The Long Goodbye

The longest week of my life

is slowly drawing to a close.

Between social events, goodbye dinners and my birthday, I actually feel like I need a holiday/mini-break away from people.

I know it sounds bad, and very firstworldproblems of me... I think I am really just overwhelmed with all the catching up and goodbye-ing. I have 2 more sleeps until Korea and I am so so tired. Saying goodbye is one of the most emotionally draining things to have to do, and I have spent my last week with nothing but goodbyes. It feels like its all I have done. And its kinda depressing. 

And I keep telling the same stories over and over again. I can't remember who I have spoken with and who I haven't, so I think my friends are hearing the same shit 3 or 4 times. Or I have been asked the same things over and over, so I am forever repeating the same answers. In case you were wondering about any of the following things, here are some of the more common questions/answers:

Q. Are you nervous?

A. No, I was excited, now I am just tired and want to get on the freaking plane.

Q. Why Korea?

A. I have no idea. I hear it pays better than China though, and the internet is super fast.

Q. Why not Japan though?

A. They have a boring flag.

Q. Won't you miss your family? I thought you still live at home with your mum...

A. Obviously I will miss my family, and also my friends, but I need to grow up sometime.

Q. But why Korea?

A. I ALREADY ANSWERED THAT

I know I must sound like a super bitch, and I am really glad that so many people have taken an interest in my life and and worried and excited for me. Like I said, I am just really tired. And this probably isn't a good attitude/feeling to be having before getting on the plane but this is my blog and I will wrote what I want. At least I am not feeling too apprehensive or anything like that.

I thought I had finished packing today, then i food a whole heap of clothes that i had put in the wash, and more clothes that I forgot I was getting for my birthday. So now I have to re-pack the whole thing. Plus the bag is already over the designated 30 kilos :s

That's correct citizens, it is my birthday today. Maybe thats where the cynical attitude is coming from. I have to admit I am not a massive fan of birthdays, I am one of those girls who is really not embracing the prospect of old age. I can practically hear my biological clock ticking and I really thought that I would be shacked up and having babies by the time I was 26. But here we are, on my 26th birthday and I am hours away from jetting off to South Korea. This is a really good example of how life doesn't always go as we plan.

When I finished high school I knew I would go to uni. I always wanted to, and i really enjoy learning new things and studying and all that (I know, strange...). So no one was shocked when I picked science to study, and no one was really shocked when I finished my undergraduate and went on to post-graduate. I think people were pretty shocked when I had so much trouble finding work, and then even more shocked when I decided to randomly move overseas. As I said, I expected to finish uni, get a job, get a man and have some babies. And I really don't think there was anything wrong with this plan! And if anyone else is following this blueprint then I am genuinely jealous of you! But this doesn't seem to be what life has in store for me. Who knows what I will find while in Korea, or what will happen when I get back... But either way my little life plan has gone off the rails. And I am surprisingly cool with that. I do kinda wish that this crazy new plan had come to me sooner (it really would have saved me a lot of time, money and tears) but I guess the timing was never right. And it never occurred to me to step out of my comfort zone.

It really makes me wonder whether or not life has some sort of pre-ordained plan for people, or whether or not we really DO choose our own fates and futures. Perhaps I was MEANT to go and do a uni course that would never ever get me a decent job, because down the track I needed a degree in anything at all to get a visa for Korea. Was I going to Korea all along or was life pushing me towards this path? I honestly have no idea... I mean, I believe all learning is a good thing, so going to uni was always going to be a good move. And i would say that to anyone thinking about studying - do it, because there is really no negative to learning a new skill or new information. But whether or not I believe I was MEANT to do anything I don't know. I like to think people choose their own paths and that I can change mine at any time, but who knows? 

I think I will start my New Year from today. After all, I was born on this day 26 years ago, so technically my New Year does start today! And when I think about everything that I have done with my time so far, I think I can be pretty proud. I think my parents can be fairly happy with the outcome of their oldest offspring, I think myself to be a nice person with above average intelligence and reasonably pretty. There are definite personality flaws to me, but everyone has them. What I really need to do with this New Year is to make the most of it. I think it will be my most challenging year to date, but also my most rewarding. 

So, Happy New Year everyone. Thank you to my family and friends for sharing it with me, and for helping me through this week of Long Goodbyes. I know I complain, but I will miss everyone, and I appreciate everyone taking time to come and say goodbye. I can't believe this is my second-last night in Melbourne. You are all right - I have never lived out of home, and I am shit scared of being by myself. Korea is going to be totally scary and different, and maybe I should have chosen Japan. But knowing I have so much support from home gives me courage and means that i have to freedom to be excited rather than nervous. 

I love you :)

xx

The Final Countdown

With one week left in Australia, and everything pretty much organised,

the countdown has officially begun.

Festivities began on Saturday night, where myself and other friendlies rocked up the the MC Lion at Melbourne Central for a low key night of drinking and dancing. I had made a FB event, and had invited basically everyone on my friends list who was in Melbourne. The turnout was pretty awesome, I had a heap of people there to have a bev with and a catch up. 

Some disappointing no-shows, but it happens. 

We did the usual pre-drink and make-up session at Kirsty's, and was lucky enough to have some sweet as pals offer to drive the mob into the city. 

Driving shout-outs go to:

Sarah for driving us in

Shayley for driving the others in

Pert for driving us home

You guys are awesome and saved me lots of money. You will get gifts from Korea at some point. And good karma.

My mum came with some of her friends, my dad and step-mum came too, a heap of my cousins, and of course the regular entourage. This again just reinforces what amazing friends and family I have, and how lucky I am to have them all in my life. They are also lucky to be friends with me, as I am a truly amazing person. Just saying.

http://www.acemelbourne.com.au/mclion/

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1505056/restaurant/CBD/Lion-Hotel-Melbourne-Central-Melbourne

 Kirst, Nay and me

 Me and Davey 

 Kirst and me already half-cut on the way in...

 Me, Kirsty and Sarah

Aaannddd she's drunk

The festivities continues on Sunday evening at dad's place for a family catch up with his side of the family. That was really good, because I don't get to see the rellies on that side very often so it was good.  Not a late night, which was probably a good thing because I was running on about 2 hours sleep after the night before. 

I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who came out on Sat night. It was a really fun night and I hope other people had fun too. I will miss going out with my pals so much. Plus I will be jelly of everyone going out and doing things without me. 

Playtime in Korea?

I am very curious about what the night life will be like in Korea, and if I will have as much fun. Do they like dancing? Can you wear see-through tops to clubs? Will it all be K-Pop or will there be music I am familiar with? So many questions... I hope people will want to go out partying with me.

My cousin Chris thinks that i will need some sort of max repel to keep the Korean blokes away (he also said stay out of long grass - we often get confused between Pokemon and real life) but i'm not so sure. I am under the impression that they are a more conservative society, so I can't imagine that there will will be nightclub pashing or sleaziness from guys when you go out.

I don't know how many of you fine citizens frequent Melbourne night spots, but there does tend to be a general sleaziness factor, especially at RnB clubs. And i have seen some fairly graphic displays by couples while out and about (eyes permanently scarred by that leg-up girl. Flexible, but not appropriate at a club) and I just don't think I will see that type of thing in Korea. All these websites about Korean culture say that they are huggy with friends of the same sex, but tend to be hands off and reserved around members of the opposite sex. I personally think that alcohol can help a lot with this affliction, and I will try and test the theory. I am a fairly huggy person, even if I am not really great friends with them. And the more I drink, the huggier I get! 

I think when I get to Korea I will be a novelty. Which is kinda sad, because I want to make genuine friends, not just be the 'foreign friend' that everyone likes to have. I don't really stick out much here in Melbourne. I am generic - blonde hair, blue eyes, pretty short, kinda podgy. Like every second girl on the street really. I will get off the plane in Korea and automatically be the whitest, blondest, fattest, most pale person in the country. it will be very interesting if this will work in my favour or against me. 

Im so pathetic. I just want to make friends :(

At least it should be fairly easy for my driver to find me at the airport - "look for the blonde, short, white girl who looks lost and sad". That will be me!

Flight plan

I fly out next Wednesday night from Melbourne, and (hopefully) arrive in Korea the following day. There is a stop over in China for a few hours so that will be fun trying to navigate my way through a Chinese airport. I have been advised that they are not English friendly... And China don't allow FB so I wont even be able to update my status at the airport! Gaaaayyyyy....

I won't say what my flight number and all that is, because I don't want to make it quite that easy for my stalkers. They need to earn their prison stripes! But I will do a full write up of the flight and the airlines once I am settled. I will write everything down and then transfer it to the blog once I have internet. 

There will be FB and wifi at Incheon Airport so I will do an update from there to let everyone know I have arrived safely. I am being met at the airport by a driver that has been arranged by Korvia, and will be driven to the school where I will meet my teacher friends. They will then take me to my apartment :) and from there I have no idea. Hopefully someone will show me where the shops are, and that night I will get some basics like milk, teabags and toilet paper. I can deal with everything else the next day. 

Apparently my apartment will be furnished with a bed, tv, fridge, stove, basic utensils and crockery, microwave etc. But we shall see... I am a little concerned that the bed will be a floor mattress :s

This week will probably be full of blogs, while I sort through everything that is going around in my pea brain. I am eager to just get going, but at the same time I feel like I need another week to spend with people, especially my mum. She is fairly devo that i am leaving and I worry about her while I am away. She is my mum, but she is also my best friend... 

Anyhoo, enough for now. I will probe make another video attempt today so tune in and judge me freely. Yay internet!

xox

Flights, camera, action?

The last few days have been pretty big

in both Korea land and also Stateside. 

I'll give you a run down on where we are at for Korea first.

We finally have dates!

Thats right citizens! I finally have a land date for Korea! I got an email from Jean on Thursday with my visa issuance number, which the visa people in Seoul give out. So the visa has been approved in Korea, it just needed to be issued and stuck into my passport. She had included the visa application form in the email as an attachment all pre-filled out so all I had to do was sign my name at the bottom once I printed it out. 

I was a bit hesitant sending it all to Canberra (which is where the Embassy is for the RoK) because I also had to send them my passport for them to stamp it. The lady told me thats how they do it and there isn't another way, but I am still not fully cool with the fact that my passport is floating around the Australian Postal system. Anyhoo I expect to see it back either late this week or early next week, apparently it takes 4 - 10 working days to process. 

I emailed Jean once I had posted the passport and visa application to let her know we were on track and she wrote back telling me that I can pick my flight. They school didn't care what airline I flew with but advised that they would only pay up to $800 for the ticket. I would need to buy the flight and they will reimburse me within my first month of work. 

I had a look online using Expedia.com to find flights. In the end I chose a China Southern flight, as it was leaving Melbourne at a good time and arriving in Incheon at an equally good time. I do have to stop over in China for I think 3 hours, but thats not too bad. All up the flight time is supposed to be 15 hours I think. Some of the others were up to 25 hours!

Something interesting to note about the QANTAS flights - you only fly QANTAS or Jetstar to Sydney or Singapore, then you change flights to either a China Southern flight or a Singapore Airlines flight. You don't actually fly QANTAS the whole way... Totally not worth paying an extra $500 odd bucks to fly an Australian airline to Sydney when you still are stuck on an Asian airline for the bulk of the trip. 

Another interesting thing was that the return flights were cheaper than one way. Stupid huh? One of the flights was $1200 and something one way, and only $800 and something return. Go figure. 

And a FINAL interesting thing regarding flights - China Southern have a baggage limit of 1 bag @ 21kgs whereas China Eastern you can have x2 bags @21kgs... I will try and fly home China Eastern because I am sure I will have WAY more stuff coming home than what I leave with!

So I fly out of Melbourne in the evening of the 29th August, and land in Korea after lunch on the 30th August. Its all set in stone! I emailed Jean the details and she said it was a great flight (the times were very reasonable and so was the price) and to book. Yesterday morning mum and I went up to Bella Jet Travel in Wandin (great travel agents, go see them if you need any travel stuff booked) and organised the flight. So there you go, all set!

Jean said someone will pick me up from the airport, and then either take me to the school ir to my new home where my co-teacher will meet up with me. Wooooo! So exciting!

They have not yet found anywhere for me to live. Fingers crossed its not somewhere gross :s

Learning Korean

It is one of my goals for this year (my year in Korea, not 2012) to try and learn Korean. Sounds simple enough yeah? Well, I have started trying to get the basics and I am having trouble already. When I get there I want to sign up and hopefully go to some language classes or something. 

Its a funny thing, all these different languages. I really hope that countries and ethnic groups around the globe keep their languages alive, and not let them all die out to English. I see that it is important to learn English, especially as it has become the international language of business and trade and aviation and all that, but its kinda fun knowing there are so many languages out there. 

There should be a bigger push in Australian schools for kids to learn a second language. There have been studies that show that people who have another language are faster learners and have better reading and writing skills. Plus it encourages travel and learning about other cultures. Only good things!

I will keep practicing my Korean, i can say hello and thank you, and yes and no. Its a pretty good start! 

Stateside news

I am a bit sick atm, nothing terrible just a flu of some sort. Sore throat, runny nose etc. It has meant that my weekend has been made up of me sitting around in bed, although I have gone out Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning. Maybe shoulda given something a miss as i am feeling pretty ratshit now. 

Friday night went to Cafe Moretto in Glen Waverley for Bec's birthday dinner. I ordered the gnocchi which took a million years to come out, and was a little dry. Apart from that it was tasty though and reasonably prices. It was $18 for the meal, and it was a really good size. I think that these days many meals are way too bug, and I feel obliged to eat everything I order (I paid for this, i'm gonna finish it dammit!) even if I don't actually need to eat it all. This meal was probably on the smaller side, but it was a really good amount of food for me. If you are a super hungry person who likes giant serves you would have been disappointed with this dish. I didn't take any pics because I forgot. Fail.

Saturday night went out with Nay, Jess and Maria to Nudle at Knox City and I had a really tasty meal, I cannot remember for the life of me what it was called but it was chicken and rice. Kung Po Chicken maybe??? Either way it was delish, I am trying to eat a bit more flavoursome foods lately to prepare myself for Korean food, and this one had garlic, ginger and chilli. I tend to stay well clear of chilli but this was quite mild and I really enjoyed it. As usual I ate too slowly and ended up with gluggy cold rice. Boo :(

This morning the family (me, Nay, Kirst and Dan) all went on a roadtrip to Sorrento this time, to the Ghanda outlet there. The jacket Kirsty got at Torquay was too big so we needed to get a smaller size. I ended up buying a heap of cute undies and some sunglasses. We had her little niece with us too so we looked like a 'real' family. 

The main downside of feeling crummy is that i have not had a chance to go and play with the horses this weekend. Billie was a bit of a ragbag for Georgia last week and I really wanted to get some work into her but I just can't be fagged getting off the couch. I will need to get up at some point, because my mug is empty and I need more tea. 

I finish up flowers this week so i will have the next week and a half to spend with the horses so PLEASE GOD GIVE US SOME NICE DAYS so I can go outside and play.

Also, thank you everyone who has been reading, I hit 500 views to this blog during the week! So keep reading, please feel free to drop me a comment or email whenever you want and subscribe to come along for the ride :)
Its great that so many people have had a look, its like getting a hug every time someone views the blog.

Thats all for now. I will prob do another post later this week and I might have another go at a video.

xx

Thoughts on Leadership

I have an issue with how much emphasis society places on Leadership,

and I honesty think it is having a negative impact on people.

I see that leadership is a great quality to possess, but what about the people out there who are happy following? The majority of people in the world are simply going about their business and living happily (or not so happily if you are in a 3rd world country) without the stress of being told to lead. 

I suppose I am mad at the media at the moment. The t.v is flooded with Olympic stories and events and apart from the fact I want to watch normal t.v again I cannot believe the stress that these athletes are under. I understand that they are role models to young people and aspiring sportspeople, but come on! These young people should not need to apologise for not winning a gold medal, or make comments like "letting the country down". Not good at all. To me, this attitude is what is a bad example to people back home, and the coaches and the media are to blame as far as I am concerned.

Being a good leader and a good role model is not about winning or losing. Its about HOW you win or lose. 

And, keep in mind, someone is still leading the leaders in this sporting situation. This is what i mean about the coaches needing to take responsibility. I think about all the people in history who have made huge impacts on the world - one could call them good leaders, and it is interesting what you notice when you look closely. They did not do these things alone. After all, what is a leader without someone to lead?

Who is in charge?

Good question! Who actually is in charge when it comes to groups, clubs, religions, political parties etc? Is it the spokesman? The "Face" of the organisation? Or is it the key supporting people? 

I think it is these immediate followers who are actually the leaders. 

Take the Catholic Church for example. is it really the Pope who leads the Church? Or is it the key group of Cardinals that all surround the Pope? 

Or the government. Is it Julia Gillard who leads Australia, or is it her Cabinet and Party members? 

This is not to say that these Figureheads do not possess leadership skills. The need to have a certain 'something' that makes people want to follow them. but really it is the First Followers who make it a movement, and bring an idea to life. 

A few years ago, possibly at uni or Take or something, we were shown a video of Dancing Guy, which played while a guy told a story of how a movement is started. Its a really short lecture, by Derek Sivers but it really resonated with me. 

Basically, he says that without followers, a leader is simply a Lone Nut dancing in a field by himself. And its true! Any great idea you have, if no one else supports it then its just you and your idea. It takes more people to make a reality. And the first follower is the most important because he/she shows others that its OK to follow too. 

Seriously, check out this video:

The first follower is an understated leader!

And why is any of this negative?

Because of the pressure that it puts young people under. I don't know if they are still doing it in schools, but when I was at school everyone was being pushed to lead and excel at something. I feel that more is placed on individual success rather than team work. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a follower, provided you are supporting the right cause. 

No one is asking you to start another Greenpeace movement, I am pretty sure it would be better to get behind the original and follow. 

This isn't to say that there is anything wrong with new ideas either. But what I am trying to say is that lets all just calm down and let people sort themselves out. Stop with the pressure of leading and allow people to follow sometimes. If someone has an awesome idea, then support it rather than trying to top it. 

So back to my original beef with sports and all that - don't blame the athletes if you are unhappy with them. Blame the coaches, because they are the ones leading them. These kids need to be taught how to be better follows I think. There is something to be said for simply 'towing the line'. 

Not sure if any of this makes sense or not, but feel free to disagree with me! 

In a nutshell:

• You don't have to lead, its ok to follow
• Sometimes its the followers/supporters with the power. Leaders are often puppets
• Look at who/what is guiding those who lead before you judge them harshly

In other news...

I have the first of my videos up on YouTube. Its not great, i'll be honest, but I will get better the more I do it. I feel weird talking to myself, and you can tell because there are list of awkward pauses. I was going to delete it and scrap the whole idea, but this whole thing is a learning experience so I put it up anyway :) This one is me crapping on about this whole leadership idea. 

Check it out!

Korea

I have had confirmation that my visa is being attended to, and I should hear this week about a visa number. Once I have this number I can go to the Korean Embassy and pick up my E2 visa yaaayyy! Until then I can't book my flights or anything, so its still a waiting game. I cleaned my room today and I have put a suitcase out, so as i think of things I want to take i'll throw it straight in. So far I have my toiletries bag in there and a grammar book. And my La Trobe jumper.

Horses

Billie is cantering! And I rode Beau the other day, even though he is still a bit lame. Please don't judge me, he isn't in any pain he is just stiff. Plus if he has the energy to stuff around and rear and break his rope and run all over the property then he is fine for a short ride.

I will try and get someone to video me riding the pony and put it up so I can prove that I do actually ride my horses...

Thats it for now. 

Reminder for Melbourne people - Come catch up with me at the MC Lion on the 18th August. It will be the last time we call catch up before I head off overseas!

xoxo

Delightful Dumplings

She cooks!

Tonight I tried my hand at vegetarian dumplings, 

and results were pretty positive!

It is a well known fact amongst the people who know me that I am a terrible cook. I avoid cooking like the plague, and most of my cooking ventures turn into nightmares. However with the reality of living out of home looming, I figured its time to start making some culinary attempts. So tonight, with help from gorgeous Sarah I made vegetarian dumplings.

The recipe

I got the main recipe from taste.com.au which is where I get most of my recipes from. Not because they are any better than another, but mainly because the site is super easy to use and have a heap of recipes from different sources. The exact link for the dumplings is:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/25360/vegetarian+dumplings

And, I just want to say, mine did NOT look like these... But they were very tasty :)

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded wombok (Chinese cabbage)
• 1 small carrot, peeled, grated
• 50g shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1/2 x 225g can bamboo shoots, chopped
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 30 (275g packet) gow gee wrappers

Method

1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, wombok, carrot and mushroom. Cook, stirring, for 5 to 6 minutes or until cabbage has wilted. Remove from heat. Stir in bamboo shoots and soy sauce. Cool for 10 minutes.
2. Place wrappers on a flat surface. Spoon 2 teaspoons cabbage mixture on 1 half of each wrapper. Brush edges with cold water. Fold over to enclose filling. Press edges together to seal. Place on a tray lined with baking paper.
3. Place a steamer lined with baking paper over simmering water. Cook dumplings, in batches, for 15 minutes or until tender and cooked through. Serve.

Now, my variations were that I used water chestnuts rather than bamboo shoots (personal preference thing), and really that was it. 

The wanton wrappers we bought from Coles, but I think if I try it again I will either make my own or try to find some thinner ones. They seemed really think, and after they came out of the steamer they went hard on the edges. If the wrappers were circle they might have been a bit better.

I ate mine with plum sauce but you can eat them with any sauce you like! I probe wouldn't have tomato sauce on them, even though I have stated in the past that tomato sauce goes well with everything. Maybe not asian food...

First cooking all the ingredients

The recipe said 2 teaspoons of mix, but we found 1 heaped teaspoon was ok. As a result we had a shit load of mix left over.

We ate the rest of it in a stir fry with chicken and noodles :)

We steamed then by placing the bamboo steamer in the wok. The wok had a bit of water in 

the bottom which we just topped up as it steamed away. It fit pretty nicely in the wok which was 

nice. The bamboo steamer was a bargain - $3.50 from the Asian grocer in Croydon.

Finished product! Looks gross, but tasted great!

So there you go! Lovely dumplings! 

I might try and do another dish this week. Dunno what yet, and I don't want to push myself too hard trying to be creative, but at least I know I can make something edible. It seems I won't starve when I move to Korea :D

Just quickly - Fan Death Update

Now, this I have to admit I didn't find myself, I follow a blog called 'Ask a Korean' who is a pretty funny Korean guy who lives in America. http://askakorean.blogspot.com.au/

It turns out, there may be truth behind the deadly Fan Death (for info on this, read my earlier blog on funny Korean things).

The New York Times has posted an article, saying that in high temperatures fans can actually become a bit of a health hazard due to the fact that they don't cool air they just circulate it. So old people and other 'compromised' people might be at risk of dehydration and heat exhaustion. And therefore DEATH!

Anyway, read the link, tell me what you think. Fan death - real or myth?

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/really-in-a-heat-wave-an-electric-fan-can-cool-you-off/

Till next time!

xx