Homeward Bound

1 year and 2 weeks. 379 days. Sounds like a long time, doesn't it? When Luke and I arrive home on Saturday March 14th, we will have been away from Australia for 379 days! And yes, it feels like a long time too!

Last Tuesday, March 3rd 2009, we left our little box in South Korea and jetted off to Japan to spend a week skiing the slopes of Niseko with 5 friends. It was to be our hard-earned reward for making it through a tough year in a foreign country, and what a reward it was! We spent the week in a fantastic apartment with a great bunch of people, skiing by day and partying by night and it was exactly the break we needed. And, just when I thought things couldn't get any better, Luke proposed to me one afternoon in a gondola on the way up the mountain for the last run of the day!! Of course I said yes immediately and to top it all off we even had friends there to celebrate with straight away! 

Luke and I just after getting engaged. 

I didn't put my beautiful ring on until we got home 

and I got out of the ski gear!

The gang on the mountain. 

L to R: Clem, Paul, Millie, Luke, Luke, Dave and me

After our fantastic week in the snow, Luke, Dave and I headed south to spend a few days in and around Kyoto. We spent a day cruising around the city on clapped out old bicycles (Dave's was the worst by far) which was great fun, we visited a temple and a shrine, we spent another day checking out Osaka, we ate plenty of sushi and I even bought a kimono. 

Setting out on our hi-tech bicycles

Dave's bike struggled with the downhilling...

Japan has been the most wonderful end to our big adventure. Any stress we were feeling by the end of our time in Korea is miles away now and we are heading home feeling mentally refreshed, happy and more than a bit excited. (As for physically refreshed, well, there will be time for that soon!) My experiences in Korea taught me a great deal and in a way I'm only discovering what those lessons were since we've left. Being with other people and putting just a little bit of distance between myself and the experience is steadily providing perspective and clarity. I just can't wait to get out there and put the things I've learnt to good use!

So, I suppose this puts an end to my blogging for now. I promise I'll write about any great stories that come back to me as time goes by but this is good bye for the time being. I hope you have enjoyed reading my stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them and I look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Lucy

Seoul: The Last Dance

In some ways it was easy to decide what to do with our last weekend in Korea, there was one place we just had to visit one last time, and that was Seoul. I have loved Seoul since the first time we went there. Rain, snow, sunshine... it's beautiful, exciting and energetic in any weather. A trip to Seoul on our last weekend in Korea was a given, and of course, if we had to choose one area to make that last time special, it had to be Jongno-gu. 

We set out nice and early (for a change) to make sure we had all day to take in as much of the city as we could. We started with a chai latte in Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and although I'm looking forward to returning to Cibo chai lattes, the ones from "The Bean" are pretty darn good. 

After that, we took a stroll down Cheongyecheon and reminisced about all the times we had done so previously. I have fond memories of walking along that stream on our way to buy supplies for the "foster" dog we were bringing home the next day, just as I loved dangling my bare feet in the water on a sizzling hot summer's afternoon. 

Next on the agenda was one last walk through Insadong en route to Jongno. We took our time choosing where we wanted to go for lunch, just enjoying being out and about in the ever fashionable Jongno. We ended up settling on an Italian place for pasta and risotto for lunch, after which we continued wandering towards a park we wanted to explore. Once in the park we discovered that we could take a short hike up to a look-out point, and as it was a beautiful day, we did just that. We sat for a while at the top of the look-out and took in the view of Seoul that lay before us. It is a city that spreads far and wide in all directions but I'll never forget the mountains that surround it, they afford many a spectacular view of the city and I've got a feeling they're going to make Adelaide feel incredibly flat! 

After our walk up to the look-out, naturally it was time to eat again! We didn't really need them but waffles in this country are just so damn delicious, we just had to have them one more time.... 

So, our last trip to Seoul was over before we knew it. On our bus trip home we both commented that it hadn't felt like a last time and I think that for me, it won't be. It's a goodbye, but just for now. I will return one day to walk the streets of Jongno once more and to feel the energy around me as I lose myself in the bustling crowds. Seoul and I will dance again but for now we will part ways with fond and precious memories and I will feel satisfied to know that Luke and I had some fantastic times there. So, farewell Seoul, I will think of you often until we meet again.

Lucy

3 becomes 2

Our box is no longer complete. One member has taken off on the adventure of his lifetime and we won't see him until the 21st of March. Of course I'm referring to Dusty, who is currently in a quarantine station in Melbourne!

We took Dusty over to the vet at Itaewon on Tuesday where he spent the night before being taken to the airport on Wednesday morning. He's not a big fan of car travel and threw up three times on the way there, poor thing! He was feeling pretty seedy by the time we arrived but some crisp, fresh air soon perked him up and we took him inside to meet Sohee, who would be transporting him to the airport. After a brief chat, Sohee gestured towards a closed door and told us that Dusty would be spending the night in there. Unfortunately, there were already three dogs "in there" kicking up a terrible din, and we knew Dusty would not be pleased about the situation. The door was opened and a baby gate behind it was holding back a very rambunctious golden retriever puppy along with two other noisy little dogs. I leaned over the gate and hesitantly placed Dusty on the ground. This did not sit well with our boy who immediately decided he was not staying there, thank you very much, and he promptly leaped straight up and into Luke's and my arms. At that point we felt it pertinent to warn Sohee of Dusty's speed and jumping abilities! After that, Sohee tried a more gradual introduction process and she told me later the following night that it was much more successful.

So, it was time to say goodbye and it was a tearful farewell on my part. There were a couple of anxious nights spent worrying about our little one, but now we know that he has arrived safe and sound, we are just plain excited! We can still remember the day we decided we were keeping him, we both knew we just couldn't leave him behind it was just a matter of saying this out loud to each other. Dusty was already doing so well when we decided we wanted to keep him rather than just foster him, but once we made this decision his personality started to shine through even more. It was uncanny, I swear he knew exactly what was going on! Since we've had him he's gone from being scared of his water bowl and hiding under the kitchen table to walking off the lead and jumping up on the bed for cuddles in the morning. And now he's made it to Australia and I must say we're bit jealous-the lucky sod beat us home! But, soon the three from the box will be reunited and Dusty will be introduced to the wonders of an Australian backyard, bones and wide, sandy beaches.

Dusty on the second night we had him

Dusty frolicking in the snow shortly before leaving Korea

Lucy

Winter Camp

Having learned some valuable lessons from my summer camp experience, I approached winter camp with one clear objective: keep it simple! Still, I knew I was in for a bit of a challenge no matter what tasks I set for the kids...

I arrived at school on the first day of winter camp to find that a) school was freezing and b) no, they couldn't turn the heaters on because they didn't have the budget for that (yeah, right). Luckily, there was the option of using the science lab which had a heater I could turn on without school having to run the heaters in every room. So, down to the science room I went and, as it turned out, it was the best place to run the camp anyway! For the first week I had two separate classes one after the other. Class A-spoke pretty good english, and class B-well, they didn't really speak english at all. It was pretty exhausting but we made it work and I think the kids even had fun!

Things really did go quite smoothly this time around, with the exception of one little thing...

On the third day of camp I got a phone call in the morning from Anna, my co-teacher for the camp, saying that she had a couple of broken ribs and was therefore bedridden. Well, I couldn't exactly argue with that! It did however, leave me with the problem of what to do about class B and if there's one thing I've learned from teaching in Korea it's how to be clear and assertive. I told Anna that I understood that she couldn't come in but that didn't mean I didn't need somebody to help me. She then mumbled something about Ellie being busy and not knowing who else to ask. I told her that if she couldn't find someone to help me then I would cancel the camp and amazingly enough, she found someone. So, the camp went ahead and with a little more persistence I had somebody to help me every day.

I spent the second week of camp with my advanced class and things went well, in fact, I even found myself enjoying their company! On the last day the students requested that I be a little late to class and when I arrived they had prepared a cake and a slideshow to thank me for teaching them and to say that they'd had fun with me and would miss me. It was really lovely! And, to make things even more special, it was snowing! The kids asked if we could go outside and play in the snow and when I said yes I think they nearly fell over backwards. We played in the snow for a good hour, I don't know what anybody watching from inside thought but I like to think that by now they just shake their heads and think, "well, there's no use trying to stop our Australian teacher...."

So, with winter camp well and truly wrapped up and our regular classes finished, home is starting to feel very close indeed. I've learned a lot from this experience and I know I'll never forget it but I'm so excited to be heading home. Before I left for Korea somebody said to me, "Australia is the best place in the world to live, why go anywhere else?" to which I replied, "I know that, I'm just making sure". Well, I've done that now and it's true, there's no place like home and I can't wait to get back there.

Lucy

A Week of Winter Activities

Lucky us! Instead of sweating it out in the extreme heat of an Adelaide summer, Luke and I are enjoying winter in the Northern Hemisphere. We are having a ball! Mind you, after the dreadful humidity of summer here I think it's about time we had some more comfortable weather....

Luke and I have spent the last two weeks on holidays together and we decided it was time we made the most of the chilly weather. So, this week's agenda included both ice-skating and skiing. First up was supposed to be skiing but, thanks to a mix up with a bus timetable we wound up getting up at 5:45 in the morning in order to miss the bus by minutes and stand in the cold, waiting in vain for nearly an hour. Never mind, at least we had a good early start! After returning home for a cup of tea and a sit down, we headed into Seoul to see if we might have more luck with ice-skating. And we did! It cost us about $1 each to hire a pair of skates and spend an hour gliding round an outdoor ice rink in the middle of Seoul. We were a little rusty, neither of us had been skating for a good few years, but we picked it up pretty fast and had a great time. 

Next up was another attempt at skiing. This time we had more accurate information (courtesy of Ellie) and we not only caught the right bus at the right time, we spent a fabulous day cruising down the slopes of "Bears Town" ski resort, which made the 5:30am start completely worth it! 

Ok, so there was the odd stack in there with all the cruising... but it was only my second time on skis! But, nothing too serious, the only one that really hurt was the first one, which involved slamming into one of the orange pads you can see in the photo above. They weren't as soft as they looked and I definitely don't plan on doing that again! Oh, and the photo above was not taken after that particular stack. I wasn't smiling after that one! 

Still, despite the bruises and aching muscles it was a fantastic day and one that I can't wait to repeat many times over in Japan-which is just around the corner! 

So, I think it's safe to say that this cold, snowy weather agrees with me very nicely. I'm really going to miss it! But, we're making the most of it and, with tomorrow being the first of February-the first day of our last month in Korea-we're going to be making sure we enjoy it as much as possible! 

Lucy

What's Wrong With a Little Peace and Quiet?

Ok, I understand. South Korea is small. Not only that, there are a LOT of people crammed into it. But why? Why do so many people here appear to have a serious aversion to peace and quiet? What is so abhorrent about a little silence every once in a while?? In my opinion, absolutely nothing and that is why I will not miss the folk Luke and I refer to as the loudspeaker men.

Luke and I live in an area where there are lots of restaurants. We don't generally go to these restaurants because they are essentially for the locals and we are very plainly not locals. It's not that they wouldn't serve us if we tried to eat at one of these restaurants it's just that it wouldn't be at all comfortable for us, or for them. Now, I don't have a problem with these restaurants, their customers don't seem to be the noisy, brawling types on the whole. I do however, have a problem with the people who sell supplies to the restaurant owners. Whoever first came up with the idea to drive slowly through the streets of Garamae bellowing into a loudspeaker over and over and over again about what they are selling should be held up for public humiliation in my opinion. The bright spark who thought of making recorded messages to play instead of wearing out their voice by SHOUTING INTO A LOUDSPEAKER should be made to join them! 

Summer was the worst. The humidity and lack of air-conditioning was bad enough but to top it off, whenever we opened a window to let in some fresh air we also let in the indecipherable, repetitive shouting of the dreaded loudspeaker men. Language barrier aside, I'm pretty sure bellowing into a loudspeaker makes things kind of impossible to understand even to those who do speak the language. 7 years working in a discount department store makes me certain of this! 

Unfortunately, no time is too early or too late for the loudspeaker men. There are times when they start up with the sun and don't pipe down until 10 or 11 at night. Ah, the sabotage plans Luke and I have plotted.... It has taken some strength to hold ourselves back from carrying some of them out!

But it's not just the loudspeaker men. It seems that South Korea is just a very noisy country. Everything from hiking to political campaigning has to be done at full volume. When you're hiking up a beautiful, serene mountain don't you feel like shouting about it while you get drunk and spit? And don't you choose who you vote for in political elections by who can play the loudest music the earliest in the morning? If this sounds relaxing and fun to you, I strongly suggest you spend some time in Korea!

So while there are things I will miss about living in South Korea, constant noise is NOT one of them! I can't wait to hear the silence of Australian bush-land, or even the quiet of a sleepy suburban street. I can't wait to stop in my tracks and whisper to Luke "do you hear that? It's silence," then I will know I am home. 

Lucy

10 things I'll miss about Korea

1. Ellie. We've become good friends this year and it's going to be hard to say goodbye. I sincerely hope she will travel to Australia some day so I can see her again.

2. Snow. No chance of a white Christmas back home!

3. Seoul. It's such a wonderful, exciting city! Such energy and so many things to see and do... I would love to return to it one day, even if only for a few days.

4. Food! Weird dried seafood and stupendously spicy stuff aside, the food here is great and CHEAP! I wish our favourite Korean BBQ restaurant would open a branch in Adelaide!

5. E-Mart. Yes, E-Mart is a supermarket but it's not just any supermarket, you can get everything at E-Mart. I do enjoy a good stroll through E-Mart....

6. The Box. Ok, so it's really small and limited but it has been Luke and my first home together and we've had some great times in our box. Still, I can't wait to make a new home together in the Adelaide hills so I don't suppose I'll miss it for too long.

7. The mountains. I've got a feeling that Adelaide is going to feel flatter than a pancake after living in South Korea!

8. Jongno-gu. Ah, so many cafes and shops! I'm really going to miss the chic and stylish area of Jongno, I wish I could take it with me, you'd all love it, I just know you would!

9. The cost of living. Well, for starters, we don't pay rent here, our schools cover that and on top of that, all our bills are really cheap! A lot cheaper than I know they'll be back home!

10. Buses. Yes, they're crazy and cause me to fear for my life but are they ever efficient! If buses in Adelaide ran as frequently and as cheaply, I guarantee you'd use them!

Dusty's Flying Lesson

It's official. Our dog thinks he's invincible. As if surviving a dash across a huge, busy intersection wasn't enough, now he's decided that he can fly!

Dusty's flying lesson came about a couple of weeks ago when we were on our usual Sunday walk along a nearby creek/storm drain. It's Dusty's favourite place as he gets let off the lead for a good run. He's very well behaved (most of the time) and always comes when he's called which, on this occasion was part of the problem! There are two paths that run along each side of the creek, we walk along the bottom path, close to the river but sometimes Dusty likes to explore the top path too. The slope connecting the two paths is quite steep but our agile little fellow manages to run up and down it at great speeds and without falling on his face!

Now, I already mentioned that this creek is like a storm drain too, so this means there are points at which water can enter at intervals along it. Because South Korea, unlike Australia, is not lacking for water, these inlets are quite large. I've often looked at them and thought to myself, "if Dusty were to jump off one of those, he'd probably break all his legs". Well, he proved me wrong but my nerves have barely recovered from it!

Allow me to use a couple of photos to illustrate Dusty's latest adventure:

This picture was taken from Dusty's point of view. He was exploring, as usual and Luke and I thought it was time to keep moving. We called him to us from about where Luke is in this picture. He came barreling down to us, got to the low concrete 'wall' you see in this photo and that's when everything started to go in slow motion.....

You see, that concrete 'wall' happens to be the top of the drain inlet and when Dusty got to this point he didn't look, he just leapt. It's a little hard to tell from a photo but he basically launched himself off about a 3 metre drop. He appeared to hang in mid-air at this point before landing on the concrete and sliding down towards the icy, although thankfully shallow creek. Somehow, the only injuries he sustained were a few grazes on his back legs from sliding down the drain inlet and a bit of shock, but I can tell you that Luke and I were both picturing the worst before our boy emerged from under the bridge we were standing on. Luke jumped down into the drain expecting to find Dusty under the bridge with several broken legs but there he was, on the opposite side of the creek, all in one piece! He splashed back across the semi-frozen creek to us and was promptly taken home whereupon he was given a warm bath and put to bed. He slept soundly for the rest of the day and was completely recovered when he woke in the evening to go for his second walk. It took me a little longer to recover.... I still get shivers when we walk him past that drain!

So, that's the story of the day Dusty attempted to fly. Needless to say he hasn't tried it since and I don't think he will (unless you count his flight to Australia). Still, maybe it was partly our fault, we did buy him a superman hoodie after all.... 

Lucy

Christmas in the Box

Christmas has been and gone for another year but I have an inkling that Christmas 2008 will be one that I'll remember for many years to come. The obvious reason for this is of course because I spent it overseas, but there are several other reasons why the festive season of 2008 will be a memorable one. 

Family shot-Christmas eve

I have always enjoyed the decorating side of Christmas-reindeers, snowmen, snowflakes and Father Christmas all rugged up in his boots and fur-trimmed suit-but it has often struck me that such images didn't quite fit with an Australian Christmas. Of course I'm not the first person to point this out and there are always the Aussie-style Christmas decorations, but the more common Christmas decorations are still more suited to the Northern Hemisphere. It may not happen again for a long time but I am very excited to say that for 2008 I spent Christmas in a place where you could dream of a white Christmas and know that it could actually happen! We didn't get any snow on Christmas day (it fell two days earlier!) but Father Christmas still needed his fur-trimmed suit and boots that's for sure! 

Our Christmas tree-I doubt we'll be seeing one with as 

many post-packs under it for quite some time!

Luke, Dusty and I spent a very cosy day in our box and while we were away from our families in Australia, we had each other and that made the day just so special. We've been through a lot together here, us three from the box, and to have made it to Christmas intact and still sane was a great milestone for us. So we celebrated our year of adventure with a delicious roast lunch, apple crumble for dessert and plenty of relaxation and Skype calls to folks back home. 

Dusty wasn't too pleased about this 

but I think the roast lunch made up for it!

While I don't plan on spending any more Christmases overseas any time soon, there was something magical about spending just one in the Northern Hemisphere, and thanks to the wonders of technology, we didn't even feel too disconnected! Look, I don't know about 'Silent Night' but we are in a 'Winter Wonderland' here at the moment, I just hope we get a whole lot more snow before it's time for us to say goodbye.

Lucy