EPISODE 1 : OBLIGATORY JEJU ISLAND JOURNEY

Our drama began in high school. Brought together by our mutual, nerdy love of anime plus a dramatic haircut, during our 12 years together we slowly progressed (devolved?) into watching live-action South Korean dramas, or K-dramas. Eventually, our interest in Asian culture led us to take the leap and move abroad for an international teaching job for Hannah, and an enviable new career in house husband-ry for Ben. As it is “a truth universally acknowledged” that all K-dramas must have an episode on South Korea’s vacation island, the latest installment of our G-drama (Greaves drama) unfolds here on beautiful Jeju, in the midst of the East China Sea…

Monday, September 23, 2013

EPISODE 3: NORIMAE: A little of this and a little of that by Ben and Hannah

So, near our house is a pretentious yet equally mysterious sign on a large stone wall that proclaims in gold letters NORIMAE THEMA PARK. (Yes, thema park.) There are a couple signs advertising Norimae close to our apartment that are less audacious, but convey the idea that this is actually a botanical garden much more effectively. It was our second weekend in Jeju, we didn't have a car yet, and we didn't have much to do, so we figured, why not walk down and go take a look?  Four kilometers in sweltering 90+ degree weather later, we discovered how much we'd underestimated the place. I mean, look at it.






Pretty impressive, right? Add to that that there were a total of 15 human beings we saw the whole time we were there, plus there was charming and idiosyncratic music piped through well-disguised speakers everywhere we went, and you get a pretty magical experience.



This is missing Hannah's "YEE-HAW!" sound effect, but gives you an idea of how elated we felt to find that this place was in our backyard, so to speak.









Oh yes, there's also a huge area with row after row of bonsais. The pictures couldn't really do them justice, but some were pretty intense.


Another reason why Norimae is awesome. As you may or may not know, we are mini-golf addicts, and the discovery that there is plenty of real golf, but a severe deficit of mini-golf on the island, has been a rather severe blow. Norimae to the rescue! It's not a traditional mini-golf course, but it'll do.


You may be thinking, is this the guy from Bioshock? It is, in fact, a statue of a haenyeo, or a woman diver here on Jeju. They're famous for using no diving equipment to daily catch their family's living in the ocean (= they're amazing), and you can eat some of their fare in a lot of different places on the island. There's even a museum to commemorate them. As you can see, the crab in the statue is not the brightest...





Lots of fun volcanic rock arrangements. You can see volcanic rock walls all over the island (though not as interesting as these ones), so they're a distinctive feature of Jeju.


Strike a K-Pop pose!



Representing the D... sweatily. We shamelessly drained the water pitcher using our probably-only-for-kids cups twice. We're classy like that. The cafe inside was a nice respite from the heat, and also features an interactive game involving what seem to be McDonald's playpit balls. Yes, you totally want to play it.




Lovely flower shots by Ben. Overall, Norimae's a stop that's totally worth it. We were pleasantly surprised, we were enchanted, we were probably half-delusional from heatstroke... but the best thing to do's probably to come visit and see for yourself, ne?

No comments:

Post a Comment