Oreum views from the Eorimok trail on Hallasan

Garlic Farmers

The end of summer is the beginning of garlic season. I actually took this photo while walking the Olle 14-1 for the Gotjawal Olle story.  The farmers own their fields individually, but it's a community effort to plant and pick the fields.  If they don't want to work in the fields alone, they call all of their children and friends and families, get in line and work in the fields.  It's hard work sitting in the fields all day, but they have a good time laughing and joking.  The Koreans have unbelievable flexibility and can squat for hours on end, but I especially like the little butt pads they use!

Jeju Weekly: Science in Seogwipo: Hanon Maar Crater

Here's my newest contribution to The Jeju Weekly

Science in Seogwipo: Hanon Maar Crater

'Maars have an extraordinary preservation ability, like a refrigerator,' explains Dr. Lee Suk Chang

http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=1007

4th year in Korea, 4th House

Here's a post for the folks, my house this year.  I wish that I was in this picture for scale, but that cut out in the wall is probably only about 5'8" off the ground, and I have to bend down to reach the kitchen counter.  The person who lived here before was handicapped, so it was designed with her in mind.

Here, we're looking the other way.  That room with the computer is a nice place to hang out in during the summer, but the floors are pure concrete, so the humidity creeps in...causing problems.  The roof leaks too when it rains...  The place has been nice during the summer.  It's cool enough that although air-conditioning would've been nice, the fans were all I really needed to at least get a good night's sleep.  The problem is the winter.  The place is so wide open and energy is so expensive here, that it's gonna be pricey in the cold weather to keep the floor heating going.  All in all, it's pretty nice.  The dogs haven't been barking and the owners/neighbors aren't so nosy anymore so things are looking up!

Gotjawal Olle Stuns and Surprises

Here's my newest contribution to The Jeju Weekly

Gotjawal Olle Stuns and Surprises

Olle trail 14-1, as seen through the Eyes of your Correspondant

http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=978

Jeju Furey Beach Volleyball 4

Our Team Made it to the Finals Again

Best Dressed Teams

Jump!

The now, Biannual Jeju Furey Beach Volleyball tournament came last weekend, October 9-10 to Iho Beach. The charity shifted gears and is now helping out a family in the local community of Iho. This tournament was a great time as usual. In total, there were 20 teams, each team having 3 guys and 3 girls. We put up 5 extra nets on the beach and had two full days of volleyball. My team had a great time, again, we beat all odds and miraculously made it into the finals for the third straight tournament and lost in the finals for the third straight tournament. We all had fun and the chairity raised a boat load of money to help the family.

Snorkeling Part 2

This batch of pictures was taken at the same time as the previous post, sometime in early September. The weather in Jeju stays pretty warm for quite a while actually and you can swim with no wetsuit no problem well into October. Hyeopjae beach in Hallim is a one of the most beautiful spots on Jeju and the snorkeling here is great. Rocks are the places to see fish and there's plenty of them to swim around and see cool things. Also, it's sandy and doesn't get too deep. I got one of the Olympus Tough series underwater cameras and have been having a fun time playing around with it.