Saturday Escape

After Gkotji Beach, my fantastic co-teacher then took us to a resort along the beach. On the way, we wound our way through some fantastic rural beach scenery--lots of old houses, trees, and water! It was a beautiful drive and we had a lovely time. When we arrived at the resort, we were surprised to see a grass lawn, which is really unusual in Korea (I think this might be the first time I've seen it). They had croquet hoops set up, and two girls were playing badminton on the lawn. European-style buildings were arranged around the lawn, and there were some swings down by the water. Past the buildings, after the lawn, there was a lovely walking area where instead of typical stones making the path, the path was composed of seashells. There was a lovely picnic bench overlooking a small lake, and we sat their quietly for a few minutes, then proceeded to explore the rest of the grounds. It was very peaceful, and we really enjoyed our time wandering about. Of all the things we might have expected the resort to look like in Korea, this was not it. It reminded me, weirdly enough, of Trakai in Lithuania (an island with a castle on it near Vilnius--although there was no castle here, the peaceful calm and lovely walking areas around water are reminiscent).

All in all, it was a fantastic day, and one we never would have been able to do on the public transportation system. It was a very different side of Korea, and one that we really enjoyed. :)

- Carissa


In this picture, you can see the cherry blossoms and seashell path:
My co-teacher Lily, Heather, and me sitting watching the water: