Shopping. I love it. I can't get myself to stop it. On Thursday I had the day off and made plans with Amy and Chanel to go shopping, but I promised myself (and Grant) that I wouldn't be the one to buy things. Sure, I would pitch in my opinion to Chanel and Amy and I would live vicariously through them, but I wouldn't be parting with any of the money in my wallet. And then Amy picked the prettiest pair of shoes in the shop and Chanel and I watched in awe as she tried them on. We were jealous. We had to have them. By the time we left the shop I had one pair of gorgeous boots in my hand, Amy had a black pair and an order for another pair to be delivered to her house and Chanel had the third and fourth pairs of shoes she had bought in a week (or was it the fourth and fifth?) Once I had the pair of shoes in hand, I needed to wear them and I needed to wear them SOON! Chanel and Amy convinced me that the best idea was to join them at the Ladies Night party in Seoul on Friday night. I was hesitant - it would involve a lot of traveling and a very very late night/early morning and I was already not feeling 100%. And yet, the prospect of wearing the pretty shoes was great, and I so I sucked up my complaining and said I would go.

Thursday night was my Taekwondo exam, and true to form, my masters insisted that I come out to dinner with them afterwards despite my complaints about being way too full.
"Aniyo," I whined. "Bebuloyo!"
"No eat," he replied. "You drink."
And he wasn't kidding. Everytime he offered me some food and I refused, he poured me a shot instead. By the end of the night, there were at least eight empty soju bottles and I was far from sober. It was almost 12:30 and I had classes the next morning. When I woke up, I instantly regretted promising Amy and Chanel that I would join them. After around 6 hours of sleep, the idea of going out all night was not a pleasing one. I somehow managed to get through the day of school and even managed to get myself into a partying mood by listening to DJ Earworm's 'United States of Pop 2009'. I got home, scoffed down a sandwich, straightened my hair, chose and outfit and was out of the door and on my way to Seoul by 8pm.

I had heard about the Ladies Night before Chanel and Amy convinced me to go to it. I had been sent an invite by a company called Watz Up Korea who organises parties on a regular basis. I had heard about their parties before, had been invited to ten million events, but nothing had ever struck my fancy. Ladies Night was no exception really. When I first saw the invite, I was interested in going. Then I read the wall for the event and saw how many guys were posting saying they would be going to check out the talent. It wasn't something that I particularly liked the sound of - being hit on by desperate guys - but once my friends were going, I figured that we would have a good time together. Finding the club was a slight mission in itself involving a 15 minute walk in heels that were not particularly comfortable (yes, the beautiful heels lied to me and convinced me to wear them by pretending to be comfortable when they really weren't!) My friends quickly discovered that I had never been to Hongdae before and decided that tonight was indeed a necessary excursion. There was to be no turning back now.

We entered the club and a wall of sound hit us. We made our way to the bar and were looking at the menu to order drinks when the first part of my ordeal started - a man came and started pointing at drinks that he wanted me to buy him. After saying no to each and every one, he backed away, and I thought that was him done with. We placed our orders and started waiting for our drinks. Next thing I know, I feel a pull on my arm and turn around to find the same guy hump-dancing with me. I shake my head and turn back to my waiting friends. He tugged at my arm again. I turned around. Same thing. This happened about twice more before I just stopped bothering to turn around. I was left in peace for awhile. I made friends with a soldier and was trying to explain to him how to use my camera when the guy returned and tried to grab my camera by the lens. I got defensive, of course, my damn expensive camera being a touchy subject and gave him the finger only to have him grab my hand and try to break it (at least that's what it felt like). My soldier friend came to the rescue, as did Amy, he quickly backed off, and that was the last that I heard from him thank goodness. The rest of the night passed by in a blur of noise, painful walking, chicken and DVD bangs. Chanel and I had decided to make a night of it (Amy having opted for a visit at a friend instead) and catch the 5:40 bus back into Cheongju so that Chanel could be at work at 8:40, bright and early, to teach her Saturday class. We made it back on time and after a chat to Grant, passed out somewhere around 8am, glad to finally be in bed.

I woke up late on Saturday afternoon feeling like death warmed up. I would say that I felt hungover, but considering that I had only indulged in two drinks, that wasn't the possible explanation. Instead, I decided, I was sick. This wouldn't do. I had places to go, people to see! Being sick wouldn't stop me! I bundled myself up in layer upon layer of clothing and made my way to meet Jacques, Sheelagh and all of their friends. Little did I know just how many people there were going to be! The contingent from Daegu and Gyeongju, led by Jacques brother, came in their masses and what was supposed to be a dinner and one (singular) drink ended up being another late night where I arrived home somewhere around 3am.

After such a busy three days, you would think that my Sunday would be spent in bed, especially considering the illness that was developing rather faster than I would have liked. But no. After being woken up at what felt like 1am but was actually 1pm (thanks PATRICK) I made my way to Shinae for a lunch and catchup with Ross which was followed by a few hours of resting before dinner with Jess and quiz. Usually I make my way home after quiz. I am almost always the first person out of the room. Instead, this week, I was convinced that home was not the best plan for me. Instead, I went to watch a movie and ended up getting home sometime after 1am.

Need I note that today I am feeling worse than ever (in terms of sickness and sleep deprivation)? I am hoping next weekend will be more chilled.

Friday came. The day that I had been dreading. I had hoped that it would somehow be skipped in the calendar - that I would wake up and it would be Saturday and we would all be completely confused and baffled, but we would shrug and laugh and continue living our lives. And he would be here. But no. Friday came.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have discovered that when you look forward to something for a long time, say for three months or so, and that thing finally comes around, it doesn't quite feel real. I have felt the sensation a number of times, and it keeps striking me that something must go wrong. This thing that I have been pinning all of my hopes on cannot actually be happening. Well, I haven't been pinning my hopes on my visitor, but I have definitely been waiting with anticipation for a long time!

I could hardly sleep on Friday night. My brain was just buzzing with the excitement of having Grant come and stay with me for a whole month! Well..,. the excitement was only part of why I couldn't sleep. As I lay in my rather uncomfortable bed I couldn't stop the thoughts from popping into my head. I was so sure that something would go wrong! Everytime I closed my eyes I saw a different catastrophe popping up like a headline in my mind:
MAN MISSES HIS FLIGHT TO KOREA - Girlfriend left waiting at the airport in vain.
WOMAN MISSES HER BUS TO THE AIRPORT - Boyfriend left lost and unattended.
TERRIBLE BUS CRASH ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT - 22 year old survivor has only managed to say three words: "Grant. Gordon. Airport."

These thoughts were, of course, not condusive to sleeping very soundly, and so I woke up nice and early on Saturday morning and puttered around the house abit - last minute tidying and such things - before bouncing out of the door and finding myself a taxi to the bus terminal and a bus to the airport (which is ridiculously expensive at 18,000 won).

I got to the airport in record time and was then sitting around.
Waiting.
For hours.
I had heard that the bus to the airport took between three and four hours. I made it to the airport in just over two and was left with nothing to do while I waited for the flight to arrive. There was a bookstore to browse, but they only had about three shelves of English books. There were restaurants, but I had already grabbed a snack at the bus terminal on my way out of Cheongju. There were makeup stores, but I was stocked up already. And so I sat and read my book and listened to my music and looked up every five minutes or so to check the time. When the flight landed, I made my way to the exit, trying to contain my excitement. An hour and ten minutes later, after more terrifying thoughts had crossed my mind (what if he DID need a visa and now they aren't going to let him into the country and no one will tell me; what if the medicine he is bringing me is illegal and they have arrested him and he is in a cell somewhere calling out my name; did that person being carried out on a stretcher just call my name?!) he emerged no worse for the wear, and I got to hug my boyfriend after 8 months of being apart!

Our embrace did not last long though as a taxi-driver interupted us with questions of where we were going and how we wanted to get there. Grant's bag was bigger than I remembered, and I realised that my plan of using the subway was not going to work so well. Incheon airport wasn't that far from the hotel that we were going to stay at. It would be a 30,000 won taxi at most, not much shared between the two of us. We would get there quicker and more comfortably. The expense would be worth it.
Take us to our hotel, oh wise taxi driver!!
Only it wasn't a 30,000 won taxi drive. It wasn't even 50,000. No, it was 150,000! I sat in the back of the cab watching the meter going up by 200 won every minute and started panicking. We weren't even close to there yet! I hadn't planned on spending nearly that much and my cash supply was looking very low as we made our way into the hotel, Grant's bag being dragged behind us and me mumbling to myself about never trusting taxi-drivers again.

Grant's first weekend had to be spent in Seoul, or so I decided. And so on the first night, we tentatively made our way around Gangnam trying to find a restaurant to eat at. I am no expert on Korean cuisine, but I wanted Grant to have a Korean meal and I wanted it to be a good one. Yet none of the restaurants that we passed seemed good enough!
Samgyeopsal?
Neh... galbi and kalmegi are so much better!
This restaurant?
Nope... I don't know what they sell.
Here?
Don't feel like it.
Eventually we made our way into a Japanese restaurant - the best option we had come across so far - and had a mediocre, non-Korean, rather expensive meal. After dinner we walked around and took in the various sights and sounds of Gangnam, coming across numerous galbi and kalmegi places on our path, before heading back to the hotel for an early night's sleep.

What was in store for Grant on his second day of being in Korea?
Korean culture?
Neh.
Korean food?
Not likely.
Instead we headed to Itaewon, where I attacked the English bookstore with a vengeance (though Grant took a stab at it as well) before heading to try and find a pub that would be showing the Formula One that night. After wandering around Itaewon for a couple of hours we headed to the next best thing, Yongsan Electronics Mart, where the streets and pubs were replaced with aisles of cameras and laptops and other gadgets. Why had we come here, I can almost hear you asking.
Over the last few years I have developed a fondness for photography, and have always planned to buy a decent DSLR camera before the end of my sojourn here. Grant, on the other hand, has recently taken to astronomy and would like to do some astral photography. Where better to look for a decent camera than Yongsan, where bargaining is welcomed and encouraged and everything is so much cheaper! Grant knew exactly what he wanted, and after doing some pricing and looking around we settled on a Canon EOS 550D along with a 28-80mm lens and a 4gig memory card for a bargain price of 1,150,000 won (about R7100 where the camera alone would have cost about R9000 in South Africa). Even though we were sharing the cost of the camera and I knew it was a bargain, thinking about the money that I had spent made me cringe in horror, and so Grant decided that drinks were needed. We made our way back to Itaewon and settled into one of the pubs for drinks and dinner and some Grand Prix watching.

And so ended our Seoul trip. We headed back to Cheongju early Monday afternoon and the rest of this week has been spent introducing Grant to all of my friends, showing him a couple of the sites of Cheongju (like Chungdae Jungmun and Home Plus) and just basking in the glory of having my boyfriend with me for a whole month! This weekend will be spent at the Lotus Festival in Muan in Jeollanam-do, where I will get a chance to take the new camera for a test drive. As you can imagine, I am looking forward to this immensely, but more than anything, I am just looking forward to travelling with my baby for 3 more weeks! Yay! You can expect to see more about our Korean adventures here over the next few weeks. Just don't expect me to post too often. I am with my boyfriend after all :)

This week I have been sick. I hate being sick. There is nothing worse in the world than being sick. Except, perhaps, being sick in Korea.

When I was a little girl of about 10 years old, I went to Disneyland. It was a little girl's dream - filled with colour and parades and rides... and I didn't go on any of them. Sure, there were a couple like the teacups that suited my fancy, but when it came to the rollercoasters, I was terrified. I refused to go anywhere near them (and for good reason, since I have quite a vivid image of my very pale parents coming out of Space Mountain, and that in itself should have been enough to stop me.) And so, Disneyland was largely wasted on me. It was pretty and it was fun, but I didn't take advantage of it when I should have and I regret that now. See, a couple of years later I was forced onto the Cobra at Ratanga Junction (hardly a comparison to Disneyland, I know, but still...) and I found that I loved it! Since then I have become a giant fan of rollercoasters, and when I heard that there was a theme park just outside of Seoul, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before I would find myself there. And so, when I was invited to Everland last weekend, there was little hesitation.

Saturday dawned and my bags were packed and ready to go. We had decided that the best idea would be to spend a night in Seoul and catch a bus to the park early on Sunday morning to miss the queues. But before we could head through to Seoul, Patrick insisted that we go to see Iron Man 2 - he had apparently been waiting with baited breathe since the first one came out - and so, I met Patrick and Blake (another friend who was joining for the trip) at the movie theatre at 11:00 for an early lunch and a quick show. The movie was good, but it wasn't the reason for my waiting on the edge of my seat. I was dying for it to end so that the trip could finally start! It eventually did (after what seemed like an age) and we made our way to the bus terminal and booked ourselves some tickets on the earliest bus to Seoul. Of course, we forgot to check exactly where in Seoul we would be winding up, and ended up in a completely unfamiliar area. We walked around for awhile, trying to figure out where we were and how we would get to the park the next day, and after about an hour of scouring the bus schedules (all in Korean, and me being the only person there who could read Korean), we managed to figure out which bus we needed to be on the next morning. Once we had figured that out, we decided to try and find ourselves a place to stay for the night. The only trouble was that we had landed up in what seemed to be the only motel/hotel-free area in Seoul. We asked a passerby, who thankfully spoke a little bit of English, and were informed that there was nowhere to stay in a two mile radius. And so, we split up (agreeing on a time and place to meet later) and started searching for places based solely on the flashing neon signs that surrounded us. After about half an hour of walking the streets, Blake and I bumped back into each other and managed to discover a little motel on a sidestreet, with a bright red flashing sign overhead that screamed "CHEAP", which we hurriedly booked into. Having realised that three people would be staying in the room rather than two, the owner quickly brought us a variety of matresses and duvets to make up a bed on the floor, and once that was done and we had found Patrick, Blake and I headed to the English bookshop (a godsend that I had not been expecting filled with delights like Jose Saramago and Salman Rushdie, though I decided to skip buying these in favour of copies of Catcher in the Rye, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, all of which I had been dying to read but had never gotten a chance to.) Patrick decided to stay in the motel and take advantage of the giant bath. When we returned, it wasn't long before we were all fast asleep and dreaming of the rollercoasters of the next day (well I can't speak for the other two, but I certainly was.)

We all woke bright and early on Sunday morning, at 7:30, and made our way down to the bus stop. We all decided that we were going to need some food and hot drinks to get us through the bus trip, and so we made our way to the cafe just outside the stop. As we walked out of the cafe, we saw our bus driving away and started cursing our stomachs. So we ended up sitting at the bus stop for an extra half hour or so until another bus came along, and this one was full, so we ended up having to stand uncomfortably as the bus weaved its way along windy roads and through ridiculous traffic (all apparently headed to Everland), and after about an hour we had finally arrived, all grateful to place our feet on solid ground. We pushed through the people and, after buying tickets and going through a suspiciously simple security check (no metal detectors? No body searches? What the hell?!) we were through, into the park, and were confronted by a tree that looked like it had crept its way out of the Avatar set and covered itself in as many colourful flowers as it could find to disguise itself. The queues were already fairly crazy, and so we made our way to what we knew would be the longest one, realising that it would be even crazier later in the day. And so we came to the T-Express; the steepest wooden rollercoaster in the world, and certainly the steepest that I'd ever been on. Looking at it made my stomach churn, and yet somehow I found myself happily making my way through the queue to the front of the line, placing my bag in the cubicle, getting into the rollercoaster and strapping myself in. It was only after I had done all of this and the rollercoaster had started that I began to wonder what the hell I was doing. I asked Patrick (who was sitting next to me) over and over again why he had let me get on the ride? This was followed by choruses of muttering and swearing to kill him if I survived, which were shortlived because by this time we were at the top and about to head over the edge of the giant cliffhanger of doom. Two minutes later, with my hair ever so slightly dishevelled (it's to be expected when you are going at a sensory speed of 200 km/h), we all got off, looking slightly pale but all with the same question on our minds: Should we go again now or later?

This was the start of the day and was followed by another smaller rollercoaster, another ride on the T-Express, a water ride involving a raft, and an electric guitar ride that liked to throw all of us around (this was by far the scariest and gave a whole other meaning to the word headbanging for me, as we did somewhere around 10 loop-the-loops and were upside down for about 80% of the ride). Because it was the first decent weekend of the Spring, the park was packed and so these five rides took us all day. By the time we finished on the guitar ride, it was almost 6pm and Blake and I decided that we were over the queues and that it was time to head home. Patrick wanted to stay with his friend, Carene, who had joined us later in the day, but didn't want to bus back on his own, so he reluctantly joined us, but insisted that we not go back to Cheongju through Seoul. Instead he thought it would be quicker to go to a town on the outskirts of Seoul known as Suwon and from there to catch a bus to Cheongju and that way avoid the hustle and bustle of the city. And so we got onto a bus to Suwon (which took an hour and a half) only to find when we got there that there weren't any busses to Cheongju. So we decided to take the subway back to the bus terminal in Seoul in any case (taking us another hour and a half) and we arrived at the terminal only to be told that the earliest bus we could get tickets on was leaving at 23:05 (it was about 21:45 at this point, and we had been hoping to get tickets on the 22:00 bus, which would usually have been fine but a great deal of the Everlanders seemed to be from Cheongju.) And so we boarded a bus at 23:05 and arrived in Cheonju an hour an a half later, thoroughly worn out and unimpressed. From there, it was still a 15 minute taxi-ride to my house, and so I arrived back in the comfort of my own space a little before one in the morning - just in time to miss getting a full 6 hours sleep after I had showered, changed and tidied my room ever so slightly (involving taking things off the bed and finding places to put them so that I could in fact get some sleep.) And so, what should have been a 2.5 hour trip in mild traffic, 3 hours at the very most, ended up taking almost 7 hours.

And now I am back at work, having a typical Monday. Though the weather is beautiful (I am feeling hot in my long-sleeved shirt), my classes have been very difficult. The techniques and games that worked in all of my classes last week are refusing to work today, and I had not been told that I would be having my school photo taken today, and so was thoroughly unprepared in the clothes that I grabbed off the line this morning because I was too tired to find anything else. I am, however, extremely grateful to note that it's almost over - I only have one class left - and I will be able to sleep soon enough. Plus, Wednesday is a public holiday in South Korea - while you will all be celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday, the Koreans will be celebrating Children's Day on Wednesday. I quite like this tradition. Not only does it mean that the kids get appreciated once in awhile, but it also means I get the day off school! Hooray! I have already been invited to a hike up to the fortress that surrounds Cheongju on Wednesday, so you can be expecting some pretty pictures soon enough. For now, I must stop daydreaming about the holiday to come and get back to reality where I am faced with a lesson to teach in half an hour.