Blogs from Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, South Korea, Asia

Our lovely pension owner gave us a lift to the bus station and we bought tickets to go to Suncheon. I think the ticket cost around six or seven thousand won. We almost ended up on the wrong bus, but the staff at the station were lovely and told us which spot our bus would pull up into. My friend remarked about how country this place felt. It is a real contrast to the city. The bus journey took about an hour and we were on one of those luxury VIP style buses with big padded reclining seats. And there were only three of us on the bus. We arrived in Suncheon at about 9:30 am. My friend was happy as there was a Dunkin' Donuts in the bus station. Apparently, they don't have them in ... read more

Spring is by far my favorite time in Korea (minus the occasional yellow dust). The weather is mild and pleasant, skies are clear, and everything seems to be voraciously blooming. Sadly, springtime is also rather short here, so I'm trying to make the most of it by taking as many weekend trips as possible. Over Easter weekend I went to visit a friend who lives in Gwangyang, in the Jeollanam province. Although my friend warned me that there isn't a whole lot to do in Gwangyang, I was eager to get out of the city and experience spring. Weather is much nicer in the southern part of the peninsula and spring is already in full swing. So, I headed out there, eager for some refreshing air and countryside tranquility. I arrived to the pleasant sight of ... read more

Saturday, November 12, 2006-- a chilly autumn day. In fact, one of the chilliest since I've been in Yeosu. I woke up on that day at a bright and early 7:00. A non-working day, but, for me, a day soon to be filled with hard work, wine, and plenty of cultural lessons. 7:30 a.m., my co-teacher picked me up to go to the bus station to then go to the Suncheon "marathon" (as it seems all distance-running races are called here) where I would run a 10k (along with about 6 or 7 other teachers, most of whom were running the 20k or half marathon). I was excited to be running again (in races at least), and ready for a good (though cold) day. Only one other teacher was running the 10k with me, so we ... read more