I entered the auditorium and heard some familiar tunes that perked my ears. In the background they played songs by Evanescence, Daughtry, and Coldplay. Not a bad selection really. Finally everything went silent and the stage lights flashed across the black curtains like a dance club. Matching music echoed in the auditorium as two pairs of risque-dressed dancers moved across the dance floor. I kind of think it was an over-done introduction, but what can you expect of a Nevada man? ;)
The magician (Rick Thomas) introduced a white tiger through magic and the help of his ladies and gent's. From there he did a series of tricks including the traditional intertwining rings, cutting a woman in half, sawing her through with multiple blades, making things and people float etc etc. A couple of times, he called upon the audience to help. He asked a lady in front of me to help him out, but I was soooo scared that he meant me. I was scared and so I shrank from view as much as possible. Hahaha! I'm so chicken. At one point, the magician made a woman disappear.
The audience of mostly Korean elderly ladies cried out "Where did she go?? What did you do with her??"
The magician, obviously pleased, raised a hand and said "Hush!" with a broad grin. The ladies never did get their answer.
Sadly, no pictures were allowed in this auditorium, so I am unable to give you a more vivid description. :(
After this location, we came upon a horse farm. We were ushered into a barn where we were given red vests and black hats then filed under a shed where we waited our turn to ride horses around the property. As I waited, I saw lots of colts and fillies sleeping on the dry grass or standing forlorn in the midst of the dust roads. I saw the adults coming back around the ring. One skinny little foal came whinnying to its mother, who responded weakly but happily as it greeted its baby in return. The little one began to feed hungrily on its mother's milk. But before it had three sips the next rider was on the mother and kicking her sides to get going. The staff pulled at the mother's reins and separated the mother and baby. I realized then how thin the foal was. Its ribs were sticking out disproportionately and it staggered shakily towards its mother, but soon gave up for lack of strength. I saw this event repeated every time the mother came around. Poor baby and mother...... When I was given the reins of another horse, I noticed its ears were tilted back rather far. From my understanding this indicated it as feeling edgy and uncomfortable. I patted it on the neck and whispered to it, trying to comfort it. Poor thing. It was tired, slow, and dirty. They staff took a picture of us riding the horses, but how could I feel happy even riding this horse? As we neared the end of the ring, we were each given a stick to whip the horses to make them fall into a trot. I gazed at the stick, feeling somewhat horrified at this added abuse. Shaking my head, I patted the horse's neck instead, telling it that it could go at its own pace. It may seem silly for me to have done so, but I didn't know how else to make it feel better or to at least understand that I wanted to be its friend. The staff slapped my horse on the back to get it to go faster, but I kept patting it on the neck to tell it to relax. Eventually, it listened to me and came to a slow walk to where we had started. When I got down, it pressed its nose into my chest and stayed there for a couple minutes before the staff sent me away and the next rider took the reins.
Next, we arrived at a small old town that preserved the customs and architecture of the prehistoric days: thatched roofs, stone and mud walls, and dirt floors. They routinely drew water from far rivers or allowed the dew to collect beside tall trees, with the aid of straw ropes, into clay pots. They gathered food from gardens that they planted and cooked it over a clay oven in a large black clay pot. Meanwhile their babies were rocked in a straw-weaved basket and their little ones helped around the house.
We left this old town for the hills. Here we were surrounded by beautiful landscapes of flowers, trees, and stones. I tried to take lots of pictures, but my memory card claimed to be to its max. Frustrated I tried to erase as many old pictures as fast as possible as I followed my group past so much good potential! Grrrrr >.< We went into this deep dark cave where we were required, in some places, to walk in a squatting position. Where the ceilings were low, there were rubber guards pressed against the sharp edges. Lights were all over the ground so you wouldn't miss your step. At the entrance of the cave was a Buddha statue with candles surrounding it. At the center of the cave was a pillar of stone with a carved and painted dragon on it. A little further in to the cave was a pool of water standing four feet above the ground. It was rather chilly in there, so we hurried out to look at the rest of the landscape. The rest of the acreage was covered in additional flowers and trees, as well as a greenhouse of cactus and old-fashioned mud houses.
Our final destination was mini-train ride through an Eco-friendly park. I forget the name of it. Maybe it was Ecoland? I don't remember... We took the little train into the midst of the open fields covered in grass bowing with dew and trees shading our surroundings. We came towards the center of the park and were left to walk on bridges made that crossed between islands of grass and trees separated by large bodies of water. It was definitely a peaceful final view of Jeju Island. After missing my train, I had to wait a few extra trains before I got to get back to the mainland. Hehehe. ^^
My family!!! :DWe stopped for our last meal on Jeju Island and hurried to the Jeju International Airport. We waited three long hours before our 9:00pm flight finally took off back to Seoul. Aaaaah it was SOOOO good to get back to the mainland. I dragged myself to bed and didn't even bother washing up. Zzzzzzzz.......
