A day in AFRICA

Country Roads, Take me home, to the place I belong...

I had a stunning day.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach but today a tjoppie filled my heart with pride and joy. I attended the Annual Nanji Braai day today with South Africans i didn't even know. It was just amazing to hear afrikaans music play loudly in the background whilst braaiing a nice tjoppie and some boerewors.

The gees was high. Not only did we have the music but we enjoyed the beverages as well, a nice cold beer in the face of South African flags put up all around. I felt a little closer to home even though I was 22000km away. The sun was hot and the wind was still. It was an absolute perfect day. I also got to speak some afrikaans and sing along to Kurt Daren's Span die seile and Ek wil nou huis toe gaan na mamma toe. Jack Parow and Die Antwoord was also part of the mix.

I took my American friend with who has visited South Africa last year and knew what it ment to braai. Like I explained in an earlier blogpost there is a big difference between Braai and BBQ. It's not the same. Anyway. I didn't know anyone who went to the braai so when we arrived we had to find some people we could crash with. I magically ran into a Afrikaans girl who I met at the GEPIK orientation week. I haven't really spoken or seen her after that week so it was great to catch up a little. She introduced me to her sister and the sisters husband. The 5 of us had a nice Braai together and ended up entering ourselves into a game of Bubble Soccer. 

Bubble soccer is so much fun. You get points for every goal you get which is really not that easy since you have to get up from the ground half the time after literally being bounced. It was so much fun and i couldn't stop laughing. Each team also had a row of water balloons on their quarter line which had to be protected. If you burst all the balloons of the opposite team you get a point. So what happened to me was, as protector of the team Balloons, I got bounced and in the process bursted my own teams balloons as the opposition bounced my bubble in such a way that I actually rolled over my own balloons. Silly hey?! 

Being in those Bubbles was so hot but it was all worth the effort in the end. My team miraculously ended up 2nd out of 10 teams. I'm not quite sure how because I was on the ground half the time trying to get up. Being short didn't really benefit me that much. I could hardly run. My biceps got a nice workout from picking the bubble up enabling me to run and kick the soccer ball. I did almost kick a goal and I also did destroy the goal post once. It was all great fun.

The Small Braai and a nice big Tjoppie and some boerewors.
Oh and don't forget the beer and the Biltong.

South African Flag. 

The photographer loved my blonde hair. 

I wonder what they did with all the other photo's. 

Team Strategy meeting happened like this. The bubbles was so
big that the 5 of us created a very secure space. 

It was so hot. We were like animals chilling under the tree. 

My team went for the red Bubbles. My face is red from the heat not sunburn. 

Everybody who jammed Bubble soccer the afternoon.
Great South Africans to know. 

'Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika

The Bicycle Ride

"Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving" - Albert Einstein

On Sunday I was a little crazy.

And on Monday, I couldn't walk.

Here's the story.... 

On Sunday Phillip and I arranged to go for a bike ride to Uijeongbu which is about 40km from Jeongok. After doing this multiple times, Phillip assured me that the ride would be easy and there is not a lot of heals to go up on. I trusted his judgement, organised a bicycle and off we went on this journey. 

The SAFFA BRAAI

It's not a BBQ!!

If there is one thing a South African got right it would be how to Braai. Since a very young age, well actually since birth us Saffa's are surrounded by the festivities happening around a fire. It must have something to do with our heritage since we really know how to make a nice steak on a open fire.

Kings and Queens

And off to the Palace we went.

On Saturday, a beautiful, much needed rainy day, Phillip and I hopped on the train and down to Seoul we went. On the outskirts of Seoul really close to the Seoul fortress actually is the Gyeongbukgung palace which was the main palace at the time. It's an absolute paster piece with the most beautiful gardens and ponds hidden away. It was built in 1395 and founded by King Taejo. Gyeongbukgung Palace in more common english means "Greatly Blessed by Heaven". It was built in the heart of Seoul, the capital city of Korea. There was 5 palaces built by the Joseon dynasty of which Gyeongbukgung (the main palace) served as the home of the kings of Joseon dynasty, the King's households as well as the government of Joseon. 

After the invasion of Japan in 1592 most of the Palaces in Korea were destroyed and burnt to the ground and the stones used as the foundations were all shipped to Japan. The buildings were all made from wood and stone at the them with the most beautiful patterns painted on the wood. From the few boards that I read at the palace (they were hard to find) the Prince of that time who was in charge of education and 2 other portfolios was decapitated by the Japanese before the whole kingdom got destroyed. It kind of sounds a little like Game of Thrones don't you think? The late Prince Regent restored almost all the kingdoms in the 19th century to it's original state but the architecture had a strong Chinese influence which could be seen in some of the palace decor. 

Then again in the 20th century most of the palaces got destroyed by Imperial Japan. It is under construction at the moment to restore the beauty it once carried. This particular palace is regarded as the most beautiful palace amongst the 5 palaces that was built in that time. 

Click here if you want to know more.

This was probably the most peaceful and beautiful pond I have seen in Korea so far. 

In the back you could see the entertainment hall. There was also a old styled boat laying in the water.

Me being crazy. But this walkway I imagine was a hall way and I can see it being quite romantic
 for a afternoon stroll. 

This was the main hall of the kingdom. 

This is how the guards dressed like in that time.
They stood so still they didn't look really and they change position every hour or so. 

                                                 

A writers problem - Inspiration

Writ˙er/ raiter (noun) - a peculiar organism capable of transforming caffeine into books.

The past 3 months maybe 4 months or even longer, I'm quite honestly not sure, I have been writing my blog posts one after the other. I don't think it has all to do with the fact that I am on this marvellous journey without any cares or any major responsibilities. Lately I have been struggling to write a good piece of work ( on my standards) and it got me wondering a little. 

If somebody asks me how I would describe an artist or writer I would say alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and free spirited. Now this doesn't describe all of them of course but I do however have this picture in my head. I'm not quite sure why but sometimes I think that to become a good story writer you need to let yourself go a bit. Experience life instead of spending it behind the book shelves.... 

As of late I kind of have been struggling to write and it got me thinking a little about the transformation I have been going through lately. I left Cape Town with a shattered heart and not knowing where to find all the pieces to put the puzzle back together and then on top of that not knowing where the hell I'm going although I knew the destination. Korea! Since everything was super new I used my writing as a way to work through my sorrows and pain, as a way to find the pieces and find myself I suppose as well, writing came easy to me. I guess since I started this blog I was overwhelmed by emotions and thoughts trying to organise everything, trying to spend as much time with the now an ex, my best friends and parents. Knowing it's hard for everyone around me I fed off their emotions a little as well. I was a contained wreck so to say. 

This has kind of changed lately.... As I'm typing this post I really need to think what I'm gonna say next and it's kind of irritating in a sense. Time heals everything and I'm actually happy at the moment spending time by myself although I get bored quite quickly. I'm not really somebody who would choose to spend time on my own if I have another option.  I made friends, the unknown is not so much the unknown anymore and I think I'm finally in the phase of moving forward and opening myself up to the idea of letting someone in to love me again. Yes it's quite soon but hey, YOLO.... life goes on. I got reminded this week that life is to short to waste time on things that doesn't make you happy. I can't sit and wait around forever and quite frankly I'm done waiting. So as for now in this moment I'm not feeling much, the emotional rollercoaster just stopped and I just got off. The next ride will take me by surprise and will come sooner or later. Might as well start getting excited.

I also think that my lack of managing my money at this stage and not being able to go out as well as the whole MERS thing plays a big role. Not doing much ploughs over to not having stories to tell. This is probably a more valid reason why I'm not writing. And yet I just wrote this post....

"They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world- someone to love, something to do and something to hope for" - Tom Bodett

The Year of the Sheep

1991, 2003, 2015, 2027

As part of the Korean culture and their east Asian belief systems, while the rest of the world followed the roman and greek methods of determining time, east Asian countries or in this case Korea developed their own Calendar. It's called the Lunarsolar calendar.

The lunar calendar is based on the lunar phases or the moon to be less technical. Our calendar is called the solar calendar and was determined by the movement of the earth around the sun rather than tracking the movement of the moon around earth. Because there are slightly more than twelve lunation (synodic months) in a solar year, the period of 12 lunar months (354,37 days) is sometimes referred to as the lunar year. Every 2 to 3 years they have a leap month just to readjust the lunar time line. 

The lunar calendar was used to predict when it is time to plant seeds and when it's time to harvest. In the old days Koreans stayed in villages, which as a matter of fact still today influences the way children are brought up and the way Koreans do things. Today Korea is extremely overpopulated with approximately 50 million people, the same amount of people as in South Africa but imagine all of us staying the the Free state. Yes it's small. Because people lived in villages farming for the village was very important in order to provide for the rest of the village. Also bare in mind that Korea has 4 very distinct seasons, which had to be taken into consideration when it comes to farming. 

Because of these very prominent dates things were suppose to be done festivals were held on these occasions. The biggest festival is Seollal, the first day of the traditional Korean new year. Other important festivals include Daeboreum also refered to as Boreumdaal (the first full moon), Dano (spring festival), Hansik (beginning of farming season) and Chuseok (harvest moon festival), Samjinnal (spring-opening festival). Other minor festvals include Yudu (summer festival) and Chilseok (monsoon festival). The Gregorian calendar was offically adoted in 1896 but traditional holidays and age-reckoning for older generations are still based on the old calendar. 

Every one of these festivals had their own traditions. Dano, the spring festival had the tradition of washing hair with iris water, sireum, swinging and giving fans as gifts. Yudu, the summer festival they also washed their hair to wash away the bad luck. New years eve the Koreans leave all doors open to receive ancestral spirits. 

Interestingly in the old days your birth date wasn't important. Everybody turned one year older on Lunar new years. The implication this had was that babies born the day before the lunar new years turned a year older the very next day. Not to mention that in Korea you have 2 ages, Korean age and then Western age. Koreans start counting from the day you were conceived so you are generally 9 months older than you really are. Sometimes 2 years older depending on the month you were born in. 

To get back to the calendar, as part of their ancient beliefs, they have the Korean zodiacs which is very much based on the Chinese zodiac signs circulating every 12 years. . I was born in the year of the sheep and this year is me year according to their beliefs. The zodiacs were used as part of fortune readings done at birth as well as before every big occasion in a persons life. These occasions are graduation days, weddings (to determine if you should or shouldn't marry someone), before you conceive ect.  This is not linked to the greek mythology of star signs though. I read up a little on this Sheep year thing and so far it's been quite interesting. I placed some links at the bottom if you are interested. 

Once you get to know the people here you start to realise how much ancestries and beliefs play a role in their normal ways of doing. And sometimes I wonder if they choose to belief the things they belief and withhold themselves from the philosophies of western world or if it get withheld from them for a reason. The reason being is that some of the things they belief really tends to come over as being closed minded about some topics. 

Everything about the sheep as well as a Love compatibility test... Check It Out.

For your Zodiac.... Check this out.