If you live on Jeju, you either own a gamgyul farm or your friend does. There are so many gamgyul farms that are locally owned that I feel very confident in this assessment. Anyways, it is currently gamgyul season (gamgyul is a orange tangerine hybrid thing) which means the farms need help picking them fast enough. So my whole family (minus lazybones so-min) headed out to a family friends farm to help pick. The trees were so full it was hard to decide where exactly to cut but with the help of my family and some ajumma's we were flying through the orchard. It was a pretty chilly day with intermittent flurries but we were kept warm with the work. The farm also had a really pretty view of the ocean so whenever I would get sick of looking at trees I would look up and stare at the ocean. My favorite part was this miniature roller coaster we went on to get around at the farm. It was basically just a rail and a cart with an engine (and no rails) but it was so much fun! And the farthest you could have fallen was like two feet- it just made it easier to get around the trees and up the stepped incline that the trees were planted on. Oh and did I mention it turned out to be one of my student's parents farm? She and her sister (they're twins) were so cute and shy bc I am their teacher but its to be expected. It was a really fun day full of good food and family bonding. I don't know how i'm going to leave this family in July. It's gonna be terrible I can already tell.
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So a few weeks ago (sorry i've been AWOL for a bit) I went "camping" with Yeon-ju and her scout troop. I say "camping" because no one slept outside, the cooking was all done over portable stoves, and the only remotely scout-like thing they did was wear their uniforms. Oh and work on tying knots. I got really bored of that though and quickly decided to go on a solo hike. One of the better choices I've made as it was absolutely gorgeous. There are all these little Oreum or volcanic hills near halla and they are perfect for short hikes. The next day we went on a hike near Halla and got to see some pretty leaves and a mushroom farm. There was never really any "fall colors" in Seogwipo so I'm glad I got to see some in hwacheon and on this hiking adventure. My second Thanksgiving was with my family in Seogwipo. I spent days planning the food and checking the availability of ingredients and then weighing the pros and cons. In the end, I decided to make stuffing, chicken pasta, Caesar salad, sweet potato casserole, sautéed vegetables,mashed potatoes, homemade applesauce, and oreo bites for desert. Even though it was really stressful and no one in my host family believed that I could cook, I think I did a really good job and everything was delicious so there's that. Wish I could've been at home though :( or at least with my brother- we had thanksgiving together last year and it was awesome (minus the pie that the chinese kid burned)
Thanksgiving this year came twice- once in Seoul and once in Seogwipo. The Fulbright office (and the Embassy?) hosts an annual Thanksgiving dinner on the Saturday two weeks before the real thing. Our class has had quite the confluence of unfortunate circumstances as far as being able to meet the ambassador to Korea. Traditionally, the ETAs get to hang out at the Ambassador's house in August and then the Ambassador also usually attends the Thanksgiving dinner. Neither of these things has happened this year which is a super bummer for me, as that is a position I one day want to hold. Well, I at least would like to work for the Foreign Service but I guess we'll see from there :) Anyways, being in Seoul was lovely and me and claire and rachel got to stay on the American base near Itaewon which was an interesting experience. It was pretty cold, but nothing this Indiana girl couldn't handle. |
Author안녕! I'm Emmy and this is my blog detailing my life in Korea with Fulbright mainly through pictures. Feel free to contact me on my about page. TTFN Archives
June 2016
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