The Aclipse Blog is Produced by Current Teachers in Korea!

It is my last week teaching English in Korea. After living in Jeju for over a year, I have done everything on the island that I have wanted to do; I have climbed Jeju's volcano, Mt. Hallasan, several times, visited all of the beaches, checked out Jeju's famous lava tubes, and so much more. Yet, there was still one more thing on my bucket list. I haved joked about doing it since I arrived in Korea, but have not seriously thought about going. But with my time in Korea dwinding down, I thought this might be my last opportunity to visit an erotic theme park.

As an English teacher in Korea, I feel extremely lucky to live in Jeju. Jeju is the prettiest, most diverse, and most interesting place I have ever lived. The longer I live here the more I realize this and the awesome locations I discover on the island. If you research Jeju, you will surely find information about the beautiful beaches and the massive volcano (Mt. Halla) in the middle of the island. Those attractions definitely receive the most attention, but after living here for over a year, I have discovered something just attention-worthy as the beaches and the volcano: the  many waterfalls that can found around the island.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would scuba dive during my year of teaching English in South Korea. First, I did not even know if people scuba dove or if there were great locations for diving. Korea is cold for so many months of the year and the ocean water is always freezing; two conditions that are not that conducive for diving. Second, and most importantly, I became certified when I was 17 years old and had not been diving once. Now, I am 26 and really can't remember much about about diving because it has been 9 years and have not thought much about going. But, only a few months after arriving in Korea, I was being invited to go diving.

After a few weeks into my year of teaching English in Korea, I took a day trip to one of the beautiful beaches on the island of Jeju. For those of you who do not know, Jeju is a Korean island off the southern coast of Korea and is a huge tourist attraction in Asia. The island is known for its stunning beaches, caves, and large volcano. Anyway, when I arrived to the beach, I was suprised to find a group of older women clad in wetsuits, but yet they had no SCUBA equipment, surfboards, or any other type of water recreation equipment. At first, I thought they just might be going for a swim, but what came next, suprised me even more.

There are so many museums on Jeju that I had to break up my museum guide into two parts. So today, I am going to continue with the second installment of my guide with numbers six through ten on my list of favorite Jeju Museums. To see my top five Jeju Museums, check out my last blog entitled: Jeju Island: The Land of Museums! Without further ado, here is number six on the list....

There are so many reasons to visit Jeju Island while you are teaching English in South Korea. The island is a major tourist attraction in Korea, and in fact, attracts thousands of tourists from across Asia. From beautiful beaches to  stunning hikes, the island has it all. One often overlooked facet of the island is the extensive variety of museums. Some are quirky, some are tourist traps, some are childish, and some are well worth a visit. Today, I want to give you PART 1 of my list and review of my favorite museums on the island!

Jeju's Seongsan Sunrise peak (seen in the the picture above) has been ranked the most beautiful place to visit in Korea by CNNGo and is the iconic image of the island of Jeju. It is an amazing place to spend a day, but around New Years, it becomes home to the Seongsan Sunrise Festival, and it is easy to spend a few days at this awesome landmark.

 So I am not a huge gambler and I really try my best to avoid casinos. In fact, I have only been to three casinos in my entire life. As an English teacher living in Jeju though, it is hard to ignore some of the massive casinos on the island. Many of them are in close proximity to some of the island's best beaches and they are connected to some of the island's premier resorts. There are eight casinos scattered throughout the small island so when visiting, you are bound to see one. I finally took the plunge and visited one of the fancier ones on the island, Lotte Hotel and Casino, and I am sad to say that casinos seem to be pretty much the same all over the world. Same games, same atmosphere, same buffets, etc....but I was surprised to learn during my visit some interesting facts about gambling in Korea.

So with summer just around the corner, English teachers start looking at some ways to beat the heat. One of the best ways to stay cool in as an English teacher in Korea during the summer is to head to the beach. Fortunately, Korea has miles and miles of coastline and many idyllic beaches to choose from. While some people who live on the mainland might argue, I am a firm believer that if you want to see the best beaches, you have to come to the island of Jeju, just off the southern coast. (I do admit that I am slightly biased as that is where I call home.) Anway, without further ado, I would like share my list of top beaches in Jeju. For anyone spending their summer teaching in Korea, these beaches are a must!