No longer in Korea

It's a long time since I wrote anything here. But in bullet points, here is an update:

• After 2 great years living in Seoul, I am now back in England.
• I travelled South East Asia for 3 months.
• Despite doing loads of amazing things, I have still only crossed off 10 things on my list. 90 more to go! But I've also already had more amazing experiences than I ever thought I would.
• Number 1 on my list is to run a marathon. If I'm honest, I really thought that would never happen. However, recently I have been training to run 10k. And whilst I still can't quite do that yet, a marathon is seeming more and more likely as the weeks go on. So watch this space.
• Since I made the list, my eyes have been opened to more amazing places the world has to offer. And I'm happy that I've been to some already. Taiwan and the Philippines will always have a special place in my heart. And obviously South Korea will always feel like my second home. The place, the people, the food; all incredible.
• The list might need updating. But I've had it in place for so long, maybe I just need to make it a list of 150 things!
• I secretly (or not so secretly, perhaps) I wish that my England-life and my Korea-life could merge. I want to go back to Korea, but I want my friends and family to be there. I want to eat proper Korean food, but I want to option of a proper Sunday roast on Sundays. I want the 4D movies and excellent night life that Korea has to offer, but I want the pub and beer garden experience we have in England. Can I buy my own island and bring the best of both? I will call is Englea. Or Korland. It will be beautiful.

Leak Watch

The leak is getting worse. Every morning my little porchy-bit is flooded. And what's worse is that I've just discovered a second! This makes me sad... They said on Friday that they'd look at it on Monday. I hope they get them fixed!!

"The List" Update

I think I can cross off the following:

34. Do karaoke in public - Having been to three noraebangs since I've been in Korea, I think I can safely say I've done this!

43. Teach English in a foreign country - I have taught English in Korea for 2 weeks now, so I have done this! I'll update you on the teaching soon. :-)

And ones I'm getting closer to completing:

66. Visit all 7 continents - I have now been to Europe (obvs!), North America, Africa and Asia. Three more to go!

That awkward moment when...

You want to get in the bathroom to get ready for bed but you put some washing on and the machine is emptying the water all over your bathroom floor so you have to wait until it's finished... Average!

Happy White Day!

Today is White Day, so Happy White Day! This is the day when the boys give gifts (mainly sweets/candy I think) to the girls. On Valentines Day, the girls give gifts to the boys. I gather that this is normally choccy-based. This is what my last class of the day were teaching me. One of the girls had a whole tub of lollipops so I was teasing her that she had lots of boys that love her, haha. "Teacher no!"

She gave me a lollipop for White Day, and one of the boys gave me a sweet, how cute.

Korean Ages

The age system here is interesting. When a child is born, they are considered to be 1. They then add a year on New Year's Day. So they don't actually add another year onto their age on their birthday. And if a child was born on 29th December, they would be 2 on New Year's Day, when in our reckoning they would be 3 days old. Interesting stuff, eh?

Shops

Shops that I didn't expect to see here:

1. Accessorize
2. The Body Shop
3. Cath Kidston

Argh, there were more but my "morning after the night before" brain can't recall at this second...