Teacher Trip 3: Overnight Trip to YeoSu

The dragon's cave on the island
Arriving on the island signage

One of the things I like about teaching in South Korea is the regular, scheduled outings with coworkers. Every semester there is at least one group trip; it is not mandatory, but is a good idea to join - if you have not already made plans. My co-teachers have always done a good job in telling me about the "business trips" weeks in advance, so I have never had any schedule conflicts. These work trips can be half a day, one full day, overnight and/or two days. We travel together on a one or two large tour buses, equipped for (the inevitable) karaoke session with microphones and a large TV flat screen.
This trip was my first overnight trip with my coworkers, which was fun and interesting. We traveled to YeoSu and walked across a bridge to get to Odongdo Island. I learned more about Korean culture and food. About 50 of us left after work on a Friday evening. The drive was about three hours one way, with one rest stop in between. As usual, we were provided with a snack bag for the ride. The snacks are some of the best local treats that are usually new to me. I am thankful for this, because when I go to the store I usually do not pay attention to snacks with which I am not familiar. If someone recommends something I will try it, but I don't go to the store with the intent to buy foreign snacks.  Once we arrived we had dinner together and visited a famous warriors ship; sadly, I cannot recall his name. (I couldn't get any good pictures of the ship, because it was dark with low lighting for my phone camera.) Then a small group of us piled in taxis to a club. The club was spacious and with a nice design. It reminded of something out of a movie. We stayed for an hour and then headed back to the room. 
The rooms booked for our large group were pension style, for 3 or 4 guests per room. My co-teachers did not attend this trip, because they had previous plans, so I was assigned to a room with to older female teachers who are fluent in English. (One lived in Canada for a semester and the other completed her graduate degree in the states.) The Wifi wasn't that good, but there were a few cafes surrounding the hotel. I slept alright in the quiet place. Saturday morning, I was surprised at the breakfast options at our hotel. This is when I learned what a standard breakfast looks like in South Korea. After breakfast we set out to visit the island. We spent the morning there, then we drove to a famous restaurant known for hard shell crabs fermented in soy sauce. We ate, drank and bonded. Afterwards we traveled the long drive back to Daejeon, karaoke in full effect, to have dinner together. We ate, drank and were merry. It was a good time. 


 
Breakfast at the Golden Park Hotel


Lots of goodies to buy here
  

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