Hi Jade,
How are you? I just got back a few days ago from a 2-week templestay,
and now have time to write you about my WWOOF experiences on Jeju with
부정선 of Seondol Mul Maru (Jan 21-27, 2011).
I had a great experience. My host and her assistant were really
friendly and generous, and very patient with me and my basic Korean
language skills. During my week there, I helped them out with all
aspects of her business, from rotating and cleaning meju to making
deliveries and packaging Seollal gift packs. I even got to participate
in the first stages of making dongdongju - pressing the blocks of
nuruk with my feet. Through observing the daily workings of a small
food business, I realized how much passion and commitment it takes to
be successful. It was inspiring to be around that kind of energy.
In addition to working, we also went hiking twice, including an
amazing hike on Hallasan, and to a jjimjilbang. I ate well every
single day, including a lot of her own products. Given the
opportunity, I would definitely go back to visit, and work with her
again if possible, especially since a lot of her work is seasonal and
I feel like I barely scratched the surface in terms of the process of
making traditional sauces and pastes.
I will say that it was very helpful to know some basic Korean (I
hardly spoke any English at all while there - my Korean definitely
improved!), and I think it might have been frustrating (for me and my
host) if I did not know any Korean - just a tip for future WWOOFers.
Well, that's a basic summary of my trip, but I did take a lot of notes
and am planning on writing more extensively about it. In particular,
I'd like to try and submit an article to one of the English language
magazines here, like 10 or Seoul magazine - it would be good publicity
for WWOOF, too. What do you think?
Best wishes,
Jamie
p.s. The photos are of us hiking on Hallasan and my host and her
assistant taking a break from washing meju.
