We landed on Jeju Island - Our New home!

 As I write this, we have officially been on Jeju Island for 24 hours!

We left the US on July 17th at 8:20am after my mom and her partner dropped us off at 5:40am - thank you!! We were some of 'those' people travelling with lots of luggage. Our first 'stressor' was trying to just use the outside bag check so we wouldn't have to go to far with all of our stuff. 

(Why don't US airports have more luggage carts. They are always available everywhere else we travel around the world.)

The staff person let us know we should have some form filled out which we had not heard of. Frantically we tried finding this form and filling it our online, The website was located in South Korea and kept crashing. Finally, we decided to lug everything inside and see if we could be helped there. Guess what? There was no form needed and we breezed through. Greg has a new policy, "If something seems to hard, stop and ask someone else first."

The other 'stressor' at DIA was having to check our carry-on bags since there was no room left for ours. They had to be checked all the way through to Seoul. So, we created a bit of a traffic jam as we were trying to get some necessary items out to keep with us. The plus was not having to have those rather heavy suitcases with us in Seattle and Tokyo. So, it ended up being a blessing in disguise.

We were on a Dreamliner from Seattle to Tokyo, which is a plane with cool features. There was a lot of room in economy class, including a foot hammock under the seat in front to raise feet slightly off the ground. The windows could be dimmed to varying degrees instead of having a window shade on them. The toilets were all equipped with bidets!  Very nice. (We encountered these toilets in every toilet until getting to Jeju. Sadly, we don't have them in our apartment). 

Overall, our travel experience went well and even the 10.5 hour leg wasn't too bad. I'm proud to say I got to Seoul without kankles thanks to compression socks and taking one aspirin two times (thanks for the suggestion Ryan).

SEOUL

This was both of our first time to South Korea and Seoul. We enjoyed our day and a half there and look forward to getting back there in the future. From our hotel (Hamilton Hotel), we were able to hike up to Nasuman Tower, up through steep neighborhoods and then on a dirt trail system through a beautiful forest and ending up with some amazing views. On the way back down, there was a foot reflexology path and next to it a dirt track that people were walking barefoot on. We took our shoes and socks off and slowly walked on the varying stoned path, enjoying the soft dirt path going back.

For those of you that have heard about forest bathing, there was an area in this forest where there were wooded lounge chairs to sit and relax beneath the forest canopy. There were some women enjoying just resting there.

The tower itself was surrounded by some restaurants, most of which weren't open, and all these railings that were covered with 'love locks.' For some reason, it's a thing to purchase one of these locks in a vending machine, write something to your loved one and add it to the thousands of other locks. We didn't partake.

In the afternoon, we figured out the subway and headed over to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, one of 5 in Seoul. It was pretty hot at that point and we both felt jet lag taking over. But, we persevered and walked around the grounds. The 'To-do' at the palaces is Hambok rentals, which are period costumes. Once you get all decked out, you head over to the palace and take lots of pictures in your fancy garb. There were soooo many people doing this! They looked great but I can't imagine how hot they were. I think it would be more fun to do in the spring and fall when it's cooler. 

FIRST 24 HOURS ON JEJU

When we arrived on Jeju, the school had two staff to greet us and then they put us on a taxi for the 45 minute drive to our new home.

We are living on the St. Johnsbury Academy Campus in faculty housing. When we got to the door of our apartment, we couldn't figure out how to get in at first. Finally, I realized we could slide up the panel above the door and there was a key pad for the code they gave us. We unpacked our bags and then found a delicious restaurant to eat at with vegetarian options. The Canvas has an international menu and is run by the spouse of a teacher from a neighboring international school. She brought us her first try at vegan kimchi. Wow, it was tasty! We'll be going there again. She also holds some cooking classes that I hope to join.

Today, Greg and I got ourselves on a bus and made it south to where one of the marinas is at to do some home goods shopping. We did a lot of waiting at the bus stops and still have to figure out the timetables, but, hey, we did it! We had an amazing meal of vegetable Bibimbap at a family-owned restaurant. Thank goodness for the Google Translate app! It's helped us immensely already.

We found Daiso, which is the equivalent of a Dollar Store to buy some kitchen essentials after wandering through one of the open-air markets. The market was pretty quiet, though full of fruit, veggies and seafood. Tangerines are the main fruit on the island and the woman who we bought some from wouldn't let us leave with just one kilo no matter how much we tried. We have A LOT of tangerines to eat!

Before getting back on the bus, we wandered down to the marina lined with fish stores and restaurants. I can imagine it's bustling in the mornings. We got to see a squid boat up close. It's full of lights that attract squid at night. Poor squid...:( The marina was jam-packed with fishing boats.

Now back at home, we are resting from the effort of the excursion. We have four more days to explore around until we have to start getting our residency cards and medical examinations to be a part of the medical system here. Maybe we'll even get in a SCUBA dive...