Thoughts from our 2-Month Life In Jeju
Hello from beautiful Jeju island!
As I’m writing this post, we are coming towards the end of our 2-month long stay here in the island south of the South Korea. So much has happened since we took our first steps here with our kids and life. Lots of experiences that have served to open our minds, learn about the culture and inspire me creatively. It will be hard to combine it all into one post, but as usual – it would be a pity not to share what we have documented during this long stay here. This endeavor will serve as a visual memory of ours, and hopefully it will inspire some of you to come experience it all for yourselves some day, because this island is unquestionably …magical.
We arrived here on the first few of September during the pandemic, when it was still quite hot and humid outside. Summers on this island are short, warm, oppressive, wet and mostly cloudy. We expected it to be cooler being that it was already September but learnt that it was not until late September early October that the weeks of Autumn would start.
Our grandma lives on Jeju island and has been here fore more than 50 years of her life. Thanks to her, we had accommodation sorted out for the first two weeks of our stay, where we had to quarantine for 2 days. This was a lovely idea as we got to spend quality time with her and my parents and it made it so much easier to get tested during the quarantine days. Her house is located only 10minutes from the airport and nearby to the downtown area, which made it easy for us to gather all things we needed for our 2 month long stay. We got to experience her little garden, the old stores near her house and also explore the downtown area while we were on this side of the island.
The day after, after getting our Covid tests done we drove the long way back to explore our neighbourhood, to get accustomed to our surroundings (we were not yet allowed to venture outside of the route that took us to the testing center and back home). Everything just felt so different, so unique, with a very present heart-warming element about it. Even though we had seen Jeju before that, this experience felt special because we would not be here just for a few days, but for two entire months with our kids this time, kind of trying to be like locals, or almost.
Even though it was a place I had come during my childhood years it was different to be back in a slow paced style and being an adult, a mother and a wife. We just roamed through each and every little alley and street surrounding the house, and noticed details like how people decorated the outside of their homes, how the older houses contrasted to the more modern ones, and how there are temples scattered everywhere.
Getting used to living here was an experience all to itself. Everybody here is incredibly nice, polite and generous. During the first 2 weeks in the city area of Jeju, there were definitely fewer tourists and foreigners than the other areas.
Something we noticed was how generous people are at markets/ grocery stores and restaurants. Almost anywhere you go especially restaurants and some stores they will serve tea. At big grocery stores there is always taste testing and every corner there is someone offering you food.
Every day there would be something special; whether it’s a new food to try, a new temple, a new street to walk through. There were some of those places that we kept going back to, like certain cafés and beaches. Certain spots on certain days, just out of habit which became a part of our routine.
After our 2 weeks stay at grandma’s we stayed in a villa in the west coast of the island where the beauty of the island starts with its turquoise oceans and white sandy beaches. This was really where it felt like we were more in the rural area of Jeju, experiencing what it’s to live a slow life. There were no big supermarkets, the closest one would be an hour of a drive away and there were lots of windy roads through farm land and forests.
The great thing about Jeju is that it is rather diverse in its landscape and scenery. There are so many options of things to do from hiking the beautiful Oreums, pristine beaches, walking the olle trail, exploring outlaying islands etc. As lovers of mountain views, we knew we could not miss out on visiting some of the Oreums. On Jeju island there are more than 350 different oreums - a small cone shaped inactive volcano perforating the landscape. We’ve climbed Mundoji Oreum(where there were horses grazing), Saebyeol Oreum (which was surprisingly crowded) and then we also went up Geum Oreum.
When we reach the top of each Oreum it is just pure bliss. The view from the summit of each and every Oreum we went had a special view of it’s own. The nature surrounding it is mesmerizing as well.
After our stay in the west coast where we went swimming almost every day it was time to move on to the southern part of the island called Seogwipo; the second largest city full of lush parks, waterfalls and mild ocean temperatures.
We were lucky that by early October temperatures dropped and parts of Jeju were showing signs of Autumn. It was the perfect mix of sunny days with cooler weather and we were able to enjoy walks and getting around without sweating.
sunset view from our home in Seogwipo
Jeju’s doldam (stone walls) are the symbol of Jeju islanders widsom, demonstrating how they have long harnessed the harsh nature of this barren, volcanic island. It makes Jeju all the more beautiful as it preserves this vivid historic evidence of Jeju’s thousand year old tradition. It is so ubiquitous and an every day part of life that is cultural but also holds an aesthetic point of view. We learned that they were built using buried stones under the volcanic soils to create boundaries between neighbors and also play important roles in protecting agricultural produce from livestock.
Jeju’s doldam is all around and it is one of it’s unique symbols of this islands design. They are stacked with gaps between them to withstand the strong winds and the harshest storms to hi the island.
Jeju’s culture and nature has inspired our soul and our creativity, inspired art & creative endeavors and the way we live our lives. Life here was simple, finding joy in the small and taking things slowly. It gave us more clarity and sparked conversations on how we want to raise our kids, to live a simpler life and to find joy in the less busy. It brought us much clarity and food for thought for how we want to live our future.
We’re currently just enjoying our last days here with family. Having to leave my original birth town is a little bit heartbreaking, but we’re thankful for what it brought us and this special opportunity we had during the hard COVID times. It was a gentle reminder of how life is fleeting and that every single moment matters.
