Workshop Vacation

On Friday this past week, I had to attend a mandatory workshop at my neighbourhood office of education. The last time I had to sit through one of these, it was on a Friday afternoon, just before my weekend began. Needless to say, the roomful of teachers were neither excited nor thrilled about that fact. So, as you can imagine, we weren't looking forward to this one either. Especially because they told us it would take up the entire day.

We got lucky, though! This time, the district office of education had planned a day trip for us, to Nami Island in Korea's Gangwon province. It was such a wonderful surprise, and a well deserved break from the daily grind of teaching ESL. Here are some of my favourite photos from that trip.


They say that Nami Island is a place for lovers. It's funny, because right now I can say that just about any place in Korea is a place for lovers. There's couples and cute couple-ish things in almost every neck of the woods out here. However, it's pretty obvious that with each season, Nami Island draws tons of lovers to its romantic and scenic nature trails. It's kind of neat, because most of the older Koreans stay away from it... they prefer mountains and hiking trails. More on that in another post.


We took a short ferry ride from the mainland to the island. It was absolutely breathtaking... being surrounded by mountains and crisp, fresh air. A welcoming change from the constant layer of smog that surrounds Seoul. And the funny part about this, is that you don't notice how bad the air is in the city, until you leave it.


One of Korea's most famous dramas, Winter Sonata, was filmed here. The entire island has signs on it that refer to various scenes from the drama. It's a love story, go figure. What a perfect place to film it. Even my (maybe) cynical heart felt warm and cozy as I walked the trails and took in the refreshing scenery. You can't help but feel happy on Nami Island!

xo
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