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Published: November 16th 2012
IM ON A SCHOOL BUS!
Seriously only chosen because I had blonde hair! But still, I had my Carrie Bradshaw moment!This second year in Korea was a bit different than I imagined, I know things can't always be the same but I didn’t expect to get bored by my time in Korea. No 'bored' isn't the right word for it, I guess 'same same' is the Asian way to say it. Over a year you do just end up repeating the same experiences only a little differently.
This year I went to Japan, China and Thailand during the breaks, had a quick ski trip, a trip on the KTX (fast train) to Busan, a day trip to the DMZ/North Korea and enjoyed my second weekend at the Boryeong Mud Festival.
Over Christmas most of us decided to stay in Korea and enjoy the ski season, mostly because it was cheap and as I had only just got back to Korea I was running low on funds. It was a really lovely time, I woke up on Christmas day to Pam (Canadian teacher) knocking on my door to say that breakfast was ready! She had made a full continental breakfast with mimosa's/bucks fizz to start us off. Most of us were very hungover from the night before so it all
went down slowly but was very appreciated. Pam had her Christmas tree up with lots of presents under it, with all of us sat/lounged around it really helped set the festive scene. Unlike last year no one had planned what to do for dinner as none of us really knew who would be together etc. Me, Carrie and Erica went off to Outback Steakhouse for a big steak treat. It was a far cry from the roast i cooked last year but it was topped off nicely with the fresh snow that came down whilst we were walking round City Hall.
We managed to get Meg (Korean teacher and god send!) to book us on a ski trip nearby, it was a bargain! Something like 70,000Won for the whole day all inclusive, plus the bus picked us up from just down the road in Mokdong = CHEAP! Then we realised when we got on the bus that it was meant for Koreans only as we were the only foreigners on the bus. Ahh well. Our trip was hampered at the start by hangovers and coffee cravings but once everyone was refuelled and all our equipment was found and fitted
End of year play @ Kids College
SUCH HARD WORK but they did amazing and I just cried the whole time because this was my LAST day with them! we all hit the slopes. I had such a great day and was absolutely KNACKERED by the end of it so I was glad we didn't decided to book a room for all of us to enjoy another day on the slopes. I don't think my thighs could have taken it!
My first trip during the second year in Korea was of course to Japan to get my working visa. This time i went to Fukuoka by myself, flew in, dashed to embassy to get paperwork in on time then had a whole day to kill before i could pick it up and fly out. Now Fukuoka was such a change from busy Osaka or traditional Kyoto which i visited the year before for my birthday. Fukuoka is a city that has a beach right on its doorstep. The buildings are all a maximum if 2 story with a lovely mixture of the old traditional Japanese houses in with more modern houses. There was a tranquil lake which i walked around, then all of a sudden i was in the middle of about 50 young men running round the lake in their school uniform! Then after that
PUB GOLF in Hongdae!
FAB night out in Hongdae, didn't win but DAMN did i have a great time! One hole was played in OI, a club with water all around the tables.. closed now though :( came the Japanese version of Adjammas (old ladies) all speed walking round and chattering to each other. The weather was lovely, about 8 degrees warmer than Korean which was a pleasant change. The nightlife was lacking loud music or many bars, really just what i expected. The shops were open late and there were some amazing raman restaurants open down the side streets. Of course there was a castle to walk around and take photos of, just like everywhere in Asia it seems. All in all my quick trip was a nice change to the busy streets of Seoul.
This time round I finally got to go to China! It was a VERY quick trip, 3 days due to having a long wkend off school, I had so much fun. I went with my Californian friend from school, Carrie, we got the cheapest flights to Beijing which meant a stop-over in Dalian on the way over. Our worst decision of the trip was to stay overnight in a hotel, it was such a weird place! On the way to the hotel it seemed like no one was living in this place and it was all eerily lit up in
BOO TO HARBIN!!
UGHH
Me and Carrie got stuck in Harbin .. this is actually up the Namsam tower (my fav tower) so we took this pic! green.... EVERYWHERE!! Anyway, long story short, we overslept and woke up with about 15 minutes to get to the airport which was about 30 mins away! Needless to say we missed our connecting flight to Beijing but luckily (or was it) we got put on to the next flight free of charge. Then that flight got delayed by about 4 hours due to the snow that had set in! YEY... stuck in this hell hole for even longer. Both of us were aware that our time in Beijing was ticking away, maybe this trip wasn’t such a good idea after all?!
Finally we got to Beijing and it was just stunning, FREEZING but stunning. We had both been prepared for china to be a little colder than Korea but NOT this cold!! It was seriously like we had stepped back in time by about a month, back to the unbelievably cold winter that we had only just got through, ughhh.
But we layered up after finally finding our hostel, and ventured out to find the Forbidden City and WOW what a place! Stunning, the lake was all frozen over and the snow was blowing in our faces but
HALLOWEEN!!!
A great group of last minute costumes! Love it... it truly was a stunning wall... because that’s all we were allowed to see!! It turns out we didn't arrive in time to get INTO the city, we had to just look at it from the outside. Oh well, off to
Tiennaman Square to watch the guards marching around keeping up a visual presence.
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Boryeong Mud festival Info Boryeong is a town around 200 km south of Seoul, South Korea. The festival attracts 2.2 million visitors to Boryeong. When & Where The Boryeong Mud Festival 2011 dates were 16th-24th July. It usually occurs for one week in mid-July. There are 2 weekends, the 1st being typically for foreigners & the 2nd for Koreans although many more foreigners have started going to the 2nd weekend due to school constraints. It takes place on Dae Cheon Beach, Korea. What to expect Lots of mud, The mud is dug up near Boryeong, brought to to the Daecheon beach area by truck, and dumped at a 'Mud Experience Land'. How to get there There are many companies that offer packages down to Boryeong (Return coach + accomodation) which can be found on Facebook about 3 months Han River Sarangheyo!
Love this river.. and all its dead fish! hahah prior to the festival. Alternatively you can catch a train down to Daecheon from Yongsan (Seoul), it costs roughly 16,000 Won for the SaeMaEul train (1st class) and 11,000 Won for the MuGungHwa (2nd class) train.
* I took the 2nd class train and it was fine, I would advise you to make sure you book your return train to Seoul as you might end up stuck in Daecheon due to the high number of people trying to get back on a Sunday. We actually had extra tickets back to Seoul and managed to make a bit of profit off them!! 😊 There are of course buses that you can take down, they take longer and you end up stuck in the traffic as soon as you enter Daecheon, you might as well book the package. Accomodation If you book on a package you will be sharing with up to 12 people in one room (called a PENSION) sounds crushed but it is the standard Korean way. Don't expect luxury, you won't find it! If you go down by train I suggest finding a place to rent WAYYY in advance with the help of a Korean or camping. There is a free camp site just off from the main beach (to the left if you are looking at the sea) and if you are as lucky as me you can get some lovely Korean men to help you put up your tent!
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