Tug-of-war in the water
And the octopus in JejuHaenyeo school
12th of June, 2021, it’s already mid-June. It has been 6 weeks since I started Haenyeo school. It was cloudy all Thursday, and it rained all Friday, but it’s sunny on Saturday. It’s a nice day to go into the water.
The most important question : What the "Haenyeo" means to me?
Today as well, the media promotion team gathered and discussed together. A student, an influencer, was eager to promote Haenyeo school using active youtube, instagram, tik tok. I am concerned about the attempt to image as young, beautiful, sexy Haenyeo. I need to think more about what Haenyeo means to me and how to define Haenyeo in my heart. And what tik tok and reels are? I don't know what they are. The promotion team meeting shows myself who looked far from ‘being young’ any more.
Finished attire wearing lead and holding a Ho-maeng-yi
It's the day introductory class wears lead. Leads were generally 2 to 3kg, and lead belt and lead are borrowed from Haenyeo school. I wore my flourescent color lead 2kg. If we wear diving suit because it is more buoyant than a regular swimsuit, drowning accident don't happen, most of the time. On the contrary it's difficult to dive, and there is no way to drawn. So going into the sea starts without lead at first, and after having a 2 weeks adaptation time, student wear lead from the third week of sea class.
The vice-chiarman of introductory class get Ho-maeng-yi that costs 7,000 won for one at the Han-Rim market held every 5 days. I should tie a string so that I can hang it on my wrist, I haven't tied a string yet.
Last week, while students were catching sea urchins, there were a lot accidents being stabbed by sea urchins. Some hand a thorn or two in their fingers in the sea, picking up sea urchins others had thorns steping sea urchin shells with their feet out of the sea. Ever if they were wearing socks or gloves, they got thorns. So I was afraid to tray to catch them, but there is no problem with the Ho-maeng-ti now!
Tug-of-war outside the water and Tug-of-war in the water
Today there was a Tug-of-war rope instead of the pilates warm-up. Is it all right that we are in slippers with bare hands? I thought. But regardless of concerns, it was fun because we won continually. Group 5 is ready to be strong Jeju Haenyeo, easily winning the team with more male students.
After going into the sea, the rope was put in the water. Playing Tug-of-war in the water, instead, we couldn't lie down and pull the rope. Pulling with my arms, in order not to be dragged away, I had to kick my fins. Thinking, 'how does it become like this?' we were dragged away without learning how to do it. We were strong outsides the water, but weak in the water. Oh! Let's just pretend group 5 are not ready to be Jeju Haenyeo. Let's go further!
Underwater swimming practice : Dynamic with fins (DYN)
In costal waters of Haenyeo school, a chain is formed, too. The chain for underwater swimming practice is down around the sea. One by one went into the sea with duck-dive, and practiced dynamics holding the breath until we can hold it. It doesn't matter that much! Holding the breath is not a physical obstacle, but a mental obstacle. Holding the breath is to have to hold the breath, the desire to breathe out, according to the famous stretching instructor Kang-Ha-Na(강하나)'s words "enjoying the pain a little ~".
Sea hare, octopus and sea urchin
Today as well, Haenyeo teachers came. A student picked up a sea hare. It's a strange shape I've never seen before. I didn't know where a head was, but it was more like snail than a fish, being two antennae raised. Sea hare is an animal belonging to the Cephalopoda, Mollusca such as shellsifh. A Haenyeo cuts its guts with Ho-Maeng-Yi, as soon as she sees it saying "I need to get its guts out" purple guts were pouring ous.
Haenyeo teacher found a married student, saying that "Who's married? This needs to be fed to the groom. Then you can't sleep that night!" There are many married students, but no one is coming forward. And I raised my hand from the side. Saying to, keep feeding my husband, she smiled. "Boil sea hare in small quantities, and dip it in red pepper paste and eat it." She taught how to make it.
Two octopuses were caught today. Haenyeo-s wondered how two octopuses were caught, not having been able to see it lately. I didn't know how caught it, but I heard a shout somewhere,
"It's an octopus!!!"
It was a pretty big octopus. We share them all together, boiling the octopus right away and dipping it in vinegar. It was so delicious!
Today I had lesson with the other Haenyeo who spoke less Jeju-language not the Haenyeo I saw last week. My group was made up 8 persons, and two were absent, and six persons left. One of them did not go into the sea, and we took a one-on-five sea lesson. I asked the Haenyeo, looking at the students stabbed by a sea urchin last week,
"Aren't you stabbed by a sea urchin thorn, when you catch it?"
"No, we're not stabbed. That's because beginners touch it quickly, quickly. But we aren't stabbed, because we move slowly, carefully."
Saying this, she caught sea urchins with us. It was pouting between the stones, while diving, she flipped the rock, and I was amazed how she know she had to flip the rock the way. If she flip it the other side, the rock would cover the sea urchin. I think maybe she located the sea urchin quickly. Once going into the water like that, she was coming out with two or three sea urchins. She brought them by hand without using Ho-maeng-yi, she was holding naturally them like a sea urchin sting never happened. Soon spliting sea urchins with a small stone, she kept feeding us them.
"Help yourself~"
"No, I don't eat. Eat a lot you guys!"
Why didn't she eat? To eat freshly caught sea urchins floating on the water was the taste of the world, but I was sorry that she didn't eat them.
We ate a turban shell and a sea cucumber. To cut their belly and to eat them on the spot was so dilicious. This sea we are in belongs to the field of Haenyeo and seafoods must not be gathered in principle. So they say in the past there was a conflict between Haenyeo school and Haenyeo association of Kui-duk-2-Ri(귀덕2리) because of the students' gathering. Electing a new chairman of it, there seems to be a change of its stance. I want to hear the details from her.
Today the Haenyeo teacher had less heavy Jeju-language, and I could ask a lot of questions and I could hear a lot. There is a fixed time of four hours for working to the Haenyeo-s of Kui-duk-2-ri(귀덕2리) sea, they saw that if it's the time limited, flag rises from the ground, and seeing it the Haenyeo-s come out after work. A flag signal? I thought of the flag signal for command delivery during war including naval battles in the past.
When does Haenyeo who has been working for 43 years start working in the water?
The swimming of the Haenyeo who has been working in the water for 43 years is breathless to keep up with. I learned to kick-duck using my thighs with the idea of pressing water with the back of my feet without bending my knees at free diving. She kicks completely differently from that, but she is very quick and efficient. Dipping her face in the water without a snorkel straw, she swims like that.
I want to stay in the sea more and more..
I can spend time out in the sea on weekdays, too, but to go into the sea isn't easy, as well as I think. Because there are so many places to see in Jeju, such as olle trail, Hallasan, art gallery etc. I imagine that walking along the olle trail, I go into the sea and come out, and I walk again drying cloths. But I don't have the courage to do that. And as I am a equipment-worm, I want to go into the sea with equipment, when I go into the sea. So I'm happy at this time to go into the sea with a determination at the Haenyeo school. Saying that it's cold. it's hard, many students leave the sea early, I remain in the sea to the last. I want to stay in the sea more! more! more!
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https://brunch.co.kr/magazine/women-haenyeo
