tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21108930894344460122024-03-13T16:04:19.542+02:00If you like it love itMerylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-64538952112520909932015-07-22T13:32:00.000+02:002015-07-22T13:32:24.826+02:00Hi from Hong Kong!!!Well this has taken long enough...sorry to anyone reading (mom), hoping you're ready for a bit of an update though, I'm in Hong Kong! Or rather, I've been in Hong Kong for two months already! Whaaat!<div>
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So long story short, I decided, after coming home from Korea exactly a year ago, that I definitely wasn't done with Asia and needed another adventure. Yes yes it did take me 9 months to get going but here I am!</div>
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Work wise, Meryl Teacher is back! Well its now Miss Meryl:) I am teaching again at another language school except I now teach 3 year olds instead of 15 year olds.. bit different but I am really enjoying it so far. I've finally got a great repertoire of kids songs too. I can now sing "The wheels on the bus" to you till your ears bleed and not even get sick of it :P</div>
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Hong Kong has been incredible so far, my short <a href="http://ablogbymeryl.blogspot.hk/2013/05/hong-kong-1.html">visit</a> 2 years ago put the little idea into my head that I could live and work here one day and being here for longer than a quick 4 day visit has definitely confirmed that. I have been so so lucky to meet up with friends from home and family already and have made some amazing new friends that I'm pretty sure I'll have for life. I live in one of the busiest parts of Hong Kong, Mong Kok. Its ridiculously busy but really convenient, most things you need are right outside or down the road. I've almost mastered the 'Mong Kok shuffle' of weaving in and out of the thousands of people on the street everyday... almost haha. Living here has really added to the excitement of it all. There's never a dull moment in my neighbourhood. Exploring a bit more has also made me realise that Hong Kong isn't just a really big busy city (notice I did 'loads' of research before coming here) A short trip out of the city and you're at a really nice beach, island or waterfall. Sundays have been the best! Its summer at the moment too which means junk boats! Basically a day out on a boat having fun with some of your favourite people. Cannot wait!</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">So that's my little update on life so far, will be sure to share more very soon. Here's to a great year (or more?) in Hong Kong!</span></div>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-66491877941258090772015-03-12T16:22:00.001+02:002015-03-12T16:22:55.189+02:00An interview with Expat Finder..Need advice on moving to South Korea? ...or anywhere really? <a href="http://www.expatfinder.com/expat-interviews">Expat Finder</a> may be your answer:)<br />
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A little while ago they approached me to do an interview as on living and working in South Korea. I've spoken loads on the blog about things I did, experiences I had and trips I took whilst in Korea but haven't really touched on any technical things like visas and cost of living and what not, I suppose I should do a more in depth post about that at some stage..</div>
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In the meantime, here is my interview with Expat Finder. I'm hoping it helps a little if you do need any advice on moving to Korea..<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U8dNKvIs1Q0/VQFfcyDedOI/AAAAAAAACOo/aoFXQY58h4U/s1600/IMG_3691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U8dNKvIs1Q0/VQFfcyDedOI/AAAAAAAACOo/aoFXQY58h4U/s1600/IMG_3691.JPG" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: Where are you originally from?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A: </span></span><span style="color: #323232;">I am from Johannesburg, South Africa.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: What made you move out of your home country?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">A:</span> </span><span style="color: #323232;"> I moved to Korea for an exciting new experience and a chance to live and work in another country. I wanted to travel Asia and fully experience a new culture. What better way than living and working there, close enough to hop on a plane during breaks and explore a new place!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: How long have you been living in <span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">South </span></span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Korea</span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">? </span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span><span style="color: grey;"> </span></span><span style="color: #323232;">I lived in Ansan, South Korea for 15 months.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: Where are you living now?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span></span><span style="color: #323232;"> I’m currently back in South Africa after teaching for 15 months in South Korea.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: How did you come to choose this new country of residence?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">A:</span> <span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="color: #323232;">I chose Korea because it was a place that was different to anywhere I’d ever been, I knew very little about it but knew there would be a lot of expats to help me out too. An average ESL teaching salary would also give me the opportunity to save loads for further travels.</span><span style="color: grey; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: What has been the most difficult experience you've had when you were new in <span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">South</span> </span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Korea</span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span></span><span style="color: #323232;"> I never really experienced much difficulty and anything I did experience was usually just to do with language and cultural differences. I found that Korean people are very proud of their Korean heritage, sometimes so much that for a select few, it is hard for them to accept people of different cultural backgrounds. Language barriers were difficult to deal with at times as some people were perfectionists, if they didn’t know English well enough to have a conversation they often wouldn’t try use any of their English skills at all which made it difficult to understand things at times. </span><span style="color: grey; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: Would you say that formalities like getting visas or work permits and international health insurance was particularly difficult in your host country? What was your experience with these?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span></span><span style="color: #323232;"> Working in Korea as ESL teachers, we are very fortunate to have our school deal with our visas and health insurance. Majority of the jobs in Korea require you to have your working visa before you enter the country. Once you sign a contract in your home country and send all your essential documents through, your employers help you with the visa process from their side so it does make it a lot easier. Health insurance is also usually included in your contract with your company.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: Are you living alone or with your family?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span></span><span style="color: #323232;"> I lived alone in an apartment but had other foreign co-workers in the same building as me or within walking distance so I was always surrounded by other foreigners</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: Was it easy making friends and meeting people? Do you mainly socialize with other expats in </span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Korea</span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">? How did you manage to find a social circle in <span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">South </span></span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Korea</span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span></span><span style="color: #323232;"> It wasn’t easy at first. I was quite set in my ways back home and had my set group of friends so it was hard to think I was now on my own and had to make new friends all of a sudden. Going on weekend trips and going to literally every event anyone invited me to definitely helped. I met great people through small interactions and met great new friends through them too, foreigners and locals alike.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: What are the best things to do in the area? Anything to recommend to future expats?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span></span><span style="color: #323232;"> There are a lot of great things to do in Ansan. Renting an Ansan city bike and riding around the city on the weekends was one of my favourite activities on my days off. There are bike stops at every corner and are relatively easy to operate once you have your ID card and cell phone set up. Ansan is also just an hour or so on the subway from Seoul city centre. Going into Seoul was a given on any weekend.</span><span style="color: grey; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: How does the cost of living in </span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Korea</span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">compared to your home?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">A:</span> </span><span style="color: #323232;">The prices of things in Korea did work out to be more expensive than South Africa if you converted it. A cup of coffee in Korea would be around $5 at times whereas it wouldn’t usually get above $3 back home. Other things like good cheap restaurants seemed a lot cheaper compared to home whereas things like wine and cheese are luxuries in Korea and are a lot more expensive than home. When it comes to food it’s all about going with local products and eating locally, possibly changing your diet a bit unless you’re okay with spending loads of money on western dishes.</span><span style="color: grey; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: How do you find the local culture and people in your host country?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span></span><span style="color: grey; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><span style="color: #323232;">Korean people are usually very friendly and helpful. You’re definitely treated a little differently being a foreigner but there are only a few rare cases when it’s differently in a bad way.</span><span style="color: grey; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: What do you think are the positive and negative sides of living in <span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">South</span> </span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Korea</span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A: </span></span><span style="color: #323232;">The positives of living in Korea are that it’s a beautiful country with tons to do in it. You can do quick trips to get away from the city life but be right back in it whenever you want. Exploring the country is relatively easy with a little time and patience. Negatives would just be language barriers.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: Do you miss home and family sometimes?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">A:</span> </span><span style="color: #323232;">I definitely did miss family and friends but there was nothing that Skype couldn’t fix. The time difference was only seven hours so putting in a little effort and arranging times meant getting in touch with people at home wasn’t very difficult at all.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: Do you have plans to move to a different country or back home in the future?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">A:</span> </span><span style="color: #323232;">I am home now but would love to go back to Asia for another year of teaching, possibly Hong Kong or Taiwan, both places I visited on holidays from Korea that I fell in love with.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: What has been the hardest aspect to your expat experience so far?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">A:</span> </span><span style="color: #323232;">Learning to do things on your own and in a different language was probably one of the hardest things for me. I left home after living with my family for so long and was used to pretty much everything being done for me. It was difficult to adjust but really rewarding knowing you’ve done it on your own.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: What tips can you give other expats living in South </span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Korea</span><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A:</span></span><span style="color: #323232;"> Learn to read Korean and speak basic sentences, even a few key words will help you. Korean writing (Hangul) is very easy to learn to read. Even if you don’t always understand what the word is you are reading, some Korean words are just English translated so if you spell it out you find some words are actually just English words written in Korean. Use apps like Jihachul (Seoul subway maps) these definitely help and are pretty much always dead on accurate train times. Korea’s messenger app Kakaotalk is also great. You can phone other users with it too. I often used it to call home if I wasn’t near a computer for Skype. The number one tip though is have an open mind, don’t expect anything and do your best to understand the culture even if it is far from anything you’ve experienced.</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q: Do you have favourite websites or blogs about your host country?</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">A:</span> </span><span style="color: #323232;"> I did read a lot of blogs about Korea before coming. Each one of them had something different and interesting about the place to say with a lot of different opinions. A lot of what I read was completely different to what I experienced so I’d suggest reading a blog for some information but don’t ever swear by it.</span></b></div>
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Check out the full interview <a href="http://www.expatfinder.com/expat-interviews/v7rn/meryl-volker">here</a> and have a look at their other <a href="http://www.expatfinder.com/expat-interviews">expat interviews</a> if you're thinking of relocating anywhere else in the world.</div>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-9461249189363043742015-01-24T13:03:00.000+02:002015-01-24T13:03:02.220+02:00And then also back in Nam.. SapaA few more days in Hanoi after getting back from Ha Long Bay and the 'Vietnam Vipers' had to go our separate ways. The boys all started on their journey home and Anna and I decided to make the most of our last few days and take a trip to Sapa for a bit of trekking and rice paddy time. We got on the second last of the 10 hour bus rides we would be taking in the country and headed North.<br />
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We arrived to start the trek straight away. You have to take most/all of your belongings with you so we tried to pack as light as possible, leaving our big backpacks in Hanoi. We walked for a good few hours taking in the fantastic views of the rice paddies, stopped for lunch, and carried on till we got to the home-stay that evening. Staying at the home-stay was a really great experience. You stay in a wonderfully friendly local Sapa family's house, given a bed, tasty meals and some 'delicious' Vietnamese rice wine. It was the perfect authentic experience and although my first and only bit of travel sickness decided to creep its way in right as we arrived, not ideal at all, I still really enjoyed every bit of it. After trekking the whole of the next day back to town we had the best sleep at the hotel, visited another village and snuck in some foot massages too, because...Asia.<br />
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When arriving in Sapa you're almost always greeted by smiling groups of Hmong ladies. They will become your friends and help you during your trek and make you cool grass flower things, and occasionally try sell you their bags and outfits. They are really lovely though and wont be that offended if you don't buy their things.Trekking through the rice paddies and taking in the incredible views of the mountains was breathtaking and definitely made Sapa a highlight of my whole Asian trip.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheers Sapa!</td></tr>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-77705503251576880912014-12-18T11:50:00.001+02:002014-12-18T11:50:33.408+02:00Also Back in Nam.. Biking to Hue, Hanoi & Ha Long BayMost travellers throughout Vietnam make sure they get on a motorbike at least once during their time there. I've never been a huge fan of bikes and had never actually ridden one on my own till then. We decided we'd give it a go and ride on our own to the next city. Together with the greatest people we met on the trip, the now totally official 'Vietnam Vipers' (we had skull bandannas made and everything) we were off to Hue. The seven hour drive took us to some pretty fantastic places. We rode right along the coastline for most of the trip, over the Hai Van Pass stopping to take in some incredible views. It really was an unforgettable experience and something that even though I was terrified to do, I would do again in a heartbeat, skull bandanna and all ;)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viperrrrrrrrrssss!!!</td></tr>
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After arriving in Hue we cleaned ourselves up, riding in the open air with not much other than a bowl helmet made us pretty filthy at the end of it. We didn't waste time in planning the next leg of the trip to Hanoi. <a href="http://www.vietnambackpackerhostels.com/" target="_blank">Vietnam backpackers</a> are really great because they have opened hostels throughout the country and link up their trips with one another. We were able to book our Ha Long Bay Castaways tour in Hue and jump on board right after arriving in Hanoi. Arriving in Hanoi after another overnight bus trip was mad. It was the first time since Ho Chi Minh that we found ourselves in a big city again. Our time together was running out so we had to fit in as much as possible during those next few days. We made sure we got in all of the pho and street beers, a little temple hopping and cheap stuff shopping before Ha Long Bay.<br />
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Our trip to Ha Long Bay was a little different to most advertised trips. Because we opted for Vietnam backpackers castaway tour, we were in for a lot more than we expected... or actually exactly what we expected. It was wild to say the least. One night on the boat playing drinking games and partying till the early hours of the morning, a day spent kayaking through the little island caves and jumping off the roof of the boat and a night and day spent rock climbing, swimming and more partying on the castaway island, all involving all of the beers, pretty much sums up the trip. It took a lot of recovery after it all but was totally worth it. It really was loads of fun and we still got to experience the jaw dropping beauty of Ha Long Bay.<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-24152506653663170082014-12-13T11:37:00.001+02:002014-12-17T18:20:13.659+02:00Back in Nam.. Ho Chi Minh, Nah Trang & Hoi AnVietnam was probably one of the top travel destinations on my South East Asia adventures. Not only did I get to meet up and travel with my brother again who I hadn't seen in 8 months! but I got to do a ton of things I've always been too chicken to do in the past. Three weeks seemed like a lot but I honestly could have stayed there for ages.<br />
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We started in Ho Chi Minh city where I had just taken an overnight bus to from Sihanoukville in Cambodia. The ride in wasnt the worst I had been on but super long, although when we realised the size of Vietnam, overnight bus rides were going to become the norm. I met my brother when his flight got in and we had to venture off to the market to buy him some slops and shorts because his bag hadn't arrived.. shame, the jeans he arrived in weren't going to cut it! We spent a couple of days in Ho Chi Minh checking out the War Museum, visiting the zoo, crawling through the Cu Chi tunnels and eating all of the food, seriously Vietnamese food has got it going on! I also did the first thing I'd always been too chicken to do, I got a tattoo! My brother had the idea of getting a brother sister tattoo sometime in Vietnam. I thought it was a dumb idea at first, I actually think the literal words that came out of my mouth were "no that's dumb, I'm not doing that", but fast forward a few weeks later and we were both sitting at a Saigon ink in Ho Chi Minh deciding on the exact design of our little idea and then half passing out when the very nice Vietnamese man started sticking needles in us. It was a terrible but pretty exciting experience to say the least but I now have a little reminder forever of our Vietnam experience:)<br />
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We continued on to Nah Trang from there, the first of the 10+ hour long bus rides.. We arrived in the pouring rain, got ripped off by a taxi and had our bags soaked through.. but still pretty excited to explore the first of the many beach towns we would visit. Nah Trang was a bit of a strange place. A complete beach town with massive hotel developments forming on the beach front and resorts all over but not full of just any tourists, the tourist population there is probably around 80% Russian. All the shopfronts and menus include Russian writing with Vietnamese and English being second to that. A bit of a culture wobble. We managed to go on a pretty great snorkel trip complete with the best lunch on the boat, because travel really is all about the food right?<br />
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After making some friends in Nah Trang and realising we were all going the same route we headed off to Hoi An. Turns out everyone we met was staying in the same hostel. Win! Hoi An is the sweetest little place. It felt a lot like real Vietnam. There were no massive buildings, overly priced shopping malls or fast food restaurants but there were still tons of people and a million scooter drivers everywhere:) Besides being the best place to get custom clothes made from the tons of dressmakers there, I got the best jacket and a dress and skirt made for super cheap, it was a real relaxing place to be in. Easy going days visiting the markets, trips to the beach, and cycling around town was pretty much the gist of it. Going out in Hoi An proved to be loads of fun too. One bar owner decided to draw people in by making all drinks $1... the entire night. Needless to say we had no problems with that :) Go Hoi An!<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-36041586821351063022014-10-28T21:19:00.002+02:002014-12-17T16:27:26.761+02:00The rest of beautiful Cambodia..The last bit of Cambodia was a bit of a blur. A quick few days in Phnom Penh doing all of the touristy things. Beautiful, awestruck visits to the Royal Palace and heartbreaking, tearful visits to the Killing fields and S-21 prison. An overnight bus to Sihanoukville, getting severely sunburnt, a ferry ride to Koh Rong, some diving, some getting eaten by every insect imaginable, helping out teaching a class with <a href="http://friendsofkohrong.org/" target="_blank">Friends of Koh Rong</a> organisation (go help them, they're doing great things for the island) and back to Sihanoukville for the next bus trip to Vietnam!<br />
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Okay so it wasn't so much of a blur but it was jam packed with activities! It was hard to chill out too much knowing that I was meeting my brother in Vietnam after Cambodia. I can't urge people to go to Cambodia enough though. Its a beautiful country, the people are wonderful, the food is the best and the beers are cheap!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Koh Rong Beach</td></tr>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-50121376352116089062014-10-27T09:10:00.000+02:002014-10-27T09:10:16.920+02:00I like this song Sunday! - Beatenberg, RafaelSo I'm home for a while after spending the best 5 weeks in the UK, and all that time in Asia. Have missed a ton of SA bands playing at festivals and events and am a bit behind on whats happening and whats good with local music at the moment but heard Beatenberg the other day and was reminded of this song they released a little while ago, enjoy!<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-64177869020045931932014-10-19T09:00:00.000+02:002014-10-22T16:49:42.005+02:00I like this song Sunday! - Hozier, Take Me To Church(I realise its not Sunday anymore or yet but a scheduled post didn't seem to work here so Wednesday it is!)<br />
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I don't write enough about music on this blog and there's so much good stuff I've heard in the past few weeks that I need to share, so this blog has just given birth to "I like this song Sunday". Songs that I like that I hope you will too:)<br />
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First post has to be Hozier. I recently took a trip to Ireland and saw him play at Electric Picnic Festival (loads more on that later). He was so great and hes a lovely Irish man too! The entire crowd was singing along to all his songs I couldn't help but become a fan girl right then and there. I made sure I got hold of all his songs when I got home so this has pretty much been on repeat for the last two weeks:</div>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-61125562771308411492014-08-24T17:34:00.001+02:002014-12-18T12:32:13.599+02:00Sok Orphanage, Siem Reap CambodiaI spent the next big chunk of my time in Siem Reap at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sokorphanage">Soks Orphanage</a>. I had such a great time there. Being part of a place that is a safe haven for all sorts of kids in Cambodia was so so rewarding. The kids at Soks may not have all that much but they are extremely friendly, smart and talented. My days consisted of playing games, catching falling mangoes, teaching alphabet classes, getting my hair braided into a new hairstyle every hour and dance parties!<br />
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On my second day there we got to take the kids to Angkor Wat for a Khmer New Year picnic. It was really special being welcomed into their lives so quickly, getting to know all the kids was such a fantastic experience.<br />
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My time there was loads of fun and I was very very sad to leave. I can't give more thanks to Sok for giving me a home for ten days and welcoming me into their home too. His kindness and generosity goes far beyond anyone I met on my travels. If you're ever wanting to do any volunteering in Siem Reap, actually if you're ever in Siem Reap you must must go visit Soks Orphanage and the amazing children there. I'll definitely do my very best to go back again one day:)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the house I stayed in</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photobombed!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dance parties!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was meant to be a heart lol</td></tr>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-39871269519635526032014-08-20T12:20:00.000+02:002014-12-18T12:33:37.036+02:00Siem Reap, Cambodia. The ethereal haze...Heading to Cambodia was a little tough after making some pretty fantastic friends on Koh Tao but I was still very excited to tick another country off my list and go exploring. I made my way to Siem Reap from Bangkok by bus and eventually arrived to meet up with more friends from Korea:) We only had one night together but definitely made it count.<br />
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Siem Reap is laid back by day but nuts by night. Pub Street was extra crazy because we arrived just in time for Khmer new year. We managed to catch a show by the <a href="http://www.pharecambodiancircus.org/circus/">Phare Cambodian Circus</a>, a project that takes kids from bad homes and encourages them to better their lives through art. It was a brilliant show and really entertaining and funny too, a nice night out if you have time in Siem Reap.<br />
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I was soon on my own again and had to give up our comfy private room for another hostel bed. I quickly made some new friends to tag along with to Angkor Wat the next morning. We got a 4am start and got there just in time for sunrise. This really was another part of my trip where pictures did no justice. Being in a place that is so iconic and historical made it hard to not literally go 'wow' at everything.<br />
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<br />Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-79947408718351420272014-07-04T11:25:00.000+02:002014-12-18T12:34:03.431+02:00Back to Thailand, Koh Tao!I'm home!!!! Back in Joburg after what can only be described as the best 18 months I could ever imagine! I did try my best to keep everyone up to speed with my 3 and a bit months in South East Asia but that didn't exactly go according to plan soooo I figured I'd just keep going now as I have tons of free time (unemployment! woo!)<br />
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After a super cool trip to Myanmar I had to say laters to Teddy Chesnut and was on my own again. One thing I really wanted to do on this trip was learn how to dive and get my open water license. I ran out of time before because I decided to go get hammered on Koh Phi Phi and Koh Phangnan before Burma, as one does. So I decided it was now or never. I got on the first night bus out of Bangkok and headed back down south for round two. I arrived in Koh Tao to my name on a piece of paper and got taken to the dive school. After a quick nap it was time to start the course. It pretty much consisted of videos and tests for the first two days and then the real diving began. I honestly can't put words to how cool it is being under water and being able to breathe and see the most beautiful ocean life like its no big deal. After four quick days of videos, tests, pool practice and amazing ocean diving I had become a PADI open water diver! I get a card and everything! The pretty fantastic instructors at Davy Jones Locker and my awesome dive buddy Femke made it super easy and a lot of fun:)<br />
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Because the dive course had taken up most of my first four days on Koh Tao, I decided to stay an extra two days to explore the island a bit more. I moved to a new backpackers, a bit further inland from the beach. The first day there turned into a pretty unforgettable Koh Tao holiday. Met some brilliant people, the unofficial but also totally official pres crew. If you're unfamiliar, pres: noun, the act of drinking cheap as chips booze before going out and drinking more/turning a hostel room into a war zone/creating a shit show. This happened for the next 3 nights teamed with snorkel trips and beach bumming. Koh Tao was definitely one for the books and further threw out every fear I had before about travelling alone because no matter where you are you're guaranteed to meet amazing people that you'll definitely keep in touch with for a long time:) Koh Tao, you were lovely...<br />
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<br />Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-48340691657782482152014-05-11T06:49:00.002+02:002014-05-11T06:49:39.050+02:00Mingalabar Myanmar!After what felt like the longest journey up from Koh Phangan, ferrys and sleeper trains and busses included, we finally ended up in Bangkok. Had a Korean reunion and met up with Jason for the first time in 5 months! We quickly got to work on our Myanmar visas and were off to Yangon. The sad thing about traveling is that you're seeing people off all the time... This time was my two Canadians Alysse and Ronak. We'd spent a ton of time together since meeting in Kuala Lumpur so it was a little sad going our separate ways but an adventure nonetheless. <br />
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Our 8 days in Burma started a little rocky as Jason got a weird sickness.. A teeny bit worrying when that happens in South East Asia. After a couple of days he was back to normal though, just in time to explore the most amount of temples I've ever seen in my life. We flew into Yangon and made sure we went to the amazing Shwedagon Pagoda. It was pretty incredible. Some parts made from solid gold it almost blinded you if you looked directly at it. We also got really really 'shwedy' too in our skirts. Yip, boys wear them too. We had lunch at the palace on the water boat thing and got back to get on a night bus to Bagan. <br />
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Bagan was a whole different Burma from Yangon. We stayed in the small town of Nyaung-U. Our days consisted of renting bicycles and riding the temple streets stopping over and climbing up some of them to get a better view. We got electric bicycles for one of the days. The highest powered vehicle foreigners are allowed to rent. Makes sense if foreigners and motorbikes are anything like Thailand. I still managed to fall off the electric bike though, highly embarrassing.. Meryl and vehicles of any kinds don't mesh so well..<br />
Pictures of Bagan really don't do it justice at all. Being there really was something else. To see temples and pagodas that go on forever as far as the eye can see, temples that have been there for centuries, temples that are occasionally restored but for the most part have been left as once were. It was really quite spectacular. The only downside was not seeing a hot air balloon as shown in every Googled picture of Bagan ever.<br />
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Myanmar was really different to places I've visited so far. The tourism industry is still growing and things aren't as convenient to find and do. Seven Elevens and Mcdonalds are mystery words. But it is definitely becoming more and more popular. The people are fantastic though, super friendly and accommodating, made being away from everything for a while pretty nice:)<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-50140352104351485402014-05-02T11:16:00.000+02:002014-12-18T12:38:23.677+02:00That time I went to Phuket, Koh Phi Phi and Koh Phangan... again!I was so ready for beach time after spending time in the cities of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Eager to go back to Thailand, I wasn't at all that excited for Phuket. A travel plan that didn't quite work out left me with an Air Asia flight to Phuket that I couldn't cancel or change to somewhere else. I booked a hostel on Kata beach to try escape the crazy wild Patong beach that we stayed at last time. I'd love to say that my thoughts on Phuket beaches have changed this time around but that's unfortunately not the case. A walk down to the beach consisted of not one word of English being heard, literally only Russians were there buying into all the tacky touristy shit imaginable, not batting an eyelid at prices and making everything there pretty expensive. The sleazy girly bars that I thought I'd be skipping in Patong were still there too. Sorry Phuket but I don't think I'll be seeing you again.<br />
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After spending a day there I made my way to Koh Phi Phi to meet up with friends I'd made in KL. We had a lot of fun. Phi Phi was still a party beach as I remembered it with people riding their bikes through the town going beep beep instead of bells lol. Still a lot of fun:) I made some new friends, had way too many drinks and was eventually roped into going to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon party... again.<br />
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Koh Phangan did turn out to be a whole lot of fun. I had originally planned to go to Krabi to do my dive course but worked out that I wouldn't have enough time before I'd have to be up in Bangkok to go to Burma. After a long trip of ferries, buses and ferries again we made it to the land of Fullmoon, Halfmoon and Jungle parties, all of the parties. We did them all, as one does in Koh Phangan. The Full Moon party was pretty wild. Lumo, trance music, crazy people, all rolled into one. I definitely think its the last time I'll be doing it though. Think twice in your life is enough lol. The crazy week of partying on the islands definitely called for some down time in Bangkok, or something like that :)<br />
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(written 10 March 2014)<br />
2 countries down about 5 to go!<br />
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This time last week I was rushing to clean the rest of my apartment, saying see ya later to all the people I love in Korea and getting to the airport to start 3 months of incredible travel! <br />
Its crazy to think that my first two countries are ticked off already! I started out flying to Kuala Lumpur, I only arrived at 1am so pretty much went straight to bed. Got onto a 7 wonders if KL tour in the morning that the hostel hosted. Met some great people. It covered all the go to sites in the city. I became Muslim for a few hours at the National Mosque, visited the Kings house (peeked through the gates), explored the KL museum and Merdeka Square, went to a tin factory, saw the Batu Caves and ate deelish food in Little India. All in one day! Other days exploring included the Petronas <u>Towers</u>, Sky bar at Traders Hotel for ladies night free drinks and amazing views and partying on the rooftop bar at the super cool hostel I stayed at :)<br />
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From KL I took the bus to Singapore. Such a cool city. The amount of money that is there kind of scares me. It was really a place for wealthy travelers who are totally fine with spending big money. I didnt do many expensive outings in Singapore at all but I still managed to spend more than I hoped to spend. The food in Singapore was amazing. Eating my way through Little India and Chinatown made me very happy. Made up for the money spent! I had the most romantic night on my own walking around Marina Bay getting strangers to take photos of me with the merlions Lol. On my last night I fitted in the famous night safari at the Singapore zoo, a really cool experience. Sure its nothing we get at home, it is still a zoo after all but it made for a good night out. All in all I would definitely go back to Singapore, possibly when im a little richer but its a great city. Next stop Thailand. Excited to see what it has in store for me this time!!!<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-35631964652950055572014-02-23T07:18:00.000+02:002014-12-18T12:39:23.175+02:005 Things Korea has taught me..My time in Korea is quickly coming to an end and I couldn't be more nervous to leave my new fairly comfortable life I have here, sad to leave some of the best friends I could have asked for, overwhelmed by the amount of things I still have to do before leaving and ridiculously excited to start some adventures through South East Asia!<br />
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Its weird to look back and think of all the things I have accomplished and learnt while I've been here. It all seems so normal and then I remember that 15 months ago I hadn't ever lived in another place never mind in another country, I relied on mom and dad for a lot and hadn't had a 'real' job pretty much ever. You've taught me a lot Korea!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">1.</span> I learnt to live on my own!<br />
This is one of the biggest achievements for me so far. Having been a day student at university and then going into an internship that barely paid enough for petrol to get to and from work I never really had the chance to live away from home. It may have turned me into a real wuss because I often didn't even like to be left home alone for one night. I am however pleased to say that is not the case anymore. It was a little strange at first not having anyone to come home to after work and doing everything on my own but seriously having your own place is the best thing ever. I may even miss it when I'm sharing hostel rooms with a bunch of people and moving back with the fam when I get home.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">2.</span> I've learnt to live in another country!<br />
This may actually be bigger than living on my own. I've learnt to live in a place that was completely foreign and new to me. Besides some random information I found online a few weeks before I arrived, I honestly knew nothing about Korea. I don't think I had ever even met a Korean person. Id never had Korean food or even heard the language. It's a little embarrassing to say now but the only thing I knew about Korea was Psy and Gangnam Style :/ That was also the only K-POP song I had ever heard (I now know at least 10.. well the tunes at least, the words are still a mystery) I can navigate the subway and buses in and out of Seoul; I know whats expensive and not; I finally learnt which side of the road to look at when crossing; and I learnt that cheese and fresh fruit and vegetables are not always a thing but rice, sweet potatoes, kimchi and dried anything are ALWAYS a thing!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">3.</span> I've learnt to embrace a whole new culture that was once completely foreign.<br />
I've learnt to speak and read basic Korean or Hangul, enough for newer people to even rely on me to order the beers and navigate taxi drivers after the beers! I can even joke around with my students using Korean words (I mean the fact that salsa=a delicious Mexican condiments and seolsa=diarrhea, Hilarious!). I've learnt that ajumas (scary old Korean ladies in purple jackets) have no problem shoving their elbows into you if you're in the way. Shoes must come off when you walk into a house. People spit loogies everywhere! They're really unavoidable hence the former no shoes in house rule. And, I would not have been saying this 15 months ago, but kimchi is delicious! (Apologies for the loogie talk followed by delicious kimchi talk. Unintentional)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">4. </span>I learnt to be a teacher! well sort of...<br />
I remember after finishing university I was sent a letter asking me to do one or two extra years of a fast course teaching program and I would receive a teaching diploma on top of my degree. I scoffed at it and threw it away pretty much right after reading it. Me, a teacher? Are you out of your mind?!! After teaching esl for a year, not without ups and downs, I can gladly say that I don't think this is the last time I'll be teaching again. Even in Korea where the last thing the kids want to do is come to extra English school after regular school so hate me from the start for even trying to teach them anything, it has turned out to be really rewarding! Little things like kids remembering silly sayings you use to spell certain words (Betty Eats Cakes And Uses Six Eggs, ring a bell?) or a top student winning a writing contest after you helped them with extra writing lessons. It all makes it worthwhile in the end :)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">5. </span>I learnt how to not hate winter so much.<br />
I am South African, snow is not in our vocabulary. I literally cried as I stepped off the plane into the cold on my first day in Korea. I really didn't time leaving home very well as I arrived right at the start of winter in South Korea and happen to be going back to South Africa right in the middle of winter. I did hate life in my first couple of weeks. Winter and snow made no sense to me. Why would anyone want to leave their house to do anything let alone go exploring in Korea. I eventually went on a snowboard trip and was hooked! I have since been on a couple more snowboarding trips and realised I'm not totally terrible at it either. We also went ice skating a couple of weeks ago and the Canadians even taught me to skate backwards. Winter isn't so bad as long as you've got good activities and loads of soju to warm the bones :)<br />
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Its really hard to put into words exactly what I will take away from Korea but it will definitely be filled with more happy memories than sad ones!<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-25667251686274266562014-01-16T16:59:00.002+02:002014-12-18T12:37:02.814+02:00The Volkers were here: Beijing!After a pretty fantastic time spent showing the family how I had been living for 6 months and exploring Seoul with them it was time to move on to our next destination together, Beijing!<br />
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The trip didn't start out as smoothly as hoped for, well for me at least. Leaving the day Chuseok started in Korea meant pretty much everyone and their uncles dog was at the airport that morning. The rest of the family left from Gimpo, another airport in Seoul, so they had didn't have as much trouble leaving Korea. To cut a long story short, the delay meant I missed the connection in Shenyang in China and got on the next available flight to Beijing, which ended up being 9 hours later than expected :| Not ideal..<br />
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Even though we missed a day of exploring we still managed to visit a bunch of different sites. We started with Tienanmen square and the Forbidden City. It was great to see so much cultural history in one place. Mao's mausoleum unfortunately wasn't open for viewing in the square that day so no creepy old dictator dead body viewing for us but it was still a really interesting place to be at. The size of the Forbidden City was insane and the stories behind what happened there are never ending too. Its great to be able to be in a place and learn its history at the same time so I tried my best to understand the history of the different dynasty's throughout Beijing but jeepers the amount of information that goes with them proved to be a little more than my brain could handle in a day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starfish, taratulas, snakes, and cockroaches at Wangfujing night market</td></tr>
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Our Great Wall trip included a visit to the Ming Tombs, lunch at a Jade factory and a trip to a silk factory too. The Great Wall was something else! It was pretty incredible to be standing on it and walking along it like its no big deal. We managed to get a day with perfect weather too! It really made the views from the lookout towers kind of postcard perfect. Blue sky and mountains for days. We got to toboggan down the mountain on the way down too, so much fun!<br />
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Some other things we did included visiting the Yonghe, or Lama Temple as its known today, which was once home to a large number of Tibetan Buddhist monks. We got lost for a couple of hours at The Temple of Heaven and fitted in a whole day of shopping at the silk street market, because what would a trip to Beijing be without having shouting matches with shop attendants to get the best deal on sweet sweet cheap as chips knockoffs! Brother went home with about 5 pairs of shoes, no lies.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throwing coins for luck at Lama Temple</td></tr>
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All in all Beijing was really great. I mean don't get me wrong it isn't the cleanest city I've been to and yes it is true, mothers do let their babies poo in the streets (forever scarred) but the cultural history and the sights outweigh all of that! If sightseeing is your thing, and there is a ton to see, then Beijing is your place!<br />
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Some videos I made using <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/roadmovies/id575022047?mt=8">Roadmovies</a>:<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-31631148566403701942014-01-09T12:04:00.001+02:002014-12-18T12:35:50.049+02:00Move, Eat, LearnThe time of the year has come again for Korean schools to break for winter holidays and what better way to let kids enjoy the holidays than by sending them to us study more English! These poor kids really never get a break :( Anyhow, whilst preparing for my new 8 class a day teaching schedule (yuk!) I did drift off and got travel stuck on the brain again:) In doing so I happened to come across these three very cool videos that make me super excited about all that there is to see and do in the world..Can't wait to explore some of it very soon!<br />
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A little description:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i>3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i>= a trip of a lifetime.</i></span></div>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-34861283745488082352013-12-17T12:43:00.000+02:002014-12-18T12:36:30.253+02:00The Volkers were here: Seoul tourist-ing with the family :)A couple of months ago my Family came to visit me in Korea for a whirlwind week of catching up and taking on a slither of Asia together. They arrived just before the Korean holiday Chuseok which gives most people in Korea a nice 3 days off work during this time once a year. My family arrived on a Saturday and spent three days in Seoul where we did all the touristy things we could. It also happened to be brothers birthday during their time in Seoul too! I managed to get the Monday and Tuesday off work and then because of the lovely 3 days off that Chuseok gave us plus the weekend, we were off to Beijing for our first family trip overseas!<br />
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The first night they arrived Mom, Dad and Andrew quickly became acquainted with everyone and we took them to Hongdae to introduce them to some delicious Korean barbeque and the potent, cheap as hell soju. The night escalated a little from there, which probably wasn't the greatest idea when we had to wake up at 6 in the morning the next day to go on a DMZ tour. Needless to say we were all cursing the little green devil that is soju the whole of Sunday. Welcome to Korea family!<br />
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The DMZ tour was really interesting and a bit eerie in a way. To see such separation with two places that are technically one yet completely opposite in every way, is really hard to wrap your head around. We then wandered around Seoul for a while and made our way down to Ansan to see my humble abode and to show off a bit of Ansan station where we met everyone for Uzbekistan dinner. Our Uzbek dinners have become a pretty regular thing on a Sunday so it was nice to show the fam how our weekends end in our little city. Other touristy things we did included Gyeongbokgung Palace and lunch and shopping in Insadong. I had only ever been past the palace and seen its walls and the gates before. Its situated in the middle of Seoul so its surrounded by high rise buildings and tons of modern architecture. Being inside the palace gave you a completely different perspective, you forget that you're in the middle of a bustling city for a bit and get taken in by the peaceful quietness of it all. We also went up Namsan tower or Seoul tower as its sometimes known. We made our way up on one of the last cable cars of the day so we could see the lights of Seoul in full effect. I realised very quickly after arriving in Korea that Seoul is a lot bigger than I had originally thought but seeing it from up high like that and seeing how far the lights stretched it made me realise that its even bigger than that. Crazy big really. It was great travelling around Seoul doing all the touristy things I hadn't ever done before and even better to experience them with the fam :)<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-55818323308702975982013-12-04T17:40:00.000+02:002013-12-04T17:40:31.706+02:00To the mad ones.. When leaving to come to Korea the hardest thing I thought I would have to deal with is homesickness and the longing to go back to everything I know and love. During these last few months I've realised that saying goodbye to some amazing friends who are finishing their Korean journey has quickly taken over those homesick feelings and is bringing forward a whole new level of heartache.<br />
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Arriving in Korea I expected to meet some fantastic and interesting people. People I would go home and tell my people about. People I would have the fondest memories of. People that I would never forget, and people I would make the best effort to meet up with again very soon. I'd be lying if I said I had the easiest time meeting new people at the start of my Korean journey. I always thought of myself as a fairly outgoing person so I didn't think it would be so difficult to make a ton of friends as soon as I arrived. It started a little different than expected. I guess I was still closed in when I got here, stuck in everything I knew back home and comparing everything and everyone new to my somewhat cookie cutter mold of a life I had left at home.<br />
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Sitting here with exactly three months left in Korea and hitting the anniversary of one year in Korea really soon, I can tell you that right now it is a different story altogether. I have made the best friends here. I've become really close with people who are way different to me; outstanding, kind, loving and helpful people with such interesting lives and experiences that we are able to share with each other everyday. I have definitely learnt a lot about myself by opening up to so many truly great friends during my time here. I write this post with a bit of a pang in my heart as recently a lot of my fantastic friends that I have met have finished or are on the verge of finishing their Korean experience and are moving onto new chapters in their lives. The same phrase comes into my head every time someone leaves, "Its the nature of the game". Its the inevitable reality that someday none of us will be here in this weird but wonderful country. We will all be on the road to something different, in someplace new, having new and different experiences. So for these last few months, I will make sure to bask in the shindig that is Korea and make the last few memories of this fantastic place anything but forgettable. Missing the mad ones already xx<br />
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<br />Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-4342567309279246152013-11-24T18:32:00.003+02:002014-12-18T12:31:27.498+02:00Yay for Taipei!Winter is pretty much officially here in Korea and although the single digit temperatures have only just kicked in, I am not too overjoyed by it already. So because the cold is making me long for summer again and because I have a ton of catching up to do with you, it seems about time to reminisce about some lovely, warmer times and what better way to do this by going back to my summer holiday in Taiwan!<br />
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At the end of July this year most of the hagwon teachers in Korea were given a 5 day weekend as a bit of a break for our summer holidays. As we work all year round and don't follow the public school schedule too closely, these breaks are pretty rare. A couple of friends and I decided to make the most of it and explore Taiwan!</div>
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Emma, Arazue and I flew to Taipei and caught a train and a bus to Kenting town down along the South of Taiwan. After arriving to an amazing sunset over this little beach town, where we met up with Jaylene and Hayley, we settled down and went to grab some food and explore the night markets in town. Unfortunately because of our tight schedule we only managed to squeeze in one night and one beach day in Kenting. We left our hostel in the morning with the hopes of having a beautiful beach day and getting fried in the sun but instead got drenched in the torrential downpour that decided to make its way to us. We bought some rain ponchos and got some plastic bags for our heads and headed to the beach anyway. When we arrived we were greeted by a bunch of Taiwanese ajumas and ajeossi's who 'forbid' us to go swimming and instead insisted we sit with them while they pour drinks for us and bring out a spread of local foods for us to try. We ended up eating, drinking and being merry with them for a couple of hours until the rain died down. The beach we were at was the same beach that they filmed some of the scenes in Life of Pi. They even had a big statue of a boat with Richard Parker sitting on it to commemorate it.</div>
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After a fun day at the beach, lots of swimming, very little frying (thanks rain) we headed back up to Taipei. Taipei is a really great city. It has a real laid back feel but it still feels like a big city at the same time. We stayed in Taipei for the rest of the holiday and did a couple of touristy things while experiencing everyday Taiwan too. One of the highlights was going up the Maokong Gondola which was definitely one of the best ways to see the whole of Taipei up high. We also explored the Shilin and Raohe Street night markets and tried some amazing food (mmmm the dumplings). It may have been because we only had a couple of days to find anything but it felt like nightlife wasn't so huge in Taipei. There are a lot of clubs but its a little difficult to find a bar or two. We did make our way to a club called Spark which was right underneath Taipei 101, a lot of fun. Other touristy things we squeezed in were the Chiang Kai-shek memorial and the Longshan Temple. Its always so cool to see these beautiful big structures still in tact in the middle of a bustling city, they both made for great photos too. On the last day after exploring Longshan Temple, Emma and I decided to go get a relaxing Taiwanese foot massage. We were horribly mistaken by thinking it would be relaxing. It was one of the most painful things my feet have experienced! The masseuses didn't quite understand our nervous laugh crying either haha. The last thing on our wishlist was drinking one/many many bottles of Taiwan's famous litchi beer. After searching for it the entire trip, Emma and I finally found it at the airport... on our way out of the country :| Naturally we indulged :)<br />
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Most of our Taiwan crew has left Korea already which is a bummer because we aren't able to hang out altogether anymore but I'm so glad we got to fit this trip in while they were still here :) The entire trip was fantastic, even the days where we had a ton of rain we still had so much fun and explored as much as possible. Taiwan really is a bit of a hidden travel gem, one that I'm very happy I got to marvel at.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a bunch of fruit beer at the markets this is what we did to entertain ourselves on the subway lol<br />
Brown to blonde in 15 seconds!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Longshan temple</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So much pain selfie..</td></tr>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-22809986085949752872013-11-19T06:06:00.000+02:002014-12-18T12:40:41.296+02:00Ansan Valley Rock Festival!The annual <a href="http://valleyrockfestival.mnet.interest.me/2013/eng/index.asp">Valley Rock festival</a> was held right outside the city I live in here in Korea. Usually held at the Jisan Forest Resort and called the Jisan Valley Rock festival, this year the venue moved and the festival was held on Daebu island which is about a 30 minute drive from Ansan. The lineup was pretty great and although I missed Vampire Weekend and The XX.. I know :( it was still a really great festival. I did however get to see the Stereophonics, Skrillex, Yellowcard, Steve Vai, Fun, a bunch of other super cool Korean acts and... Foals!!! It rained for a lot of the festival which made the already swampy land on Daebu pretty much a mud bath but we threw on a couple of plastic ponchos and kept going.<br />
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I find that it always brings a certain feeling of pride when an international act plays in your country. Its kind of a big deal when any international bands or acts come play in SA and they usually only come one at a time and do individual shows. Being able to see a bunch of big acts from all over the world at one festival was pretty great and they were playing in my home away from home which made it even better.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hd-ff0YCatE/UorPDR_ny0I/AAAAAAAABP4/PpX3lH0bV0s/s1600/ansan1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hd-ff0YCatE/UorPDR_ny0I/AAAAAAAABP4/PpX3lH0bV0s/s640/ansan1.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bus hangovers from Noreabanging till 8am the night before.</td></tr>
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Some videos of the festival:</div>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-30038523358430750622013-11-14T18:32:00.001+02:002013-11-21T10:20:37.193+02:00Hello again!I've decided to take a break at being the worst blog writer in the world and have finally gotten around to writing this post.<br />
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A lot has happened over these past couple of months here in Korea, a lot of it happened really quickly and a lot of it was a little unexpected too. All of it involved tons of laughs and a few tears as well.<br />
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To start I got to watch a ton of really cool acts (including Foals! aaaah!) at the Ansan Valley festival. I went to Taiwan with the best group of girls. I got some pretty fantastic new coworkers who have turned out to be really great friends too. I turned another year older and had a really fun and special birthday. My whole family came to visit me and we went on our first ever overseas holiday together adventuring around Beijing. I said goodbye to some amazing friends who have really made a mark on me during my time in Korea and I finally started planning my travels for when I finish my contract.</div>
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I will do my best to write some more posts with some more updates on the last couple of months but for now I leave you with one of my creations made with something else thats been killing time lately (I may have also turned into a creepy cat lady too over the last couple of months, details to follow lol) Back soon! xx<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-85728535396588765422013-08-29T05:16:00.003+02:002014-12-18T12:41:33.795+02:004th of July fun & Boryeong Mud festival!The 4th of July is usually just another day in July for me but for my American friends in Korea its something totally different. A bunch of us got together at a beach just off of Incheon called Muuido. It was a great little beach with wooden huts along it that you could stay in overnight. I decided to go along and try be as American as possible. We had an awesome time barbecuing, playing beach games, setting off fireworks, singing campfire songs and all the other fun stuff that went along with it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos courtesy of <a href="http://instagram.com/alexandriawoodside">Alex's epic instagram</a></td></tr>
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Two weekends after that we headed out to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boryeong_Mud_Festival">Boryeong Mud festival</a> which is held every year on Daecheon beach, about a two hour bus trip from Seoul. Mud fest has been known to bring in a huge crowd of foreigners every year and this year it wasn't any different. It really didn't feel like I was in Korea for a while.<br />
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The festival was full of all things muddy with a few surprises scattered throughout the day. We covered ourselves with mud as soon as we got there and hit the mud slides and obstacle course. After washing off in the sea, where my one week old sunglasses decided they had had enough of being on my face and decided to stay in the water, we were surprised by a pretty cool air show with jets, smoke and planes flying over our heads and all the other neat stuff and air show has. </div>
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The evening turned out to be pretty epic too when they set out a big boat in the middle of the ocean and shot fireworks off of it for everyone sitting on the beach. We ended the night with beach singalongs, slip slop losses and dance parties, perfect weekend Id say :)<br />
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Our bus on the way there was serious about the jiving</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of <a href="http://instagram.com/alexandriawoodside">Alex</a>'s photies<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-57904466986512752582013-08-28T19:18:00.000+02:002014-12-18T12:42:39.223+02:00Sunday Funday: Paintball, Water rafting and Bungee tripWorking till 10pm every day of the week has really made me cherish my weekends. Back home I used to use my Sundays to recover from horrible hangovers until the Sunday braai started in the evening. I used up most of the Sundays when I first came to Korea doing the same (minus the braai). I justified it by blaming everything on the snow but now that snow longer exists here I've realised that my Sundays should really be used as fundays every weekend.<br />
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A million Sundays ago (lack of posting, sorry) was a really good one. A bunch of us went on a river rafting, paintball, ATV, zipline and bungee trip at a place called Inje in Gangwondo. We couldn't do all of those things but we all got to do the rafting and had the option of changing the paintball to atv or ziplining and then adding on the bungee jump as an extra. I chose the paintball and the bungee jump (cray!)<br />
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I only got shot once during paintball in the side of the head. I congratulated the girl who shot me afterwards, it was really quite impressive. The water rafting was a lot of fun. We had a bit of a Nazi Korean boat captain who pretty much shat on us the entire way down the river. We also had some crew falling overboard along the way, hilarious though and made the annoying Nazi captain less of a downer.<br />
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After a quick swim in the river we headed to the bungee site. The bungee jump looked less impressive than any I have ever seen but when people started jumping it became less of a 'meh' bungee and more of a 'ah hell no, no ways you guys I'm out' kind of thing. I also thought I would try be a big shot and do the ankle jump instead of the waist one that you could also choose. I waited a while to finally go ahead and take the plunge. A thousand what ifs went through my head. I finally got to the top of the platform and realised that I'm terrified of heights and was almost in tears before jumping off. I made it out though, alive and well :)<br />
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My jump!</div>
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110893089434446012.post-29216462181062159992013-07-04T04:17:00.000+02:002014-12-18T12:43:30.596+02:00A braai in Korea!I've been slacking a bit on blog updates lately, sorry family and friends and whoever else is reading about my Korean adventures.<br />
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I have gotten my ducks in a row and had to write a whole post on this because it was one glorious day where I felt a tiny bit like I was back in South Africa, or at least something that's vaguely familiar to the land of boerewors, beer and <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=babalas">babalas</a>.</div>
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The guys over at SAKorNet hosted the annual Nanji Braai at Nanji park in Seoul. I roped in a bunch or friends to come with and experience a real South African braai, or at least the closest we are gonna get to it in Korea. We had to order our meat before from <a href="http://www.thebiltongguykorea.com/">The Biltong Guy</a> and then picked it up at the park to braai. They even had some SA drinks available: Hunters, Klipdrift and some different wines. I had to have a bit of everything... hence the babalas later on :p</div>
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It was a lot of fun, we braaied, danced, drank, spoke rubbish and even played a round of South African 30 seconds! All the components of a good bleddy braai! :)<br />
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My friend Jason took the ropes as the 'braaimaster' for the day, He made this video too:<br />
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Merylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07281959836024161343noreply@blogger.com0