Hi 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!

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!

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

Hong Kong has been incredible so far, my short visit 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!

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!

New hood!

To 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.

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.

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

Sunday Funday: Paintball, Water rafting and Bungee trip

Working 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.

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!)

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.

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 :)

having a little cry before the jump

My jump!

A 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.

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 babalas.

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 The Biltong Guy 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

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! :)

Like Jan braai but American

My friend Jason took the ropes as the 'braaimaster' for the day, He made this video too:

We hiked up a mountain! A really really high mountain..

Its officially hot as hell in Korea which means more outdoor activities! I would by no means call myself an outdoorsy kind of girl, I mean I've been on the occasional hike (walk) back home and have gone camping maybe a grand total of 5 times in my life, okay excluding the Oppikoppi, non sleeping, too drunk to function, once a year music festival camping, but that's always an exception :P

I've definitely been more outdoorsy here in Korea than I have ever been in my life. Hikes, sea kayaking and fishing are not things I would have expected to do here let alone do them willingly as leisurely activities on my weekends off.  but I like to think I came to Korea with an open mind and I've got to say I'm really enjoying this new outdoorsyness I've got going on:)

A couple of weeks ago I went with Britny, Jacquelynn and Angel on an 8 hour hike in Seoraksan National Park. We hiked up the Daechongbong Peak which is the highest peak in the park at 1708 meters! Id be lying if I said I loved every minute of it.. I didn't. So far I've only done small hikes and this was definitely a biggie! It was great to get to the top though and it made it worth every painful second up the mountain. It was a challenge going down too but jeepers I felt like I had really done something great by the end of it. Plus it made for a great Sunday funday! :)

We climbed trees as well

I made a little video at the peak so you can see the view.. 

Delivery for me?

A couple of weeks ago I got my first package from my family back home. It took forever to get here because the South African post office was on strike. Striking is not unusual back home but come now post office, do you not know that I'm in Korea and in urgent need of some home supplies??

It eventually arrived a little while ago with all sorts of goodies from home. Thanks again Mom and Dad :)

A parcel for Miss Meryl, how fancy

New stokies!!!! My feet are VERY happy :)

I have never been more excited to see a R5 tin of multipurpose miracle stuff :)

All the bunnies! A little late for Easter but then again when is it ever too late for chocolate. I am trying to savour these but the golden bunny family is getting a little smaller pretty quickly haha

I also got this sweet card from my best friend. It had a Christmas and New Year message inside lol.. better late than never Jenzie:)