korean Barbeque and stuffed ourselves silly. A couple of the guys and I had a competition to see who could eat the most spicy pepper spice/sauce in one bite. Who do you think won? :) When we had finished, we drove back to WOLBI and had one last meeting. We were all so tired that everything made us laugh. ;)

The next day, after breakfast, we said our goodbyes to our hosts and headed to the airport. We were mainland bound, ready to start on the next league of our journey.