That's a bit of a glum title, I admit. But I have a touch of some kind of respiratory infection so I am entitled to taking liberties.
The initial three-month 'Hey shoo wow, everything is sparkly and new and quite wonderful' honeymoon period that I was warned about is over. Thanks to Lisa C for preparing me for the downer that was to follow. :) While I was prepared for it, as much as one can prepare for anything that you have never encountered before, I am fully aware that reality has set in: this is my life now. I am not on some extended working holiday. I am going to be here for the foreseeable future. And while I still love being in a new country, and experiencing all manner of things for the first time, not all of these experiences - predictably - are good. For instance, I just had my first encounter with Korean physical punishment in school. Not pleasant.
On the upside, we are in the home stretch before the Winter holidays and I have been learning with most of my classes how to make origami Christmas decorations and paper snowflakes. I have never made a single thing out of folding paper, so I dare say I have learnt as much as they have during the last week or so. I'm having lots of fun with it and have an ambitious plan to make a few decorations for my home in the next week. I even bought my first Christmas tree and decorations yesterday. Amazing, the idiosyncratic little grown-up things I am doing for the first time! Funnily enough, I thought it would be easy to find a real pine tree here, where they are native, but alas, no luck. So I have a 3 ft green plastic tree, some baubles and a couple of very quaint material, felt and wool Santas, reindeer and hearts and stuff. Very cute! Very hippie. Tonight I need to find fairy lights and tinsel, and I will be ready to decorate my tree! Can't help but get into the Christmas spirit, the kids are so excited about doing Christmas lessons and are all learning English Christmas songs. Also, being away from family and friends for the first time, I feel that I have to make an effort to buoy my spirits around this time of year!
I will spend Christmas Eve on Palgong mountain with some friends from Daegu, where we will have huge bonfires, buffet and open bar, paintball in the forest on the mountain and a DJ and dance floor. All of this in the warmth and comfort of a hotel on the mountain. On Christmas day I plan to return to my town in time for the big Christmas lunch at my local, after which we will all go to a nearby orphanage to hand over money and presents that have been collected at events during the last couple of weeks.
My first Winter Christmas and snow is almost guaranteed! It has been snowing in other parts of the country, even quite close by, but apparently it is quite rare to have snow falling out here on the farm. :) It is getting pretty frosty though! Friday is set for a low of -6 during the night and a max of 1 - fun fun fun! I will take some lovely frost pics later this week as it continues to get colder.
I am going to be SO ready for my beach holiday by the end of January... But more about that later.
<3 <3 <3
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Met 'n vistenk onder die arm
Due to reasons unforeseen, I went to Seoul for the first time last weekend sans my weekend bag. Literally with my handbag and the clothes on my back. No worries, I thought, I've always wanted to go somewhere on an impulse and just fly in (or in this case, take the slow train) on a whim and buy what I need to get by. So this was not impulsive, and I would have preferred a pair of sunglasses at least, but the principal remains, right?
So, I arrive at Seoul station to be picked up by my wonderful hostess and tour guide Lize Viljoen, who promptly hands me a helmet and loads me onto the back of her scooter for a guided tour of down town. We then headed for the brand spanking new Braai Republic in Itaewon (I think) to celebrate National Braai Day in style. We were met by Amber and her friend Jessica, who was visiting from LA and had picked up some nasty stomach bug in Cambodia the week before. Braai Republic is just amazing! I will post pics soon. It was more Proudly South African than any restaurant back home! Zebra skin on the wall, springbok and warthog heads mounted, pics of Cape Town and baby hyenas. They also make their own biltong, droewors and serve Jagermeister and Ceres juice! We had lovely lamb chops with green beans and sweet potato mash.Yum!
Afterwards Amber had to take Jessica to the airport, so Lize and I set off on a shopping mission to get all the stuff I needed. I was especially after a pair of jeans and an external hard drive, not to mention a pair of sunglasses, a change of clothing and a bag to put all of this in. We found everything I needed and headed off to their apartment to meet up with Amber. In the evening we took the subway to go and see the Seoul Drum Festival, which is an internationally renowned festival where performers from different countries get a chance to do their thing. We caught the last hour and saw a group from Korea, who were very rock 'n roll and simply brilliant, very energised and entertaining. Next was a performance by a Brazilian group, which was quite chaotic, with very colourful, crazy outfits, highly energetic and somewhat incomprehensible. Which I guess is quite apt. It was followed, if memory serves, by a group from Kosovo, which was also highly entertaining.
We took a stroll through the city and wanted to take a ride in a horse-drawn cart a la New York, but after seeing the sad state of the horses decided that we just couldn't bear it. They were quite small, severely undernourished and didn't look like they ever got to rest for food or water. I'll have to ask the Korean animal rescue agency that I joined online about that. We made our way to a little restaurant for some exccellent soup, gimbap and bibimbap and decided to call it a night.
The next morning Lize gave me a little fish tank after I admired their fish bowl and expressed my fond and imminent desire to get some pet fish for my apartment. Which meant that we loaded bags and ourselves back onto her trusty scooter - and I, with fish tank under my arm in the pillion seat. We wandered around the charming market behind Itaewon, browsed through antique shops, had a brilliant Belgian waffle and coffee for breakfast, bought a few trinkets and then headed across town via subway to find my external hard drive. By lunchtime, almost exactly 24 hours after arriving, I bid Lize a fond farewell with plans to return - soon and often, bought myself a lunch box for the train and set off on the 3 hour slow train journey home. With loads of souvenirs, a happy heart - and a fish tank under my arm. :)
So, I arrive at Seoul station to be picked up by my wonderful hostess and tour guide Lize Viljoen, who promptly hands me a helmet and loads me onto the back of her scooter for a guided tour of down town. We then headed for the brand spanking new Braai Republic in Itaewon (I think) to celebrate National Braai Day in style. We were met by Amber and her friend Jessica, who was visiting from LA and had picked up some nasty stomach bug in Cambodia the week before. Braai Republic is just amazing! I will post pics soon. It was more Proudly South African than any restaurant back home! Zebra skin on the wall, springbok and warthog heads mounted, pics of Cape Town and baby hyenas. They also make their own biltong, droewors and serve Jagermeister and Ceres juice! We had lovely lamb chops with green beans and sweet potato mash.Yum!
Afterwards Amber had to take Jessica to the airport, so Lize and I set off on a shopping mission to get all the stuff I needed. I was especially after a pair of jeans and an external hard drive, not to mention a pair of sunglasses, a change of clothing and a bag to put all of this in. We found everything I needed and headed off to their apartment to meet up with Amber. In the evening we took the subway to go and see the Seoul Drum Festival, which is an internationally renowned festival where performers from different countries get a chance to do their thing. We caught the last hour and saw a group from Korea, who were very rock 'n roll and simply brilliant, very energised and entertaining. Next was a performance by a Brazilian group, which was quite chaotic, with very colourful, crazy outfits, highly energetic and somewhat incomprehensible. Which I guess is quite apt. It was followed, if memory serves, by a group from Kosovo, which was also highly entertaining.
We took a stroll through the city and wanted to take a ride in a horse-drawn cart a la New York, but after seeing the sad state of the horses decided that we just couldn't bear it. They were quite small, severely undernourished and didn't look like they ever got to rest for food or water. I'll have to ask the Korean animal rescue agency that I joined online about that. We made our way to a little restaurant for some exccellent soup, gimbap and bibimbap and decided to call it a night.
The next morning Lize gave me a little fish tank after I admired their fish bowl and expressed my fond and imminent desire to get some pet fish for my apartment. Which meant that we loaded bags and ourselves back onto her trusty scooter - and I, with fish tank under my arm in the pillion seat. We wandered around the charming market behind Itaewon, browsed through antique shops, had a brilliant Belgian waffle and coffee for breakfast, bought a few trinkets and then headed across town via subway to find my external hard drive. By lunchtime, almost exactly 24 hours after arriving, I bid Lize a fond farewell with plans to return - soon and often, bought myself a lunch box for the train and set off on the 3 hour slow train journey home. With loads of souvenirs, a happy heart - and a fish tank under my arm. :)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
First month in SK!
So tonight, at almost the exact time that Thomene and Pat's wedding was happening back home, I will celebrate my first month in SK. Wow, time has really flown. It hasn't all been easy, but it has all been interesting, and that's something at least. :) I live in a little hamlet called Chilgok, which is NOT the bigger, more foreigner-populated Chilgok on the outskirts of Daegu, but the little farming village of Chilgok on the outskirts of Gumi. I am the foreign contingent, as far as I can tell. :) There is a Chinese-American girl called Gloria who has been here for 6 months longer than I have, but I have only seen her on two occasions for dinner and drinks. Lovely girl, but as she blends in quite easily, we don't exactly have the same kind of experience in this town. For the first week I was like a celebrity around here. Especially at school, where the children would gather in front of my office window and stare and wave and giggle. Very zoo-like, it was. The upside was being told 20 times a day how beautiful I am - very good for the ego! My favourite was the girl who kept saying "Teacher, teacher, your eyes are so bling-bling!" Think that'll be my catch-phrase from now on.
All is well in SK so far. I miss home sometimes, but at the moment it is still all so new and interesting that I'm doing OK. I go to school around 08:00, get home around 17:15, watch some crime-solving forensic American shows, make supper and contact friends and family online. Pretty chilled life.
Right now have to go and teach Grade 1's.
Later!
<3 <3 <3
All is well in SK so far. I miss home sometimes, but at the moment it is still all so new and interesting that I'm doing OK. I go to school around 08:00, get home around 17:15, watch some crime-solving forensic American shows, make supper and contact friends and family online. Pretty chilled life.
Right now have to go and teach Grade 1's.
Later!
<3 <3 <3
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