Sunset from Darangshi Oreum

Went to the oreum the other day, it was a pretty nice sunset

Swing Island's First Concert

Here's my first foray into video making.  Last weekend, was the first concert of the swing dance club that I go to here on Jeju.  They always have a performance at the end of each lesson cycle, a kind of 'graduation performance.' This one was on a much bigger scale though.  Instead of being held at the dance studio, it was held on the big statge the Art and Culture Center.  I was really impressed, everyone did really well, and the turnout was fantastic.  It was a nearly packed house!  I hope you enjoy my first video!

Faces at the Heirloom 5 Market

Chantalle with her pottery

The Heirloom 5 market is a place where the Jeju Foreigner Community comes together and shares, sells, and gives their arts, crafts and homemade baked goods.  This weekend was maybe one of the last as Shay, the founder is leaving soon.  It's really amazing to see the resourcefulness of foreigners here in Korea, living in a foreign country.  Because you can't easily get a lot of the ingredients and equipment that you are used to, people really learn how to make things from scratch.  There was some amazing stuff that I tried including carrot cakes, chili, pulled pork, pottery, music, home-brewed beer, honey, and all sorts of muffins!

I came late, so I didn't get a lot of good pics of the market, but here's some friends

Sarah and Shay

Rachael and Lauren

Brad

We got the girls dancing!

cafe may飛 [카페 메이비] [cafe mayB.]

I've taken a long hiatus from playing music publicly and I've decided that it's time to get back at it.  There's a really wonderful and cute cafe on Lee Jung Seop Street in downtown Seogwipo called Mayb Cafe, run by a beautiful young lady, Hyeyeon. Hyeyeon is a very worldly and friendly person so her cafe is a hit with foreigners.  Her sister runs the Halla Flower Shop right next door and it complements the cafe very well, making it a cozy place to hang out.

Last weekend, Hyeyeon held a summer block party mini-concert at Mayb and I asked to play.  It was a perfect night, the weather was beautiful.  About 8 or 9 musicians played through the evening, mostly duets and solos.  I was really surprised with the Seogwipo music scene!  It's really thriving.  The musical quality was high, and most of the groups played at least one or two originals.

I'm pretty critical about myself, so I'll admit that my rustiness didn't show off my talents and Jeju City musical standards so well but have to say that it was really fun to go on stage. I performed with my friend So Young, who sang very beautifully, even though it was her first time on stage!  We'll perform again on the 15th of July at the Festival at Tapdong. See you there!

Mayb Cafe is located in the middle of Lee Jung Seop Street in Seogwipo.

View Daily Shot of Jeju in a larger map

cafe may飛 [카페 메이비] [cafe mayB.]

416-2 Seogwidong, Seogwipo, South Korea

070-4143-0639

Sunset from Nokkomae

It was a pretty nice sunset from the top of Nokkomae Oreum tonight

Last week was Memorial Day, June 6th, so I spent the afternoon at Jungmun Beach with my friends.  Jungmun is the main tourist area on the south side.  All the fancy hotels and the International Convention Center are all located in this tourist complex.  Nevertheless, I really enjoy the beach there and think it's one of the best in Jeju.  It's always pretty clean and there's sometimes some surfing.  The swimming is fun and it's surrounded by cliffs.

A big group of my English teacher friends went down to play some beach volleyball, surf, and swim.  It was my first swimming day in the ocean this year, the water is just now getting warm.  The surfing in Jeju is generally not so good, but today the waves were forming some nice barrels.  I got out, but I still can barely catch a wave, let alone stand up.  I just need some time.

The beach was not very crowded, but there were definitely people around

Jung Ah and her Surfboard

Volleyball on the Beach

Emma took me on a Field Trip

Emma and her Hammock