Night out in Itaewon

"You can't be old and wise if you were never young and crazy"

These days instead of traveling over weekends I spend saturday through to sunday out with my friends exploring Seoul. Winter is upon us and as much as I love going away over a weekend doing so in horrible weather is not that much fun. 

Relationships in South Korea

Things are completely different here... 

Recently I had somewhat of an awkward experience with a Korean guy. Since I got to Korea the cultural differences was quite apparent and after I thought to myself ' you know everything now' I got surprised yet again. Before I explain the whole story behind this post I should first tell you a story. Things are different here and if you don't know the culture you could find yourself in a little bit of a situation. 

The Doctors appointment

I hurt my back in some misterious way whist at a teachers dinner. After going to my normal everyday Hapkido class and warming up something didn't feel right when I had to do sit-ups. That night was hell. I couldn't move at all. Everytime I turn it's like a knife strikes my spine. 

Doctor it is!!! 

Halloween

"Trick or treat! Trick or Treat!

 Give me something food to eat!"

My very first Halloween dress up and that all the way in Itaewon, Seoul with two great friends. It's a night to remember. 

Bathroom Business In Korea

It's inevitable. You will have to use a toilet and a shower. 

When I first got to Korea one of the things that really shocked me, or actually there is two things, are the weird bathrooms and the weird toilets. 

Black spaces and city lights

"You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine.." 

This weekend it is the very famous Busan Fireworks Festival and I'm on my way there rignt now. Sitting in the bus smelling who I guess is my friendly Korean "friends" stinky feet or maybe it's mine, not sure, and having a beautiful view of the road ahead. The traffic lights create interesting shapes on the dash of the bus and the red and white lights of the cars really colour in the picture at the moment. (I might be a little bored.) With music in my ears I'm starting this 4h30 journey on a positive note. 

Walking to the rising sun

"I'm not what happened to me. I'm what I choose to become" - Carl Jung

It's pitch black in front of me with no city lights in sight. I feel a light breeze on my cheeks and feel a shiver down my spine. "Damn it's fresh and cold out here" I said to Beca. Not feeling my fingers I ate my chocolate muffin and drank a small cup of coffee on the sidewalk where the bus just dropped us off. Far away from the city at the foot of a mountain we cannot see we started our journey with a phone torch in hand, backpacks on our backs and adrenalin flowing through our veins.

We are ready to climb Seoraksan. 

Best way to learn Hungal

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new"- Albert Einstein

실수를한 적이없는 사람은 새로운 새로은새로운것을시도하지 않는다

It's a Saturday night and a friend and I went for dinner followed by a visit to the famous foreign Beer house in Uijeongbu. As most of my friends would know there is nothing like drinking a cold beer or a glass of red wine. But in Korea red wine is just stupidly expensive so I'm testing every beer I could get that's foreign. 

Whopa Gangnam Style

"Music is a world within itself with a language we all understand"- Stevie Wonder

In Korea, as I have mentioned in previous posts, Kpop is really big. Kpop aka Korean pop. One of the only big Korean acts who made it onto our radio stations back in South Africa would be the one and only Psy and I guess the only reason why is because of its bizarre dance moves and the catchy tune.

Andong Mask Dance Festival and Hahoe Folk Village

"Culture is the arts elevated to a set of beliefs"-Thomas Wolfe

It was quite a busy weekend comprised with a lot of traveling and a lot of buses, taxi and walking. I must say I'm quite tired after this weekend but I have a story to tell so let me start with my story.