Something to Remember: Hyeopjae Beach

Today, we had an impromptu excursion to Hyeopjae Beach. A white sand beach that is ranked among the top 10 on the island. The beach was also #22 out of 50 on that checklist of things to do in S. Korea that I sent out earlier this week:)

http://10mag.com/jejus-top-10-beaches/

Ashley and I began our morning with a walk to Starbucks, where I had difficulty ordering a caramel coffee. The woman behind me spoke English and offered to translate my order for me. We have been fortunate enough to have this happen on occasion, when someone who is bilingual sees us struggling to communicate, they offer to help. We ask her if she could recommend a nearby beach and she wrote it down for us in Korean to give to a cab driver.

Bits of paper with requests in Korean to help us communicate.

The address to Starbucks to give to the cab driver so that we can get home :)

"Please take us to Hyeopjae Beach."

"I would like to sign up for membership to receive the sale price."

The language barrier here is pretty significant, few people speak English. But, that doesn't stop us from trying to communicate. We will carry on a full conversation in English, while the sales associate carriers on their side of the conversation in Korean, and this goes on with a lot of pointing until we finally understand each other :)

When we went to the hospital for our physical evaluations, the nurses did not speak any English. But, the street vender at Crazy Burger spoke perfect English. He gave us his card and told us to call him whenever we needed a cab, and that he would call the cab for us.

Excited for a day at the beach!

Hyeopjae Beach with a beautiful view of Biyangdo Island.

Hyeopjae Beach (협재해수욕장) is located on the west side of Hanrim-eup, and is part of Hanrim Park. The beautiful white color of the sand comes from the large amounts of crushed seashells that have been mixed in with the sand. The long seashore stretches for 9 km and has cobalt colored seawater and evergreen forests scattered around the vicinity, making the scenery very beautiful.

Biyangdo Island can be seen directly from Hyeopjae Beach, which is located the northwest of Hanrim Port. The word Biyang means to fly over, and indeed, legend has it that Biyangdo Island actually flew over from China more than 1000 years ago. The tiny island island, accompanied by Hallim Park, Hyeopjae Beach, and Hallim Port, create a truly picturesque landscape. At the peak in the middle of the island are two craters that form a basin, which is home to a colony of Villbrunea frutescens, the only natural colony in Korea. The island is also home to over 80 fish and various marine plants.

Ashley sitting amongst some memorial structures.

We are around other people all the time, during our commute, in the classroom (16 students, 2 teachers), in residence (125+ people living in my dorm), it is really nice to have some quality, relaxing bonding time, just the two of us :)