동해 (Eastern Sea)

During the second half of my school break, I was lucky enough to go to 동해, the Eastern Sea of Korea, with a bunch of friends. We left around 6:00 in the morning on a tour bus with a very energetic and patient tour guide. We seemed to be the only foreigners on the tour, and I was surprised to see the many Korean people taking advantage of this excursion. Living in Hawai'i, I see many tourists come and go, but never really play tourist myself. I think this interest and desire to learn about one's own home is important. It made me want to explore my own home even more.

After about a five hour bus drive (I was informed that Korean vacation season had just started that day, and so the reason for heavy traffic), we made our first stop at 삼화사 (Samhwasa), which was a combination of a sacred Buddhist site and a picnic area for families to play and swim. There was a long river running through the mountains, and people were riding large water tubes down it. The juxtaposition between the sacredness of the Buddhist temple and playfulness of the adjacent river was sort of an odd sight. Because we were on a tight schedule, we ended up having to run down the mountain so we wouldn't miss the bus. That was the farthest I've ran in a long time...

The second stop we made was at 추암해수욕장 (chuam haesuyeokjang), a very beautiful but crowded beach. Unlike beaches in Hawai'i, there was a long rope stretching across the ocean and the whole length of the beach, preventing swimmers from swimming to far out into the ocean. I had never seen this before, and although we didn't have enough time to get in the water, I probably wouldn't have done well under these ocean limitations. Namsop, one of my friends who came on this trip, was from New York. This was the first time he had seen an ocean in years. I sort of forgot that not everyone has seen the ocean or sees it everyday.

After visiting the beach, we entered 천곡천연동굴 (cheongok cheonyeon donggul), an old cave that has been preserved. We had to wear safety helmets, since it was very easy to hit your head on the low rock ceiling. What was cool about coming to this cave, as well as the other places we visited on this trip, was that we learned about and did dialogues centered around this cave in Korean language class at Sogang. Thus, to have the chance to actually go to some of these picturesque and cultural locations makes it all the better.

The last stop we made before heading home was 묵호등 대 (mukho deungdae), a light house with a spectacular view of the Eastern sea. After taking in the salty air one final time and falling down a hill, it was time to return home. By the time we got back to Seoul, it was already 11pm. It had been a long day, and my body was struggling to function. But when our tour guide told us she was doing the same tour again tomorrow from 6:00 in the morning, I realized that maybe I didn't have it so rough. All in all, it was a good trip. To be with good friends and see new and beautiful parts of Korea, what more could one ask for.