Saturday, May 14, 2005

The last of Cheju Island


I promise my viewers this will be the last installment of Chejudo. Obviously I need to go to some more exotic destinations and get snapping some fresh, new images. With the Chunchon Mime Festival coming up in two weeks and my end of semester vacation in Thailand and Australia I'm sure the future bodes well.
And now about the above photo...no your eyes are not deceived! On Cheju island it's a matriarchy of scuba diving grandmas who bring home the sea shells, snails, urchins (you name it) instead of the bacon. A local explained that women have a much greater lung capacity than men and are much more agile with their hands, and so the men are quite content to sit at home while the not so faint-hearted lady folk make perilous dives into the ocean day after day.
I thought the custom had been reduced to a touristy practice at a theme park, but no, all across the island grandmas in their 60s and 70s, and tough as nails, are busy diving, swimming, hauling great baskets of ocean delicacies onto the shore.

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