Oy vey!!! The swine flu has infected the hearts and minds of Koreans with fear.
The local drama contest has been cancelled. So our kids had learnt all those lines for nothing. And the best festival in Korea has also been cancelled! The mask-dance one. We have already booked accommodation, so have decided to go ahead with our plans to visit the city nonetheless. But there's another interesting festival that we might just attend - IF they don't cancel that one too! It's an international lantern festival, with traditional lanterns from all around the world, including South Africa! Apparently, it's quite a spectacle, lanterns floating on the river, and strung up on the mountains, or something like that.
I, however, have another bee buzzing in my bonnet. Since it's gonna be a long weekend here, I'm thinking of bus-hopping along the Korean coastline! How's that for a bit of adventure? Bear in mind, that the entire country is one big peninsula. Hop a long-distance bus to the nearest coastal town, spend the night, hop another bus to the next town, and so on. Well, I'll keep you posted.
By the way, the plumbing was sorted out on the same day.....of course, it was my long hair that was clogging the drain! A build-up of almost 6months! Hence, by the time I leave to come back home, it should be clogged up again :)
I've just realised that although it's only been 5 and a half months, it feels like soooo much longer, cos I've just done and seen so much. It's hard to believe that I could have done so much in such a short space of time! Well, life is for the living, so live it up, I say! No regrets on the deathbed!
I'm also in the process of booking yet another short holiday (a weekend trip, actually) to the beautiful honeymoon island of Jeju. Jeju is a self-governing island belonging to Korea. Almost all Korean newly-weds head here for their honeymoons. It's renowned as being the most beautiful part of Korea. I've seen some photos, and yes, it looks great. There's a company here called Adventure Korea that organises trips and sightseeing tours for foreigners. It's ridiculously cheap! Return airfare (it's a 12-14 hour ferry trip one-way - so flying much better), hotel accommodation, meals, entertainment, sightseeing, etc all come to just over R2000,00. A steal! There's even an African Art Museum on the island, so hopefully, it should be worth seeing.
Speaking of money....I know things are tight for most folk back home. So, if any of you are unemployed, or just want to earn some decent bucks, live for free, save some money, if you have a university degree (not necessarily an English degree), come and 'teach' English in Korea. There are jobs galore here. The Americans here are also encouraging their friends and family in the States to do the same. Korea's the only country in the world (apparently) that has continued an upward economic growth swing through these trying times. Thanks to Hyundai, Samsung and LG, no doubt! Take my word for it....you know how I've been travelling and booking holidays, and plane tickets as if I'm buying bread and milk at Pick 'n Pay. A word of caution, though, your health is a huge factor. Diabetics, etc are not accepted.
Weatherwise, things have finally begun to cool down here. Autumn has arrived. The sun's setting earlier, there's an early morning nip in the air, but the weather's still pleasant. I have been warned that soon it's gonna get unbearably cold. Then I can finally start wearing all those winter clothes I brought along!
Anyway, other than that, not much going on....
Love to all, and enjoy Spring!
Andrea :)
No comments:
Post a Comment