Road Trip!

Dig out the flip flops, break out the sunscreen, pick up the keys, and plug in the tunes because IT'S SUMMERTIME!

A few weeks ago, I rented a car with a couple of friends, Katie and Hallie, and we had our first road trip of the year. We rented a little Hyundai Avante and drove a couple of hours south to Wando on May 4th. Along the way, I learned a few things. 

    1. GPS is my nemesis. As it now stands, GPS: 1 million and counting, Kate: 0. 

Well, the jury may still be out, but I still claim it wasn't that bad. 

    2. You never know just what lies around the corner. 

It may be a boat. That you have to back your car onto. With a senile Korean man waving his arms frantically about in ways that should really come with a manual. Honestly, his arm swings had no direction at all and whatever direction he gave with them did not make any sense at all to this lady behind the wheel. I did, however, manage to flawlessly back up my car onto the ferry because of my impeccable driving skills. Twice. Once in the dark. (Neither, of which, were uphill.) High five, Kate. High five. 

We had a fun day getting lost on our way to one of the beaches in Wando. Although I don't remember the name of the beach, it was a rather nice one on the same island as the other beach from last year. I thought we were heading to the same beach, but this one must have been on the opposite side of the island. Nevertheless, it was nicer than the one last year. The beach was pretty expansive with at least 10 pensions and a nice bathroom area at the far end (away from the pensions). It was nice and sandy, versus rocky or pebbly, and the water was nice. It was an overcast day, but we could tell it was fairly clear and somewhat clean. There were also a lot of shells to be found on the beach. I picked up a shell-lovers fair share of them and even turned one into a rather nice necklace. 

I was due to return the car the following morning at 9am but decided at the last minute to keep it one more day. I spontaneously decided to head to Yeosu and Katie, even more spontaneously, came along for the ride. It turned out to be a fun, sunshine-filled day of wrong turns and traffic in Yeosu, which somehow worked itself out and we got to see a beautiful little beach tucked into a cove on the way to Hyangiram Hermitage. The Hermitage was really special, and the first one I'd ever been to. (Now that I know Hermitages are on the tops of mountains (in Korea at least), I may have to rethink them in the future…) It was special, though. It was a lovely Buddist temple and we happened to be there during the weekend of Budda's Birthday, so it was decorated with all the colorful lanterns, Budda statues, and wishing/prayer candles. And being at the top of a mountain on the southern tip of Yeosu meant incredible ocean vista views. (I may now have to rethink my rethinking of mountain-top Hermitages…) It was really very lovely, and I felt so exhilarated in a few different ways. Firstly that I made it to the top of that mountain. That was a feat in itself. Secondly, Katie and I donated a little bit and received a wish/prayer candle on which we wrote a little wish, and that made me feel pretty good. I also drank from the little well where water comes through a stone carving in the rock. Drinking the [purified and clean] water from one of those is supposed to refresh your body in more than just the physical sense, so that was kind of nice to have done. 

At the end of the day, we got back in the car and headed back for Gwangju. The trip back was uneventful and I sadly returned the car the following morning. Each day I had the car, though, was a reaffirmation of how much I love and miss driving, and have since begun thinking about buying a little cheap car in Korea, which brings me to my last little tid-bit of information: I have applied for grad school, which is entirely online, and if I am accepted, I play to stay in Korea for the duration of the program, 20 months, so I can pay down the loan. Until now, I have dismissed the thought of having a car in Korea because I always thought I would be here for just one year. Or just one more year. But if I stay for another two years, a car, and the flexibility it lends, begs the question… why not?