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.

HOME ALONE

"The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realise the situation is over, you cannot move forward" - Steve Maraboli

As you have seen by all my recent posts I haven't exactly been sitting at home and taking a breath after a busy week at school lately. Or well for the whole duration of the time I have been in Korea. And although I was at home this weekend I also didn't spend it sitting in my room. 

This weekend was quite a chilled one though. I think after doing Busan and Jeju which are two of the BIG trips in Korea you need to slow down a little just for the sake of your money pockets. So far Korea has been treating me well. I love the fact that every weekend is an adventure and it gives me a lot of perspective on life. It also keeps me from thinking to much. As you should've figured out by now I lost the love of my life just before coming to Korea and as it normally works it doesn't let you off the hook easily but rather very much confused, alone, full of questions, memories and a brain that works overtime. If my brain was employed by my body, my body would've gone bankrupt by now. 

So in order to keep the thinking to a minimum,  which by the way was still a lot, I traveled and made it my weekly mission to meet somebody new every week and so far I have succeeded at this. Actually I am doing pretty well. I also started figuring out what I miss in my life other than love and I decided to fill the gaps. Yes I know, trying to fill up the crevices in your heart with other things while you are healing won't make the healing process any faster. I think that doing the things I like doing and keeping a positive mindset does however help overshadowing the brokenness inside and it kind of creates a shield around you. What I mean about that is that it gives me other things to talk about besides the one thing that hurts. I am quite an emotional person which I also btw realised again whilst being here so speaking about the things that I feel extremely strong about or speaking about the hurt comes easy to me. It really does help speaking to people who doesn't know the whole story... I'm not sure if it's because they are more sympathetic or more interested?! 

I think this weekend, it being the first time I spend alone at home, was the turning point in the emotional fight I've been fighting on my own. It's not nice fighting for something alone. I also realised that I am worth a hell lot more and I stopped asking myself what I did wrong but rather started asking myself what did I do right. I'm giving myself the credit I deserve. This is where the quote comes in. I always say being mad at somebody makes the process to fall out of love so much easier. It didn't play a role this time round. But incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't. 

I had fun with total strangers this weekend. From playing bowling with the hometownies (HT's) to going out for a farewell party of a guy I met once. Dancing the night away, getting noticed and being respected is something I'd die doing every weekend. I love dancing and getting complements or randomly Salsa'ing just makes life here worth while. I also found out that I have seen more places in the past two months than some people have seen who's been here for 3 years. So I have been living it up. 

At the moment I'm strongly considering staying another year but I will have to see what happens as the year passes by. I have a few other ambitions I would also like to achieve in the next few years. And since I have been doing Korea 105% I'm not sure if there will be much left for me to do in the second year. Anything can happen. I know my Ouma doesn't want me to stay to long. She misses me to much already. And my little angel at home is also growing up so quickly.

 Life goes on. 

#YOLO

Hana, dul, se, ne - YAAAAH!!!

Count, Breathe, Kick, Fall, Role and repeat! 

I started Hapkido this week. It was one of the things I wanted to achieve this year and now I'm on the way to glory. Not only will I get my strength back but I will also be able to defend myself. You see....

JEJU Island

Lava rocks, Volcano's, Oceans and Evergreens

What a jam-packed weekend filled with the most fun I had in a long time. 

The weekend kicked off with a rushed session of packing and hoping on the train to be in time for the bus leaving for Jeju. I met up with 2 friends before hand to grab a bite at the newly opened WinK bar. WinK (When in Korea) are local trip organisers. I joined them on their trip to Jeju Island. As it normally work with me I never really look at the itinerary before the time. It kind of spoils the surprise of seeing a new place for me.

Jeju and Udo Island is situated in the southern point of Korea and was formed by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago with the most recent eruption being 5000 years ago. Lava created the most beautiful structures and mountains all around this little island and the composition of lava rock causes the ground to be nutritious causing the area Island to have the most beautiful plants and evergreens. The geometry of both islands were magnificent and extremely interesting. 

After more or less 9 hours of being on a bus through the night I suffered a little of sleep deprivation and swollen feet. I guess sitting so long does not work for your blood circulation. We took a ferry over the waters to Jeju Island and as there isn't much to do I slept all the way. It's almost like movement of a car or a boat makes me sleepy these days. When we arrived we didn't even use the toilets on Jeju Islands before getting onto another Ferry to go over the dam (it's actually the ocean but there was literally no waves) to Udo Island, which is actually just like Robben Island. 

Udo Island was great. We met up with another South African Friend that completed the Big Five SA teachers. It was really crazy nice to spend time with people who know where you are coming from and who share a common interest. Udo Island is a beautiful island with beaches right around the island. They also have the most beautiful caves which couldn't be entered because for some reason high tide there is about 15 days and not only 6 hours like in SA. When we got to the island we had the choice to take a bicycle, bike, quad bike or bus around the island. We wanted to take the bicycles but because we only had 3 hours on the island we decided to rather take the bus since the bus knows where his going and we could hop on and off as we pleased. The most beautiful place to me was the black formed beach and caves at the foot of the hill. The black beach formed over decades from erosion of lava rock.

After jumping on a ferry to Jeju Island we went for a nice hike up the Sunrise mountain or Volcano. The Sunrise Mountain Volcano is the one which erupted about 5000 years ago. It was so marvellous to actually see the hollowed out top of this mountain. The overview we had of the whole Island and the city of Jeju was also a sight to see. After enjoying the sunset and the beautiful views everyone was up for a beach party. We arrived at the motel, freshened up, went for Korean barbecue and sorted ourselves out with a bit of soju and beer. In Korea you can buy alcohol at any time of the day and drink where ever you want too. Ever drank a cord beer just outside a 7/11 playing flip a cup? I have. It's awesome not to have those rules to worry about. We also bought fireworks and sparkles, a lighter and headed to the beach for a lekker party. Yes you can drink on the beach here and on the streets. 

We stood up the next morning (Sunday) not feeling the freshest ever but it was more the doing of sleep deprivation than alcohol overdose. Us 4 SAffas all paid extra money to go on the South West tour and I don't regret it at all. We started off the morning with a muffin and a drinking yogurt, climbed on the bus in our bikini's and off we went. The first stop was the Penis man stop. Although we never saw the penis man the tale goes sort of like this. There was a fisherman who never returned to the mainland and after 2 days of not seeing returning the wife started walking to the place where he used to dock his boat in search for her husband. She did this year in and year out until she eventually turned into stone. Anyway we didn't see the Penis man. Not sure how the tale and the name fits together but that's lost in translation. Here is what we did. Four meter cliff jumping into a volcanically formed hole in the ocean with water rushing in and out. I was so scared at first but having 70 people cheer you on isn't something you can just ignore and pull out of. I committed to that jumps not knowing how deep it was, nor how cold the water was. The water was freezing cold. Remember it wasn't winter so long ago in Korea. It's just the beginning of summer now. My blond friend and I went in for the kill and jumped twice. Adrenaline rush!!! And of course I didn't want to say No - FOMO!!! Wet and Salty We climbed back on the bus. The salt felt like fine sand on my body. 

The second place we went to was the natural Cheonjeyeon waterfalls. With 3 waterfalls to look at in a really tropic area just nourishes my soul. If I could stay next to a waterfall I would. There was also at the 3rd waterfall a nice little board saying... Swimming not allowed. What did I do? I swam in the coldest water ever. It felt like my muscles didn't want to swim. But if you want the perfect shot you need to go the extra length to get it. Security chased us out eventually. So wet and salt free I got back on the bus and off we went to the next place. The caves. 

Up the mountain we went passed the Buddha status and temple, decorated with lanterns of all colours for Buddha's birthday, to see the cave. In the cave there was a big Buddha statue looking over the valley. In the cave we drank the water of fertility - only three sips of water was allowed from the holy water. In Jeju they have the grandfather statue. (They are considered to be gods offering both protection and fertility and were placed outside of gates for protection against demons traveling between realities) Newly married woman would touch the nose of the statue to be blessed with boys. In Korea having a boy are relatively scars. They didn't worry about girls. I touched the nose of the grandfather so lets wait and see if the stories are true.

After the temple we went to our last stop. LOVELAND!!!! I can't say much about it except that I had a very successful biology class on all the different ways of conceiving a baby... or maybe just having beastly sex and making things interesting with Kama-sutra. With that being said bare in mind that this was an odd thing to see in Korea with people being so conservative. There were a few Korean men who walked around and they were like boys laughing at every statue as if it's unreal and they have never seen naked woman before. It was quite funny. There were penises in all shapes and sizes. They didn't really expand to sex toys and other things but it was still quite amusing. 

We headed for an Indian dinner there after and hit the town. We were the only people (Saffas) who went out to town to have a jol. And that we did with the tour guide. Although we felt super dirty and stinky after everything we did that whole day it didn't stop us from spending time the last night with our wonderful friend from Jeju. We ended up in a photo booth taking photos, wearing all sorts of props and having some really interesting facial expressions. 

Being Crazy. 

On the Monday morning being again sleep deprived we headed to the lava tubes. That was quite awesome to see. The lava formed tubes under the ground as it rushed to the ocean I assume. It was quite something to see. This was our last stop before getting back on the bus, then the ferry and the bus again to head home. 

All in All this weekend was an absolute blast. And being able to share it with fellow Friends from South Africa was the cherry on top. Broke and tired now I would honestly do this trip again soon. 

The million of photo's and video's will come soon. 

Just one giant shell with two blonds in side it. Hot???

We actually met each other in our previous life.... that's the one in South Africa.

GoPro is always ready to film some action. 

Falling off a bridge or acting like it rather is quite fun. This girl was one sassy girl.

Lanterns everywhere for Buddha's birthday.

Here is the tour guides with us 4 Saffas because we are cool. 

This was our room. No beds... We slept on the floor on blankets.
That's the Korean way of sleeping.

It's only in Korea where you get a public photo corner. 

These girls made this trip. They are so funny. 

Always need a selfie to show off your beach look. 

This was taken at LoveLand. This kind of gives you an idea what Loveland is about. 

AKA Dragon Mountain.

You have to get crazy from time to time

Goodbye JeJu. We had fun. 

Fun in the Sun

Unplanned weekends are the best weekends

It's Monday morning and it feels like I got ran over by a truck. Not because this weekend was to ruff but simply because I just didn't sleep through the night. I'm kind of starting to feel how a baby feels when he wakes up in the middle of the night a few times. With all the hours of sleep canceled out I also wanted to cry since I knew what's coming. 

This weekend was really great. Very relaxed at times and really busy at times. The neighbour and I left for Itaewon in Seoul on Saturday morning. I arrived at the Hostel dropped by bag, got back on the train again and met up with a few friends from a different town, quite far from me, in Hongdae. Hongdae is like Stellenbosch just bigger with more shops, pubs and clubs as well. But we didn't do the clubbing thing. Instead we wondered around in this really bust part of town and watched street performances. It's quite popular in Hongdae to see artists reveal their talents and it's quite unique. You will see anything from acoustic singers to heavy rock singers to piano players, dance groups, pop dancers, sketchers and so much more. I must say it's quite weird to see a colourful piano standing in the middle of nowhere where people will just go sit and play a piece, stand up and leave. In Korea every child must play a musical instrument and because of this every person here has some kind of music literacy. 

So after the nice little walk in town I returned to the Hostel to meet up with the neighbour again. There we met a very nice Korean girl who just used the Hostel for the weekend to have some "Me time". It was really interesting for me when she mentioned it because I was actually wondering how the Korean students do it. Here a big family will all stay in a small apartment which leaves nobody with personal space. I know I sometimes felt like it was necessary to just escape from the world and the family sometimes. We had a very nice chat with her about the Korean ways of doing things. I also asked her opinion on clothes that I bought earlier that day that I wasn't sure about. She gave me some nice honest advice and it saved me some money too since I returned half of it on Sunday. We had fun in the Hostel even though it was literally just a room full of beds and had plugs that only worked when the light was on. This very fact caused us some cellphone charging problems. 

The next morning in comes a french girl who just returned from a big night out in town just to freshen up a little. We started having a nice conversation and eventually ended up going for breakfast together. We also walked into our married friends who's from the same town as us and they joined us as well. While the Americans and Africans had a nice English breakfast the Parisians had apple pie for breakfast which is such a french thing to do. After dinner we all went our ways and since I had to claim some money back with returning clothes I had to go back shopping and ended up showing the Parisians where they could buy some clothes. Obviously after arriving with only one bag of winter clothing I had to shop to the extreme since my closet consists of only winter clothing which also means I spent way to much money. It hurts and it's really much better if mom buys it. 

We got a little split up at one stage and it's really damn hard to find anyone in the place if you don't have airtime and even without having any data your battery runs out like wild fire. So after quite some unnecessary efforts I got hold of the Parisians again to collect my phone charger which I borrowed to her in the Restaurant to charge her phone while we eat but as karma works we forgot it there and she had to go all the way back to fetch it again. And that's how we lost each other. 

The Parisians and I met up again at the palace of some ancient person (I didn't read the information boards) and the day ended up to include a little sightseeing as well. After the palace I took the 2 hour journey home.