Debauchee of Sea Spray

Confession: the water beneath my hotel room, while
lovely, dark, and deep, was not nearly this photogenic.

I hate everything about Katy Perry’s songs: the inane lyrics, the mundane melodies, and the drawn-out rhythms (ex-tra-terre-strial!!), but damn—her songs are catchy. Luckily, she has brilliant competitor in Robert Frost, and Frost’s poetry is stuck more firmly in my head right now as I sit on the balcony to my overpriced hotel room on Jeju Island, and the waves crash against the breakers 50 feet below. The sea is lovely, dark, and deep…

The first Dutch guy to come to Korea
brought 15 terrifying clowns with him.
Apparently?

It’s been a long day of touring. This “vacation” reminds me a lot of my previous trip to China. Those of you who know the stories may well cringe, but don’t worry: Jeju can never match the toska of Ningbo. But both Chinese and Korean sightseeing is enough to make you miss the ebb and flow of a work routine.

Often half of the entertainment is figuring out exactly how we are supposed to be entertained. Today we drove past an inviting temple on a mountain to stop in a random parking lot, 500 feet below. We wandered around and eventually found the seaside—which was beautiful and windy and everything a seaside ought to be. Also, there was a small shrine/museum/enormous fake boat dedicated to Dutch people.

                                          I thought I was joking, too.

Green Tea. In plant form.

Then we wandered around a tea plantation, where there was a four-teacup museum accompanied by  an extensive gift shop for the likes of green tea, green tea soap, green tea tea cups, green tea cakes, green tea cookies, green tea ice cream, and green tea face exfoliate. There were lots of green plants, too. And some windmills which weren’t green, but probably should have been.

All in all, I am happy to be sitting on the balcony over the lovely, dark, and deep waves. The only other sound’s the sweep of steady swells and plunging crests. The sea is lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep—

and miles to go before I sleep.

Cute couple enjoying the tea museum.
Note the matching shirts: this is COMMON in Korea. O_o