Spring festivals in Korea: the Jindo Sea Parting and Butterflies
Last weekend, I walked across a parted sea wearing thigh-high rubber boots, chewed on wiggling octopus tentacles, and saw a baby wild boar poop on a guy’s t-shirt–all within 24 hours. With Adventure Korea, a budget travel company catered to foreigners, I traveled to Jeollanam-do, Korea’s southwestern province, to attend two annual spring festivals. On...
Skiing in the Year of the Snake
Last weekend, Koreans celebrated Seollal, the Lunar New Year. On Monday, everyone officially turned one year older, and on top of an extra year for being in my mother’s womb, I’m now 27 years old in Korea. Damn. I think I’ll stick to my Western age of 25. Koreans welcomed the Year of the Snake...
A year with Adventure Korea
FROM SURFING IN GANGWON-DO, to biking around an idyllic island in Jeonbuk, to picking persimmons in Jeonnam, I’ve compiled photos from all the trips I’ve taken as a way to thank Adventure Korea for all the opportunities they’ve given me to explore beyond Seoul this year. Adventure Korea trips are ideal for expats and backpackers on a...
Ice Fishing in Hwacheon: embracing Korea’s sub-zero temperatures
The stressful holidays have passed, and now it’s January and time to relax. In Korea, we are currently living in frigid, sub-zero temperatures. Everyday I bundle up in my thick winter coat and Uggs, which I refused to wear in the past because they are so hideous-looking, but now I wear them with pride. Sometimes...
Celebrating the New Year on Jeju Island: part II
As I wrote in my last post, Celebrating the New Year on Jeju Island: part I, I spent four days with Adventure Korea in Jeju Island over my New Year’s vacation. On the third full day, after losing my voice from belting out too many songs in the noraebang the night before (namely “I Will Always...
Celebrating the New Year on Jeju Island: part I
Rather than wasting away in Hongdae over my short New Year’s vacation, I traveled to Jeju Island with Adventure Korea, a budget travel company catered to foreigners. I spent four days exploring the “Hawaii of Korea,” and although the temperature wasn’t quite Hawaiian-like, I thoroughly enjoyed walking along the coast, partying in Jeju’s biggest nightclub...
Asia / Culture / Destination Articles / Health + Lifestyle / Korea / Photography / Religion / Reviews
Rising before dawn in the mountains: a Buddhist templestay at Geumsansa
Geumsansa, one of the largest Buddhist temple complexes in Korea, lies in the quiet, western foothills of Moak Mountain, located in North Jeolla province. “Moaksan, the so-called ‘Mother Mountain’, is the cradle of many different indigenous religions. The mountain’s shape looks like a mother cradling her baby, just as Moaksan embraces Geumsansa,” says the Templestay program. The...
Climbing in the mi(d)st of Seoraksan National Park
In Seoraksan National Park, towering, jagged peaks jut into layers of clouds overhead. Waterfalls pour off the rocky cliffs, and clear waters flow, carving paths through the valleys. Encompassing 373 km of land, Seoraksan has, throughout history, been a sacred place for Buddhist pilgrimages and monastic life, as well as a muse for artists who have...
My first blogiversary
Yay! I made it! Today is my first blogiversary. One year ago, in the midst of an unraveling relationship and frustration over my visual artwork, I signed up for a MatadorU writing course, bought this domain, and I decided to write again. My first MatadorU assignment was to write an evergreen article, so I wrote,...
Follow Mapping Words