OZB offers coffee for the connoisseur, Jeju, South Korea

December 26, 2008 by Brian Miller · 1 Comment
Filed under: Coffee Shops

Seogwipo bean master roasts his own premium coffee
Story and photos by Brian Miller
OZB Coffee
Take your pick at OZB | Credit: Brian Miller

One great thing about living on Jeju is the absolute abundance of coffee shops. But you may often find yourself trying to find a shop that breaks the mold, a shop that offers its customers more than just the average cappuccino or Americano. If you want more from a cup of coffee than just a caffeine buzz then you’ll want to check out OZB in Seogwipo.

Tags: choi ji sik, coffee, JEJU, oza, SOUTH KOREA

Jeju’s Shamans

November 11, 2008 by Brian Miller · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Jeju & Korean Culture

Shaman

Jeju’s mythical past still alive and well
Story and photo by Brian Miller

For many in Jeju, this island is a haunted place. It’s home to 18,000 gods, and nearly every rock, tree, mountain, pond and home is claimed by one kind of spirit or another. If you want to communicate with these spirits and gods, you can either visit one of the island’s many shrines, or contact a simbang. The ‘simbang’ (or shaman) is a man endowed with supernatural powers. He’s a conduit between gods and humans who uses his psychic abilities to transmit messages between this world and the next. They perform in ceremonies called 굿 or “gut” (pronounced like “good” with a hard d). There are three levels of simbang. The first level simbangs mainly do manual chores at guts while learning the skills required to perform ceremonies. Once they’ve graduated to the second level, a simbang will be allowed to perform minor guts, but is most often found performing music at the major ceremonies. The greatest of them has attained all the supernatural powers of a simbang. One such man is Kim Yun Su, a simbang of the highest order who lives here in Jeju and can often be found leading major guts on the island.

Tags: event, gut, JEJU, shamen, SOUTH KOREA

When Mongolia ruled Jeju, Jeju, South Korea

September 13, 2008 by Brian Miller · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Jeju & Korean Culture, Things to Do, Things to See

In 1270, Kim Tong-jeong’s Sambyeolcho army landed in Jeju. It was a motley assortment of Korean freedom fighters and liberated Mongolian Prisoners of War who had continued to fight Mongolia despite orders from the Goryeo court in Seoul to lay down their weapons. In pursuit were the Mongolian army and their new Goryeo allies, who had assembled a force of 10,000 men to hunt down and destroy them. With the help of local residents, Kim overtook Jeju’s indigenous army and erected a fortress near Halla Mountain. They held Jeju until 1273, when Kim and Korea’s resistance to Mongolia came to a bloody end. The Mongol-Goryeo force annihilated the Sambyeolcho at Hangpaduri, and Kim was forced to flee to the wilds of Halla Mountain, where he later committed suicide.

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Kim Ok Sun’s foreigner photography exhibition, Jeju, South Korea

August 30, 2008 by Brian Miller · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art Galleries & Museums

In 1653, Jeju met its first foreigner. It came in the form of a shipwrecked Dutchman named Hendrick Hamel. The local community must not have liked what they saw, as they immediately shipped Hamel and his crew off the island to live in captivity in Seoul. It took Hamel and a handful of crewmates nearly 13 years to escape.

Nowadays, Jeju is far more hospitable to its foreign guests. The island attracts an eclectic group of foreigners who have come to live here for wildly different reasons. Their lives and dreams have become the subject of an award winning photo project by fine art photographer Kim Oksun.

Tags: foreigners, JEJU, kimoksun, photography, southkorea