Jeju-do: Part 5: Dolphins, (sea)lions and monkeys! Oh my!

After watching the Haenyeo, we hopped back in the cab and it started to pour. After about 30 minutes, our driver pulled over and told us he was stopping at a folk village for us to see. We told him we didn't want to, but he said it would be for only 30 minutes and basically was stopping whether we wanted to or not. So we got out and this man met us at a fence. He spoke very good English but kept apologizing for it. He explained that this village was still a "real" working village unlike another folk village that's a replica. He told us that the fence he was standing behind was in front of all houses. It was a stone fence with wooden bars crossing the opening. Four bars up meant that visitors aren't welcome. Three bars meant come back in a long time (like later that evening), two bars meant come back in a few hours, one bar meant come back soon, like 15 minutes and no bars meant come on in. He then showed us a pig sty and a toilet and said that the pigs would come over when men went to the bathroom because if they sat it meant #2 and they would have food, but with women they could get peed on. Jeju is known for black pigs, but they got hit pretty hard last year with hoof and mouth disease and the village doesn't have any more pigs.

Pig sty, minus pigs

Rock toilet. Looks comfy huh?

He then showed us the jugs the women used to carry to gather water and let mom and I try them out. He asked if Jeff was angry because he kept his arms crossed. He told us that the stone grandfathers stood for a solider if the right hand was higher and a scholar is the left hand was higher, but I'm pretty sure he made that up because he knew I was a teacher and Jeff was in the army. Plus nothing I've read has said anything about the hands having a meaning. He then showed us a milling stone and a baby basket. The basket was made from bamboo because it's a cold reed and snakes won't go in the basket and harm the baby as they don't like cold.

Me carrying water - the jug is heavier than it looks

Mom carrying water

"Angry" Jeff and the baby bed

Then he took us inside a hut and tried to sell us products. He said that the government doesn't give them much money and this is their main way to make a living. He had us try cactus flower jam which was very sweet but good. It's supposed to be good for coughing/throats and constipation. Then Jeff and I tried horse bone pellets (mom wouldn't) which tasted kind of herby and woody. They are good for joints and constipation. Then we all tried an iced tea called omija or "five tastes" tea (sour, bitter, spicy, sweet, salty) which was very good. It's good for overall health, hangovers and, of course, constipation. I guess that rock potty must have seen a lot of use. The products were a bit pricey so we didn't buy much. As we were leaving, he showed us a path to a 600 year old tree. When we came back from the tree we saw the guide and the cab driver chatting, confirming our suspicion of trip conspiracy. But it was insteresting and worth 30 minutes.

600 year old tree next to folk village

600 year old tree, 60 year old woman, (almost) 30 year old man

Family picture at the folk village. I think this might be the only picture of the 3 of us. Too bad mom's eyes are closed.

We drove back for close to an hour and our driver dropped us off in front of Pacific Land just in time to catch the last show of the day. Jeff got a corndog and we sat in our seats. A man behind me bumped my shoulder and I was going to move over, but then he just handed me a handful of popcorn from his bag (he gave some to mom too). It was kind of like kettle corn. Again, one of the reasons why I love Korea - people give you stuff AND you don't feel like they put poison or drugs or anything else gross on it.

Then awesomeness happened.

The whole show was good, but the monkeys were the best. I wish you could hear me and Jeff giggling like little kids, but you can't over the very loud Korean lady who hosted the show. And yes, she wore those boots the whole time too. After the show it was pouring and we couldn't find a cab. The walk to the hotel would have been about 30 minutes, so we ended up calling the hotel and having them send us a cab.

We made it back just in time for happy hour (funny how that always seems to work out huh?). They had an Asian noodle dish with bell peppers and pineapple and little spring rolls, as well as the other items from the night before. The marizipan was swicthed from strawberry to mocha and there was this strawberry cream thing that mom liked. After drinks, we went back to the room for a bit and chilled out. Then, partly because we wanted something to do, we went to dinner at weiner park.

It was misting when we left and the hotel lent us 2 umbrellas. The walk wasn't long, but Jeff ran ahead since he didn't have an umbrella. When mom and I walked through the front gate, a Korean man met us and ushered us to the restaurant where another man showed us to the entrance and where to take off our shoes. He said, "Your friend is in here" and showed us where Jeff was sitting. Jeff chose to sit on the "western" side with tables intead of "Korean" style on the floor because neither he nor I are flexible enough for floor sittin'. As we sat down Jeff started laughing and when we asked why, he showed us the menu and how what was labeled as "house" meat had been changed to "horse" meat. That's when we realized that the majority of items were horse meat. I would have tried one, but mom wouldn't.

So we ended up getting bulgogi which is marinated thin strips of beef mixed with thin rice noodles and veggies. Mom finally found something she liked in Korea and put a pretty big dent in the dish. We spilt the one dish between us because we had eaten a lot at happy hour. They also brought us rice, pickeled radish, spinach with what we think was feta, miso soup, some seaweed looking thing that even Jeff wouldn't try, and nasty tofu with a sesame sauce. Mom had green tea in a cute little pot and we spilt tangerine soju which tasted like crappy white wine to me (although all white wine tastes crappy to me). I actually prefer regular soju, but we figured we'd try this since it's a special in Jeju because it's one of the few places where orange and tangerines grow in Korea. When we done, they brought over cold gyepi cha (cinnamon tea) which tasted pretty good, but would have been better warm.

Green tea

Bulgogi and various sides.

Restaurant billboard - notice the horse?

After we left, mom and I headed back to the room where I downloaded pictures from our cameras and went to bed. Jeff went to the Shilla hotel, which was the one next to ours, and made back some money in the casino. He also met a Japanese guy named Takeshi and when he came home later he kept talking about Taekshi and I had to tell him to shut it.

Coming up: Jeff goes home and mom and I climb 40,000 stairs.