Switching Over

I decided to move my blog over to wordpress... It's quite a fun forum. Anyhoo, you can find all of my posts plus all future ones at http://kimchijournals.wordpress.com/

Keep on reading :D

Busan Pirate Party

This weekend, I headed off to Busan with some friends for the epic Pirate Party. Busan is by far my favourite place in Korea. It is so beautiful, at the sea and there is plenty to do. So, we headed of bright and early on Saturday morning for some shopping, site seeing and beaching before the Pirate Party (to be had on a ship that sailed around the Busan pay, handing out free beer and cider).

Was an awesome day, heading over to Centum city and then down to Haeundae beach to see the Aquarium. Unfortunately we ran out of time for the aquarium so chilled on the beach instead. I need to come back to Busan for a full weekend of touring as there is sooo much I still haven't seen.

After the beach, we headed back to get ready for the Pirate party. Of course, we didn't have actual pirate gear, so we made do with what we could find (to my dear sisters, the "Hey Sailor" PJ's came in very handy this night). Then we headed off for the trip around the seas. I had great fun playing Kings with some Croatians- who sadly were leaving after this weekend making it hard to establish a friendship solid enough to organise a Croatian holiday... After the ship, we had a 20 min bus trip back to Haeundae. I used this time to make use of my beer courage and insist that everyone joined me for some acapella styled noraebanging (ok, truth, I insisted they join in while I stood in the middle of the bus bleating my all time favourite songs, mostly from the Beatles and Queen). In my slightly altered mind, everyone was having a great time! And, considering I may never meet these strangers again, that beautiful memory where I have the voice of an angel and the dance moves of Mick Jagger shall forever remain in tact! :D

I later met up with some of my other Gumi/Daegu friends at a club called the Wolf Gang. Soooo much fun at this place. Danced, laughed and generally had and awesome time with these amazing people. At one stage, Michelle and I walked past a stall selling fried things. Not sure what it was, but we ordered all of it, with a side of Dok Bokkie sauce (the lady obliged after we helped ourselves to some of the Dok Bokkie straight from her pot). Then we sat and ate our deep fried things- the only one I recognised was a deep fried egg.

Then we retired to our lovely Motel Room at Moby Dick. An all round awesome night that led to a Sunday filled with pain, agony and illness for those who get hungover. And a general distaste for my far too chipper Sunday face. Well done to the team though, they managed to drag themselves out of bed, into the shower (a certain Megan having to relive the torture of deciding to take a shower nap ON THE BOILER) and off to the tattoo parlor. Before you freak (this mostly aimed at my lovely Wijnberg family), I did not get a tattoo- although the idea still intrigues me and may be inevitable... This tattoo parlor was AWESOME. Home to probably the coolest guy I have met. A tattoo artist who is not covered in tattoos oddly makes his artwork extra special. He lives in this beautiful and spacious apartment and works from home. For those in Korea wanting to get a tattoo- go to Fat Buddha's in Busan. He is AMAZING!

This trip did cause a lot of laughter when the reactions of the two Megan's was compared. One arrived cocky as ever, ready to get her third tattoo. The other, a recent burn victim, probably feeling constant pain at this stage, walked in a little nervous. Well, Megan aka Joey, took the pain like a pro. Barely muttering an "oh boy" and then showing the tattoo artist her burn wound (always eliciting a big response from all, mine, uncontrollable laughter only compared to those people who laugh through funerals. It looked hellishly painful). Megan, aka Val, on the other hand was not so brazen. My favourite moment being when she told the tattoo artist to "F**k off, stop this now because it hurts!" Great when she realised those thoughts were out loud. But everyone toughed it out and were rocking awesome tattoos when leaving. Not bad for your average Sunday morning.

So, overall, still loving life. Will see again in a few weeks when monsoon season is in full swing. Off to go paragliding next weekend and saying a very sad (but excited for her) good bye to Val...

World DJ Fest

Wow, my head is still buzzing after this weekend. Easily one of my top weekends in Korea. I bought my tickets to World DJ Fest within my first week of arriving to Gumi. I bought tickets with people I had literally just met, in the hopes we would still be friends :P Of course, these particular people are too friggin awesome and so by the time this epic weekend arrived, I feel we had established a pretty solid friendship. We had decided to all get animal onesies and embody our true spirit animal :D

And so, after many weeks of planning, we finally headed off to the festival early on Friday morning (got to love Buddha for having a birthday and giving us a public holiday). As you will soon see, this weekend had many "original"plans followed by the far more exciting "live in the moment" alternates.

Plan 1: Prebooked train tickets leaving Gumi at 9.30am.
I will admit, I was suuuuper surprised when everyone arrived at the station perfectly on time. We were then meeting Malcolm on the train (he had organised the tickets from Daegu). After hopping onto the train in a huge ball of frenzied excitement, Megan thought it would be funny to prank Malcolm by faking we missed the train (as it would pretty much be the norm). But, we decided not to be silly and go find him. However, when we looked for Malcolm, he was nowhere to be found. It was only as the train across the platform started leaving that we realised we were on the train to Busan...not Seoul. Oooops... And, with this being a long weekend, there was zero chance of getting a seat. Long story short, we ended up hiding out in the Noraebang room (because no train ride could be complete without karaoke).

After arriving in Seoul, we embarked on the epic subway ride to the festival- only about 27 stops!!!

Plan 2: Camping in our own tents. As a pretty experienced camper, this one seemed easy. Until we opened the tents and both of our teeny two man tents (aimed to house 6 people that night) had only ONE pole each. Some higher grade stuff for me. And, as it turned out, for everyone. It was one of those "nailed it" pintrest moments.
Tent #1: Orange and so narrow it was 2 dimensional. This became our closet (until it fell flat after about an hour).
Tent #2: Red, Broken, looked more like some sheets draped over tent poles. Could hold one person at most.
We preemptively made our beds outside.

Night one at DJ fest was AMAZING! No idea who was playing, but the music was awesome, the people amazing and the animal onesies a huge hit. I have vague memories of dancing around like a crazy lion, my lovely friends singing "In the Jungle" to me early in the morning and having a very comfortable sleep on the floor (there was astroturf, so it felt life a 4 star hotel)

Day 2 was more awesome jamming and awesomeness. Then we heard about the predicted rain starting at 6pm. Thanks to Cape Town weather, I didn't think much of this.
Well. Koreans are too efficient for that- 6.06pm the rain started. A blessing at first as it was refreshing and cooled us down. 3am, however, when we were drenched to the bone, freezing and had nowhere to sleep, this rain seemed less fun. I tried sleeping in the trance tent in the hopes of warming up. The bouncer was having none of it.

Thank goodness for Nokwanda who had rented a tent and let us all snuggle up in a giant Christmas bed. It was awesome! Luckily the rain died down after the 14 hour downpour. We then had the mission of packing up and heading off. The "tents" did not make it. They were donated to the festival grounds.

We then headed off to Itaewon (the foreigner district in Seoul with the BEST FOOD) for Brazilian Barbecue. Wait, scratch that, ALL YOU CAN EAT Brazilian Barbecue. They have SEVEN types of meat. And, not just any meat, really good meat! Some of it wrapped in bacon (so you know it's legit).  I think I ate my own weight in meat- it was glorious.

Plan 3: Catch the precooked train back to Gumi.

We all missed it. Even people that wondered from our herd and were deemed more responsible were late. And so, we waited for two hours at the station (convinced if we left the station, we would miss the next train).

Loooooong story short, we arrived back in Gumi just before midnight, exhausted, filthy but so happy.

...and then she shopped!

Summer is approaching at a rapid rate and up until a few hours ago, I still only had the clothes I had brought with me from South Africa. All being aimed at the colder side of life as it was the end of winter when I arrived. Luckily, I don't look like a fool wearing long sleeves in 27º weather- most people here are still bundling up as if it is winter. I of course, was melting. And it is only going to get hotter. (Recently discovered that Daegu- only 20 min from me, is the HOTTEST place in Korea. Joy.) So, Briony and I decided that a shopping weekend was in order. She could keep me in check and make sure I didn't buy anything silly. She is also knows me as well as I know me, and knows where all the good places are in Seoul.

Found my awesome Space Fish advert! :D

So, I headed off to Seoul bright and early on Saturday morning, having been paid on Friday. It was almost overwhelming being surrounded by so many Waegooks (foreigners) in Seoul. In Gumi, us foreigners have a weird habit of staring at each other- assuming we MUST know each other as we are few and far between. Then, after a few minutes of blatant staring, we will carry on our merry way or run over and greet (depending on whether we know each other of course). It is an odd habit- but EVERYONE does it! So, arriving in Seoul, I played my usual "spot the Waegook" game and was so surprised when no one reacted to me being a foreigner, it was the most normal thing ever...

Lantern Art at Seoul Station for Buddha's upcoming birthday!

While waiting to meet up with Bri, I made an amazing discovery: Paris Croissant!! Some may have heard me rant about the joys of Paris Baguette. Well, the difference is as clear as the name. Croissant is the better, more genuine and class big sister of Baguette. There was real cheese, pastries, monkey bread, macaroons and... THE BEST COFFEE in Korea. Aaaaaand, all was really well priced! So, after enjoying a cup of coffee and grabbing two macaroons to go (frambois and pistachio, and earl grey and orange), I headed off too meet Briony in Myeongdong- the fashion district of Seoul. It is AMAZING! So many shops- many Western size shops too! We started shopping...

Paris Croissant Macaroons- best flavours I have seen.

Best coffee in Korea- winning mug too!

Tasty treats at Paris Croissant

And boy were we successful. I officially have an AMAZING summer wardrobe! We dominated the sales (where they were), justified purchases and had an absolute ball. I can honestly say that this was the most enjoyable shopping trip I have had in a long time! We did stop for some bubble tea which is DIVINE! Basically, iced black, milky tea with big tapioca balls in the bottom. Delicious and refreshing!

Bubble Tea

After shopping up a storm, we went to Itaewon, the foreigner (and food) district of Seoul. I need to spend more time there, it is amazing! There are so many foreign food restaurants, all of them generally owned by a local of wherever the restaurant is from. So, all the food is really good. There is even a Braai Republic! It was super busy, so we eventually chose a restaurant where there was a seat for the two of us- an Italian restaurant with... CHEESE!!! I probably miss cheese the most of all western food. So, we ordered a gorgonzola pizza and a pasta to share. And some red wine (down side, the glass held a glorified tasters portion of wine- up side, it was pretty decent). It was a divine meal! Oddly, the pizza was served with honey sweetened whipped cream, but hey, still great!

It is very common here for couples to buy matching outfits.

On our way to dinner, we passed Ben's Cookies- a British Cookie factory that apparently makes the most divine cookies. So, we bought a few for dessert/train trip home/ the week. They are pretty amazing! After a long day of amazing shopping, we decided to catch the bus back to Cheongju (Briony's city, about an hour and a half from Seoul). The public transport never stops amazing me. It is perfectly normal and safe for two girls to catch a bus at 10.30pm. We arrived back with swollen feet, arms (the shopping bags were heavy), absolutely exhausted and ready for bed.

Hilarious Cakes straight from the 70's that would make Mrs Shamley proud (NOT P. Croissant)

Sunday, we decided to have Vietnamese for brunch so that I could finally try Pho (pronounced Faaah) soup- a divine traditional soup with meat, noodles and yumminess. Loved it. Now all I need is to try Shabu Shabu. Everyone raves about it...have yet to taste it! We then did some last minute shopping in Cheongju before I headed back to Gumi to meet up with some of my lovely Saffa friends for dinner.

Briony's City (Cheongju) Emblem (the hair spells cheongju in Korean)

Dinner in Gumi was divine and after a lovely catch up, we decided to...do some SHOPPING (the bug has bit). So, we had a great time lugging my shopping bags around and adding to the pile. Found some AMAZING dresses, but unfortunately a lot of shops don't let you try on clothes (a lot of Korean girls wear LOT of makeup and can end up dirtying the clothes). So, because I don't always fit into Korean sizes, we were all a lot more reluctant to purchase. Did get a few things of course :P

My loot :D

So now, I am back in my comfy bed, reminiscing over my amazing weekend. Every now and then I am completely overwhelmed by this amazing adventure. It has become my daily routine as I settle in to the way life works here. But every now and then, I imagine myself 20 years from now, telling stories about that time I lived in Korea. And that to me still seems unreal. Loving it here- great people, amazing experiences and (now) great clothes!:)

This weekend coming: DJ Fest!! Buddha's Bday long weekend! WIN!:D

So awesome- here when you buy beauty products- you get free samples- perfect for travel size! 

Two Months in Korea

I started this post a while ago, and then deleted it after realising it was pretty mundane. Yes, I am having a ball here. I am still meeting new people and Norae Banging up a storm. I have been on adventures to Dirty Daegu that resulted in finding a dance club called Frog and a pub called Thrusday Party. That night in particular ended with Megan hiding a bottle of Vodka in her pants and me stealing a Light Saber (Excaliber) and also hiding in my pants (not sure how that fetish began, but it seemed like a GREAT idea at the time).

The joy of partying in Korea is that there is no last call. This is also the danger of partying here. For me, last call acts as a parent figure, telling me that it is time to go home and sleep. Without it, I end up having so much fun that I stay up till 6.30 in the morning hiding swords up the back of my shirt and hiding behind on old Korean lady's house with my friend Megan. Luckily said Korean lady found it hilarious when we explained we were playing hide and go seek with our friends.

The other benefit of partying late is that I can skype home!! Well, try to at least! This seven hour time difference suuuuucks! That morning in particular, I attempted to skype with dear Kaitlin and Jo.. only to find the whole event too confusing...sorry about that girls!

I was also taken to an awesome place called Lazy Diner! My first ever American Diner (in Korea of course) where I tried Chili Cheese Fries for the first time. I now truly understand why obesity is such an issue in the States. For me, those chili cheese fries were my meal- in reality served as a side to my burger!

I also found a Daiso in Gumi! Daiso has everything you need to "furnish" your apartment. And all of it is super cheap- so mugs, bowls etc can be found there...

So, the real reason I have not blogged in a while? Well, as exciting as partying till 6am is for me and yes, finding a perfect tea pot is also a win...as is finding an online store that sells Twinings tea cheaply. These excitements might not be as revolutionary for you. As you all know, my daily life (wherever I am in the world) is pretty exciting for me, no matter what I am doing. I painted my nails to look like hundreds and thousands the other day :D But for the sake of you lovely people, I will be limiting my blogging to things that are also exciting for you :)

For more "exciting" posts, I will promise you the following:
-Market Day is happening at my school this Thurs and Friday- I get to help kids get hopped up on sugar and play games.
-It is the owner of Corona's birthday on Friday, so that promises to be fun :)
-World DJ Fest (the arrival of Team Onesie) on the 17 May will be awesome
-Busan Pirate Party on the 25 May

So, yes, until those fun events, I will be working and just living and loving life here in my little Gumi.

Love to you all :)

Learning how to Bang...

Living in Korea has been amazing so far. I am learning new things and meeting new people all the time. About the only thing that sucks at the moment is dear CNN making everyone back home worried about an imminent attack on my lovely South Korea. And, while nuclear war really is no joking matter and I will steer clear of the short/fat jokes that befall the young leader up North, what I will say is this. So far, life here is lovely. Everyone is going about their business as usual. No one really speaks about what is happening up North as everyone is very much used to threats of nuclear warfare happening when there are any political changes, or when the North decides that we are trading too much with their nemeses, America. For now however, Nunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins and Starbucks still seem to be thriving. The shops are still stocked fill of Ramen and Soju (I believe that should the Koreans believe they are in danger, these would be the first two items to be stock piled). So yes, life here is happy...

I FINALLY reached my first payday and my dear sister's voice kept ringing in my head "be careful what you wish for". As a child, I always swore I would be successful and become a millionaire. Of course, I never specified a currency. And, folks, within my first pay cheque of my first job outside of varsity, I am a millionaire!! :D Too bad prices here always have those sneaky three 0's at the end. But still, it is pretty awesome being independent! So, to celebrate the arrival of said pay cheque, I went to Daegu to meet up with Krissi for a day of shopping on Saturday.

Of course, before I made it there on Saturday, I went for dinner with some awesome peeps on Friday. Of course, dinner turned into drinks and before I knew it, I was off to experience my first ever Norae Bang! (this being the first "bang" of the weekend). Here, bang, pronounced like the Afrikaans "bang"... So, norae bang is VERY popular here. I have heard of people developing quite an addiction for it and feeling the need to squeeze in a quick norae bang before  a movie...(uuuum, Briony Bristow for example). Basically, it is karaoke, but way cooler. You get your own room with mikes and tambourines and then, we norae bang!! Sooo much fun! Although, terrible idea at the moment as sometime on Wednesday, my voice decided to abandon me :( Slight issue with the whole teaching thing using a voice and all... After norae bang, we stayed at Megan's house and (highlight) SHE HAS A PET HEDGEHOG!!! I had never seen a hedgehog, let along touched it. And, well, in my sliiiiightly soju'd state, I may have forced Hedgey to snuggle with me. He was less than keen, but super cute. Side note, hedgehogs are not the best snuggle buddies...

So, Saturday I got myself to Daegu, a little rougher for ware (sorry about that Krissi). But, what a fun day of adventures!! First we went to Seomun Market. This amazing, HUGE market in Daegu that has been there forever. They have everything there! From clothes and shoes, to fabrics and rugs, even fresh produce and, of course, pig intestines. It was amazing! Slightly overwhelming, so I will need to go there again. After the market, we headed back to downtown. On our way though, we stumbled across a Daiso at the one station. Daiso is one of my favourite shops here- you can get everything you need for your apartment at Daiso (kind of like a Mr Price home, but better and cheaper). So, I got a few things for my apartment (ok, as much as I could carry). I need to find the Daiso in Gumi, I know there is one hiding from me somewhere!!

After some more shopping in downtown, we headed back to Krissi's for some pizza for dinner before the second bang of the weekend. Jjimjilbang. Jjimjilbang (JJB) is basically a Korean bath house. So, most Korean houses are built with showers and not baths. So, for many years it has been a family outing to go to the JJB and have a nice bath and scrub. You can even sleep over there if you want. The only catch: no clothes allowed. So, for us westerners, it is a bit daunting. Basically you arrive, get given two hand towels, an orange jumpsuit should you decide to sleep over and locker keys. Then you go to your locker, strip down and then, the daunting part, walk across the whole area to get to the baths. It was quite fun actually. Pretty much what I imagine a nudist colony to look like (except they do separate guys and girls), but really relaxing to finally get a bath. They have huge hot pools, cold pools, pools with water jets for massage, sauna's. And everyone just brings face masks, body scrubs, so kind of like a communal spa.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend! It's hard- there is so much to see and do in each place I go to, and yet still so many places I haven't even been to yet. After catching the train home to Gumi, I had to catch a cab back to my side of town. So, I will leave you with this. I managed to combine two things I am terrible at: Korean and directions and successfully directed my cab home in Korean!! :D

My Seedbeds

Training could not have prepared me for the challenge of teaching my seedbeds!! Seedbed level is the most beginning class we offer- literally for preschool level to learn their alphabet. So yes, their level of English is about the same as my level of Korean. They understand me as well as I do them... So, it is an incredible challenge to find a way to connect with, and teach, these tiny humans.

My rookie seedbed class is made up of four little girls whom I often speak of. They dress like true princesses for class- full ball gowns and tiaras are not unheard of. Their hair accessories are sometimes the size of their faces and their shoes are to die for! If they are not sparkly, they have flashing Hello Kitty faces when they walk, or pompoms that probably weigh the same as the shoes. They are literally four of the cutest little girls EVER!!

So, this class is aimed at being a lot of fun as well as some learning. The idea being to play games, sing songs (yes, I have to sing in class), make up actions for words and do little musicals. In the beginning, it  felt like I would never get through to them. Trying to explain how a game works without using any language is hard (I think I can officially be pronounced Queen of Charades after this class). So, initially, I think my lessons were a bit boring. Other than asking "what is this?" and pointing at flash cards, there was very little I could do. Plus, in the first few lessons, I think they were terrified of me.

But then, one day, they came out of their shells. And, oh boy are they crazy!! :) That first lesson, Rora (sometimes Laura, making things confusing) decided to LICK me!! It was during our goodbye song, which for the action of "goodbye"involves a handshake. Rora decided that was far too formal, so she licked me instead. After that, the girls all joined in. It was gross, but at the same time, the first time they decided to interact with me at all.

After that, things got a bit crazy. One lesson, Bella decided to bring all her toiletries to class. That lesson ended with three little girls with hair full of shampoo! And one teacher trying to clean the stuff out and reposition all the hair accessories before sending them home...:/

Just when I thought I had completely lost control of them, I had today's lesson. Today, we needed to film our little musical. Normally, I am lucky if the students stand still long enough to get them all on screen. Today however, by some miracle, these four little girls blew my mind. First, they learned ALL THE WORDS to the song!! This is something that has been impossible with my older seedbed class. Then, they remembered ALL THE ACTIONS. And, finally, they actually stayed on camera 98% of the time and performed the whole song- which is longer than a minute!!

I was so proud of them! It just really sucked that I could barely explain how happy I was with them! So yes, that today made my week!! :D