Travellin' Thru Korea

So, when I was going over my Bucket List last week, I noticed that I was missing a couple of posts that I had totally intended to write and never got around to. One that I was particularly sad about was my trip to Busan. I started writing a ridiculously long blogpost about it, but gave up on it when I realised that it was too long for anyone to want to read it. So, I have decided to reminisce and tell you about the different things that you can do when you are in Busan. I will tell you about what I did during my three visits to my favourite city in Korea, where I stayed, how I travelled (and the problems with each method) and what I was disappointed to not be able to do. If that last sentence makes no sense at all, you have to excuse me. I have clearly been in Korea for too long.

WHERE TO STAY

I have been to Busan three times during my year in Korea and have stayed in two motels. I will tell you about my experiences at each hotel and why I chose to stay at one of them twice.

Botel - I stayed in the Boatel in Haeundae on my first visit to Busan over Buddha's Birthday. The room was lovely and spacious with a king-sized bed, a jacuzzi tub, a large TV and a computer. Our first impression of the room was fantastic and we weren't too concerned about forking over 60,000 won per room - it was a price to pay for luxury, or so we thought. I quickly learned that the sink leaked and got lost during my stay trying to find the motel in the maze of sidestreets the surrounded it. It was convenient that the motel was located in Haeundae which was exactly where we wanted to be for our three day stay, but it also meant that finding our way around the rest of the city was a little difficult as the subway line that Haeundae is on is separate from the others.

Dejavu - On my second visit to Busan, I left my accomodation to chance, deciding to see what I could find when I got there, and I ended up staying at the Dejavu motel. I found the motel purely by chance and, as I didn't want to pay too much, was fine with a 45,000 won room. On arrival in the room itself, I was thoroughly impressed - a king sized bed, a giant TV, a computer, a two-person bathtub and a sauna-shower lay in wait, dying to be used. The motel was also very conveniently placed for exploring the city - it is close to Yeonsan-dong subway station which connects to two of the three lines that you might want to travel on. Being in site of the subway station, I had no problem with getting lost this time, and I had no other problems at the motel, so I chose to stay here on my third visit to the city. The second time around, the computer in our room had no internet access but, on telling the staff, we were quickly moved to another room that did. All-in-all, I would highly recommend this motel to anyone wanting to visit Busan.

TRAVELLING

There are three ways to travel around Busan (aside from walking, of course): Subway, Taxi and Bus. I will tell you my experiences using each of these methods of transport.

Subway - Like Seoul, Busan has it's own subway system, and I found Busan's version a lot easier to navigate than the Seoul equivalent. That Busan is smaller obviously affects the subway and how many stations need to be placed throughout the city and how many lines need to connect them, but I still found the subway journey to be far more comfortable in Busan. There weren't as many people, there weren't as many changes, and it was easy to find the station that you needed to get off at without being confuzzled by a jumble of letters strewn across a delicate map of coloured lines.

Taxi - I struggled with taxis more in Busan than I have struggled anywhere else. Apparently the accent in Busan is different from the other Korean accents, and they found my attempts at Korean more difficult to understand than usual. This was most noticable on my first visit to Busan when I tried to get a taxi back to my motel at 3am. I knew how to get there from the Haeundae subway station, and directed the taxi to take me there. Before I knew it, I had arrived at Haeundae bus station. This wasn't right!
"Haeundae subway?"

"??"

"Haeundae metro?"
"Opsseyo."

According to my taxi driver, there was no Haeundae subway station. I ended up rattling off every Western restaurant that I had seen along the beach-front near my hotel and finally wound up saying "aquarium", which he thankfully understood. He took me to the aquarium and was kind enough to give me a discount on the taxi charge because of the miscommunication, which I thought was very nice of him, but needless to say, this was not a particularly good taxi experience for me. This also happened to be the night that I got lost by the way - trying to find my way back to the Botel proved more difficult than I had imagined, and even when I could see the motel rising in the distance, I still got lost along the sidestreets trying to find my way to it. Epic fail.

Bus - I have yet to ride a bus in Busan. I was supposed to ride a bus during my third visit there in order to get to Taejongdae, but this ended up being an absolute fail. This was purely because I couldn't find the bus stop! I knew the bus that I was supposed to climb on, I knew the road that it was supposed to drive on, but finding a bus stop was an absolute fail, and as I was tired from walking around all day and sweating profusely from the heat, my quest was not long-lived. So I cannot really tell you what riding the bus in Busan is like, but I can tell you it's difficult to get on one.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

Busan is a pretty big city, and even after going there three times, I still haven't been able to do everything that I wanted to. But here is a list of things that you can see and do in Busan.

Busan Tower - The most obvious stop during any trip to Busan, the tower has spectacular views of every area of the city. 120m high, the building is air-conditioned (a huge relief during the summer months) and there is a marketplace on the ground floor selling touristy bits and bobs for reasonable prices - a great place to look for gifts for your return trip home. Outside the tower are a few traditional Korean games that you can play and two convenience stores. The tower is situated in the middle of a park which looked rather lovely, and if you have the time I would recommend walking through it. I, however, did not, and therefore cannot give too much advise on this matter.

Fee: Around 4,000 won
Subway station: Nampo-dong (do not confuse with Napo-dong)

Forty Steps - The 40 steps or "sa-ship gyedan" is an area in Busan that was restored to it's post-Korean war state. What this basically means is that the streets are cobbled, the streetlights are wooden and there are statues spread throughout the few blocks that are included in this area. I didn't find the area to be too interesting, but there was a museum and there were a couple of statues that allowed for some good photo opportunities, so I would recommed making a short stop here, especially as it is a short walk from Busan Tower. If you are walking to the 40 steps, it can be rather confusing and difficult to find. If you get off at the right subway exit, it is right in front of you

Fee: Free

Subway station: Jungang-dong, exit 13.

Jagalchi Fish Market - Though I will admit to not being fond of the idea of a market entirely revolving around the selling of fish, I will admit to finding this market place absolutely fascinating. There are fish that you will never have seen before in your life, fish of all shapes and forms and in all stages of being cooked and eaten, and once again it is a perfect photo opportunity. I liked the area so much and had so much fun that I ended up going there twice! Also, contrary to my expectations, the area did not smell particularly fishy, and that was a rather pleasant surprise. If you are hungry, there is a restaurant that serves all the fish that you see in the market and you can pick one out for yourself. Be careful to ask for a price though, as you do not want to be surprised later.

Fee: Free (unless you eat lunch)

Subway station: Jagalchi

Ferry from Napo-dong to Haeundae - If you are tired after a day of running around and just want to relax for awhile but still take in the sites and sounds of Busan, I would recommend taking a ferry. Ferries run between Napo-dong (in walking distance of Jagalchi Fish Market, 40 Steps and Busan Tower) and Haeundae beach on a regular basis. The ferry terminals can be difficult to find, but a taxi should be able to take you there if need be. I would not recommend walking, as it is very easy to get lost.

Fee: 80,000 for an hour and a half trip to the opposite ferry station or 120,000 for a round trip ending at the same ferry station.

Haeundae - Haeundae Beach is a very popular area in Busan and one of the main reasons for visiting the city. In summer, it is difficult to find a place on the packed beach and restaurants along the beach front are crowded. It is possible to rent a jet ski or go on a banana boat ride from the ferry terminal, and there is a busy nightlife if that is your scene.

Haeundae Aquarium - Located on the Haeundae beach front, the aquarium is quite unique in that it is located almost entirely underground. Though it does not really compare to the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, it is still a fun activity to do while in Busan and a fun way to spend a couple of hours. They also offer shark dives if that is your kind of thing.

Fee: 22,000 with extra costs for things like shark dives or a 3D movie experience.

Subway station: Haeundae

Rock n Roll Bar - also located on the beach front, this bar which serves mediocre Mexican food and cheap cocktails also has a spectacular view of the city. I would recommend paying a visit to the bar at night when the city lights are shining away.

Fee: 3,000 won and up for cocktails; around 8,000 for a meal.

Subway station: Haeundae

Yong-gunsa Temple - A uniquely located temple that overlooks the sea. Most temples in Korea are situated in the mountains and require a hike to get to them. Yong-gunsa is not one of these temples, and is the only temple in Korea to be located along a coastline. This provides beautiful, scenic views and a wonderful sense of calm. The temple itself can get fairly busy, so I would recommend visiting it early in the morning before the crowds start arriving. There is no subway nearby, so your best bet would be getting a subway to Jangsan station and finding a taxi there to take you to the temple itself.

Fee: Free, though you might want to contribute a donation

Subway station: Jangsan and taxi-it-up the rest of the way.

Gwangan "Diamond" Bridge - Easily seen from Gwangalli beach, this bridge is nicknamed the "Diamond" bridge because of the way that it lights up at night. This is definitely an area that you want to visit at nighttime, as it is not nearly as beautiful during the day. Gwangalli beach is smaller and less popular than Haeundae, but the view of the bridge at night is a must-see in my opinion. There are also a number of good bars and restaurants along the beachfront, many of which are Western oriented and tourist-friendly. I have it on good authority that this is the place to go if you want to go out in Busan.

Fee: Free

Subway station: Geumnyeonsan

Museum of Modern Art - If art and sophistication are your kind of thing, then you may want to pay a visit to Busan's Museum of Modern Art. They often have special exhibits that you can pay a little extra to visit, however I did not opt to do this on my visit. Instead, I walked around the museum taking in the artwork and it was a calming way to spend an hour or two of the afternoon.

Fee: Around 7,000 won

Subway station: Busan Museum of Modern Art

China Town - Also known as Choryang Foreigner Shopping Area, this area is filled with authentic Chinese restaurants and restored houses that hold hidden treasures of books and ornaments. This China-town is also a bit of a Russia-town, and the other foreigners that you find here will usually be Russian or speak Russian-tainted English. There are statues and lanterns spread around the area and it is rather picturesque, so once again, I would recommend making a stop here.

Fee: Free

Subway station: Busan Station

WHAT I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE

As I said earlier, even three visits is not enough to see everything that there is in Busan and there were a few things that I would have liked to see and experience that I didn't get the chance to. Here are some of them:

Shinsegae - Busan houses the largest department store in the world, and I would have liked to visit that even if it was just to have my photo taken outside of it. Unfortunately, time was of the essence and I did not have a chance to visit the store or even have my picture taken. Boo.

Pusan International Film Festival - An annual event, this film festival attracts foreigners from around Korea to participate in the festival which is often marked by a spectacular fireforks display.

Napo-dong market - Me and my shopping, right? Well this market is located between Busan Tower and Jagalchi Fish Market, so if it isn't too hot and you can muster up the energy, I would recommend walking through it rather than taking the subway between the two places. Unfortunately, the day that I visited Busan Tower was just too hot, and we opted for the air-conditioning over the shopping.

Taejongdae - This area is supposed to house easy hiking trails and spectacular views. It is said that on a clear day you can see one of the Japanese islands from the Observatory. There is also a great view from Suicide Rocks which is protected by a giant statue of a woman who is supposed to represent a mother to prevent people from jumping to their choppy deaths into the sea below.

And so, that is Busan. If you are thinking of visiting the city and would like some more information about it, read this personal account of one of my weekends there, or feel free to ask questions in the comments.

Labels: Bucket list, Busan, Photos 2 comments |

Bucket List update

So when I first arrived here, I made a bucket list of all the things that I wanted to get up to in Korea. And with time now running out (15 days!) I thought that would be a good time to revisit that list now and see what I managed to do and what I failed at.

Visit Jeju-do. The idea was that, since I had put Jeju-do down as my first choice of location, I should have at least visited the island. Unfortunately, that just never worked out the way that I had hoped. I wanted to visit it when Grant was here to make his trip special, but by the time we got around to booking his flights, there were no flights to the island and no accomodation that could be booked online. Though we could have risked it and seen what we could find when we got there, I didn't want to take any chances. By the time he left, the seasons were changing and the idea of going to a tropical island in Autumn with the cold weather was just not as appealing. So sadly, this dream never came to fruition.
Go to at least one city in every province. My Jeju failure already ruled this out as a possibility, however Jeju was not the only province that I didn't end up visiting. So out of the nine provinces, I ended up visiting seven.
Gyeonggi-do: I visited Icheon, Incheon, Osan, Seoul and Seongnam.
Gangwon-do: I visited Chuncheon and Wonju.
Chungcheongnam-do: I visited Daejeon and Boryeong.
Chungcheongbuk-do: I live in Cheongju and visited Chungju.
Gyeongsangbuk-do: I visited Mungyeong (and am totally counting this even though I was only on the border - the six hours it took me to hike up and down are counting dammit!)
Gyeongsandnam-do: I visited Busan and Tongyeong.
Jeollabuk-do: Sadly not even a border visit here.
Jeollanam-do: I visited Gwangju and Muan.
Jeju-do: See above.
Have a conversation with a taxi-driver in Korean. The idea behind this one was that a taxi-driver would be more open to having a conversation in Korean with me than anyone else. Though I have not yet managed to have a decent conversation with one in Korean, I have managed to have some conversations that involved my broken Korean and their broken English combining to allow for an understanding. I think this is a partial success, and I don't really think I could have expected more from my limited time here.
Earn some money. So, as I said before, my trip to Korea was not intended to be a saving one. I came here to travel and to have fun. But, as I also said before, I also wanted to leave with a small amount of savings. I think that it is safe to say that I am going to be leaving with a very small amount saved - the small amount being my last pay check, my severance pay and my exit allowance. I have been terrible about saving money, to be honest, but I blame a lot of that on the purchases of laptops, cameras, Thai holidays and a return ticket to South Africa for Grant. So, overall I think the fact that I managed to keep any money without going into debt (I do still owe my father R7000 after all, and that amount is not being included in my savings) is a success.
Learn to play the guitar. A couple of weeks ago, I would have written this off as a fail. I hadn't picked up my guitar in months. And then, I decided to see how much I remembered and found that (though I am still struggling to hold the strings down a little) I have remembered most of the chords that I learned and still have the strumming down. I could also recall some songs from memory and managed to tune the guitar all by myself, which I was particularly proud of. I am taking this as a success even though I still need to do some work on it, and I'm looking forward to coming home and practicing some more on Cherie's guitar.
Write mass e-mails on a regular basis. Though I have not been posting them anywhere, I have succeeded in writing mass e-mails on a fortnightly basis. There have been a few slip ups where I have written after three weeks rather than two, but I have written 36 e-mails over the course of the year, and I think that definitely makes this a success.
Write. I am a journalist through and through. There is no denying it for me. And my favourite form of journalism has always been writing. So, when I came to Korea, I made a resolution to write. A lot. E-mails, blogs, book reviews, short stories, articles, whatever I could think of, I was going to write it. And I did. Not only did I manage to keep three blogs going (though the third was a bit of a fail as I do not update it as often as I should), but I also wrote a number of short stories, got an article published and managed to start writing two different books that I hope to further and finish at some point in my lifetime (I have this really bad habit of starting to write books and never finishing them.) I am counting this as a success, thank you very much.
Make a Korean friend. I am pleased to say that this aim has definitely been achieved. Though I won't go namedropping, I have made a few Korean friends over the time that I have been here. Though I wouldn't say that any of them are best friends, they are certainly people that I would call up to have a drink with after a rough day, and that's just what I wanted out of the exactly what I wanted out of the experience - someone that I feel comfortable talking to and look forward to hanging out with.
Hike. I did do a little it of hiking, but not as much as I would have liked. I missioned up Mungyeong Saejae and I braved Sandang Sangseong, but I still feel like this aim hasn't been as much of a success as I would have liked. So I am only counting this one as a partial success.
Take pictures. Okay. I don't think anyone could deny that this was a success. I have taken a ridiculous number of photos, especially since acquiring my baby. My obsession with taken photos has moved beyond a hobby, and at the moment I am considering making some money from it. So look out world! Here comes Lara the photographer!!!
Go somewhere else in Asia. My Thai trip solidifies this aim as a success, and though I would have loved to travel some more in Asia (China was supposed to have been on the cards), money and time just wouldn't allow it. I do still have a 9-hour stop-over in Kuala Lampur to experience (which I am totally going to count as going somewhere else in Asia) and the idea of doing an Eat, Pray, Love-esque trip with Jess is still in the back of my mind for about ten years in the future.
Find a Dr Fish. This also came very close to being a fail, but thanks to Jess, Shaina and Geri, we managed to make it a success by taking a trip to Osan last weekend and experiencing the fishy goodness for ourselves. Joy!

And that is the run down of my bucket list. I am feeling pretty good about it - 8 successes, 2 partial successes and only 2 failures. With only 15 days left, I doubt that I am going to manage much more than I already have (a trip to Jeju-do is certainly out of the question), and so I feel safe to say that this is the summation of my bucket list. I quite enjoyed having aims to live up to though, and am thinking of making a number of different bucket lists - photography, yearly and lifelong. Look out for them!

Labels: Bucket list 1 comments |

What I'm looking forward to

My last blogpost was about all the things that I am going to miss about Korea, and I realized while writing it that I was looking at South Africa in quite a negative way. I have always considered myself a proud South African, and I believe that every country has it’s problems. Korea certainly does – look at the situation between North and South if you have any doubt. Sure, I have never felt threatened by it, but it is an ongoing situation where war could break out at any time with little provocation. In any case, there are a whole bunch of things that I am looking forward to about going back home as well, so I thought that I would take the time to write those down as well.

Flying. Since this is the first thing that I am going to experience on returning to South Africa (as I will, of course, be returning by air), I thought that I would start here. I love flying, and I think I always have (though my dad might dispute this due to an experience when I was three years old – really, Dad? Are you going to blame me for something I had no control of?) I am going to enjoy being able to fly on a regular basis (and by regular, I mean at least two return trips a year, as there are always trips to Joburg or Cape Town to take into consideration.) Basically, I am going to enjoy being in a country that is big enough to fly, rather than drive, around.

Driving. That being said, I am really looking forward to driving. I can’t wait! I have got itchy fingers just thinking about it, wanting to take hold of a clutch and steering wheel. I may not be particularly good at it (look at my track record of silly incidents for proof of this), but I enjoy it. I like being out on the open road, getting up to speeds of 160km/h as I am listening to my own music and belting it out in the empty car for no one to hear. I like road trips. They are far more fun than being cooped up in a bus or taxi, trying to be quiet and polite and respectful. Driving = freedom in my books!

Sea. I can’t wait to be close to the sea! The ocean is about a half hour’s drive from where I stay in both Cape Town and Grahamstown, and I am looking forward to not having to sit still for a 3 hour bus ride and another half hour subway ride to get there! I also can’t wait to don a bikini without feeling a. like a great white whale and b. like a whale that is being stared at for showing so much skin. I am particularly looking forward to the beach because I will be able to go there when I arrive in South Africa. Because guess what? It’s SUMMER! Robyn – if you are reading this, prepare yourself for a trip to our special Boulder’s Beach.
Picture: Boulder' Beach in Simonstown. Found on Google.

Golf courses. I am going to love seeing normal golf courses instead of these silly drive in ranges that they have here. I’m sorry, but hitting a golf ball into a giant green net is not the same as standing on a giant grass plain and hitting it as hard as you can until you cannot see it anymore. Not that I want to play golf. No, you misunderstand. I just want to look at the golf course. Korea isn’t fooling anyone with these drive in ranges, golf courses are a hundred and twenty times prettier! My longing to see a golf course also has to do with visualizing the SPACE that there is in South Africa. Everything in Korea is so cooped up and tightly wound that I just want a chance to see a space that has no purpose except to hit golf balls. It’s going to be great.
Picture: Welgemoed Golf Course (the one that I live on in Cape Town). Found on Google.

Houses. I am dying to be in an actual house rather than a flat (Americans, read apartment). Once again, this has to do with the concept of having space. Everything in my apartment is so close together – the hallway doubles as a kitchen, the bathroom is right next to it, my room on the other side which doubles as a lounge and part of my kitchen (since the fridge has to live there), the washing room leading on from that. Everything is so close together and I’m looking forward to separating it again. I am looking forward to having an actual KITCHEN rather than a hallway that doubles as one. I am looking forward to having a lounge that is separate from my bedroom. I am looking forward to branching out.
Pets. I mentioned in the last blog how much I love Cat Cafés, and I do! But I am still really looking forward to being able to keep a pet. I can’t wait to come home and spend some time with each of my mother’s cats before returning to Grahamstown and getting in some quality time with Puddims. I want to be able to wake up in the morning to a cat sleeping on top of me. I want to have one to pick up whenever I feel like it or look at whenever I need some cheering up, and unfortunately that is where the Cat Cafés fall short. It is great to spend time with pets, but it’s even better to own them.

Living with other people. Also in the last blog, I wrote about how much I am going to miss living on my own. But what I didn’t write about was how much I am going to enjoy living with other people again. I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and walk into a kitchen full of people. Even more than that, I can’t wait to wake up next to someone again. I am really looking forward to being around other people. Sure, I can appreciate alone time every now and then, but I can also appreciate time spent with the people that you love, people that make you happy. So yay for living with other people!
Picture: Me with Richard and Michael - two of my housemates from 2008-2009. Taken by Genny.

Maids. This is one of the things that I have missed most of all while being in Korea. I am a slob. There. I said it. I tend to be very messy when living on my own – clothes strewn everywhere, dishes uncleaned, laundry piling up until I have no choice but to do it. I am really looking forward to having someone to help me clean up. The mere fact that someone else is responsible for my mess tends to make me a bit better about cleaning up after myself. I don’t want this woman to think I am disgusting, nor do I want her to have to do my dirty work or go beyond the call of duty to clean up after me. I just want someone to help out when it is difficult to keep things in order, and I am really looking forward to that!

Cooking. I don’t get around to doing it much here, but I do rather enjoy cooking. The trouble in Korea is that I find it far too difficult and far too expensive cooking for one. I never know the right amounts, and though I can cook something and have leftovers for lunch later, I tend to not want the left overs the next day or the next or the next until they are too old to actually be eaten. Cooking back home is a different case entirely. Cooking for my family or cooking for Grant and Jono involves cooking for at least three people and leftovers are never a problem, since someone is always around to eat them. I am also really looking forward to getting my hands on an oven and baking something, though this is not something that I have been particularly good at before. Wish me luck!

Grocery shopping. I hate grocery shopping in Korea. There is so much food and so many choices, and yet they are all the same and it is difficult to find something that I actually want. Take lettuce for example – ten different kinds of lettuce, but no plain iceberg which is the only kind that I like to eat. *Sigh* I can’t wait to get to a Pick n Pay and grab just about everything in the shop simply because I know what they are!!! I also can’t wait to make a proper bolognaise – I am not particularly fond of pork mince, and that is that only kind that they have in Korea. Also, frozen veggies. Who would have thought that I would miss frozen veggies? Well I do!!!

Western food. I am looking forward to being in a country where Western food is the standard. Where I don’t feel guilty about going out for some Italian, and where not all Western food comes smothered in grease and oil and far. I have struggled to find good, healthy Western food here. I miss grilled chicken instead of having it fried to death! Sure, I am going to miss a lot of Korean foods, but I am going to love being able to order something without wondering if I am going to choke from the spiciness. I have managed fairly well in Korea, and my spice resistance has increased, but I still prefer things to be mild, and I am looking forward to knowing that most things will be.
Picture: Kauai take-aways in Cape Town. Found on Google.

Tea. I am very Very VERY much looking forward to a good cup of tea. I am a tea-lover. Some people drink coffee, I always choose tea. I like all different kinds of tea and have embraced a number of them, including green tea, while I’ve been in Korea. But, while I am certainly a tea-lover, I am nothing compared to my mother who has about six cups a day, if not more! And nothing that I have tried in Korea has compared to the tea that my mommy makes. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s the particular brand that she uses. Whatever it is, her tea is so much better than anywhere else and I cannot wait to have a cup of it. Or six as the case may be.

Braaing. I don’t want to be the one doing it, but I definitely want to be the one benefiting from it! I want to have a braai! With boerewors!!! And chicken and lamb chops and steaks and all the other yummy delicious things that come with braais. When I’m with my parents, this includes sadza (mielie pap/corn meal) and when I’m with Grant it includes potato salad (the real kind). Whatever the sidedishes are, I don’t really mind! I just want to have one! I want to sit around the braai with the boys cooking and the girls chatting and just bask in the afternoon sunlight. The thought of this is making my mouth water, so I am just going to stop right there.
Afrikaans. I have never been particularly good at speaking Afrikaans. Writing it, sure. Reading it, sure. Speaking it? Not so much. I apparently have a terrible Afrikaans accent and I avoid using it where I can. But since Claudell’s visit, I have been eating, breathing and sleeping Afrikaans – quite literally, I wake up and my thoughts are all in Afrikaans. I am looking forward to being around Afrikaans speakers even if I am not speaking it myself. I am looking forward to hearing it being spoken around me and actually knowing that this is a different language that I CAN speak (unlike Korean). I look forward to being able to understand people in another language, and being able to communicate no matter where I go.
South African phrases. “I will see you just now.” It always slips out without my thinking about it and the responses range from amusement to confusion to utter rage. You’d think that my friends would have gotten used to it by now, but some still haven’t and find it very frustrating when I use it. I am looking forward to being able to use phrases like “just now”, “hectic” and adding “hey” onto the ends of sentences without being judged for doing so. I am looking forward to people understanding that when I say “I will see you just now”, I do not mean right now. I mean in a little bit. I am looking forward to not having to explain that to people everytime I use it, because South Africans don’t need it explained to them – it is as engrained in their consciousness as it is in mine.
Blending in. I am looking forward to not being the odd one out, the stranger, the waygook. I can’t wait to just blend into the crowd and have no one notice what I am wearing or what my hair looks like on any particular day. I am looking forward to just being a part of the crowd and not having people double take or point or whisper. I am sure that I will miss it after a couple of weeks, that I will want a bit of attention, but I have had too much of it in Korea, and, for the moment at least, I can’t wait to just disappear.
Normal. More than just blending in, I can’t wait to be seen as normal. This goes beyond just blending into a crowd and will relate to my next topic as well. I want to be seen as being of a normal weight. I don’t want to be told when I walk into a shop that nothing will fit me because I am too big. Koreans are tiny, I know this, but there are still some Koreans who are my size. I have seen them! They exist! I know it! And I very much doubt that they are treated in the same way as foreigners when they wander into a Korean store. I have given up shopping at boutiques (at least for clothes), because of the number of times that I have been kicked out moments after stepping through the door. I can’t wait to walk into a shop and reach for the medium sizes rather than the biggest size that they have. I just want to be seen as normal rather than huge.
Shopping malls. I can’t wait to waltz into a shopping mall and be able to try on something at almost all of the clothing stores. Sure, I may not be able to BUY it because it might be outside of my price range, but the fact that I can fit into it will be great. I can’t wait to visit shoe stores where a size 6 is the average size rather than the largest they’ve got. I can’t wait to wander through a shopping centre (one that is covered rather than just a street of shops) and actually be able to walk into places without being TOLD to leave. I wasn’t a shopaholic before I came here, but I have developed this shopping habit while I’ve been here, and I think that it can be furthered in a far more positive fashion (while spending far less) in South Africa.
Picture: Canal Walk Shopping Centre. Found on Google.
Familiarity. In Grahamstown, I am recognized. It isn’t the same as being recognized here, where when a student sees me, they will fall over themselves trying to make sure that this really is Lala teacher. Grahamstown is a small town, and if the people there don’t know me, they often know Grant and will refer to me as Grant’s girlfriend and walk up and say hi. We’ll chat about random little things and then we’ll go our separate ways, happy to have made the brief exchange. In Grahamstown, everyone is familiar. It is like a giant extended family and I love that and can’t wait to be a part of it again.
Catching up. I can’t wait to have a catch up with my good friends. A year is a long time, and even those friends that I have stayed in good contact with have only told me the here and now of what is happening in their lives. I want to see the bigger picture. I want to learn of their experiences over the last year and I want to be able to share mine with them. I can’t wait for the coffees, lunches and dinners to start where I just get to spend time with my friends chatting about the last year and getting up to date on each other’s lives.

So there are twenty of the things that I am looking forward to back in South Africa. There are things that I am going to miss about Korea, but there are also things that I love about South Africa and can’t wait to get back to. Not everything is bad, after all.

As a side note: All but one of the pictures in this blog were found on Google. Most of them are just random pictures relating to the text. If the picture has specific importance, I have explained it beneath.

Labels: Travel 1 comments |

What I will miss

I went out for dinner with Neil, Geri and Jodie last night as a kind of goodbye, since Jodie is leaving on Saturday and won't be back before we leave. Of course, the conversation during these kinds of dinners always lead to the same question.
"Are you excited to be leaving?"
Well, duh! We're going back home! Of course we are going to be excited! But, for me at least, there's also a big sense of loss. Korea is where I have spent the last year of my life. I have become accustomed to being here, have made friends here, and the idea of leaving it all behind makes me incredibly sad. This sadness has been particularly bad over the last few days when I look at posts like this one from Amy:

"when you leave i will be absolutely desolated!! the random abuse of drunken yongamdong ajosshis and the whole supermarket family jumping on my bed at once won't be the same without you. don't gooooooo~~~!"

Before that moment, I had never really thought about what I was leaving behind. Sure, I was going home and would get to see my friends there, but I was also leaving friends behind - friends that I might never see again! Sure, we make plans to travel the world and we make plans to come and visit each other and attend each others weddings, but life gets in the way sometimes, and who knows when we will meet again. The thought of this makes me a little teary.

Anyway, once I started concentrating on what I was leaving behind, I started really appreciating what it is that I have. I started looking at Korea in the bright-eyed bushy-tailed way that I don't think I experienced when I first arrived - I was too busy being homesick and missing everything back home to notice just how awesome some things are here. So I thought that I would take this moment to write down some of the things that I will thoroughly miss about Korea in general (not going into details about things that I will miss about friends, because that will just be too hard.)

Snow. Yeah, I know. I must get over it already. I am not a fan of cold, but as I have said time and time again, the snow makes it feel worthwhile, and I am sure that I am going to sorely miss it during South African winters where all I will have is an icy wind keeping me company that is cold, but just not cold enough. I am still hoping for one more snowfall before I leave – though I have thrown a few snowballs and had a number of them thrown at me, I have yet to make a snowman, and I feel that this is something that I must do before I leave the wonderful white stuff behind. Come on, Korea! SNOW!!!
Picture: Cindy and I taking photos of the snow-covered park outside my school. Taken by Jinny.
Hiking. I haven't done as much of this as I would have liked, but the little bits and bobs of hiking that I did do were awesome. There is nothing like walking through a hillside steeped with beautiful trees and random temples strewn along the way.
Picture: Munkyeong Saejae when we hiked it in early April.

Cherry blossoms. Why can't we have these in South Africa?! The little pink blossoms definitely made my month of April pass by a little quicker, and looking at them always seemed to bring a smile to my face no matter what I was going through.
Picture: Me playing with cherry blossoms. Taken by Rowena or Meghan.

Buses. Being able to travel across the country on a whim is something that I will sorely miss about Korea. Cheap, fast, reliable, comfortable travel to anywhere in the country was great, and I wish South Africa would get something similar. Of course, South Africa is a hell of a lot bigger than Korea, but that's no excuse for it to cost R600 (about 100,000 won) for a return trip from Cape Town to Plett - the equivalent of Seoul to Busan - and for the bus to be four hours late in each direction. Korea, your transport will be sorely SORELY missed!!!
Picture: On an express bus to Seoul.
Taxis. On the topic of transport, I am really REALLY going to miss the taxis in Korea. There really isn't anything similar in Cape Town, and while I will certainly appreciate driving myself around for a change, it would be nice to be able to flag down a cab when I have had one too much to drink or when I am too tired to drive. Taxis that, once again, are cheap and reliable - sure, they might take you the long way around, but you never worry that they are going to leave you in the middle of nowhere - are a great commodity.
Picture: One of my taxi drivers stuck in traffic.
Subways. Still on the topic of transport, I am really Really REALLY going to miss the subway. Remember how I said taxis were cheap? Forget that. SUBWAYS!!! I can just picture myself climbing on a train in Bellville (and not the kind we currently have that I wouldn’t feel comfortable riding on) and coming out in Cape Town half an hour later regardless of how bad the traffic is. And traveling in comfort at that! Air conditioned in Summer, heated in Winter kind of comfort, even if I would have to stand to enjoy it. Yes, there is a train system in Cape Town, but as I said, I just don’t feel comfortable participating in that form of travel. It’s moments like the one my friend, Robyn, experienced where she was abused (verbally, not physically thank God) for being a white woman using transport that is supposedly reserved for black people. “Look at that whitie thinking she’s like us” is not the kind of thing that I want to hear on my way to work in the morning thank you very much. (Sure, the Koreans might be saying it too, but at least I don’t understand them!)
Picture: Me returning from the Mika concert by subway. Taken by Dawn.

Love motels. Being able to find cheap accommodation anywhere in the country without any booking was always handy when deciding to take a trip on a whim. You would be guaranteed to find a love motel somewhere with a spare room, though it might take a little searching at times. And yeah, they often weren't the most savoury of places, but they were cheap, led to you sleeping on a bed rather than a thin mat on the floor and usually had computers with internet access to boot.
Picture: Dejavu Motel in Busan, where I have stayed twice.
Walking to school. I realized this morning as I was walking to work that this was something that I was truly going to miss. I was going to miss walking around without clutching my bag to me and without looking behind me, listening to my iPod as I walked down the street without worrying that something would happen like the last time. I am going to miss this particular routine, even though I currently hate it because of the cold. Being able to walk around alone is still something that I can appreciate.
Picture: The street that my school is on.
Korean children. I don’t know what it is that makes them so much cuter than any other nationality, but Korean kids are gorgeous! I am going to miss seeing their smiling bespectacled faces, and I am (strangely) going to miss their choruses of “Lala teacher!” as well as their singing of Korean songs and Smurf themes when I walked into the room. Ah, children of Korea… I really will miss you.
Picture: A random Korean child at my taekwondo studio.
Chungdae. Having all the bars that I wanted to go to in Cheongju conveniently all in the same area was very, well, convenient! I didn't have to drive half an hour to get from one pub to the next like I did in Cape Town, and each pub had its own distinctive personality which all appealed to me at one point or another, unlike Grahamstown where all of the pubs seem to blend into one. Pearl Jam was always the top choice for a meal and a drink, Buzz became the place to relax, MJs was where you went if you wanted a little more of a party and RoadKing was where you ended up at the end of the night when you'd had one too many and needed to sober up. Come to think of it… that does ring a little of Grahamstown…
Picture: Buzz Bar on a Sunday night.
Noraebang. I have seriously considered opening up one of these back home. I love that you can have the experience of a karaoke evening without the embarrassment of having to stand up on stage in front of tons of strangers. It is your own personal indulgence to stand up in front of only your own friends and belt it out, not caring about whether you sound good or bad because no one is going to judge you - it's all about the fun!
Picture: Noraebang at the end of Grant's farewell. In this picture: Angelina, Thomas, Grant, Amy, Jess and Patrick.
Camaraderie. I love how as soon as you see a white person (or black person for that matter) you will jump on them like they are your Lord and saviour - another foreigner! OMG! My new best friend!!! Nowhere else would you embrace a foreigner so wholeheartedly as part of your group of friends while knowing practically nothing about them. But because we are all in a strange country where we don't really know anyone, seeing someone who could conceivably come from the same country as you, or at least the same country as someone you know, feels like an unbelievable relief. Foreigners band together in a way that I haven't seen anywhere else, and I love it.
Picture: The random South Africans that I bumped into on my first night at MJs. Jacques (who lives in Durbanville) and I ended up being friends.
Communal dining. Most Korean dining is communal. You order something for your table, rather than something for yourself, and you share it out between everyone. I love this kind of dining and find it more social than ordering your own meal that only you can enjoy. I like trying some of everything and love to see how everyone's personal preferences differ - someone might comment, for example, on how delicious the doenjang jjigae (smelly-foot soup) is, and someone else, upon trying it, will get a disgusted look upon their face. It is an opportunity to socialise in an entirely new way, and I love it.
Picture: Having some Shabu Shabu with friends.
Chopsticks. I have gotten so used to using them for absolutely everything, that I am sure I am going to miss eating with them when I leave. It will suddenly be strange to use a knife and fork for every meal especially when, as Neil recently pointed out, some things are just so much easier to eat with chopsticks!! Take salad, for example. It is so much harder to eat a salad with a fork - attempting to stab at individual pieces of lettuce with limited space on the prongs - than it is to eat one with chopsticks – grabbing clumps of salad between the two sticks and shoveling them into your mouth before your grip fails you.
Picture: Chopsticks over soy sauce with wasabi.
Korean food. While I have been in Korea, I have jumped at the opportunity to eat Western food pretty much whenever I could. Italian, Indian, Mexican, you name it and I was there. But in between my Western cravings, I did manage to get in a fair amount of Korean cuisine, and I think that there are a number of dishes that I am sorely going to miss. The list includes, but is not limited to samgyetang, kalmegi-sal, buddaejjigae, bossam and gimbap. I just hope that the Korean restaurant in Cape Town has some good specimens!!
Picture: Eating Bossam.
Cat cafes. Not having pets in Korea has sucked. As someone who has lived with pets for most of her life, it has been awful going without them. But what has gotten me through this tough time is knowing that I can always visit a cat café! Sure, it may have taken a trip to Seoul in my first few months here to partake in this guilty pleasure, but once one opened in Cheongju, all it would take was a 4,000 won taxi to Shinae and a 7,000 won cup of coffee to be able to play with kitty cats to my heart’s delight! I think I am definitely going to miss these cafes when I get back to Grahamstown and only have one kitty cat to play with. Oh well, Puddims will just have to endure my unending affection. Poor Puddims!
Picture: One of the beautiful cats at Hello Cat in Cheongju.
Shopping. Shopping here is not the same as it is back home. I am going to miss walking through markets, bartering for goods, wandering into shops like Fashion News and LPM to look at the pretty clothes that would hardly ever fit me and buying clothes that could fit just because they could! I am also going to miss shops like Daiso with their ridiculously adorable stationery and other bits and bobs for next to nothing. I am going to miss the street food, even though I hardly ever ate any of it, and I am going to miss the experience of shopping in Korea in general.
Picture: Shopping in Shinae.
Mini-stops. I have gotten so used to having three convenience stores right next to my house! Everyday bits and pieces conveniently located 70 steps from my front door! And if the Family Mart didn’t have what I wanted, the Mini-stop, only 40 steps further away, was likely to stock it. And if that mini-stop didn’t have it, I could just walk a little further up the road to the next one. They may not have had a large variety of groceries at hand, but they sure did have a lot of other things!
Picture: A building filled with shops, with a mini-mart at the bottom. These stores can be found absolutely everywhere.

Living alone. It has it’s ups and downs, but I think there are definitely going to be things that I will miss about living alone, especially when I compare it to living with my parents. I was reminded of one of the big ups of living alone just the other day when I spoke to my sister.
“Mom’s pissed at me.”
“Why?”
“I came home at 6am.”
My sister is five years older than me. We should not have curfews anymore, and yet we do. I know that when I go home, I will be expected back before 12pm, and if I am going to come home later, it is better not to come home at all. In Grahamstown I will not be restricted by a curfew, but I still won’t have quite as much freedom – I will still have to arrange my life around other people. I cannot wake up at whatever time I like and do whatever I like, because if I wake up then I will probably wake Grant up. And then there is Jono to deal with. I am not complaining. All I am saying is that it has been nice only worrying about myself for awhile.
Picture: My apartment - just big enough for one.

Fast internets. This is one of the things that I think I am going to miss the most. I am going to miss websites loading seconds after the enter button has been pressed. I am going to miss choosing an episode to watch and watching it minutes later. I am going to miss unlimited skype calls and internet downloads and a million other things that come with having fast, limitless internet. Oh, Korea… how I love your technology.
Picture: An image of what fast internet would look like, stolen from google images.

There are about a million and one other things that I am going to miss about Korea, and the more I write, the more things I think of. But I think that this list is an indication of just how much I am going to miss this beautiful country that I have called my home for the last year of my life. Hopefully I will return one day (as a visitor rather than a teacher) and relive the year that I spent here, traveling around the country on that wonderful bus system, taking advantage of that fast internet, reveling in being able to eat that wonderful food. Korea, I will miss you!

To see what I am looking forward to in South Africa, click here.

Labels: Travel 0 comments |

Girly Day Out

7 am. That ungodly hour has been haunting me all week. And yet, despite my terror at having to wake up so early, I still somehow convinced myself to do it on the weekend when I could easily have slept in til a far more acceptable 10 or 11.

My alarm went off on Saturday morning, and I was oh so tempted to just throw it across the room. But instead, I pulled myself out of bed (my eyes glaring at the bright light that was shining through my blinds) and threw myself into the shower to wake myself up. I took it slowly, gradually getting ready with occasional checks of my e-mail in between and was out of the house by 10am to meet Geri and Jess and head together to the bus terminal to meet Shaina.

After missing our intended bus, we were on our way to Osan about an hour later than expected, but in high spirits none the less. An hour later we arrived at Osan bus terminal and dragged ourselves off the bus to wait in the freezing cold for a train to Songtan and finally bundled ourselves into a taxi to get to the marketplace. What was so important that I was willing to not only wake myself at 7am, but also travel halfway across the country for?

DR FISH! I finally found one!!! Jess had told me about it weeks and weeks earlier, and ever since I had been mentioning it at random intervals and trying to convince her to come with me. With Shaina's help, we finally persuaded her, and decided to make it a real girly day out - manicures, pedicures, shopping and eating to be included. But it was the Dr. Fish that had really sold me.

After arriving at the spa, we were directed to the back of the room where we glanced into a pond that was indeed filled with little (and some not so little) fish that were waiting to feast on our feet. We went in one at a time, washing our feet before climbing into the pond and carefully placing them in the fishy haven. I let out a little squeal as I placed my feet in and they all swarmed towards me to start nibbling. I am generally ticklish, and this was worse than I had imagined. They all pounced on me and I had about fifty of the little fishies on me at once. As you can imagine, having so many on you can lead to being more than just a little ticklish, and it did in fact hurt at times (particularly when they started attacking a small mole on my ankle) but I still managed to stay in for a good fifteen minutes, occasionally removing my feet to give them a bit of a rest.

Next up were the pedicures. We were seated in massage chairs with foot spas bubbling away at their bases, and I started really relaxing, the tiredness that came from my early wake-up finally kicking in. And then the woman came to work on me. I had never had a pedicure before, and my feet were fairly disastrous to tell the truth. I have never been a fan of my feet, and have thus never looked after them particularly well. This meant that I spent a little longer at the chair than the rest of my friends. My ticklish feet did get in the way at times, and the instruments that were used seemed absolutely horrifying, though none of them were particularly painful. I managed through it, however, and came out of it with beautifully smooth feet and pretty pink toenails with flower designs on them. So yay! After the pedicures came the manicures, another first for me. This was a far less torturous ordeal, however, and was over quicker than I had imagined. I came out of it with pretty pink fingernails to match my toes, with flower designs on my thumbs, and spent the next five minutes drying them off while Jess, Shaina and Geri patiently waited for me to finish up. I managed to put on my shoes without destroying the artwork too much, and it was time to pay up and head off to our next destination. Shopping ahead!

When we had walked down the market on the way to the spa, Shaina had spotted a handbag store, and that was the first destination on our shopping tour. We wandered into the shop and looked around at the rather badly made Louis Vuitton, Juicy and Coach fakes. These weren't what Shaina had in mind.
"Is this all," she asked the shop owner, who looked at her confusedly.

"Better?" she tried again.

With understanding dawning on the owners face, he told us to wait upstairs as he made his way down a narrow staircase. We waited around, wondering if what he had downstairs was really worth our time. A few moments later, he came back up and indicated for us to follow him. We made our own way down the narrow staircase and found ourself in what appeared to be the storeroom. We looked around us, and weren't very impressed.

"It's all the same stuff," Jess announced, saying exactly what all of us were thinking.

The owner squeezed past us (the storeroom was not particularly large and there were four of us down there after all) and pushed open a door that doubled as a mirror, opening up a roomful of handbags beyond. A communal "aah" filled the room as understanding dawned on us and was quickly followed by laughter as we realised just how dodgy a situation we had gotten ourselves into. Only two people could squeeze in there along with the owner, and Geri and I impatiently waited as we heard Jess and Shaina "Ooh" and "Aah" over their findings. After a few minutes, Jess returned to the real world clutching three handbags and Shaina returned cradling one and it was our turn to check out the room. I wandered in and my eye immediately fell on a Coach handbag that I absolutely fell in love with and had to have despite it's price. I also ended up walking away with a Chanel purse (wallet for the Americans) that I couldn't resist buying for myself, especially since my own was in the process of falling apart. Geri also bought three of the Chanel purses and we left the shop with thick black bags filled with our finds to hide their quality from the outside world.

We wandered down the streets some more, glancing at shops and occasionally stopping to look at or buy something or other (I left with some fans to give as gifts) before making our way to a Brazillian restaurant for an early dinner. If Dr. Fish hadn't been enough to convince me that this was a trip that I wanted to make, Jess's raving about this restaurant would definitely have done the trick. And her raving was well deserved.

We seated ourselves at a table and prepared ourselves for the meal that was to come. First off came the salad bar where you could take as much stew, soup and salad as you liked. Along with the normal salad ingredients of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and (normal in Korea anyway) corn, you could add quails eggs, string beans, olives and a number of other bits and bobs. There was also "potato salad", which caused a bit of a stir between me and the Americans. I would refer to as mashed potato with carrots, having grown up with what is apparently traditional South African potato salad. After a few minutes, the meat started arriving and it didn't stop coming - sirloin steak, bacon-wrapped beef, bacon-wrapped chicken, roast beef, garlic steak, two different kinds of chicken that were both grilled and both delicious and more. By the time dessert arrived we were absolutely stuffed and there was some talk of purging, but none of us could resist the cinnamon grilled pineapple that arrived for dessert, and it was truly heavenly after such a rich meal.

After paying, it was time to walk it off and we decided to try and find the Love Store that was said to be situated in the area. We wandered around for a minute outside the shop before spotting it directly opposite, only to discover that it was closed. Not to be disuaded from our quest, we asked someone for directions to another one, and were given them without any qualms or hesitation (from a Korean, I might add, which I thought was quite humorous in itself). And so we were on our way. After walking for around twenty minutes without any luck, we were starting to lose hope and, looking at the time, we decided to give up our quest and hail a taxi instead. We signalled one down and climbed into the cab and were on our way to the bus terminal. There was a bit of confusion about which terminal we wanted to go to, but after about five minutes of driving in the wrong direction, we were on the right track and passing the place where we had been picked up.

"Let's see if it was further down," Jess suggested.

And sure enough, two blocks later, we spotted a building with a giant heart on the front and words like "sexy" and "erotic" written on the side. This was it! Our quest was a success!

"Yogi-yo!" we shouted. "Yogi-yo! Yogi-Yo! YOGI-YO!" Until the absolutely confused driver did a u-turn and realised just what it was that we wanted.

We tipped him for his efforts, something that I have never done in Korea, since tipping is usually frowned upon, but we decided that if ever a situation called for a tip, this was it. We made our way inside into the dingy building and spent about five minutes looking around before leaving, some of the girls having found a couple of goodies for fairly reasonable prices. Now that our quest had been completed, we hailed down another taxi and really made our way back home.

I arrived back home and immediately went on Skype to tell Grant about the day I'd had. I was fairly exhausted, and rightly so, and was just about ready for bed, but wanted to tell him about how much fun my girly-day-out had been. Upon telling him about the bags, he said something that I had put out of my mind for the whole day.

"You realise that handbag was probably stolen."

I had vaguely considered it, but the thought had been easily ignored amidst the mountain of fun that we were having. As soon as Grant mentioned it though, I started worrying. Buying a fake handbag was one thing. Buying a stolen handbag was another. That was feeding into the crime that tends to corrupt South Africa, and it wasn't something that I wanted to support. Even the idea that I had bought stolen goods made me feel terrible, and so, hours later, after I had settled into my bed for what was supposed to be a night of rest, I was still awake thinking about it. I SMSed Jess to see if she was awake, and she was. So we started a skype call where we started checking our "fake" Coach handbags and comparing them to the real things (which we each happened to have one of). We brought up websites and started checking the lists of things that indicated that a Coach bag was fake and, about 20 items down, I found one that reassured me that it was indeed a fake rather than stolen merchandise. It was something that I would never have noticed otherwise, but the quality statement on the inside of the bag wasn't quite right. While a real Coach will say "This is a genuine Coach bag," mine read "This is a genuine leather bag." While that in itself wasn't quite enough to dissuade me, the minor typo further down the statement was. Once that had been found, the other small things that could have been excused - there was no number on the zip, for example, which most (though not all) Coach bags have - all started adding up, and my worries were qualmed.

I ended up getting a great night's sleep, fed by my worrying I'm sure, and am extremely happy to say that the day ended up being a complete success. It's just a shame that I won't be able to go back there before I leave. If I am ever in Korea again, though, you can be sure that this is one day-stop I'm going to make!

Labels: Food, Travel 2 comments |

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