So what does getting ready for Korea really mean?

With two and a half months left before I leave for South Korea, you'd think I have plenty of time to get organised and ready to move to another country. For me the preparation in the upcoming months include:

1. Getting my Visa sorted; this includes getting photos taken, organising the paperwork and taking a trip to the consulate.



2. Learning some Korean. I have been to Korea before and I know you don't need to be able to speak the language but I'd still like to try. I have wonderful friends who are teaching me but unfortunately I am not the best language student out there.



3. Cooking Korean food. I have mastered japchae, egg roll, korean pancake and dakgalbi and that is about it at the moment. Unlucky for my family and friends, who often double as taste testers.



4. Buying HEAPS of clothes to take with me. This I am quite adept at doing. TOO adept, or so my credit card keeps telling me.



5. Counting down the days until I leave! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

I have been so fortunate to meet two lovely Korean families through a friend who returned to Seoul after living in Sydney for a year. These amazing people are so welcoming and friendly and I have secretly adopted them as my second family. In terms of helping me get ready to live in Korea, they are the ones who have been teaching me Korean, showing me how to cook and sharing their culture with me. Sitting on heated floor mats has almost become second nature as has offering and receiving things with two hands, which I have noticed I even do at work now, and ending phone calls with extended sounds to indicate my reluctance to hang up is no longer unusual. We've also had plenty of giggles over girly conversations about Korean and American actors and their varying degrees of manliness/hotness, makeup, clothes and guys. We've spent nights watching Korean dramas, playing Go-Stop and drinking makguli. But one thing they said is a MUST to be prepared for before moving to Korea is the noribang.

The noribang is basically a private karaoke room. My language lessons have now become Korean singing lessons. The song they are trying to teach me is one of my favourites; Park Hyo Shin's Snow Flower. This is not exactly the easiest song to remember, or as I have found out, sing in tune to. Especially if you are tone deaf and can't speak the language. Oppa kindly pointed out though, that my failure at this was not a Korean problem, just a singing one. Here is the song:




So, what do the next few months have in store for me?

1. Visa


2. Korean singing


3. Cooking


4. Shopping


5. Counting down

2 months and 20 days!