Waterfalls and Water Parks/Parques aquáticos e cachoeiras

Korea is hot as hell. It really is - I am not exaggerating in the slightest. Over the last two weeks, we have had temperatures hovering right around 37 or 38 Celsius (that's upper 90s for all you Fahrenheit peeps out there) with ridiculous humidity. I normally walk the mile to my yoga studio and back in the mornings - just for a little extra activity - but I have had to start taking the bus because the walk back two Mondays ago was so hot and exhausting that it made my physically sick, which I then had to deal with at work all day. I rarely (if ever) check the weather forecast here, so I was surprised at how wimpy of a Texan I was until Joel told me that the heat wave has been so bad that it made the front page of CNN - about a dozen people in China have actually died.

To add insult to injury, the government is trying to crack down on "excessive" energy consumption by fining businesses and notifying residents when they exceed a certain quota. A while back, to save money, the Korean government apparently purchased faulty parts for their nuclear reactors from (you guessed it!) China, so now two of the country's reactors are down, resulting in considerable strain on the grid. And now, because of their ineptitude, I got a notice in our mailbox asking us to please try to reduce our energy usage because we exceeded our previous month's consumption by 114 kW (about $35). Because the notice was all in Korean, I mistook it at first for a notice that we were being fined - and proceeded to launch into a rage because we have only been running our AC unit on weekends. Needless to say, I was quite relieved when my coworker explained the notice to me, but the whole thing is kind of ridiculous. I suppose it is typical of government to punish its citizens for consequences incurred because of its own fuck-ups.

Anyway, we have been trying to escape the heat through a series of water-related activities. Last weekend, I went hiking on Wolchulsan (a small mountain here in our province) with two of my coworkers on Saturday, and then Joel and I went with another couple to a nearby water park on Sunday. Both were unexpected adventures, albeit in different ways.

The Waterfall
My coworker initially invited my to take her to the summit of Mudeungsan, the mountain here in town, a few weekends ago. However, Wolchulsan was recommended to her by a friend and a longtime resident, so we decided to do that instead, as I had been wanting to check it out anyway. So at 5:20 last Saturday morning, the three of us jumped in a cab to the bus terminal, and from there we bused to Yeongam and took another taxi to the entrance to the hiking trail. The scenery, of course, was beautiful, but the hiking was deceptively difficult. Wolchulsan is only 899 meters high, which is a full 200 meters shorter than Mudeung, which is a pretty easy climb. I thought it would be a breeze - and I thought wrong.

Once you get past the first part of the trail and begin the real ascent, the gentle dirt trail gives way to steep rock steps, jagged rock faces with ropes to haul yourself up, and steel staircases made hot by the merciless sun. It was relentlessly bright and obscenely humid, so naturally all three of us were soaked in sweat after barely an hour. We rested often and sought refuge in patches of shade. We graciously accepted snacks and the quintessential hiking cucumber from a friendly Korean hiker. We huffed, puffed, laughed, whined and did all the things that make a girls' hike so comfortable.

After taking about half an hour to rest at the summit (and snap a few pictures), we headed down to complete the loop we took up the mountain. Around halfway through the descent, we discovered the falls - a small waterfall made by a river snaking down the mountainside that had, of course, been reduced to a trickle because of the summer heat. Still, there was enough water still coming down to make it a highly tempting rest spot. We eyed it hungrily for a moment, then I slipped off my backpack and clambered over to the slick rock face where the water was sprinkling down, almost like a shower. I lost track of how long we stayed there, giggling and sighing and splashing water on our faces and arms to wash off the sweat and dust from the mountain.

After we made it off the mountain, we stopped at a restaurant a little ways down the road to eat "mountain vegetable bibimbap." The only other customers were a large extended family, to whom we probably looked ludicrous with our wet hair and bare shoulders. Eventually we got a ride back to the local bus terminal from a gracious woman who ran a pension out of her house.

The Water Park
Joel and I have been spending some time with a couple from Ohio that we met through a mutual friend. They are super cool and down-to-earth artists: the guy, who is actually half-Korean and has family here in country, specializes in ceramics, and the lady is a photographer. Anyway, she really misses the beach and the pool (much like me!), so we had talked about planning a trip either to the beach or to a water park. I am relatively familiar with the beaches around here, but I don't know anything about any water parks, so I went to the most logical source I could find for information - my students. They recommended several different parks to me, but the two that were most frequently mentioned were Caribbean Bay (next to Everland, outside of Seoul) and Jungheung Gold Spa (in Naju, a city in our province). The students insisted that Caribbean Bay was the best, but the prospect of spending W60k on round-trip bus fare in addition to another W30k for the entrance fee was not appealing, so I set my sights on Jungheung Gold Spa and began collecting intel.

When I initially asked around, no one seemed to know the price of admission, which I thought was odd. A Google search turned up a handful of blogs that mentioned the park, but still nothing on cost. I even tried poking around the park's (Korean-only) website, but no information on price of admission came up. Finally, I asked one of my Korean coworkers to look it up for me. You can imagine my shock when she informed me that single-person entry was a whopping 59,000 won (almost $60).

Teacher, what?

I asked my students about it, and they were just as flabbergasted as I was. They insisted that they had never paid that much, and nearly all of them had been at least once on a school trip. I discussed it with my sixth-graders, who reasoned that the W59k must be the price for those people who stayed overnight at the jjimjilbang, and that a day pass could not cost more than W15k. I thought that seemed reasonable, so I messaged our friends, looked up the bus timetable, and packed our bags.

Once again, I thought wrong.

We made it to Naju, but soon discovered that there were very few local buses that went to the water park. We negotiated with a taxi driver to take us to the park and were in high spirits until I started talking to the ticket window agent.
Me: Hello! How much for one person?
Ticket Agent: 59,000 won.
Me: Yes, but not for sleeping. Just for the day.
TA: 59,000 won.
Me: For one person?
TA: Yes.
Me: Okay but, we don't want to sleep here. I pantomimed sleeping, and then made an "X" with my arms. Just for the day.
TA: Just moment.
The woman got up and brought another agent to the window. I began again.
Me: So, how much for one person?
New TA: 59,000 won.
Me: Just for the day?
TA: Yes.
At this point, I am starting to feel the panic well up as I realize that I have unwittingly led myself, my husband, and our two delightful friends into a trap. "Ask them what it includes," suggested the guy.
Me: What can we do in the park?
TA: Water park and spa.
Me: Just the water park?
TA: Yes. And spa. He pantomimed a water slide.

...Teacher, what?

The four of us walked away slowly and stared at each other. Joel and the other guy studied the map as I studied their faces, bewildered. "It looks like there might be a beach here on the map," the other guy suggested hopefully. "Are we near the ocean, or maybe a lake? Maybe we can spend the day there instead?" So we walked around the parking lot to the "beach," only to find a small dock for motor boats to drag banana boats along a dirty-looking river. We returned to the ticket booth, defeated.

"What should we do?" the other guy asked. I sighed hopelessly.
"Guys, I'm really sorry...I had no idea. I can't believe I did this."
They assured me that it was no big deal, and after some nervous laughter we decided to bite the bullet and spend the money to go. After all, we'd come all that way, so we might as well just do it, right?

Alas, the unexpected surprises didn't stop there. Not only were all of the lines for the rides an hour long, each slide or other major attraction cost an additional W1,000, which you had to pay for by putting credit on a wristband they provided. The wave pool and lazy river required life jackets, which were another W4,000 to rent. The whole park only had a dozen or so rides. We went on a few slides and spent the rest of the afternoon pissing off the lifeguards by trying to sneak into the wave pool, drinking beer and joking about what a rip-off the whole experience was. We had fun, but the trip broke the bank for Joel and I until we got paid this week. Also, I feel like an asshole for leading two (relatively) new and lovely friends into such a ridiculous debacle.

In contrast, going to the beach tomorrow with my Dutch friend will only cost W22k. Perhaps next time I will stick to the devil I know.

Fogging the Future / Nebulizando o futuro

I have noticed that I am updating this blog less and less often. Partly that is because there hasn't been all that much to write about on a day-to-day basis, as we are well past the initial adjustment-to-life-in-a-foreign-country phase. I have also found myself becoming increasingly busy as time goes on, mostly with extracurricular activities to maintain my professional (i.e. global health) profile. Funny how I always seem to find things to fill my schedule, and as a result to get way too stressed out. Hrm.

This is our second summer in Gwangju, and we are again suffering in the summer heat and humidity. I know our Texas friends are laughing at us for complaining - after all, I think the only place that has summers comparable to Houston is southeast Asia - and I myself wonder why we find it so unbearable. The truth is, though, that here we probably spend much more time in the heat. Back home, everywhere you went had central air, so the only places where you felt the summer heat was on your way from whatever building you were in to your car, or vice versa, or if you were sitting out by the pool (in which case, you could always just get in the pool). Here, we walk almost everywhere (since we don't drive), and there is no central air for the building where we work - the temperature is controlled by classroom, and the AC is tightly regulated by the school owner to save money, so the classrooms are never really all that cool. I have been taking two showers a day since June and I still wake up and come home from work feeling disgusting.

Summer brings its sorrows along with its joys. Unfortunately, some of the plants in Joel's balcony garden have not done very well in the heat. Specifically, the cilantro that he planted was killed by the blast of heat coming from our apartment's AC exhaust unit, as it was positioned right next to the vent. He has also been trying to deal with spider mites infesting his peppers and eggplants. The cosmos also died, and neither the peppermint nor the spearmint wound up doing so well. Luckily, the basil is still thriving, and I am trying to persuade him to use it to make pesto for me (no success on this front yet). Also, 75% of our staff is in the process of turning over: our coworker from Missouri left at the end of June, and we just said goodbye to the Canadian-Minnesotan couple (who got engaged while they were here) and welcomed a couple (one American, one Englishman) last week who are returning after teaching in Korea for a year. The friends from Texas will be leaving at the end of this month, to be replaced by a married couple from Canada, so we will have a lot more non-American representation in the coming year. After that, the current senior-most couple will leave at the end of September. Joel and I will be the last of the (current) old guard. Change can be good, and I am looking forward to meeting new people, but it is always sad to say goodbye to old friends. This year has been a bit of a bumpy ride, but we had some great times with the people we worked with, and I am sad to see them go.

On the bright side, summer brings lots of opportunities for travel. Earlier I mentioned our trips to Seoraksan and Jeju; for our July vacation, we went to Tokyo and just got back on Wednesday. I loved Tokyo almost as much as I loved Kyoto - I remain enchanted by Japanese food, shrines, culture, and just general awesomeness. Joel and I spent four days there with a friend and saw just about everything we could fit into 90.5 hours, including Shibuya (for the massive crossing), Harajuku (to watch the cosplayers), the Meiji shrine, Akihabara (for the maid café experience), the controversial Yasukuni (i.e. imperial war) shrine, Tokyo Sky Tree, Shinjuku (to finally meet my Japanese conversation partner in person!), Tokyo Tower, breakfast sushi at the Tsukiji fish market, the Kyu-Shiba-rikyu garden, and Ginza. Pictures will be available, as usual, on Facebook - when Joel gets around to posting them. We have four days in mid-August (which we haven't decided what to do with yet) and five days mid-September for Chuseok, when we are thinking about going to Ulleung-do. To be honest, I am re-thinking this, since the island (while lovely) is an absolute bitch to get to via public transportation.

We now have six months to go on our contracts, so I have really been starting to think about what comes next. I know that after we finish here, we will be traveling around the world to relax and see family for another six months or so, so it will really be about a year before we need to find jobs...I keep telling myself that it is plenty of time, but somehow I never seem to be able to convince myself. I started looking at jobs in my field again for the first time today, and it is at least a comfort to know that they are there. We have been discussing many options, which are (in no particular order):
1. Go back home, find jobs in DC, and settle in. Alternatively, Joel could go to school in DC while I work.
2. Come back to Korea, where we can get better jobs and Joel can pursue an online Masters degree. This furthers Joel's career ambitions, but not mine.
3. Look for teaching jobs in Japan. Joel could also pursue his Masters online with this option. Again, it doesn't further my career, but it would be a change of scenery at least - and I love Japan.
4. Apply to work for the foreign service. We are both planning to take the FSOT in October, so we will see if we pass and go from there. The drawback to this option is that the hiring process takes forever - if you pass all the stages, it takes 15 to 18 months to be invited to join an A-100 class and start getting paid, so we would be looking at starting sometime in the beginning of 2015.
5. Apply to work for the Peace Corps. This furthers both of our career ambitions, particularly mine, but it pays nothing and we can't have children during the 2+ year commitment.
6. Go back to school. I have been thinking more and more about getting my doctorate, but both of us being in school would put us into massive debt. Not cool.
On top of all of this uncertainty, the question of when, or if, to start a family still looms.

And I swear to God, if one more student asks me why I don't have a baby, I am going to set them on fire.