Just when you think the area you live in is getting boring you get a weekend where you see some new shit and realize just how much there is to explore. On Saturday I made my second trip to Sinan, the island county located west of Mokpo. Virtually all of these islands are accessible only by ferry and I had been meaning to explore them for some time. What makes Sinan so great are the countless beaches scattered throughout the islands. Good beaches are hard to find in my area of Korea because of the strong tide. When you have thousands of islands in such a small area of the ocean, they act as a water funnel, causing the stronger, faster tides. Because of this, most of the beaches in south-western Korea are no good because the water sucks all the sand away, leaving mud and rock where sand would normally lay. The tide on this beach was strong but the sand remained. We had great time out playing Frisbee and drinking beers. There was a little house nearby that had a small grocery store. To buy food you had to get the attention of the family running the store as it was locked but it was well stocked for such in isolated area. We played a lot of Frisbee on the beach which great except for the occasional vehicle rolling by. This beach is flat and the sand compact so it made for a great driving surface and the locals use this beach for a road. Pretty funny to see decent cars cruising along the beach.
I will have to come back to these islands and explore more. This was a great first experience of Sinan County.

So bored

Today has been brutally boring because I have only one class. The reason for this is some of the little rotters are in China now so the classes were cancelled. Normally this wouldn't be so bad except the teachers who can speak English with me are also gone, leaving me with nobody to talk to besides myself. I love talking to myself but even I get bored of me after a while so now I am talking about myself on the computer in the third person which should pass the time rather nicely. Lets catch up on my life before I forget it.

Until this week I hadn't worked for a month and a half. I spent this glorious stretch of paid free time doing a motorcycle trip around Jeju Island and going home for a month long visit with the fam.
The Jeju trip was fantastic. I had been meaning to get over there with my bike to tour the place for some time now and just let me say, having your own wheels on Jeju is definitely the way to go. I was able to hike amazing craters, conquer mighty mountains ( twice) and bask in the hazy sun on the beaches of this great volcanic island. This place has a reputation for being like Hawaii and it must say it's true, but not in the way you may think. Jeju doesn't always look like Hawaii but it smells like Hawaii, and with the humidly in the summer it even feels like Hawaii. Jeju and the Hawaiian Islands are both volcanic so you see the same porous lava rock in Jeju that you find in Hawaii. Jeju and Hawaii both have incredible hiking tails. The hike up Halla was exotic, lush, and glorious; just like a good walk in Hawaii. Jeju and Hawaii both have beaches. Hawaiian beaches are way better but hey, beaches are beaches.
My favorite story from jeju was the afternoon I was snorkeling in the water by this sports rental place located on the water. The workers approached me and told me to get out of the water. Wae? (Why in Korean) I asked. "Oh police police" the owner replied to me from the rocks. I figured they just didn't want me near their boat launch but the snorkeling was lousy anyway so I decided to listen and get out of the water. I was on the rocks packing my things when the owner walked over to me and asked me to sit down with he and his crew. They were just sitting in chairs under an umbrella waiting for tourists to ride the banana boat, wake board or jet skies. I figured what the hell.
My communication with everyone was limited but we spoke and understand enough of each others language to make introduction, explain ourselves and make jokes. It helps that all Koreans young or old make pretty much the same jokes/insults to one another. "He is Crazy" " He is Korean Mafia" etc. After about an hour the boat crew loved me and started calling me their brother. They even let me go out on the banana boat once. Before I left they invited me to come back and spend the day with them and that's exactly what I ended up doing. I return the next morning and helped them assemble a trailer that was used for the new jet ski they just bought. Then I met some of the wives and children. The owners wife runs the gas station by the beach it turns out. After work I spent the afternoon acting as the honorary lifeguard for the banana boat. I also got to ride the jet skies and I wake boarded for the first time in my life. It was a great afternoon and was a perfect example of a fun cultural experience. This sort of thing would never happen to the U.S. unless you were a beautiful women or something. My only regret was that I promised them I would send the pictures from our day to them via email but the address they gave me doesn't work so I can't contact them. Still a great day and the highlight of Jeju.

The Jeju trip lasted a week, after which I took the ferry back to Mokpo, grabbed my luggage and headed up to Ilsan that evening to visit my buddy before flying back to California.

Chico was great. Real nice seeing family and friends and enjoying the food variety. Went down to San Francisco twice to visit my dad and go to a concert. I had my car broken into and lost my digital camera. That sucked but now I have the waterproof one that all the cool kids are getting these days so that was good.
I spent five days in Lake Tahoe just chilling in this beach cabin. Did some great hiking up there but mostly drank beer from the keg and sat on the beach all day. The other major event was the wedding between my good friends Blake and Keri. This was the main reason I came back to California and it netted me an extra week off because my kind school gave me the time off. They got married in great little spot outdoors and in the mountains. No real stories to tell except it was great meeting some of their family I hadn't seen before. I talked to Blake's grandmother who was an ex LPGA tour pro and got some golf tips. ( She just told me to relax.)As Best man I had to give a speech which I kept short and sweet and then we began the reception. The great thing about weddings is it's always a reunion of sorts. Got to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in some time and tell them about Korea. Telling people about what I am doing in fun because their usually surprised and very engaged when you talk about it. Its just something you don't hear everyday though. I think when I finish telling my story the think"Wow what an adventure, I don't think I would do that." It reminds me what a Hugh step it is coming over to Korea. I am really glad it's turning out to be a positive one for me.
The reception went deep into the night and then I had to leave for Korea the next morning, brutal! I barley got my hung over ass to the airport on time and got scolded by the clerk for being so late. The travel time back was uneventful. I drank about six small bottles of airplane wine and took two norcos and that sedated me nicely. Got real lucky at Incheon when I got the one and only bus to Mokpo at 6:20. (Otherwise I would have had to go to the bus station. All and all a great trip. I already have my eyes set on the next extended vacation this winter when I will go to Thailand, can't wait.

And this is how you kill time at school!!!!!!!