What a warm welcome to Korea: dancing and drumming on the dock by many local men and women, dressed in traditional costumes. Ships clearance a non-event, and everone politely bows and offers a friendly smile. A much needed change from the previous bureaucratic 'inconvenience'.
Jeju Island, just a small bit of volcanic rock, south of the Korean mainland, dates back to 57AD. By 1273 Kublai Khan used it to built ships to invade Japan. It was occupied by Japan from 1910-1945, suffered the Korean war, decades of authoriarian governments, five major constitutional changes, civil upheavals - and now is a multi party democracy.
The islands major volcano Hallasan is dormant since 25,000 years, so are the 350 minor ones. Volcanic stone is the building material for everything:houses, fences, temples, burial grounds, roads, stone walls, well lining, pig pens. Volcanic ash has turned the ground fertile, and fruit orchards and vegetable fields spread over the flatlands.
Jeju is famous for strong stones, strong winds (lots of typhoons every year) and strong beautiful women.
The strongest women are the free-diving fisherwomen, who fish for abalone and other seafood, dressed in nothing more than goggles and a wet-suit (in ancient times they used cloth diving suits) in the frigid waters. They stray submerged at about 20 meter depths for about two minutes. Any woman vorn in a fishing village in olden times, was destined to be a diver. They would start training in prepubescent years, and continue until they die, only interrupted for a couple of days when giving birth. Their children had middlenames, denoting the location of their birth, as their mothers would dive until the very last minute. So children would have names like Streetchild, Harbour Child, or Boat Child.
Most of the women still pursuing this work are between 80 and 85 years old, healthy. Men cannot perform the work, as they are unable to withstand the cold, and do not seem to be able to control their breath for lengthy free-dives. Ergo, men of Jeju are considered lazy, and the diver women are definitely boss. Numerous documentaries have been produced to describe their feats, and the US Magazine 'Islands' is publishing a lengthy article about these valiant women in a future edition.
Taifuns galore. But, with stone fences, stone houses and tied down roofs (where reed roofs are still used) the population takes those natural events in stride.
Being such a pretty island, with many resorts on the north side (windsurfing, sailing, diving, fishing and swimming), and many good hotels and guesthouses inland (hiking, horse riding, golfing, hunting) it is not only a tourist destination for foreigners, but also a favourite honeymoon spot for Korean mainland couples.
The brides, hoping for a son, seek out the many 'Grandfather' Statues, looking something like the Easter Island statues, and called Dolharubangs. Rubbing the nose of one of those bulgy eyed stone men is supposed to ensure good luck, sons, and the granting of wishes.
I took a tour to Sangumburi Crater, surrounded by a well groomed park with stone fences, stone buildings and stone paths (of course). The latter, however, were covered with rubber matting, to facilitate walking. In olden days, Jeju people made cbllogs out of hardy arrow root, to be able to walk along their treacherously pavements. A pleasant walk in brisk spring air, with the odd waft of cherry blossom aroma (they were in their last days of bloom), made especially enjoyable because the local people were unmistakeably happy, relaxed, spontaneous and polite. It was refreshing to see so many smiling faces after the sober faces of the people of China.
Then onto Seongeup Village, preserved with subsidies from the government to help residents remain in their clay and stone houses, which made up the entire village. The cleanly swept buildings, with privacy paper screens, wooden solid doors, and moveable reed screens (to accommodate different situations re weather or privacy) were spacious and airy. The roofs, made from reeds, and replaced with Government help each year, were all made fast to underlying beams with solid hemp ropes. Most houses had a little pig pen, complete with little thatched roof pig house, with the pig being used for recycling organic waste. The pigs are black, shiny, and allegedly delicious eating as 'black pork', a Jeju specialty in high demand. Red and while camellias, azaleas, plum and cherry trees gave a pleasant and pretty air to the village. A simple but effective system lets neighbours know the whereabouts of house owners. Just three wooden fence poles, horizontally mounted between stone columns, announce whether an owner has just stepped out, gone for the day, gone for several days or wants privacy, or is open for visitors, all depending on the position of the three poles.
Some concessions to modern life are evident: toilets, electricity, present day furniture and washing machines hide behind the traditional stone walls. But this villages and many more like it on the island, open up a window into the old Jeju Culture, going back thousands of years, and filled with myth and legend, thousands of stories, and a multitude of superstitions and deities.
I found the visit here absolutely enjoyable, definitely not long enough to immerse oneself into the pleasant and intriguing island life.
But, I had sufficient time to taste one of the local Ramen dishes together with a cool local beer - delicious!
