Jeju Island is a place I’ve wanted to go to since I first learned about South Korea in 2015. It was difficult just trying to buy a plane ticket from Jeju Air with an all-Korean website and getting through the domestic airport that was also mostly in Korean–but somehow I did it, without any crazy airport problems (trust me, that’s pretty uncommon for me). So I landed in Jeju, and thus began my first ever solo vacation that didn’t turn out at all how I expected it to.
First I should say a thing or two about Jeju: it’s an island off the southwestern coast of the Korean peninsula and is said to be the “Hawaii of Korea.” It’s a couples paradise, but I’ve wanted to go because it has a ton of history and really cool geological stuff (like hexagonal-shaped cliffs and a crater volcano with a lake inside). And also because tropics.
I did research ahead of time, of course, and I was well-aware that Jeju in winter is cold–around 40’F or 4’C. That’s fine, I thought. Especially because the crowds would be a lot thinner than spring or summer, and I really didn’t know if I’d have another chance to visit.
When I landed, the weather was fine, but it was already getting late so I didn’t explore much and went straight to my Airbnb!
I picked the place because I thought it looked homey, and the bay windows reminded me of my old room back in Texas. I introduced myself to the bed and found it had a very harsh personality; it was a rock, along with the pillows. I can survive three nights on a rock, I thought and when I woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, I thought watching the ocean from the windows would cheer me up. For the first 30 minutes, I saw all four seasons: sun, rain, sleet, snow and a fierce ocean wind that mixed it all together in one foul weather day.
It was so terrible that no one was found walking outside that entire day and I had trouble finding taxis willing to console my disheartened sense of adventure. But alas, I told myself I came for the cute coffee shops and ocean views, so I kept clicking the taxi button on my phone until one brave soul came for me.
I found myself at the first out of many coffee shops I’d visit in Jeju, staring at the sleet pounding on the windows. If I didn’t know it before, I knew it at that moment: I had picked the absolute worst time to be here. No kayaking, no cliff-exploring, not even a pleasant walk along the coast. And barely a taxi driver. I nearly cried into my latte but took a moment to picture God sitting with me (I guess it wasn’t really a solo trip, was it?) I felt very suddenly that Jeju was a small reflection of my time in Korea: turbulent, challenging, and saddest of all, disappointing–but yet still beautiful.
Then I felt like God was extending His hand and inviting me into something new. “Even though it’s disappointing, you can choose to respond well.”
At that moment, my miserable adventures in Jeju became a “practice adventure.” A tiny one to prepare me for the bigger adventure I was already on in Korea. Yeah, that made the miserable weather worth it–and the worst time I could be in Jeju turned into the best time to be in Jeju because God made it meaningful.
So I went on practicing how to respond to disappointment, frustration, and really scary weather for those two short days in Jeju. On the second day, my headache went away and it stopped sleeting. Instead it snowed something fierce; my host said it was really rare! Well this Canadian ain’t scared of a little snow, so I finally had the chance to walk around and find more cafes and stare at the ocean until my contacts nearly flew out of my eyeballs (wind was still fierce).
And just like that, the third morning I was in the airport on my way home. I thought my time in Jeju would be this super fun, adventuring adventure with clear skies and comfy beds–but let me tell you, it certainly was not. No spoiled princess vibes for me. But learning how to respond to disappointment was a real treasure. I can’t say I’ll get that right every time new challenges come my way, but I’ll always remember that Jeju was the place that God taught me I can respond well and that’s really, really important to Him.
Maybe it’s not the adventurous story you expected, but not every adventure is strawberry cream cake and lattes. Hopefully the next will work out better when I’ll be in Thailand for the very first time…next week!
I’ll be sure to take you with me, don’t worry 🙂 Let us go on and take the adventures that shall fall to us even if the weather is 💩
Signed,
Allison the Adventurer
