D-5

test day is saturday. i've been studying intermittently for the past four months. alternating between verbal and vocab and reviewing math and practicing essays. i've studied on the bus, in busan, in between classes, at home with cat. the day is just around the corner! i'm ready for it to be over. but i'm also ready for the night before in the fancy hotel, getting a good nights sleep, wandering seoul. i'm ready to feel challenged and accomplished during the test. i'm ready to feel frustrated. i'm ready to wait in anticipation for my score at the end. i'm ready.

after the test, i'll finish my sophas application and other applications and send them out. some are due december 15, and others january 15. i'm ready for them to be sent in. i'm ready to check things off my list. i'm ready to get responses. i'm ready to know what i'll be doing next year. i'm ready to know whether i'll start in the fall or the spring. i'm ready to know what i'll be doing for the next couple of years.

this time has been long-awaited. i'm ready.

halloween in seoul

this weekend was halloween. and a few friends and i went to hongdae in seoul to dress up and dance. 

i wore my ears and yellow at school to resemble a giraffe. we played halloween games and i passed out sour warheads. after school, i caught a local bus and raced to ssangyong where jod was dressed like a witch and carefully applied brilliant face paint to transform me into a giraffe princess. i wore a giraffe scarf and tribal-looking jewelry on the ktx and got my fair share of stares. 

we finished getting ready at our hostel. i put my ears on and i was ready to go. we met our friends at the beastro and dined on hanger steak and buffalo mac and cheese and fried brie. we pressed on to the park. we made it to magpie for some porter. we listened to a little live jazz. we went clubbing at gogo's 2 and we ended the night (morning) at 4am eating chicken on the side of the road as the city began slowly waking up again. we rolled out of bed, had an american breakfast, and caught an early ktx. i was back in cheonan by 12. and i spent the afternoon in a theater, on a solo date, watching gone girl. relaxing, resting. and today, i woke and skyped the parents. and later, i'm going to costco to pick up 25lbs of cat food and some litter. and i'll study too. 

weekends. 

울릉도

last weekend, i had the opportunity to go on another seoul hiking trip. this time we bussed and ferry-ed to ulleungdo island three hours off the east coast of korea. the original plan was to include a ferry trip to dokdo even further off the coast. an area whose ownership is disputed between japan and korea. 

we left seoul at 11pm and drove across the country until 3am, some camped and others crashed in a local pension. slept until the morning ferry. woke, found espresso, walked to the terminal. found our assigned seats, took seasick pills, and hoped for the best. i was in and out of sleep for the majority of the ride, and by the end of it, we had begun approaching mountainous cliffs emerging from the ocean. 

ulleungdo is one of two volcanic islands belonging to korea. unlike jeju, though, this island is lined by cliffs with a large fall-colored crater inside rimmed with peaks. my perfect landscape. 

we trudged off the ferry and found a man waiting for us with a bus. he drove us to our pension where we dropped our goods and immediately went to lunch. passed these drying squid on our way. 

after our light lunch of vegetables and soup, we got on another bus for a bus and walking tour of the island. we stopped at various rock outcroppings to explore and at one point we hiked up the mountain and came across the other side to see this: 

we drove around 80% of the island. at one point there was a building where we could walk under the water and see the fish feeding. at another, we drove into the crater and spun in amazement at the color of the trees and the beauty of the ridge. and at the end, we careened back down the mountain and stopped at the beach just in time to catch an amazing sunset. 

from either side of the ferry port, there were sea side walkways carved out of the side of the cliffs. joined by bridges and metal walkways. 

the water was a beautiful blue turquoise. a color i haven't ever seen in nature. more beautiful than the philippines. more beautiful than the bahamas. a tranquil brightness.

inside the crater

ulleungdo was one of the most beautiful parts of korea i've seen ! while each are different, this in particular was my favorite scenery: where mountains and sea meet in rocky cliffs. so it was a special treat. the last day, we went hiking and we were supposed to go to dokdo but due to rough waters, the ferry was cancelled and our ferry returning to the mainland was moved up. 

i managed to make it home a little after midnight that sunday. catching the last ktx and scurrying to the taxi stand. a mere 24 hours were spent on the island, but my fingers are crossed that i'll be going back for a trek around the circumference of the island next spring. 

happy november, everyone