Wanderings

A sound week in Korea

Its hard to believe I have already been here for longer than a week, yet at the same I can't get over that it has ONLY been 1 week! I feel like I have been here so much longer. The weekend is flying past too, and even with internet and t.v woes I am still having a great time.

Friday

After school finished I went home and got changed. I was meeting Tyler and Mia at some point to head into Suwon with them to go out to the opening of a new bar that a mate of theirs owns. They were held up at the AB (Air Base) having some secret army meeting so we were a bit later than expected by the time we got on the train. We headed off to Suwon and went back to their place which is MASSIVE compared to mine! Their bedroom is bigger than my apartment haha. They also have the most adorable dog in the world, he is a mini something and is tiny! I am seriously thinking about saving my pennies and getting a tiny dog. I hadn't realised how much I was missing my pets until I was cuddling Mia's... Its nice to think someone will be waiting for you when you get home. 

We went out for Galbi - Korean BBQ for all those playing at home. It was so delicious!!! I swear to God I have eaten more meat since coming to Korea than I have ever eaten in my life. 

NB 

I was actually vegetarian for years (not really strict, but enough) and used to take iron supplements and all that. In Australia the most meat I would eat was chicken breast, incredibly crispy bacon and beef mince. And thats it. It wasn't so much that I was anti-meat from a ethical point of view, although I am fairly vocal about the treatment of animals for slaughter. It was more that I simply didn't like the taste. I don't love a roast, and I cannot eat sausages (keep your dirty thoughts to yourself). So this whole 'meat eating' thing is a big deal. Ask any of my friends.

After Galbi we went out to Bulldogs, which was the bar that was opening that night in Suwon. The owner, who is a good friend of Mia and Tyler's, was celebrating by offering free beer, and all other drinks 5000won. I was drunk in no time, and didn't notice I had missed my train home. 

Luckily Mia has an epic huge couch so they offered to let me stay at their place which I gladly accepted and kept drinking. We went to another bar after that, and then finished up at a norae-bang, which is karaoke. Yep, big night.

I was soooo seedy the next morning, and the only thing that helped was pizza. 

Later that day I finally left Mia and Tyler who were probably so sick of me hanging around, but I just really like hanging with them lol. I got lost on the way to the taxi rank and had to call Mia, and then got a taxi to Seryu Station and finally made it home around 2pm on the Saturday. It was a big night, but I had an awesome time and met some really nice people. Hopefully I will see them out again another night :)

 Mia and Me (I got rained on, ok?)

 View from Mia and Tyler's awesome apartment

 Yep, you saw right. Domino's!

Socrates, the adorable doggie

The rest of the weekend...

...has gone by slowly. I was knackered on Saturday so just bummed around, wandered up to the strip to get some food later, came home, ate it, skipped Dad and Sue then Georgia and Rohan and then went to bed. 

Today I tried to sleep in, did some cleaning (Sunday is my new official cleaning day) and went out for a walk. I am trying to find an ATM, but I can't locate one yet... Oh well. 

Came back here, the internet was miraculously working (I am totally stealing someones wifi again) and they Skyped Mum. She had to go, and here I am blogging.

Oooo! Mum has booker her flights! She is coming to Korea on the 27th September and staying until the following Sunday. The Sunday and Monday are National public holidays, its Chuseok which is like memorial day of something from what i can gather, or Thanksgiving... Either way I don't have to go to school on the Monday. The Wednesday is also a public holiday, maybe this is Memorial day? I really should find out. In fact, it can be the theme of the next blog :)

And because there is a holiday on the Monday and Wednesday I get the Tuesday off too! Yay for public schools!!! So mum and I will go to Busan for the few days, go on Saturday and come back on the Wednesday, stay in Songtan for a few nights then on the Friday night we will go to Seoul for the weekend. I will go home Sunday, and I think mum flies out on either the Sunday night or the Monday. I am so excited to see her and to do some sightseeing together! Its perfect timing with the days off school, it means she only has 2 days where I am not around and even then its only for a few hours and there is plenty to see around here. She has brought a rail pass so she can just have a play around Pyeongtaek. 

Anyway, thats about all for now, here are some pics of my area so you can have a look. I did a sneaky video of my walk to the Highway Mart, it literally takes 3 minutes to walk there. I always get stopped at the lights and they take FOREVER to change. 

Talk soon friends!

xoxo

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