something i thought i'd share:
yesterday i shouted at a boy for sleeping in my class.
he looked behind him to see who i was talking to.
he was not sleeping.
he was wide awake.
note to self:
it is impolite to not notice the difference between asian eyes and those that are tightly shut.
Friday, January 8, 2010
ramblings from afar
i've been thinking about a particular group of individuals within our circle back home. you know the one's that won't eat mushrooms, tomatoes and anything that comes in a sauce? the one's who think a salad is lettuce, cucumber and tomato - and any additions are considered completely inappropriate? y'know who you are ...
well, if you were here with us (crowder and holman: this one's for you) - you'd die of malnutrition within the next few days.
the food in the canteen is supposed to be korean - but i'm pretty sure it's the canteen-version thereof. from all the rave reviews korean food gets there's no way they are referring to the stuff we get served. take the national dish, for instance.
allow me to introduce you to kim chee. this is their national staple dish - which is nothing short of utterly disgusting.
to make matters more bizzare, they eat it with breakfast.
they eat it with lunch.
and yes, dear friends - they eat it with supper.
every korean smells of it, wherever you go. it's boiled cabbage that they pickle in chilli powder and serve cold. it's kind of like eating spicy kelp ... three times a day.
in terms of culinary trends - this place's style is all about odd. i mean, it's snowing right? and all their veg dishes (of which there are many at every meal) are ICE cold. weird i tell you.
we've not been into town to eat yet, as there's been no time. which sucks. fortunately tomorrow night we have a double-birthday dinner at a jen-you-ine korean restaurant, which apparently is really festive.
we'll also try to get into the markets asap - i really want to try the food from the street vendors - as that's the best, most authentic and freshest (or so we've been told).
Fathead did manage to buy a few of the ingredients that would normally contribute to something homely, like a bolognaise. to treat ourselves for the (almost complete) week, we decided to whip up a little ditty that smelt and felt like home. unfortunately, all the ingredients that make my bolognaise sauce worth writing home about, were not at our disposal.
so in short, tonight's meal was not, in fact, worth writing home about.
that said, enough about the culture shock my taste buds are experiencing ...
it's really difficult getting up in the morning - the sun sets so early here, once you leave class it's "night time" and then you wake up in pitch darkness and it's freezing outside. but once you're up and in class, it's cool again.
it's incredible how much energy these kids have, and how much they can take out of you.
i suddenly find myself with new admiration for all the teachers i've had (and tortured) in my life. it's not a job to be laughed at (and "neither is being a parent" mom).
the kids range from 8 - 16 years old. the little ones are great, as they listen to everything you say and do pretty much everything you ask them to. the older they get, the more full of kak they are. they all have the usual teenage-hangups.
the boys and girls HATE eachother - getting them to even sit next to the opposite sex is like asking them to hold a rabid dog.
Fathead lost his cool with one little boy yesterday, who apparently wouldn't do anything he told him to. eventually he just snapped and yelled in the class - which i happen to think is hilarious. can you imagine what went through that little boy's pip as this giant white neanderthal of a man bellowed down at him, like baloo?
the little girls here are all fascinated by Fathead. they keep asking to see his arm hair (asian's not being very hairy people, they've never seen as man like him).
much like me, they do adore him though.
i was told by one girl that she's very "proud" of me, because "i have yellow hair". they are very sweet with the way that they use the language. my name also blows their minds ... so they say it all the time. they call everyone by their name, and then the title "teacher". so i am "cat-teacher".
in a cruel twist of language, the korean's have the same symbol for "R" and "L" ... so it's quite difficult to understand them when they speak engrish. but we're getting there! i've started reading a guide on how to learn korean quickly - so am trying to wrap my mind around their symbols at lighting pace.
this'll help with figuring out where the busses / subways / taxi's are going. and, i suspect, will also prevent us from purchasing minced dog.
well, if you were here with us (crowder and holman: this one's for you) - you'd die of malnutrition within the next few days.
the food in the canteen is supposed to be korean - but i'm pretty sure it's the canteen-version thereof. from all the rave reviews korean food gets there's no way they are referring to the stuff we get served. take the national dish, for instance.
to make matters more bizzare, they eat it with breakfast.
they eat it with lunch.
and yes, dear friends - they eat it with supper.
every korean smells of it, wherever you go. it's boiled cabbage that they pickle in chilli powder and serve cold. it's kind of like eating spicy kelp ... three times a day.
in terms of culinary trends - this place's style is all about odd. i mean, it's snowing right? and all their veg dishes (of which there are many at every meal) are ICE cold. weird i tell you.
we've not been into town to eat yet, as there's been no time. which sucks. fortunately tomorrow night we have a double-birthday dinner at a jen-you-ine korean restaurant, which apparently is really festive.
we'll also try to get into the markets asap - i really want to try the food from the street vendors - as that's the best, most authentic and freshest (or so we've been told).
Fathead did manage to buy a few of the ingredients that would normally contribute to something homely, like a bolognaise. to treat ourselves for the (almost complete) week, we decided to whip up a little ditty that smelt and felt like home. unfortunately, all the ingredients that make my bolognaise sauce worth writing home about, were not at our disposal.
so in short, tonight's meal was not, in fact, worth writing home about.
that said, enough about the culture shock my taste buds are experiencing ...
it's really difficult getting up in the morning - the sun sets so early here, once you leave class it's "night time" and then you wake up in pitch darkness and it's freezing outside. but once you're up and in class, it's cool again.
it's incredible how much energy these kids have, and how much they can take out of you.
i suddenly find myself with new admiration for all the teachers i've had (and tortured) in my life. it's not a job to be laughed at (and "neither is being a parent" mom).
the kids range from 8 - 16 years old. the little ones are great, as they listen to everything you say and do pretty much everything you ask them to. the older they get, the more full of kak they are. they all have the usual teenage-hangups.
the boys and girls HATE eachother - getting them to even sit next to the opposite sex is like asking them to hold a rabid dog.
Fathead lost his cool with one little boy yesterday, who apparently wouldn't do anything he told him to. eventually he just snapped and yelled in the class - which i happen to think is hilarious. can you imagine what went through that little boy's pip as this giant white neanderthal of a man bellowed down at him, like baloo?
the little girls here are all fascinated by Fathead. they keep asking to see his arm hair (asian's not being very hairy people, they've never seen as man like him).
much like me, they do adore him though.
i was told by one girl that she's very "proud" of me, because "i have yellow hair". they are very sweet with the way that they use the language. my name also blows their minds ... so they say it all the time. they call everyone by their name, and then the title "teacher". so i am "cat-teacher".
in a cruel twist of language, the korean's have the same symbol for "R" and "L" ... so it's quite difficult to understand them when they speak engrish. but we're getting there! i've started reading a guide on how to learn korean quickly - so am trying to wrap my mind around their symbols at lighting pace.
this'll help with figuring out where the busses / subways / taxi's are going. and, i suspect, will also prevent us from purchasing minced dog.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
sum ting wong
okay so i know it's a little weird ... but the thing about going to an new country and all, is that you find weird shit to fascinate yourself with.
take, for example these little specimens:
exhibit a: corn-on-the-cob ice cream. purchased by a fellow teacher of ours, as a gift, we've yet to open and taste it (being 30cm deep in snow, i'm sure you can appreciate the delay!)
exhibit b: a local beer which can only be described as a delicate taste, something close to a combination of half-water-half-cat's-piss, with just a splash of hops. i fear that given time, and sheer desperation, we shall come to acquire a liking for said specimen.
please note the slogan "sound of vitality". really people? really? your beer has a sound? and it's one of health? really?
oh, and by the way, they also use the under 18 pop group (with a fan base of 16yr-olds and below) to be the promotional front for this noisy beverage. that's right. they use children, who are admired by other children, to sell an adult product to adults. now that people, is marketing.
as i type, i'm attempting my first load of laundry. there are washers and dryers, and they each take 2 x 500won coins. I only had 4 coins in total, which is pure luck really. knowing that the washers only take liquid detergent, i sent Fathead out on a reconnaissance mission to purchase such detergent. (implied in this instruction, was naturally some kind of softening agent, as all of the female readers would have already assumed).
Fathead did no such assuming, and so instead of both washing liquid and softener, we are now the proud owners of two humongous bottles of detergent. what's really rad is i have no idea what the detergent does (ie: it may be bleach, it may be carpet cleaner). i also have no way of finding out - i present you with exhibit c:
luckily we have enough of it to do the laundry for the entire hostel until december, so eventually i'm bound to work out how to use it.
more NB to note at this point is that apparently, 85% of our clothing carries a "do not tumble dry" label.
it is -19.5 degrees. do you think i wouldn't tumble dry? umm ... excuse me, but seriously: what choices are we presented with here?!
so i'm doing it. as i type. that's right people. 4 flights down from where i sit, a big industrial-sized tumbler is shrinking most of Fathead's shirts. if i don't post on this blog again, you know what happened, and you know who pulled the trigger.
something else you probably didn't know about the craziness over here: nothing comes in singular quantities. you want soap?
here- buy an enormous pack of 10 bars.
looking for toothpaste?
well today's your lucky day - take home this pack, and you'll not be back until 2012.
one thing i will give them - they've cracked something that the rest of the human race didn't know it always wanted.
check this out:
spring loaded, buddy. you pull roll up, they flap up, they get to hole in middle of roll, they pop down. roll on poll. done. you want to change, you pull down, they flap down. out with old roll, in with new roll.
can i get a hoot hoot?
take, for example these little specimens:
exhibit a: corn-on-the-cob ice cream. purchased by a fellow teacher of ours, as a gift, we've yet to open and taste it (being 30cm deep in snow, i'm sure you can appreciate the delay!)
please note the slogan "sound of vitality". really people? really? your beer has a sound? and it's one of health? really?
oh, and by the way, they also use the under 18 pop group (with a fan base of 16yr-olds and below) to be the promotional front for this noisy beverage. that's right. they use children, who are admired by other children, to sell an adult product to adults. now that people, is marketing.
as i type, i'm attempting my first load of laundry. there are washers and dryers, and they each take 2 x 500won coins. I only had 4 coins in total, which is pure luck really. knowing that the washers only take liquid detergent, i sent Fathead out on a reconnaissance mission to purchase such detergent. (implied in this instruction, was naturally some kind of softening agent, as all of the female readers would have already assumed).
Fathead did no such assuming, and so instead of both washing liquid and softener, we are now the proud owners of two humongous bottles of detergent. what's really rad is i have no idea what the detergent does (ie: it may be bleach, it may be carpet cleaner). i also have no way of finding out - i present you with exhibit c:
luckily we have enough of it to do the laundry for the entire hostel until december, so eventually i'm bound to work out how to use it.
more NB to note at this point is that apparently, 85% of our clothing carries a "do not tumble dry" label.
it is -19.5 degrees. do you think i wouldn't tumble dry? umm ... excuse me, but seriously: what choices are we presented with here?!
so i'm doing it. as i type. that's right people. 4 flights down from where i sit, a big industrial-sized tumbler is shrinking most of Fathead's shirts. if i don't post on this blog again, you know what happened, and you know who pulled the trigger.
here- buy an enormous pack of 10 bars.
looking for toothpaste?
well today's your lucky day - take home this pack, and you'll not be back until 2012.
one thing i will give them - they've cracked something that the rest of the human race didn't know it always wanted.
check this out:
this, friends, is a toilet roll holder. "pah, we have those too!" they cried.
wrong. you see those two arms on the left and the right (instead of an annoying bar that jumps and pounces all over the bathroom floor)?
spring loaded, buddy. you pull roll up, they flap up, they get to hole in middle of roll, they pop down. roll on poll. done. you want to change, you pull down, they flap down. out with old roll, in with new roll. 
it's a toilet roll holder designed so simply that even a man can now change the bog roll!
let's hear it for south korea's logical approach to an age old household dilemma.can i get a hoot hoot?
Monday, January 4, 2010
we awoke to snowfall
when we arrived here we were grinning from ear-to-ear about the few cm's of snow that lined the streets. the locals thought we were a little narner - seen as it's by no means a phenomenon for them. however, as we explained, us south african's have never had the chance to really experience real snow.
"enjoy it while it lasts, we're not likely to see much more snow from now" they said. they were so wrong.
this morning, Fathead came bolting into the room - grabbed me by the scruff of my sheep-skin hoody, and dragged me out to the balcony.
snow had fallen all night, and was still softly floating down.
outside, the two of us were like kids in disneyland. the snow fell all around us, and our feet sunk deep into the 20-odd cm's of white powder. it's surprisingly "warm" outside. probably only about -7degrees, which is weird to think.
it's absolutely beautiful here. as an added bonus we get to spend the day playing about in the snow, as we were supposed to go into town for our medical clearance tests but all cars and roads are snowed in. a moo ha ha.
the kids arrive today - but have only been able to be brought up to the school in small batches. we are due to start with classes tomorrow - but no news as yet to whether we will be allowed to work without our medical's done yet. in the meantime, we'll cuddle under blankies and watch a few episodes of top gear and maybe the odd movie Fathead brought along on his media player (obviously gadget-boy packed in a toy or two!)
"enjoy it while it lasts, we're not likely to see much more snow from now" they said. they were so wrong.
this morning, Fathead came bolting into the room - grabbed me by the scruff of my sheep-skin hoody, and dragged me out to the balcony.
snow had fallen all night, and was still softly floating down.
outside, the two of us were like kids in disneyland. the snow fell all around us, and our feet sunk deep into the 20-odd cm's of white powder. it's surprisingly "warm" outside. probably only about -7degrees, which is weird to think.
it's absolutely beautiful here. as an added bonus we get to spend the day playing about in the snow, as we were supposed to go into town for our medical clearance tests but all cars and roads are snowed in. a moo ha ha.
the kids arrive today - but have only been able to be brought up to the school in small batches. we are due to start with classes tomorrow - but no news as yet to whether we will be allowed to work without our medical's done yet. in the meantime, we'll cuddle under blankies and watch a few episodes of top gear and maybe the odd movie Fathead brought along on his media player (obviously gadget-boy packed in a toy or two!)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
polling results
with a number of the polls now closed, i thought i'd draw up a quick summary / update on them - before they are removed from the site.
with regards to the travel insurance poll, we took the majority's advice, and went with OVC. thanks for those who contributed to this all important info-sharing exercise.
in terms of the leaving date game, a surprising 80% correctly guessed that it would be "sometime between now and when they arrive in SK?".
and lastly, an appalling lack of faith shown amongst most (71%) of you out there, voting for my luggage to weigh in at "more than the boeing 747 she leaves on".
har-har-har ... you're all too funny.
that was a trick question, by the way - and your your information, it came in an impressive 15kg (2 kg's lighter than my average handbag).
take it. and go.
with regards to the travel insurance poll, we took the majority's advice, and went with OVC. thanks for those who contributed to this all important info-sharing exercise.
in terms of the leaving date game, a surprising 80% correctly guessed that it would be "sometime between now and when they arrive in SK?".
and lastly, an appalling lack of faith shown amongst most (71%) of you out there, voting for my luggage to weigh in at "more than the boeing 747 she leaves on".
har-har-har ... you're all too funny.
that was a trick question, by the way - and your your information, it came in an impressive 15kg (2 kg's lighter than my average handbag).
take it. and go.
first impressions
it's probably worth mentioning, at this point, that if you're planning to "pop" over to SK, best you be aware of the the trip ahead of you. if like us, you go via jhb, expect to be travelling for 24hrs until you reach a place to rest your baggage. but all in all, apart from a small incident in hong kong which almost had us missing our connecting flight, it was a pretty easy, smooth journey.
so our bags arrived safely on the other side - easily identified by their signature steri stumpie ambassador embroidered patches (thanks to t-bear, dr danger and hamish for their impeccable sewing skills!)
we were met by hans, (the first korean we interacteed with on this side). by 5pm, the sun has set and it's pitch dark over here. we arrived at around 18h30 - but our view of the entire trip home was chokker-block neon lighting. quite exquisite, actually.
it seems that over here, they're quite proud of their architecture, with every stunning bridge's structure illuminated by ever-changing coloured lights. the ride home made us feel like ants climbing up your christmas tree.
pretty. but pretty overboard.
so in a nutshell:
this is the new chateau du fathead (revamped to maximise space, as before it looked like a pack house)
delirius with jetlag we decided to throw ourselves into the deep end, and joined the other teachers for a tipple in town. they seem to like to trek miles to go anywhere here - something we'll definately not be making a habit of our own. we walked about a km down the icy hill to the bottom of the school, then caught a taxi into town, where we decended into the underground to catch the subway - getting off the one track and then onto another, then ascended to the streets of seoul only to walk another km to a place called the rainbow lounge.
think grungy bohemia meets rafiki's ... with shoe-less patrons padding about in their socks, squatting on the floor beneath a ceiling smoke, created by the hubbly-bubblies upon every table. the group next to us comprised of about 10 young american-korean girls ... one strumming a guitar, another on a bongo, and the rest belting out off-tune US top 40 pop hits in pseudo hollywood twangs. hellovathing.
as they left, our group moved to their spot ... and predictably, the american's amongst us, grabbed the guitar and drum and started their own version of this.
unbelievably, this is one of the most expensive bars in seoul (which is quite a good thing to know, seen as the prices there were pretty steep).
a few local beers later (sorry SAB) and that was our night.
today was more of the same diving into the deep-end, head first. Fathead and i tried our hand at finding a way around the city of seongnam-si (which is the city "just down the road" from us).
we went to a 4-floor supermarket, in search of a few left-behind essentials ... towels, toiletpaper and deoderant, to name a few.
it would appear that the men here don't use normal anti-perspirant deo ... and in a flustered shopping decision, old uncle inks purchased a can of "lime green flavoured gatsby powder".
the food hall was daunting, especially considering we'd not eaten since lunch the day before, and it was now 3pm. all food labels are in the korea symbols, so you have no idea what the packaging contains. meats are intriguing and scary all at the same time. you kind of want to study them in morbid fascination - but it's a fine art in cutting this examination time just short enough to avoid your stomach turning in the realisation of what it may be.
we went the safe route - being virginal shoppers - and bought a bag of citrus fruit (what i assumed to be mandarins or the korean version of a naaa-tchie), the worlds largest apples - which we've yet to taste, a bag of corn chips and a box of trail mix.
the booze section brought interesting news:
good - that you can buy it on sundays.
bad - that it's fakken expensive, unless you're adventurous enough to try their local brews ... like "caption Q wiskie".
well i must tell you - the mandarins are not, in fact, mandarins. they do, however, taste exactly like apples. i suppose had we known this, we really could have saved ourselves from shlepping the giant apples all the way back home. a 2-in-1 fruit! how genuis.
the corn chips are chilli-flavoured, which was a nice surprise.
first bite: spicy.
aftertaste: sweet 'n sour pork.
yup, things are just packed with surprises over here.
so we've decided to eat in the canteen from now on. okay, we haven't actually eaten there yet, but it's most likely to be the safest way to experience korean food without having to try and source it inthe markets, ourselves.
we've already made a number of comittments to ourselves, actually.
from now on, we do things our way:
it's only been a day, and already we managed to direct the taxi driver home, not be ripped off at the rate and have survived our first solo day in SK.
if you're ever in town, and you'd like to pop in - tell the driver "say mal young Sue-On yong oh mal" and he'll bring you right to our snowy door step.
so our bags arrived safely on the other side - easily identified by their signature steri stumpie ambassador embroidered patches (thanks to t-bear, dr danger and hamish for their impeccable sewing skills!)
we were met by hans, (the first korean we interacteed with on this side). by 5pm, the sun has set and it's pitch dark over here. we arrived at around 18h30 - but our view of the entire trip home was chokker-block neon lighting. quite exquisite, actually.
it seems that over here, they're quite proud of their architecture, with every stunning bridge's structure illuminated by ever-changing coloured lights. the ride home made us feel like ants climbing up your christmas tree.
pretty. but pretty overboard.
so in a nutshell:
this is the new chateau du fathead (revamped to maximise space, as before it looked like a pack house)
here, the view from our room ... yes that's snow. it's pretty fakken freezy i'll have you know, so both of us are rather relieved we spent enough to own shares in cape union mart.
delirius with jetlag we decided to throw ourselves into the deep end, and joined the other teachers for a tipple in town. they seem to like to trek miles to go anywhere here - something we'll definately not be making a habit of our own. we walked about a km down the icy hill to the bottom of the school, then caught a taxi into town, where we decended into the underground to catch the subway - getting off the one track and then onto another, then ascended to the streets of seoul only to walk another km to a place called the rainbow lounge.
think grungy bohemia meets rafiki's ... with shoe-less patrons padding about in their socks, squatting on the floor beneath a ceiling smoke, created by the hubbly-bubblies upon every table. the group next to us comprised of about 10 young american-korean girls ... one strumming a guitar, another on a bongo, and the rest belting out off-tune US top 40 pop hits in pseudo hollywood twangs. hellovathing.
as they left, our group moved to their spot ... and predictably, the american's amongst us, grabbed the guitar and drum and started their own version of this.
unbelievably, this is one of the most expensive bars in seoul (which is quite a good thing to know, seen as the prices there were pretty steep).
a few local beers later (sorry SAB) and that was our night.
today was more of the same diving into the deep-end, head first. Fathead and i tried our hand at finding a way around the city of seongnam-si (which is the city "just down the road" from us).
we went to a 4-floor supermarket, in search of a few left-behind essentials ... towels, toiletpaper and deoderant, to name a few.
it would appear that the men here don't use normal anti-perspirant deo ... and in a flustered shopping decision, old uncle inks purchased a can of "lime green flavoured gatsby powder".
the food hall was daunting, especially considering we'd not eaten since lunch the day before, and it was now 3pm. all food labels are in the korea symbols, so you have no idea what the packaging contains. meats are intriguing and scary all at the same time. you kind of want to study them in morbid fascination - but it's a fine art in cutting this examination time just short enough to avoid your stomach turning in the realisation of what it may be.
we went the safe route - being virginal shoppers - and bought a bag of citrus fruit (what i assumed to be mandarins or the korean version of a naaa-tchie), the worlds largest apples - which we've yet to taste, a bag of corn chips and a box of trail mix.
the booze section brought interesting news:
good - that you can buy it on sundays.
bad - that it's fakken expensive, unless you're adventurous enough to try their local brews ... like "caption Q wiskie".
well i must tell you - the mandarins are not, in fact, mandarins. they do, however, taste exactly like apples. i suppose had we known this, we really could have saved ourselves from shlepping the giant apples all the way back home. a 2-in-1 fruit! how genuis.
the corn chips are chilli-flavoured, which was a nice surprise.
first bite: spicy.
aftertaste: sweet 'n sour pork.
yup, things are just packed with surprises over here.
so we've decided to eat in the canteen from now on. okay, we haven't actually eaten there yet, but it's most likely to be the safest way to experience korean food without having to try and source it inthe markets, ourselves.
we've already made a number of comittments to ourselves, actually.
from now on, we do things our way:
- none of this taxi-subway-taxi-subway-walk-walk-taxi kak. it's a really clever way to deplete your moola, and besides, once you're wearing the full winter range from cape union, you're fine to walk.
- meals in the canteen.
- learn to convert currency faster (it's rather taxing on the brain: dividing by 1000k, then times by 7 (to get rands) and then times by 6ish to get dollars.
- learn to read korean signage.
- learn to speak it without sounding like a western dipshit.
it's only been a day, and already we managed to direct the taxi driver home, not be ripped off at the rate and have survived our first solo day in SK.
if you're ever in town, and you'd like to pop in - tell the driver "say mal young Sue-On yong oh mal" and he'll bring you right to our snowy door step.
leaving on a jetplane
we've finally arrived! you'll forgive us for the lack of updates, i'm sure. it's been (what some like to call) a fokken maltyd trying to tie up the last bits of our lives in SA. but it's done, and that's what's most important.
leaving lovely, sunny SA was hard. we had a team of movers burst in and whisk all our worldly belongings away to a storage unit somewhere. i must recommend to any of you looking for a company to move / store you - go with these guys (britannia). they were fab. hassle free, friendly, careful and quick. best of all their rates were well below any of the other grumpy mo-fo's we contacted.
in the heat of the 1st of Jan, with heads a-pounding a result of our new years celebration with the special ones ...
then it was time for one last sad goodbye
okay, they don't look tearful there but i swear there were much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
unt den, Fathead and i were off to start the very adventure, for which this here blog was created.
leaving lovely, sunny SA was hard. we had a team of movers burst in and whisk all our worldly belongings away to a storage unit somewhere. i must recommend to any of you looking for a company to move / store you - go with these guys (britannia). they were fab. hassle free, friendly, careful and quick. best of all their rates were well below any of the other grumpy mo-fo's we contacted.
in the heat of the 1st of Jan, with heads a-pounding a result of our new years celebration with the special ones ...
we peeled ourselves off beds (while some reluctant boyfriends were also dragged off their places of slumber), to begin the journey to the airport. dearest friends escorted as there, ensuring that we actually made the flight on time. rather a good thing, i suspect. in return, Fathead and i entertained them by bickering all through our bloody mary brunch - leaving them tickled with the prospect of the two of us spending the next 24hrs confined, side-by-side to our flight seats.
okay, they don't look tearful there but i swear there were much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
unt den, Fathead and i were off to start the very adventure, for which this here blog was created.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
G2 minus 1
as i write this post i sit in an empty open plan, at my empty desk (and ironically, John Lennon on my iTunes just asked me to "imagine all the people") ...
i've just sent off the last of the goodbye emails, saved my admin-deficient filing system on our server and handed over my work path since 2006. weird.
the things that have spent the last few years cluttering my daily space have all fit into one small box, and now for the last time i use my beloved macbook pro to blog.
sigh.
life is so beautiful on a mac. i am dreading the messy, crabby, backward, counter-intuitive way of PC life ... more than i dread jetlag and tripping over boy things strewn all over my living space.
so it's a sad day, as i part with my special little silver window to the world. i will have to replace her asap.
it's obvious that our work is drawing to a close, but to update you on the rest it's probably best to revisit the panic list posted in wherefore art thou visa?
40-day status (days before work in SK commences) wasn't looking too hot, i must tell you:
" things that haven't happened yet
so let's see how things have some along since then ...
12-day status:
so there - that's not bad, hey?! plus there are a ton of other things we've managed to cross of the list ... including getting our deposit for the Chateau du Fathead back, backing up emails, contacts, music and photo's, booking post-vacancy cleaners and kitting ourselves out with -20 degree survival gear.
i have to admit, that as the daughter of a lingerie designer i never thought the day would come where i voluntarily put thermal undies on the top of my christmas list! heaven's above.
you could say we're on track i suppose. so it's now loose-end-tying-up time. i've made a list of things to do, a list of things to pack, another list for things to remember, and a list of lists to make.
but sadly in this moment i'm taking a moment with my friend, my glorious mac.
adious. it's been grand.
i've just sent off the last of the goodbye emails, saved my admin-deficient filing system on our server and handed over my work path since 2006. weird.
the things that have spent the last few years cluttering my daily space have all fit into one small box, and now for the last time i use my beloved macbook pro to blog.
sigh.
life is so beautiful on a mac. i am dreading the messy, crabby, backward, counter-intuitive way of PC life ... more than i dread jetlag and tripping over boy things strewn all over my living space.
so it's a sad day, as i part with my special little silver window to the world. i will have to replace her asap.
it's obvious that our work is drawing to a close, but to update you on the rest it's probably best to revisit the panic list posted in wherefore art thou visa?
40-day status (days before work in SK commences) wasn't looking too hot, i must tell you:
" things that haven't happened yet
- visa codes issued (passports then need to get to PTA, have visa's installed and then get back down to us)
- car sold
- travel/medical insurance
- back-packs and snow jackets purchased
- ability to speak fluent Korean
- moving / storage booked
- flights booked
- departure date confirmed "
so let's see how things have some along since then ...
12-day status:
- visa codes- done
- car sold - being done tomorrow arvie
- travel/medical insurance- being handled by Fathead ... hopefully
- back-packs and snow jackets purchased - done
- ability to speak fluent Korean - pah! c'mon you and i both know that was a leetle yoke
- moving / storage booked - done
- flights booked - being done in the next two days
- departure date confirmed - 98% set for the 2nd Jan
so there - that's not bad, hey?! plus there are a ton of other things we've managed to cross of the list ... including getting our deposit for the Chateau du Fathead back, backing up emails, contacts, music and photo's, booking post-vacancy cleaners and kitting ourselves out with -20 degree survival gear.
i have to admit, that as the daughter of a lingerie designer i never thought the day would come where i voluntarily put thermal undies on the top of my christmas list! heaven's above.
you could say we're on track i suppose. so it's now loose-end-tying-up time. i've made a list of things to do, a list of things to pack, another list for things to remember, and a list of lists to make.
but sadly in this moment i'm taking a moment with my friend, my glorious mac.
adious. it's been grand.
Friday, December 18, 2009
back in the mothercity
there's a lot to be said about the charm of slaapstad. i'm not sure what i love most about it ... but i think it's a tie between the people and the energy they provide. as the days to our departure lessen, i find myself looking at the parts of the city that i love, with a new-found affection.
in fact, it happened just last night ...
after a reunion dinner with the gals from huis ton bus (our res in slettenbos) - Fathead and i were leaving the undercover parking area of kloof street's wellness centre - a car-park i frequent quite often - and realising that it was probably going to be the last time i park there for quite a while, i suddenly became all nostalic as the reality of what i would be missing sank in (i'm weird like that).
so in the spirit of remembrance, i whipped out my camera - figuring that there'd be no need to miss anything if i could capture it and take it with me to pull out on a rainy day and be transported back into the memories.
sandile, the parking attendant on duty, had diligently placed his name tag in its rightful position ... but with a little coaxing, i managed to convince him to remove it ... so i could snap up this little gem:
now that's the shit i'm going to miss. slaapies, you will always have a special place in my heart.
in fact, it happened just last night ...
after a reunion dinner with the gals from huis ton bus (our res in slettenbos) - Fathead and i were leaving the undercover parking area of kloof street's wellness centre - a car-park i frequent quite often - and realising that it was probably going to be the last time i park there for quite a while, i suddenly became all nostalic as the reality of what i would be missing sank in (i'm weird like that).
so in the spirit of remembrance, i whipped out my camera - figuring that there'd be no need to miss anything if i could capture it and take it with me to pull out on a rainy day and be transported back into the memories.
sandile, the parking attendant on duty, had diligently placed his name tag in its rightful position ... but with a little coaxing, i managed to convince him to remove it ... so i could snap up this little gem:
now that's the shit i'm going to miss. slaapies, you will always have a special place in my heart.
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