Haedong Yonggungsa Temple was originally built in the 14th century, burned down during Japanese invasion in the 16th century (actually, one or another Japanese invasion is why most Korean historical sites are not exact originals) and rebuilt in the 20th century. It’s a functioning Buddhist temple so among the tourists, monks were conducting daily rituals and others came to light candles and bow three times. I managed to throw a 100 won coin into the “lucky coin divination” bowl which I’m sure was not an original feature of the 1376 construction. As it is a popular tourist attraction, many people on the last day of the school holiday were here…

Happy new year!

At first I thought this resistant boy was a stray but then I saw his owner, an older man in a jumpsuit and hunting cap, squatting in the road saying 들어가 들어가 “go in, go in” and gesturing to the open warehouse where another man was working. The pupper sat stubbornly in place so his owner could only laugh helplessly.

I woke up this morning and said to myself, what shall we do today? But when I checked the pollution air quality, as I do every day, I decided to NOPE straight out of Seoul. Seoul AQI PM2.5 was 163 and Sokcho was… 25. Most small US cities are between 20 and 50. I immediately booked a hostel for the same day in Sokcho. Then I did laundry, went to the gym, and headed directly to the bus terminal where I was able to book a ticket for the bus coming in 30 minutes. The bus terminal has changed much since 2016 when my friend and I visited: The floor…

I visited the Jeju folk village which is a recreation of 1800s style Jeju living. As it’s not tourist season, there were few visitors and at times I was the only person around with only Joseon era mannequins to keep me company. Only mildly creepy. Later I found a petting zoo with an emu and goats and around the corner were real women shucking corn that were not a part of the exhibition. But we smiled and nodded at each other in a fitting end to a strange but informative experience.

I’m currently on an island for a mini break before teacher training begins. After eating with a new hostel friend we parted ways and I entered one of the many hipster cafes on this side of town. As I waited for my tiramisu cafe latte two older men, decked in the classic middle aged gear of a fishing vest and hiking shirt, waved hello at me. I waved back and said in Korean “aren’t I pretty?” with appropriate cutesy hands. They were momentarily shocked into silence and then conspired amongst themselves, countering in English with “American?”. I responded in Korean “Yes I’m American” because someone on this island is going…