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: