Tropical beach weekend in WANDO!!

Hello all! Jenna and I are back from an amazing beach party in Wando! This is an island city in the very south of the country... about a three hour bus ride from Suncheon -- so close in Canadian standards, but so far for Korea! Telling our teachers that we were going there, they were all shocked, thinking we were going on such an adventure. This is another interesting tid bit we have noticed here so far- alot of Koreans don't travel too far away from home! I had a teacher telling me she loved to travel, and when I asked where she had gone, she went on to name the cities and towns within one hour of Suncheon! When I probed as to whether she had been outside of Korea she responded, with shocked laughter, "no no, I love Korea!"

Wando, however, was well worth the journey for us! Though there have been mini reuinons every weekend, this Wando event was planned a while ago and was the biggest convention of waygooks we have yet experienced. Everyone from our orientation was there, as well as alot of people who have been here for a year or more! We finally got to see Jessica Ratushniak, the girl (my sister Lyndsey's friend) who was our contact here before we left Canada and was an invaluable asset in our decision to come to Jeollanamdo and getting ready to move!

We arrived at the beach in Wando around 1:30 in the afternoon, and were awestruck. It was a beautiful, white sand beach, and the waves were massive! After the big reunion with everyone, we all hit the water, soju and beer in hand! (*our friends got their hands on a 5L jug of soju for 15,000 won, or $13!) Though we were pretty freaked out by the waves at first, we were soon having chicken fights and were facing the waves head on. The water was warm, it was 30+ degrees, and all in all the beach was just amazing. Who knew such a tropical paradise existed in South Korea!? This place is such an untapped gem... its great that worldwide tourism hasn't really discovered it yet. 

We spent the night in yet another love motel... these places are turning out to be one of the best things about Korea. They make venturing out to other cities so so cheap, especially when we get 5-6 people to a room. 

As we headed home, we knew we had one night to get rested and relax, because the next day we were bound for JAPAN!