To continue where I left off last time…
Halloween in Busan was celebrated in an appropriately drunken, dressed-up fashion – check out the photos of everyone, we bemused Koreans all over town that night. Unfortunately, my plan for a bee costume went out the window due to a problem with my black spray and angel wings not liking each other (congealing, turning into a manky sticky mess, covering my bathroom…), so I had to spend the evening looking lame next to the Snow Whites and Osama Bin Ladens of Busan. A lot of effort was put into some costumes and it all made for an entertaining evening. Kim Jong-Il and Where's Wally even made an appearance.
Just after Halloween we went to a firework display on Gwangalli Beach, the second beach in Busan. This was put on not for Guy Fawkes Day, but for ‘The Second Anniversary of the Successful Hosting of the APEC Conference and to celebrate lighting up Busan’s future…’. Despite there being a million-odd people there (there literally wasn’t a grain of sand to be had on the beach, and everyone’s mobiles looked like fireflies scattered down the beach), the show was amazing. Think of all the crappy shows you’ve seen down Midsummer Common and the like, standing oohing and aahing for 10 minutes before going back to the pub, and squish them all together into one show. Then throw in music blaring from speakers dotted down the beach and lasers for good effect too and you have some idea of what it was like. If I can figure out how to post a video I will.
I’ve had my kids writing penpal letters (sadly to two schools in America), and have been learning about popular-K culture. For your amusement, here are a band that my students are currently into. The ‘men’ call themselves TVXQ and are all the rage at the moment. I, and a lot of other people, think they should be castrated and held-up as a shameful example of masculinity. I thought the lemonade-uh boy was bad enough but these guys just take it to a whole new level…judge them for yourselves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4cL-R6U1G0
Also, I’ve decided to stay on another year at the same school. Compared to a lot of people here, I’ve got a pretty good gig at my school, and I’ve built up good relationships with the staff and teachers so I’d rather not chance risking it with another school. I will definitely do another six months till August, and then see how it goes after that. Staying longer will give me more options for post-Korea, but I may well get sick of it by then, so we shall see. Some of my friends are leaving soon, but a fair few are staying on and/or coming back next year, including two out of my three best friends, Aussie Nicole and Scottish Jill, so I shan’t have to start afresh again which is nice. There also seems to be a recent upsurge in incoming Brits which is sooo refreshing.
As you will see from the accompanying photo (if you look hard enough), that I am now a blue belt in hapkido, the 3rd one. The aim is to get my red by the time I come home, brown by May, and my black by September next year, bring it on! We had an official photograph taken a few weeks ago – the one above – and apparently our master is going to use it on some publicity and maybe even on the signs outside his studio, we’ll be famous, recognised and possibly a little feared all over Busan, hmm, maybe...
Over Christmas I’m heading to some mountains on an island called Namhae with 25 other people. We’ve hired three cabins for the whole weekend and are planning on making it as homely and traditional as possible, seeing as we’re all a very long way from home. I guess one advantage of being away over Christmas is that I get to have two dinners…! My friend Rich has gone and got himself a Santa suit so he’ll be dishing out our stockings and secret Santa presents on Christmas morning. We’ve also managed to get ourselves a turkey, and have had various extras sent from home, bread sauce, mulled wine spices etc, so we should be set. We might even have a white Christmas too which would beat the usual grey day that greets us on Christmas morning, although I’m sure the hangovers from Christmas Eve will be just as bad as usual – especially now we’ve found limes to accompany our gin!
New Year’s weekend is probably going to be spent in Busan, bar-crawling and going to the beach for sunrise - albeit in freezing conditions – and possibly even walking the length of the bridge that runs across a bay, about 8km I think, we shall see on the day though I think as to whether it happens or not.
Next month is already looking to be as busy as the last few. We’re doing the DMZ tour one weekend and there is also talk of going paragliding. For the DMZ tour, we basically get to go to the border for the day, see the tunnels, look over into Kim Jong-Il’s land and go to the UN village that straddles the border, and into the building where, in one room, one side of the table is South and the other is North. It should prove to be a very surreal and eye-opening experience.
I’ve got just over 6 weeks left before I come home for a month which is both bizarre, exciting and a little nerve-wracking at the same time. I know that everyone has been telling me that everything is still the same, but it’s still strange to think I’ll be back amongst my nearest and dearest, and in a beautiful city (no soulless concrete blocks, no rubbish on the streets…), after so long away. It's absolutely flown by and only feels like I was leaving a couple of weeks ago, but it also feels like an age since I've seen everyone. The things I’m most looking forward, hmm….proper pubs, a good pint, chocolate, cheese, wine, roast dinners, cups of tea, being able to buy clothes without shop assistants looking you up and down and saying ‘larg-ee size obsay-yo / we don’t have large size’ (makes buying jeans a completely soul-destroying mission, despite the fact that I’ve dropped a size since coming here!), good curries, ready supply of magazines and books, the list goes on…and of course catching up with everyone! I know my time at home will fly by and I’ll be heading back here for my second year before I know it, but I’m trying not to think that far ahead at the moment. I will ask a favour of you all though at the moment... if I say anything with an American accent, or say anything like sweater, pants, movie, on the weekend, then please slap me. It’s the only way I’ll get the American English out of my system J !
Anyways, hope everyone is well and looking forward to a fun-filled festive weekend.
Lots of love,
Anniexx
