Gwangju - Boseong - Suncheon - Yeosu, WTRD 8 of 49, September 11, 2017

Today's Itinerary:
Day 3 9/11 (Mon): Gwangju - Boseong - Suncheon - Yeosu (B,L,D) 

After breakfast, head to Boseong Green Tea Plantation. Enjoy the beauty of the area's green tea fields and cedar trees. Next, visit Naganeupseong Folk Village, where you can observe the dwellings characteristic of the country's southern provincial area. Then explore Suncheonman Bay Ecological Park, thickly covered with reeds taller than a full-grown man, and then stop by Yongsan Observatory to see the bay's beautiful view. For the last stop of the day, visit Suncheonman Bay Eco-Museum, established to provide a research and education facility to preserve the area's natural habitats. After dinner, check in at the hotel and spend the rest of the day at your leisure. Accommodation: Hidden Bay Hotel or Similar (5-Star)

Finally, we sleep until 5:30 in the morning when our alarm goes off.  Truthfully, I woke just before the alarm to the sound of rain splattering against the windows.  By the time we leave for the day, the rain is coming down in buckets. We brought our rain jackets, but unfortunately didn't bring our wet suits, snorkel gear, or an umbrella. Since there is no plan B for rain, we will be outdoors in the deluge a good part  of the day.  Our guide suggests we buy an umbrella.  Reluctantly, we do so. 

Boseong Green Tea Plantation

And of course by the time we reached our first destination, Boseong Green Tea Plantation, the heavy rain had turned into an occasional sprinkle, and we only needed our rain jackets.  It is Monday, a work day.  There is 97 percent employment in Korea, so those inclined to take the day off will not choose a rainy day.  Consequently we have the tea plantation of 400 acres and 5.8 million tea trees (bushes), founded in 1957 to ourselves.  

The scenery  was magnificent.  

Path up to the Plantation

The tea ceremony was efficient and very perfunctory.  (no ritual or spiritual significance).  

The tea, first pick and second pour, was excellent.

There are four pickings off the mature trees each spring.  First pick first of April are tender, sweet and receive gold award, second pick in mid-April receive silver award, third pick beginning in May receive bronze recogniton, fourth pick mid-May resigned to iron recognition. 

After that, no more picking. I buy a small box of tea, but the real treasure here was the manicured beauty after a cleansing rain.

Education in Korea

As we travel to our next destination, our guide enlightens us on the education system in Korea but first he explains Korean age.

When a child is born he/she is 1 year old, not zero as in western countries.  If that same child is born in September as a 1 year old,  on, January 1 that same child turns 2 yeas old.  So basically our 3 month old babies in America would be considered 2 year olds in Korea.  

Kindergarten is encouraged but not mandatory.  A child enters elementary school at Korean age 7 or 8.  Elementary school has six years.  Then there is middle school for three years (comparable to grades 7-8-9.). At the end of middle school, students go either to a technical high school for three years or to a college preparatory high school.  Only students going to college prep receive a high school diploma.  

Without a high school diploma, wages are about $20,000 for trades and technical jobs, factory work, wait servers, bus drivers, etc., and there is no upward mobility. 20 percent of the workforce falls into this category.  The other 80 percent are college graduates.  For most Korean parents, college is a no-choice expectation for their children if they want their children to succeed financially.  Unfortunately, there are not enough college level jobs for graduating students that pay good money, so students are either unemployed or go out of the country to get a good job.  There are also not enough workers to do the non-college jobs, so there is an immigration recruitment.

The Korean government encourages couples to have 2-3 children, but it takes approximately $100,000 per child to educate.  Elementary schools there is no fee, but in a public high school the fee is $1500 per year, per student. Private high schools are $4,000 or more per year, per student.  College runs $8,000 to $10, 000 per student.  

Naganeupseong Folk Village

We arrive at our second destination of the day.  This old folk village is lovely to look at, but too rustic for everyday living.  Five hundred years ago, this village surrounded by short walls, was not an effective fortress for the town of 250 people, but it did provide them with a first offense before fleeing to the hillsides if it looked like enemy forces were large and strong and sure to over power them in just a few minutes.

Now used as workspace and shops for tourists. 

The old jail and torture grounds.

The Govenor held court for the accused.

I beg of you to have mercy.

No Mercy.

Servants Prepare Governor's Food

Our third and final destination is the ecologically protected area, Sancheon Eco Park.  This is where the river water and salt water from the bay come together in this wet land delta, home to many birds, crabs and mudskippers.

We eat dinner in a Korean restaurant, and hurry to our hotel to watch the remnants of a very red sunset.

All is Well With the Worrall Travel R's in Yeosu on the Bay.