A glimpse of South Korea's Oedo island
My hometown is Geoje-si, Gyeongsangnam-do. Because of the character of the island (Geoje-si is also known as Geoje-island. It is located near Busan.), I can go anywhere by boat. Excluding Jeju island, my hometown is considered to be the biggest island in Korea so our family have traveled the whole of Geoje island, from end to end. Geoje-island is famous for tourist spots.
Venus garden in Oedo Island
I think the most famous place in Geoje-island is Oe-do (‘외도’ in Korean). It is a small island. If you want to go to Oe-do, you should check the weather first! The only way to enter that island is by ship. My family knew this already, but the weather was not good at that time. Every time my family visits Oe-do, the waves are relatively high. But Oe-do has a magical power that cures our hurt mind with its amazing weather. We feel rejuvenated every time we go there. At the entrance, you can see some trees that seem to appear only in fairy tales. When I saw the trees for the first time, I thought that I was a small Alice (in the tale, Alice’s adventures in wonderland, she gets bigger or smaller from time to time). We also went to the place named ‘Venus garden’. All the trees in this island were magnificently laid out. Oi-do was chosen as the set of the famous Korean soap drama, Winter Sonata (‘겨울연가’).
Sacheon - the place I will always vividly remember
My father loves traveling. He brings me along when he travels. So I remember that I travel a lot around Gyeong-nam when I was young. There is this one particular place that I vividly remember intensely in my memory. One summer, we went to Sacheon (사천) with my father’s friend and his family. We went to some small village named Dong-hwa (Fairy tale) village. And there is a good place where people can enjoy and have fun in water. That place is named after its village, ‘Dong-hwa forest’. It was interesting for me because there is a very dense forest near the river. And there was an underground pass so we could play hide and seek. I don’t know why I have the memory of playing in water, but obviously I think that it was the most interesting place to me. Thanks to my father, just like him, now I love traveling too. When I go home this vacation, I’ll go somewhere with my family and bring along some camping tools. I’m excited for my future trips. I hope you also get your bags packed and be ready for your travel adventures. I’m sure it would be loads of fun.
Article written by Koo Gi Young
from GEO Class 3-8 (Prof. Stephen Jones and TA Ezzy Lee)
