Moving On

Well...a year has come and gone, and it's time for this chick to move on! I'm moving tomorrow morning (erg. No like. But...my mover is coming with boxes and helping me pack! Yes! Korean-style rocks in this case, since I can think of few things more annoying than packing to move). Then on Monday, I start my new job at an elementary school. Whew! I will let you know how all this hectic-ness goes! For now though, I am not stressing, and am going to enjoy a glass of wine with my friend, on my last night in 송파구 (Songpa district).

Good-bye, T

Friends. Such pack animals, aren’t we? For I’m not sure I could go through my life without them. Somehow, in this strange, foreign land, I’ve found some of the best friends of my life, and this is one of them, T. One of the curses of living here (as a foreigner) is that one is constantly saying good-bye. It’s rare to find foreigners who stay more than 2-3 years before moving on, which is precisely what T is doing. We’ve been in Korea exactly the same amount of time, having landed, he from LA, me from NB, in Incheon together in 2007. Since we lived in the same complex, our favourite pastime was drinking wine and having long conversations about just about everything under the Asian sun. This year we didn’t see much of each other since I moved to the boondocks of eastern Seoul (and Incheon is Seoul’s western sister). But that didn’t matter. Each time we did get to hang out, it was as if we’d never been apart. Kind of a time-warp.

It was fitting that T’s last night in Seoul was celebrated on Valentine’s Day. Beyond all the silly pink hearts and candies and flowers, it’s a day to celebrate love. Love is the reason for everything good that exists on this little blue planet. The love of my friends is one of best things about my life! They are pretty much the reason I love life so much. Who needs a better reason to party than to celebrate a brilliant friend, a wonderful two years, and the start of a new (this time Japanese) adventure? So, celebrate we did! It was a fabulous (and very long!) night and one of the best good-byes I’ve ever said. But hand in hand with the happiness and joyfulness was, of course, the sadness. I don’t cry often, but last night was an exception, and I guess that says how much I think of T. Of course we will always be excellent friends, but I find it hard to imagine T not in Incheon, not running into him randomly in Seoul, not being able to meet when we want. It’s sad. However, Japan is not far, so I’m sure you’ll be reading a post about a weekend in Tokyo in the not-too-distant future.

Good-bye T, I love you. I’m so happy fate threw us together for this short time. The Land of the Rising Sun awaits.

Phuket

So to finish off, we have the beginning of my trip, which was only a few days in Phuket. Although it was touristy, we had a good time laying in the sun, and we made friends with some Thai guys who worked on the beach. They were the reason I so enjoyed my time here...we had a good time talking to them during the day (while they worked), and then hanging out with them again in the evenings. It's too bad we didn't stay longer and get to know them better. They were the only Thai we had any real contact with our entire trip. Anyhoo, here are a few more pics for you, and then it's la korn na kha (farewell) to Thailand until I return next spring. :)
Personal babe-sized pool:
The beach is behind me there; loved staying right near the water! Our balcony looked down on a side street:
Ate copious amounts of amazing fruit the entire time, and also got served drinks in coconuts:

Ah, the life!

Koh Samui

So, after traveling over land for several hours, we came to THE smallest ferry dock ever and found ourselves amongst several groups of backpack-laden foreigners milling about. Not too much confusion about where to go, since there was only one slip. The boat rolled in, which is when we began to feel a little dubious. But, really, it wasn't too much different from my memories of riding a certain big hunk of decrepit white metal called the Princess of Acadia...except this one was about a 10th of its size. It really didn't look the part of a passenger ship; more like some kind of illegal transport vehicle.

Anyway, it really wasn't too bad, and before long we were belching our way through the Gulf of Thailand toward Koh Samui (Koh="island" in Thai).And munching on local delicacies:
So ya, I mentioned before I'm not exactly a big fan of this island. Or at least where we stayed...it was actually ridiculous. I felt like I was in some travel ad for packaged resort vacations. Speaking of which, here's where we stayed:

Our room was nice, and there was a short walkway to the beach.
And at night, the beach turned into a restaurant:So here are my 2 traveling companions on the beach. See what I mean...a narrow, tourist-laden stretch of sand with nere a Thai person to be seen. Adding to my disgruntled-coloured glasses is the fact that the weather was not exactly that great either.
But anyway, that's not to say I had a bad time! There's always cocktails. ;) And every drink comes with an orchid. Flowers are something that are not in short supply in Thailand:
Me and the resort kitten:
So on New Year's Eve, we took a ferry to an even smaller island called Koh Phangan, upon which you can find the biggest party in the world (I'm guessing). The whole beach is turned into one giant party, with thousands upon thousands of party-goers. Honestly...I didn't really like it that much. Again, westerners completely trashing a place which used to be pristine. sigh. And, this may look cool, but honestly...drinking and fire limbo? Am I just getting old, or does anyone else think this is perhaps slightly unwise? But anyway it makes a cool picture. ;)


And that's all you're getting for Koh Samui. Next time I go to Thailand, I'm going to less-westerner-frequented places.

Good morning February

So this morning (Sunday), I decided that having had a quiet weekend, I'd go welcome the new February sun from atop Mt. Acha here in Seoul. It's a pretty little mountain only 4 subways stops away from me, and from the top one can see both the east (where Seoul peters out into the mountainous countryside), and the west (downtown, lego-land Seoul, stretching as far as the eye can see).

Up I got at 6am (lord! we don't do that too often these days now do we?), and began the hike at 7am. Luckily, after a slight wrong turn (the beginning of the movie), I crested the ridge at precisely the moment of sunrise (around 7:40am). The dawn sky was misty and pink, and the sun rose, soft and red above the mountains in the east. I felt so lucky.

I was surprised at the number of people out at this unmentionable hour. Koreans do love to hike! It's the best time to go, because on weekends it's gets mighty crowded on the city mountains. I also seemed to be on an official training route for the ultra-fit; dozens of lean, mean, spandex-outfitted machines sprinted past me up and down the trails. I suppressed the urge to stare, open-mouthed, at their physical prowess. The human body is so amazing in what it is capable of.

Anyway, here's a clip of me saying hello to February...in time for you to say hello to your own February sun.