Wednesday, January 28, 2009
MY MOM IS AMAZING!!!
My mom is absolutely wonderful! For years now I've made many a friends jealous with my unbeatable care packages. Starting in University she would send something for my entire floor. I thought she had outdone herself when she sent jujube Christmas candy trees but this time she has really done it! I arrived home from my year in Korea to find that she had scrapbooked my entire year. She took all my pics off of my picasa and turned then into two absolutely beautiful scrapbooks. Although, I wanted to bring them with me to Korea and everywhere I go from here on in, the planes won't let me because of their weight! So, I (actually, my Mom helped me as I was packing to come back to Korea) took pictures of it so I could put them up here. I didn't have time to put them all up but you can go to my picasa if you want to see them all. She takes the cake this woman! I love her to pieces!
Monday, January 19, 2009
My Adventures in Korea! (Part 1)
I've been really wanting to write a summary of my year in Korea, however, it's taken me a long time to actually take the time to do it! So much time has passed that now I'm back here!
Better late then never eh?!?!
I've compiled a list of my greatest experiences in the land of the morning calm. I can't seem to pick my number one experience as they have all been so special so here they are in no particular order:
DJ festival weekend: The Seoul DJ festival was a great musical experience. I got to dance under the stars and in the rain. It was the first time I ever spun fire in public and also the first time I heard live Korean music. One of the bands I was exposed to is a great Korean band called 'Windy City'. It was the first good round of live music I got to see in my year!
Gosapo beach camping: All the camping that I experience in Korea was great. Gosapo beach sticks out in my mind. My wicked friend Chris went out on a limb and decided we should check around an ocean bend and boom! There was a deserted beach with our name on it! It was so nice and relaxing plus we had a group of a bout 10 people there to enjoy it with. I got do some beach yoga, walk in Maria's labyrinth, watch as the boys decided to find the biggest pieces of wood they could possible carry and watch the tides coming in and out. I learned all about hermit crabs and very cool little eco-systems!
Bigeum-do camping: OK, so I thought that Gosapo stuck out specifically but so does Biguem-do. This was my first camping experience in Korea. On a wimb (most things for me in Korea were just trial and error), we met up with some other foreigners from Mokpo and jumped on their camping band wagon. It was a great idea! We took a slow ferry to this island and it was paradise! Our taxi ride from the ferry to the site was along the beach. The people we met were wicked and the people I went with will be friends for the rest of my life. I'll never forget being 5 waygooks in a 5 man Korean tent! I thought I was going to be ill so I had to move around a lot to get comfy and so I yelled 'alright everyone, SPOON RIGHT!!!' and quite literally everyone spooned right! So good!
Morave festival: This festival claimed to be on a desesrted beach on the west coast of Korea. After a very long bus ride we ended up at a beach that was densly populated with Korean families. Much to our surprise we were litrally sandwiched between families! This picture describes the way Sarah and I felt:
It was a bit hard to stay positive after the bus ride, but after a few glasses a wine and some conversations with the organizers we soon realized that this was going to work out just perfectly. I ended up doing all the things I truly love doing- dancing, swimming, chatting with amazing people, spinning fire, getting my face painted, trying out a new instrument (didgeridoo), and many more groovy fun things!
Korean culture in general: Being that Korea was my first country to travel in Asia many of the cultural differences contributed to my favourite times. The 3-4 hellos I got when riding or walking down the road (sometimes small children would chase me down the road yelling 'How are you?'). The food in general has been great. Bibimbap and side dishes are my favourite! The Bus system! You can get anywhere in Korea very easily and for such a reasonable price. As well the cost of food is so cheap!
JAPAN!!!!! I can't even say enough about my trip to Japan. It was mind blowing, spirit lifting and all around fantastic! The Zen gardens, Tokyo, the Fuji Rocks festival and much much more!
My new found friends: The people I met in Gwangju and in Seoul will forever hold a special part of my heart. In no particuliar order they are- Jenny, Sarah, Chris, Lindsay, Whit, Maria, Ethan, Jess, Pk, Zoe, Anna, Lucy, Zaid, Prya, Lisa, Catie, Hannah, Anna, Vicky, Jessie, Richard and so many more!!! I know all of our paths will cross again one day and am so happy to have had the opportunity to meet everyone.
My school kids: Although, I found it very challenging and sometime frustrating to teach at my hagwon the kids made it worth it. Yes, they were at times very trying on my nerves but all in all they were great. I feel and hope that most of them learned some English but above all I know they had fun while learning. I"m happy that I could bring some fun into a society where school can sometimes be very tough!
Project Warm Hands: This amazing group was started by one of the coolest people I've ever met, Hannah. She decided she wanted a group where both foreigners and Koreans could meet to eat, learn, play and experience each others culture.
I attended many monthly dinners as well as made some really great Korean arts and crafts with the group.
I feel like I missing many moments in this year in review which is great in itself. To many good moments to get them all!!
I can't even believe how much I've learned about the world and myself in one very short year abroad! I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to travel and work in such a great country as South Korea. I look forward to my next steps, stay tuned for Angie's Adventures in NEW ZEALAND! That's all I'm saying.... ;)
Better late then never eh?!?!
I've compiled a list of my greatest experiences in the land of the morning calm. I can't seem to pick my number one experience as they have all been so special so here they are in no particular order:
DJ festival weekend: The Seoul DJ festival was a great musical experience. I got to dance under the stars and in the rain. It was the first time I ever spun fire in public and also the first time I heard live Korean music. One of the bands I was exposed to is a great Korean band called 'Windy City'. It was the first good round of live music I got to see in my year!
Gosapo beach camping: All the camping that I experience in Korea was great. Gosapo beach sticks out in my mind. My wicked friend Chris went out on a limb and decided we should check around an ocean bend and boom! There was a deserted beach with our name on it! It was so nice and relaxing plus we had a group of a bout 10 people there to enjoy it with. I got do some beach yoga, walk in Maria's labyrinth, watch as the boys decided to find the biggest pieces of wood they could possible carry and watch the tides coming in and out. I learned all about hermit crabs and very cool little eco-systems!
Bigeum-do camping: OK, so I thought that Gosapo stuck out specifically but so does Biguem-do. This was my first camping experience in Korea. On a wimb (most things for me in Korea were just trial and error), we met up with some other foreigners from Mokpo and jumped on their camping band wagon. It was a great idea! We took a slow ferry to this island and it was paradise! Our taxi ride from the ferry to the site was along the beach. The people we met were wicked and the people I went with will be friends for the rest of my life. I'll never forget being 5 waygooks in a 5 man Korean tent! I thought I was going to be ill so I had to move around a lot to get comfy and so I yelled 'alright everyone, SPOON RIGHT!!!' and quite literally everyone spooned right! So good!
Morave festival: This festival claimed to be on a desesrted beach on the west coast of Korea. After a very long bus ride we ended up at a beach that was densly populated with Korean families. Much to our surprise we were litrally sandwiched between families! This picture describes the way Sarah and I felt:
It was a bit hard to stay positive after the bus ride, but after a few glasses a wine and some conversations with the organizers we soon realized that this was going to work out just perfectly. I ended up doing all the things I truly love doing- dancing, swimming, chatting with amazing people, spinning fire, getting my face painted, trying out a new instrument (didgeridoo), and many more groovy fun things!
Korean culture in general: Being that Korea was my first country to travel in Asia many of the cultural differences contributed to my favourite times. The 3-4 hellos I got when riding or walking down the road (sometimes small children would chase me down the road yelling 'How are you?'). The food in general has been great. Bibimbap and side dishes are my favourite! The Bus system! You can get anywhere in Korea very easily and for such a reasonable price. As well the cost of food is so cheap!
JAPAN!!!!! I can't even say enough about my trip to Japan. It was mind blowing, spirit lifting and all around fantastic! The Zen gardens, Tokyo, the Fuji Rocks festival and much much more!
My new found friends: The people I met in Gwangju and in Seoul will forever hold a special part of my heart. In no particuliar order they are- Jenny, Sarah, Chris, Lindsay, Whit, Maria, Ethan, Jess, Pk, Zoe, Anna, Lucy, Zaid, Prya, Lisa, Catie, Hannah, Anna, Vicky, Jessie, Richard and so many more!!! I know all of our paths will cross again one day and am so happy to have had the opportunity to meet everyone.
My school kids: Although, I found it very challenging and sometime frustrating to teach at my hagwon the kids made it worth it. Yes, they were at times very trying on my nerves but all in all they were great. I feel and hope that most of them learned some English but above all I know they had fun while learning. I"m happy that I could bring some fun into a society where school can sometimes be very tough!
Project Warm Hands: This amazing group was started by one of the coolest people I've ever met, Hannah. She decided she wanted a group where both foreigners and Koreans could meet to eat, learn, play and experience each others culture.
I attended many monthly dinners as well as made some really great Korean arts and crafts with the group.
I feel like I missing many moments in this year in review which is great in itself. To many good moments to get them all!!
I can't even believe how much I've learned about the world and myself in one very short year abroad! I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to travel and work in such a great country as South Korea. I look forward to my next steps, stay tuned for Angie's Adventures in NEW ZEALAND! That's all I'm saying.... ;)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
My Farewell Party in Gwangju :(
I wrote this post way back in November and never finished it. So, now I'm back and have some time so here it is:
My farewell party in Gwangju was absolutely perfect! I got to do everything that I would have wanted to do before leaving. Hike, play, sing, dance and spend time with awesome people!
The day started with a hike on Muduang Mountain. This mountain is beautiful anytime of the year but on that Saturday is was stunning. Most of the leaves had turned or already fallen off but there was still tonnes of colour contrasts with the dead grass and the green pines. A small group of some of my best friends and I went on the hike. We had such a great time climbing trees, rolling in the long grass and taking wicked funny pics! Not to forget about one of the best parts which was getting a ride on my friend Whit's motorcycle!
For dinner I met up with a big group of my friends and went for my favourite food (shabu shabu, which is actually Japanese). The soju train decided to pick us all up at shabu shabu. My friends Jess and Pk (from England) came down from Seoul for the night. They are this absolutely amazing couple who I'm going to miss to pieces.
In my head I had decided that all I wanted to do was go to a Noraebang (singing room) after dinner. A few peops were resistant to the idea as they were barely hanging on to the soju train and hadn't fully jumped on yet. However, I along with a few others were riding with the conductor all the way!!! CHOOO CHOOOO!!! So, we convinced everyone that the soju train was the best idea. We headed off to this huge Noreabang. The room we ended up getting was wicked! It was like a VIP room with huge long tables. From there things got pretty messy. I went out to buy some more beer and soju but then had forgotten something in the room so went back to Whit having everyone practice the song 'Angie' by the Rolling Stones. At that moment I was hit by such a feeling of dejavu it was wild. At my going away party in Ottawa before I left my amazing friends there also sang me that song and so it was so heart warming to hear all my Korean friends singing it.
It's hard to describe how fun the night was but if I could some it up with a few key points it would be the following:
1-Prya dancing on the table and then jumping off to about 4 glasses smashing, but she didn't notice and kept on going wherever her mission was at that moment.
2- Whit's insistence on playing Angie for the third time (I love you Whit!)
3- Lindsey whispering in my ear 'let's dance on the table to Dancing Queen' to then have about 6 other girls join us and or dancing queen routine turning into the Kan Kan.
4- Sarah's I'm going down down.
5- Chris and I doing Oasis as a reminder of our first noraebang experience together way back in January.
5- Me telling everyone that we need to get the hell out of dodge as we were in the entrance of the norabang because the staff went into the room. The room looked like a bunch of rockstars had just gone through it.
6- Everyone's' drunken smiles of love at the end of the night as we stumbled to find our ways home.
I'm so thankful to have met so many great people in Korea. Upon my first couple weeks in Korea I feared that I would not meet any like minded people. I thought that I would do my year and leave no strings attached. I was wrong, I've made bonds with people that I will cherish forever. Also, the best part about making these bonds is that I will see these people again and it will be in a different part of the world :) :)
My farewell party in Gwangju was absolutely perfect! I got to do everything that I would have wanted to do before leaving. Hike, play, sing, dance and spend time with awesome people!
The day started with a hike on Muduang Mountain. This mountain is beautiful anytime of the year but on that Saturday is was stunning. Most of the leaves had turned or already fallen off but there was still tonnes of colour contrasts with the dead grass and the green pines. A small group of some of my best friends and I went on the hike. We had such a great time climbing trees, rolling in the long grass and taking wicked funny pics! Not to forget about one of the best parts which was getting a ride on my friend Whit's motorcycle!
For dinner I met up with a big group of my friends and went for my favourite food (shabu shabu, which is actually Japanese). The soju train decided to pick us all up at shabu shabu. My friends Jess and Pk (from England) came down from Seoul for the night. They are this absolutely amazing couple who I'm going to miss to pieces.
In my head I had decided that all I wanted to do was go to a Noraebang (singing room) after dinner. A few peops were resistant to the idea as they were barely hanging on to the soju train and hadn't fully jumped on yet. However, I along with a few others were riding with the conductor all the way!!! CHOOO CHOOOO!!! So, we convinced everyone that the soju train was the best idea. We headed off to this huge Noreabang. The room we ended up getting was wicked! It was like a VIP room with huge long tables. From there things got pretty messy. I went out to buy some more beer and soju but then had forgotten something in the room so went back to Whit having everyone practice the song 'Angie' by the Rolling Stones. At that moment I was hit by such a feeling of dejavu it was wild. At my going away party in Ottawa before I left my amazing friends there also sang me that song and so it was so heart warming to hear all my Korean friends singing it.
It's hard to describe how fun the night was but if I could some it up with a few key points it would be the following:
1-Prya dancing on the table and then jumping off to about 4 glasses smashing, but she didn't notice and kept on going wherever her mission was at that moment.
2- Whit's insistence on playing Angie for the third time (I love you Whit!)
3- Lindsey whispering in my ear 'let's dance on the table to Dancing Queen' to then have about 6 other girls join us and or dancing queen routine turning into the Kan Kan.
4- Sarah's I'm going down down.
5- Chris and I doing Oasis as a reminder of our first noraebang experience together way back in January.
5- Me telling everyone that we need to get the hell out of dodge as we were in the entrance of the norabang because the staff went into the room. The room looked like a bunch of rockstars had just gone through it.
6- Everyone's' drunken smiles of love at the end of the night as we stumbled to find our ways home.
I'm so thankful to have met so many great people in Korea. Upon my first couple weeks in Korea I feared that I would not meet any like minded people. I thought that I would do my year and leave no strings attached. I was wrong, I've made bonds with people that I will cherish forever. Also, the best part about making these bonds is that I will see these people again and it will be in a different part of the world :) :)
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Mount Mudang Defeated!
