We arrived on Monday around 9am, got on a tour bus, and went to a museum. The museum was pretty alright, kind of a boring-ish way to start off the trip, but I still had fun. They had a photographer come to take pictures of the whole trip, but in my opinion he wasn't all that good. When it was windy, he would face us so the wind was blowing our hair in our faces, which is just a silly thing to do. And he would have some people in the shadows and others in the light, which was bothersome. Darn you, Mom, for making me notice this stuff!
After we went to the museum, we went to the beach. Guys, it was so beautiful. It was like being back in Oregon, I swear. Although, the sky was too blue and it was too warm to be the Oregon coast, but it was still very similar and made me very, very happy. Afterwards, we had lunch.
Then, we went to THE COOLEST thing ever. It's called Jeju Nanta and it was amazing. Connor, if you read this, I'm taking you there one day. What it was was a play (kind of) where they made music solely through random objects (i.e. no typical drums or percussion; they used pots and pans, buckets, knives, etc.) and it had little to no speaking. It was so amazing! The way they performed in sync and with such passion was breath-taking. After that, we went to a tree garden. I saw soooo many trees! It was like Oregon, except not with pine trees. That was pretty nice, since I don't get to see very many trees anymore. Then we went to a weird cabin/hotel place for the night; it was strange.
The next day, we hiked up a mountain. It has the best name ever. Ready? It's called Halla Mountain. (Sorry if you don't find it as funny as I do). I climbed up there without complaining and without stopping. I was one of the first people up there, and wow, it was stunning. My Mom always told me on hikes "it's always worth it." Even 5,000 miles away, she's still right.
After we went hiking, we went on a boat ride. But not just any boat ride, no. This was one where we were in speedboats and the driver would go super fast and then turn and stop quickly; so much fun. My hood fell down in the middle of it, so by the end of the ride, my hair was soaked! I really, really loved it!
Then, we went to this very strange amusement park thing, that wasn't an amusement park. It was like a museum, but with no artifacts and only had miniature-sized buildings of places from around the world. It was very odd. By the way, I totally planked on some pharaohs laps (pictures included). Afterwards, we went to a waterfall. Apparently it was supposed to be really cool, but it was very tiny and kind of made me giggle. I wish I could take all of them to Multnomah Falls!
The next day (yesterday), we went to a lava tube, which was really cool for me. I loved the feeling of being in a place where lava used to be oozing by, carving-out and creating a different place simultaneously. Plus, it was pretty there.
After that, we hiked up another mountain. We're up to two mountains now, guys. But it was worth it, again. Being up on top of a mountain on an island is indescribably beautiful. It was like looking down on the whole world, and not just one island. I love hiking, but I was seriously exhausted by the end of that hike.
After we hiked, we went to something called Pony Valley. It was like a circus, but with horses. I felt kind of bad for the horses, in all honesty. After sixteen years of trying to go to the circus, I'm not too happy I went. Although, I did see a trapeze artist, which was awesome. Afterwards, we went and rode horses! It was only for like 4 minutes each, but I still got to ride an horse again, which made me a very happy Madison.
When we finished that, we hiked up another mountain! SO MUCH HIKING! It was a lot of fun though, because this mountain was not nearly as big as the others were. Funny story, my homeroom teacher, principle, and I were walking and a group of school boys were walking the other way and they started singing something in Korean. My homeroom teacher burst out laughing, looked at me, and said "They said you're very pretty." Kinda made the hike a lot better. That, and I had a ton of friends with me and we were taking pictures everywhere and having a great time.
Last night, was really cool, because there was a talent show. And yes, I did participate! I was going to do the Thriller, but I only had half an hour to practice, sooo I sang a song instead. I sang Me and Bobby McGee, because I've always loved hearing my Mom sing it. I did not do it as much justice as she does, though. Everyone thought I did really well and were all very sweet about it.
This morning, we went on yet another hike. I was feeling kind of sick though, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. It was still very beautiful and VERY exhausting, as always. After that, we went to the airport and flew home.
This past week was amazing. I got closer to my schoolmates, made friends, went on adventures, and earned the nickname Mosquito (long story). I'm so, so glad that I got to go. Well, I hope all is well wherever you are! Love you!
Madison
