Busan Transport Card

Busan is pretty easy to get around. There are 4 subway lines connecting different parts of the city with a few major stops where the lines cross and you can connect to a different line.

The four main lines are:

Line One: Sinpyeong to Nopo-dong
Line Two: Hopo to Jangsan
Line Three: Daejeo to Suyeong
Line Four: Minam to Anpyeong

A really good map can be found here with both the English and Korean station names:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCm8nsQK0Zemu4UA33r1rL-28PMEfKBtACe9C1PYdV_SzFJ21WJx-spj4VbJdybREbK0xwV5CpXAbsKTGGYKdmT2qmXsOIiOdA7bGpRSw_aZ8Fw0Vfp5SQL_y_OZsuuAX-M3Qllty4QsSz/s1600/BusanV4.png

My station is Kyungsung University/Pukyong National University station (212) on line 2 so it's really convenient if I want to change lines at Seomyeon or Suyeon.

In addition to the subway, there is an amazing bus system here. I have not caught it by myself yet. I've always been with other people so I haven't had to rely on myself to figure out which bus to take. One day I'll plant myself in front of the bus stop and check the routes.

I originally thought it would be difficult to figure out how to get around between the subway and the buses, particularly the buses. It's pretty easy actually.

1. Buy a Hanaro card from a subway station vending machine (6, 000 won).

2. Add value to it at the recharge machine.
3. When you catch the subway/bus you just place your card near the sensor - no need to take it out of your wallet if that's where you keep it, it'll read it through your bag. It comes with a strap so it's just as easy to attach it to your mobile phone.
4. If you need to transfer or will catch another form of transport within 30 minutes the fare is reduced. Eg. Catch the subway and swipe your card then hop on a bus and swipe it again and it'll be cheaper. If you plan to catch 2 buses or a bus and then the subway just swipe the card when you get on the bus, swipe it when you get off the bus and then swipe it when you get on the next one or at the subway.
5. If you only catch one bus or if you finish catching the second bus there is no need to swipe on the way out.

When you swipe the card on the bus the machine talks to you. My friend told me it says 'welcome' if it's the first form of transport and 'transfer' if it is your second.

It's so convenient here; unlike City Rail in Sydney!!!

Korean Style Work Party

I haven't officially started at my company yet but I dropped into their party tonight to meet everyone and have a good time with some workmates. It was very different to what I expected. I thought it might be uncomfortable with the boss and his wife as well as the director and managers. I was completely wrong.

I have found that at this workplace, rather than just being coworkers, it's like they are family. Everyone is so welcoming and wonderful.

The night started off with Ollie and I meeting Bianca on her 'special class' at Dive Bar and then we headed back to the company before heading to the party venue. The company had booked a restaurant/bar for us to go to and we all paid 10,000 won (under $10) for food and alcohol. They had heaps of food; camp stew, patbingsu, fried stuff, noodles... who can even remember!The tables got rearranged 3 times to suit the number of people that were there, finally ending in this massive long table with the boss at the head. Every now and then he would stop the party for speeches and cheers to which we were all to drink. Obviously not knowing this, it was a big night!

It was a great time and at the end we were all given a small package with 10,000 won from the boss and his wife for taxis. Everyone is so nice. I can't wait to start working with such wonderful people.

With Co-workers Bianca and Angela

Even though it was blurry, I couldn't not put up a photo of the first time I have ever seen people eat cake with chopsticks!

Level Test Day

Level testing has been going on at work for the past few days and today I had to conduct it. Basically it just requires talking to the new people coming to the company to see which class they should be in. Considering I had observed 3 lessons; a level 6 which apparently are really CC level, a level 5 where only one person turned up and that person was also really a level CC and a level 4, that made it a bit difficult.

They were lovely. One was scared of me and the other wanted me to help him find a new English name starting with R because he didn't like his old name Peter. I chose Robbie for him. Unfortunately neither of them will be in my class because I have morning classes and they both wanted evening classes. They don't wake up before noon! I wish. I will be starting at 6:40am for the next 3 months which I am happy about because that means I finish at 3pm. I don't really want to start at 2pm and work through to 10pm.

Tonight there is a staff party at 10pm and no work tomorrow. Thank goodness... I can sleep innnnnn!!!!!

I Love Free Samples

It is winter in Korea at the moment and my skin in drying out like nothing else. I can't stand having scaly skin so I stopped by Nature Republic to buy some skin products. I picked up an oil face cleanser and it literally is like putting oil on your face. I hope it works because it feels gross.

What I love about Korean cosmetic stores is that you walk out with a whole bag of free samples. They don't just pick a few to give you either. Most stores have pre-packaged bags full of different types of sample products. For example, when I went to Nature Republic, this is what I bought. (They were having end of year sales so I stocked up while it was cheap!)


And these were all the free samples I came away with.


I definitely think Australia needs to start doing something like this.

Something I have noticed is that we don't take care of our skin back home as much as they do here. Everyone looks so young here. One lady I met here looks the same age as me, only I found out later she is 40 years old with 2 children. Yikes! I wish I could have skin like that at 40. I'll keep dreaming!

Christmas Day

Spending Christmas Day in a country you have been in for 3 days is kind of daunting. 1. You hardly know anyone, 2. Those people you do know probably have plans with their friends and you don't want to butt in, and 3. You are away from your family.

At the start of this day I thought it was going to be horrible. I got up and was so bored I went for two jogs around Pukyong University and saw so many people out. I thought it was even more unusual that so many people were at the university field having soccer and hockey training. In a country that has so many Christians, I wondered why it's not really celebrated. Later on I realised they do celebrate it, just in a different way.

After I called home I rang Romy unnie and she invited me to Giman oppa's parents' house for Christmas. Giman oppa is still in Australia so Romy, Giwon and I caught the bus from Daeyeon to the other side of the city.

At first it was a bit awkward, I can't speak much Korean and they don't speak English. When Sun Young unnie came with her family it was worse because it was the first time her 2 year old son Sun Hyeon had seen a foreigner and he was scared of me. After a while, once everyone started to relax, it was like they were my substitute family. Abeoji told me that I was his daughter so I had to call him dad. They all use a Korean name for me and have adopted me into their family. They are amazing. Abeoji was even talking about trying to introduce me to someone so that I would stay in Korea. Sun Young unnie and I became fast friends even though we couldn't understand each other. We had a lot of laughs trying to explain things to each other through acting. So much fun. Even Sun Hyeon started calling me emo (aunt) and he came up to me with a peporo stick in his mouth and wanted me to bite the other end and we chewed it to the middle. Very Lady and the Tramp. He is so adorable.

Needless to say I had a wonderful day, especially since I was so anxious about it in the morning. My first Christmas in Busan was amazing. I have a wonderful Korean family who I adore. Right now I couldn't ask for anything more.

Me and Sun Young unnie


The family: Abeoji, Aeomeoni, Romy unnie, Sun Young unnie, Sangwoo oppa, Shinwoo, Giwon and Sun Hyeon <3

My 'Crib' aka Studio Apartment in Busan

At the company I work for there are 4 foreign teachers including myself. One from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. They are really well represented. Now all we need is a South African and New Zealander. Anyway, we all live in the one apartment building and Steven and Bianca have larger apartments than Ollie and myself. But for a studio it's pretty good and it has a HUGE positive: VERY LITTLE CLEANING! I have only been here two days but it's already becoming very homey. Here are some pics of my home for the next year. It's pretty typical of studios here I think.

The entry/hallway - shoe closet on the right, living area to the left and the bathroom in front (you don't need to see that - just be careful not to flush toilet paper in SK - it has to be put in a bag for disposal or it'll clog up the pipes).


The main room. Pretty typical. A bed in with the kitchen area. The bookcase is hiding the fridge.


The all-in-one kitchen/laundry. I think this is an English thing too. We don't really see this in Australia.


Most things were provided. The tv is in the wardrobe but I am not sure if I am going to set it up. I only had to buy a few things like the rice cooker and extra quilts (one was provided) as it is freezing at night even with the floor heating.

Bibimbap (cheap and easy eats)

For my first home cooked meal in Korea I went for the easiest thing to make; Bibimbap.

Last night I went to Mega Mart and bought a cute pink rice cooker so that I could start cooking. Today on my way home I picked up some rice, eggs and gochujang sauce. At a street store I bought vegies to go into the bibimbap (only 2,000 won). They were already seasoned with sesame oil so I didn't need anything else. This was a CHEAP meal and there were enough vegies to store so I can cook bibimbap another day this week.

I don't believe this is the best bibimbap out there - I am sure people have much nicer ones but this has all the traditional flavours and was yummy, cheap and easy to make.

1. Cook the rice and fry an egg sunny side up.

2. Prepare vegetables in sesame oil (spinach, beat sprouts and gosari 고사리 - I had to google this. It's actually part of a fern)


3. Put the rice in a bowl. Arrange the vegetables, add gochujang sauce, mix and eat.


Too easy!

Nampodong Christmas

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. This year I am away for Christmas again and will miss my family terribly. Usually I travel over the Australia summer period so I am hardly home at this time of year. This year, knowing that I won't be home until 2013 makes it harder, especially as I don't know many people yet. However, it's wonderful to have my good friend/sister Romy and her adorable child Giwon here. At least until February.

Last night we met up to look at Christmas lights in Nampodong. It was absolutely beautiful! I think I'll head back that way tonight as well.











MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Sending Excess Baggage to Korea

If you are living in Sydney and thinking of heading to Korea DO NOT take your excess baggage to the airport and pay their baggage fees. I had packed two bags that weighed a total of 32kg but I only had a 20kg limit on my economy ticket with Korean Air. I rang the airline and was told that it would cost me $38 per kilo for excess baggage. NO WAY was I going to pay that. So instead I sent one of the bags through a Korean health store in Strathfield.

Directions:
When you head into Strathfield from the M4 or Parramatta Rd, you turn right at the round about before you get to the station and take the left turning lane at the first set of lights. Immediately you will find a large apartment building on the right hand corner of that street. At the bottom of the apartment block are two health stores.

I went into the smaller of the two health stores and sent my bag with them and it only cost me $92 to send two 7kg bags. That's cheaper than having to pay for 3 extra kilos at the airport! The store is a combined dvd store, blanket shop, health food store and international courier service. It only takes about 5 days for it to get there. I looked into using Jetta but they require you to send 15kg minimum and when I rang them the guy was so rude. This is a great option!

Big Sri Lankan Famly Dinner

Last night I went to my neighbour's house for dinner. They are a Sri Lankan family and all the kids were home this year for Xmas. So there was the mum and dad, the eldest son on holidays from his work in Singapore, their younger son who lives there, the daughter and her husband and their little boy and girl. It was a full house and late night with yummy Sri Lankan food, great company and lots of laughs. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera to snap some last minute photos:(

For dinner we had lamb chops with cous cous, pineapple curry, potato curry, chicken curry, eggplant, rice, salad and bulgogi. Haha... they even managed to slip in the sweet Korean beef. I tried ginger wine for the first time last night and I loved it! Wish I had found out about it a lot earlier. It made me feel very old drinking it though as it has that grandparents feel about it.

Two Nights, Two Gingerbread Houses, Two Goodbyes

I have never made a gingerbread house before, but TWICE this week I helped decorate them. At the ESL christmas party at church on Tuesday night we all got involved in making either gingerbread houses, white christmas or shortbread. Here are some wonderful people and the yummy looking house:)



Then Yan left to go back to China. I'll miss her!:(

On Wendesday I got to make my second ginderbread house. It wasn't quite as pretty as the first but meant a lot to us.

The English side:


The Korean Side:


Hard to say goodbye:

Suburban Sydney Christmas Lights

I love Christmas. The Christmas tree, Christmas carols, the warmth of friends and family, Christmas lunch (yummy) and all the red, green and gold around the place. By far, my favourite thing about Christmas are the Christmas lights. I love looking at the Christmas lights in Greystanes where they have a street lined with houses full of colourful lights. This year there seems to be less than last year. Electricity has gone up and it would probably cost people a fortune this year to run them for a month. BUT... to those that have, I send a big hug and a kiss because it is so beautiful. I feel like a kid again when I see them. Particularly in my area where they have Mr Whippy ice-cream vans parked along the streets and visits from Santa Claus.

Here are some of the beautifully decorated houses this year.

In third place:





Runner up:





My favourite house this year:

Chick Lit

It's finally happened. I have officially become a chick lit fan. I used to see chick lit on the shelves of bookstores and think 'how boring' then grab something from the horror or romance section. Now I can't get through a sickening romance, horror is just eww and supernatural vampire stuff has flooded the market so much that I don't think I could possibly read one more. One good thing though. I still hate Sex in the City and I plan to keep it that way!

Some of my favourite authors include:

> Pamela Britton and her NASCAR books. I love sporty romances:)

> Susan Elizabeth Phillips. You guessed it - more sporty romances - this time American football.

> Matthew Reilly, an Australian action author.

> Richard Layman's horror novels. Funland hooked me in and I have read everything he has written.

> Sherrilyn Kenyon and the Dark Hunter series. Ahh... Acheron - seriously the most charismatic fictional character ever written.

> J. R. Ward. The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

> Simone Elkeles, a teen fiction writer about overcoming differences.

And now I can add my two new chick lit authors:

> Miranda Dickinson. This author first had me hooked on chick lit. Welcome to My World - Read it!

> Jil Mansell and her lovely British tales.



I like that these books have such a great emhasis on the woman's relationships with those around her and how she often makes the decisions in life that seem least obvious but turn out for the best. Hopefully that's what will happen in my life.

Black Ilumin and Wisecrue

Today I was searching around the internet for some new music and stumbled across a couple of expats in Seoul who have started to produce music; Wisecrue.

From what I have been able to glean, it's two guys, one from America and one from the UK. They have come together to produce an amazing track called Rhyme Q. It's a really great song with a wonderful mix of accents, tones and styles. Check it out!



I really like Black Ilumin's voice. He is the first singer you hear on the track and he has produced other music; both solo and with other expats. His voice is so smooth - you never get sick of it. This is his dance track Lavita. I LOVE this music!

Lavita by Black Ilumin

If you are interested in checking out his page here are some links:

http://www.blackilumin.com/
http://www.blackilumin.com/wisecrue/index.html

And this is a blog post all about them from Impossible Black Tulip:

http://impossibleblacktulip.blogspot.com/2011/11/music-i-like-wisecrue-black-ilumin-jake.html

Personalised Ringback Tones

My friend once told me about personalised ringback tones in Korea but I had never heard of it before as we do not have it in Australia. Tonight I rang her mobile in Korea and it was a bit weird hearing her personalised ringback tone. I was a bit like, 'Is this the right number? Have I inadvertently rang some company?'. Nope, It was Romy unnie's taste in music.

When I googled it today on the internet I didn't even know what a ringback tone was. I have never heard it called that. We call it a dial tone.

I found out that South Korea was the first country to introduce personalised ringback tones (I am guessing SK Telecom) where you can choose a song that will become the dialtone for your mobile. Then, when people call the mobile, instead of hearing the ring ring tone, they hear a song selected by the owner of the phone instead. I like that idea. I know people would probably say it's a gimick that you never hear anyway because it's not like you ever ring your own mobile, but it is definitely more stylised than the bland dial tone.

Apparently the most popular ringback tones in 2010 included:
1. Eminem and Rhianna: Love the way you lie
2. Fish Leong: No Ifs
3. Super Junior: Sorry Sorry

One thing I have to say is that if I rang someone and their ringtone was Sorry Sorry I definitely would not be waiting for them to pick up. How annoying would it be to listen through that song all the time!

Fish Leong's No Ifs is a much better choice.

Eyes Wide Open

Sometimes we get so involved in our own lives that trivial things are blown out of proportion and we think that we are hard up about something. Every now and then we need to be reminded that our lives are actually a lot better than others and we shouldn't complain. There are so many people around the world in a far worse situation than ourselves. I had one of those moments tonight.

I just finished reading about the terrible happenings in Shaanxi Province in China when a man stabbed and beat a woman to death and the bystanders did nothing to intervene. In fact, some just walked on by like nothing was happening. CCTV captured everything on film. It's terrible to think that people could just stand by and do nothing in this intance. A woman's life was on the line and her death was tragic; perhaps it could have even been prevented. But to think of it, we stand by and do nothing every day. While we are wondering whether to order a mocha or latte at Gloria Jeans there are people around the world who don't have the luxury of making that decision. Many are just trying to survive daily life. People sell their blood for money to buy food for their family, children walk for hours in freezing weather to attend school, the elderly are being neglected in nursing homes that don't provide basic necessities. These are just a few of the stories that can be found on ministryoftofu.com.

One of my favourite documentaries is called 'Invisible Children'. It is a documentary by three American college students about the experiences of children in Uganda who go on a night commute to the cities so they will not be captured as child soldiers by the Lord's Resistance Army. One of the filmmakers makes a comment in this documentary about how some people resond to these experiences with 'It's Africa. You can't compare it with America.' But why can't we? Should the children in Uganda have to live through what they do just because 'It's Africa'? The idea that people are uncomfortable watching the type of footage seen in this documentary is a positive thing. Why? Because it means we understand that there is injustice and oppression occurring. The question is, what can we do to help?

LINKS:
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/


http://www.ministryoftofu.com/2011/03/photos-chinese-children-carry-burning-torches-to-school/

Plans for the last two weeks

The year is slowly winding down. However, as work eases up with only year 7, 8 and 9 left to teach for the last week, I seem to have more and more things to do in the leadup to the 22nd. Every single day between now and when I leave is completely filled up. Multiple entries fill my organiser each day and I am so TIRED! Plus catching up with everyone before I go means that I am having alot of meals out and I feel like I need to be running all day every day to make up for the indulgence. Only it has been raining, and I have a cold and cough, and I am REALLY tired, and I don't have much free time, and I am just making excuses. I am determined though, to run and exercise each day.

This weekend I am using my mum's place as a base and even brought my barbell, fitball and skipping rope to do my circuit. It's kind of embarrassing to do it at her apartment though coz I usually set up my circuit on the front lawn and use her brick fence as my weight bench. I obviously don't even need to say what the people in cars do whenever they drive past. I just have to ignore it or I'll put on a million kilos from all these catch-up meals.

Last week I went to Kelly unnies house and we started shopping on G-Market because she didn't think I had enough winter coats to take with me. It's true. I mean, I live in Australia, the words 'winter coat' are not even in my vocabulary. Three hours later, two coats and a hoody were being shipped to Giman oppas parents house for me to collect when I get to Busan.

On to even better news. This morning I opened my email and there was a message from Misook unnie inviting me to her family's home for Lunar New Year over the 22-24th January period. She told me that most people will be going to their hometown to visit their family and she wanted me to go to Suwon so she could introduce me to her mum and brother. I can't wait to see her!!! It has been almost one year since we last stayed up all night playing Go Stop and having girly chats. I can't wait to see Misook and meet her *not so new anymore* man Joon Tack. I hope they get married next year so I can be there!:)


People are always asking me if I am on the countdown to the end of the year and whether or not I am excited. I am. My body is in Australia but in every other way I am already in Korea.

Motivating a Jogger

Some people take up knitting, others baking. I've recently started jogging. For those of you who know me you will already know that I have always HATED running. I am a competitive person and love playing ball, squash, pool, putt putt, kayaking. I've done gymnastics, jazzercise, played netball, tennis and even swimming. But running... pfft - forget it! That doesn't mean I haven't wanted to run (ok it does), just that I don't like doing it. I even roped my friend into starting to go jogging at night. It lasted for one whole night and then we never did it again. BUT I was determined to become a runner.
I used to make lame excuses when I went out for a walk. The main one: I'd tell myself that I can't start jogging bacause I would eventually have to stop and it would be horrible to stop while cars were driving past. How embarrassing!
But I can now say, I AM A JOGGER, I JOG EVERY DAY AND I LOVE IT!!!!
Except for this morning. I had my ipod on shuffle, which I never do coz I always end up skipping the older songs, and the music was so demotivating I felt like stopping all the time coz the music was so slow.

This is some of my regular music for excercising.

Running:
A'ccel in a Story - Saint Butterfly, Wristcut Syndrome, Memory, Misery, Goodbye,
Basick - Champion Pt.II
Blindside - About a Burning Fire
Coach Carter Soundtrack
Da Mouth - Any of their songs
Dok2: I'm Back
Drunken Tiger: Doo Doo Doo Wap Ba Ba Ru, Monster
Epik High: Run, Breakdown, One, The Future, Fan
Jang Woo Hyuk: Mr Jackson, One Way, Flip Reverse, Pump Flow, Shake It
Leessang: Canvas
Nese: U Got Me, Superman
Outsider: Zero to Hero, The Youth, Loner, Tears of the Del Piero, Therapist

Weights:
Choshinsung: Hit,
Drunken Tiger: Feel Good Music, Jet Pack, True Romance
Grits: Ooh Ahh
Leessang: Hexagonal
Live
Raconteurs: Steady as She Goes, Broken Boy Soldiers, Store Bought Bones,
Shinedown
Stone Sour
Tokio Hotel: Spring Nicht, Schrei, Forgotten Children, Break Away

Stretching:
Dark Like Snow
Evermore
Paloalto
Pe2ny

Start of the Xmas Season

It's well and truly heading into the Christmas season. On the 1st of December my friend Debbie and I headed to Auburn for dinner and a catch up. It was a really nice night.

In the town square at the back of the shops santa turned up and it was snowing. How cute. Here is a REALLY bad picture of the first santa of my Christmas season.

I am trying to learn how to use my camera properly so I asked the fruit shop if I could take some photos of their fruit coz it looked so yummy. Here are my attempts. Don't think they are great but the fruit looks so good.

Being silly in Kmart like we used to over 10 years ago!

Later that night I put up our Christmas tree while Il Divo's Xmas album was playing and it felt really Christmassy. Australian Christmas' go like this:

1. Christmas Eve
- Pub/dinner/party with friends
- Checking out the Xmas lights and seeing Santa

2. Christmas Day
- Sleeping in - unless you have kids
- Opening pressies
- Sun and swimming pool or beach
- Seafood or BBQ or Seafood BBQ
- Afternoon nap/visiting friends

3. Boxing Day
- Visiting family
- Eating leftovers

The first pictures of Christmas!!!!