Diary of a Wanderer

True to her word, Katie, came to visit towards the end of the month. She was staying at mine for two weeks and we planned a short trip to Tokyo in the middle. I couldn’t wait! I headed to arrivals on Sunday morning, (feeling grateful for dodging a hangover form the salsa Halloween party the night before), and stood excitedly waiting, as I had done a couple of months before when my parents had come to visit. Before long we were heading back to mine, catching up and planning what we were going to do together. It seemed she had brought the cold weather across the world with her, as it literally turned cold as she arrived. Having told her that she would only need a light jacket despite it being October, she was feeling somewhat cold and slightly unimpressed! I was to spend the next two weeks lending her jumpers and scarfs and feeling slightly guilty about my seemingly inaccurate advice! We introduced Katie to the wonders of Korean BBQ in the evening and planned what she was going t...

The blow of returning back to work after the Chuseok holidays was softening by knowing that I would soon enough be heading off of adventure again. At the end of the week, in fact! With Ramsey's birthday soon here, we decided to take the opportunity to go to Busan to celebrate. It that wasn't exciting enough, I only had a half day at work on Friday, and started early, so that we could take a train in the evening.  We KTX-ed it and were soon in Busan and making our way up 36 floors to our guesthouse! Wow! We were going to be enjoying spectacular views of the sprawling concrete jungle of Busan for two days! Despite being on holiday, routinely weekly wake up times aren't easy to shake off and we were up at around 8:30 on Saturday and ready to explore after filling up on the guest house breakfast.  We headed to Igidae Coastal path, ad after an unexpectedly long walk to find it, we weren't too sure we were up for a hike in the end! Nevertheles...

Our last day of adventuring was to take us to Yeosu, a coastal city about 40 minutes from Suncheon. After a practically private bus ride there, we took a local bus to Hyang-Il-Am, a temple situated on the top of Geumoam mountain. Once again, it was a beautiful , sunny day and my jacket spent the day couped up in my bag, whilst my jumper was around my waist, 90's style. A ten minute walk and quite a few stairs later and we were looking out across the ocean, with the temple behind us. The hoards of tourists reminded me of my time on the templestay in Bulguksa, causing the place to lose its serenity and feeling of spirituality. I felt almost guilty for being there amongst the throng of noisy people. They were even filming for a Korean TV drama!  We wandered back and headed towards Odongdo, an island connected to the mainland by bridge. We hiked its shady trails through the trees that covers the majority of the island, stopping every now and then to take in the view...

Saturday was going to be the busiest day we had so far. I woke up early, had a fantastic breakfast of toast, eggs AND cereal before meeting Yiak. As if the universe know about our plans for the day, the sun was shining and it felt like a beautiful summer's day, despite it being October. The rain of the day before felt like a distant memory. Our first destination of the day was Daehan Dawon Tea plantation in Boseong. Two buses and a fair few hours later and we had made it.  The journey was absolutely worth it, as the green tea plantation rolled out over the hills in front of us. I had feared the Autumn would have painted the leaves an orangey-brown already, but any worries quickly subsided as it looked like we were visiting in their last couples of weeks of green glory. Despite the hoards of people the had come due to the holidays, the area still retained some magic, particularly with the spectacular sea views, tucked away at the very top of the hills. I had no...

The rain still hadn't stopped as we woke up on Friday and left our guesthouse in Gwangju. We hopped on a bus to Suncheon and I soon found myself leaving my bags at the next guesthouse. Thankfully this one had a bathroom for just the four people in my room, making a nice change from the previous one which had just one bathroom for all the guests! The passive aggression of the unclear shower queue was almost unbearable.  We headed out to catch the bus to Naganeupseong folk village, about an hour away from the city. The rain stopped just long enough for us to explore the village. Still lived in, the beautiful houses, with their thatched rooves, have maintained a unique character that is unseen in the modern urban cities of the country. Walking along the fortress walls surrounding the village provided marvellous views of the area against the mountainous background. There was not a tall building in sight, but acres of open land. What a rarity in Korea!  The ...

As the Chuseok holiday (the Korean version of thanksgiving) drew nearer, the dream gift we had all been waiting for arrived. An email from the CEO giving us all the whole week off of work. Including the weekends, one of which I would have otherwise had to have worked, it was an amazing ten days of freedom. As the new top dog of Wall Street, he had shown everyone he meant business with some brutal firings of the majority of people in Head Office and some centre managers, including the one at Gangnam. So we all breathed a sigh of relief upon opening our inboxes, reassured that in fact he was human after all... Unfortunately, the timing of this fabulous email was merely a few weeks before the holiday itself, meaning all flights were extortionately priced if not already sold out as all of Korea was on holiday and determined to make the most of it. Sadly, I also found myself travel buddy-less as I had previously told Ramsey I had to work the latter half of the week while he was...

Just over five months into my job I received an email from the national manager, asking if I want to renew my contract next February. Yikes, I was not even half way through yet and I was being faced with this decision. With my gut feeling telling me that a year will be enough time for me in Korea, it has dawned on my that I am faced with the situation of 'so, what next!?' I had always earmarked 25 as the age I would return home, with the travel bug well out of my system, ready to 'settle down' and get my true career underway...whatever that may be. Ha ha ha. As if the universe was taking care of this for me, my 25th birthday beautifully coincides with the month my contract finishes. Despite this being a good while away, it hasn't stopped a dull nervousness from setting in as uncertainty about what the future hold and the exact path my life will take a complete mystery. That feeling of the Unknown, much like that which I felt as my time at university came to an ...

The weekend finally came and we woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to catch the bus to Gyeongju, where my parents were waiting to meet us. They had been in the city since Wednesday and I couldn’t wait to hear what they had been up to. As soon as we got off the bus I felt a world away from the skyscrapers of Seoul, its busy, crowded streets and often polluted sky. After a delicious bento box lunch, we caught the bus and headed to Bulguksa, a beautiful temple just outside of the city, where we would be spending most of our time here on a templestay. Having visited many temples during our stay in Korea so far, I have become fascinated with Buddhism and temple life. It seemed a templestay would be the perfect introduction to this religion and a great cultural experience for my parents too on their trip. We were met at tourist information by Young Hee, who was going to guide us throughout our stay, and taken to the small house (pension) we would be staying in overnight....

Despite only deciding a month before, Mum and Dad were on a flight and coming to visit me. I couldn’t believe it! Whilst I had mentioned that it would be lovely to see them, I didn’t ever really think they would decide to spend their summer holiday in Korea; especially with all the news about North Korea and their nuclear tests at the moment. Nevertheless, I found myself waiting in arrivals at Incheon airport early on Friday morning waiting for them to arrive! I was feeling such a mixture of emotions; excited of course, but also nervous about how they would fare on their own, the massive language barrier they would face for the first time and whether Mum would fine anything she wanted to eat! Soon we were hugging and making our way to take the bus into the city, all of us still amazed they were actually here. Dad bought a SIM card in the airport that would provide him with unlimited data for the entire holiday; something that came in incredibly useful when navigating the buse...

The countdown to Jeju passed way too quickly- unsurprisingly so, as my time here seems to be constantly flying passed. I wake up on Monday morning and before I feel like one day is over, it is Friday and the weekend is here. As the holiday loomed nearer I worked (or should I say partied?) hard 3 nights a week in salsa bars trying to gain more confidence and improve my steps and gracefulness on the D-floor. (Anyone that knows me well will laugh at the idea of me being graceful...!) Didier was still helping me with some classes too which continued to be fun and invaluable! Working on bank holidays had granted me some precious ‘in-lieu’ days which enabled me to spend four nights on the beautiful island- plenty of time to explore during the days and dance away the nights; which is exactly what I did. Yirak, Nami and Gwon (our personal driver and photographer) were the most fantastic friends to go away with, and I have to admit that I was absolutely useless the entire trip. I sim...

I feel like I’ve blinked and suddenly found myself three pay-checks and four rent payments into my time in Seoul. How has that happened? Whilst time seems to be getting away from me, upon reflection I have done so much. From leaving off where my last post left me, I have not given up on the salsa. In fact, I have thrown myself whole-heartedly into it. Thanks to Yirak, I started taking lessons at Havana Bar in Hondae, which soon had me taking steps in the right direction. I even bought some salsa shoes (flat ones though- there is no way I trust my balance doing turns in heels!) Despite being the only student in the class on Saturday evenings and the huge language barrier between my teachers and I, we somehow made it work. They made me feel so welcome in their bar and it wasn’t long before I was spending most of my Saturday nights there dancing the night away. Yirak also took the time to introduce me to all of her friends at the bar, so I even have people to talk to when I g...

My first three weeks in Seoul passed me by like a whirlwind. It’s difficult to believe I am half way through my fourth week already! The process of adapting and finding my feet has been well underway and something that resembles a routine is already creeping up on me. Work is going well and planning lessons is nowhere near as daunting or difficult as it was in my previous jobs. There is saving grace in the knowledge that once I have planned a lesson, I won’t need to ever plan it again because I am continually teaching different students. The students continue to be kind, friendly and a pleasure to teach, making the job so much easier and more enjoyable. Working in Gangnam, I find myself in the heart of all the hussle and bussle of city life every day. I love it. Everyone, from students to business men, mills around, meeting friends, colleagues or clients and frequenting the numerous bars and restaurants. Stacked on top of each other, these establishments are like Lego buildi...