KOREA FOUNDATION

After three years of living on Jeju Island, I have found the best way to enjoy island life to the fullest: surfing! Saekdal Beach, less than 15 minutes by car from my home, is a surfer’s heaven. When I began to take surfing lessons — almost involuntarily, as I was persuaded by the leader of the surfers’ association — I never imagined that I would end up loving the sport. However, I have fallen deep into surfing. All summer, unless I had some special appointment to keep, I rushed to Saekdal every week; now, I am left with dark tanned skin, bruises that I don’t remember getting, and sand on my floor that I will never be able to totally clean up. The thing is, surfing makes me happy, even with everything that comes with it.

Whenever I arrive at the sea, I seem to forget all my worries and burst into laughter at the slightest thing. Becoming one with my board, I concentrate on the movement of the waves, feeling carefree and light both in body and mind. While I surf, I am free of my smartphone and oblivious to the passage of time, only paying attention to the sea and the people around me. I cherish the skies after rain, rainbows, and the beautiful sunsets that I can see from the surface of the water, capturing them only with my eyes.

Since I took up surfing, I no longer talk about office-related things, even with my friends from work; instead, I speak only about surfing. When the weekend nears, we surfers are focused solely on natural conditions such as when ebb tide will hit, wave height and intervals, and wind speed.

I may sound like a professional, but I am still an elementary-level surfer whose dreams are much bigger than my actual surfing skills.

With the warm sunshine of Jeju Island and its mild weather — compared to that of the mainland — I look forward to making another fantastic takeoff this winter.

Written by Kwon A-Reum, Senior Program Officer, Global Networking Department

For inquiries about surfing, call 064-804-1129

SurfingJejuSaekdal Beachsurfing lessons