Every piece of plastic ever made still exists!

This is a really cool video, be sure to check it out!

Dis heerlike Lente!

So much has happened since my last post. Directly after my family left I attended a teaching workshop for three days. It was quite boring as it was the same stuff about co-teaching and 'if you have problems...' Every single workshop and orientation we attend is about the above. I was just glad to get a break from school. I got to hang out with some of my friends at the workshop and the last day was really informative. We got some resources to use when planning a lesson and we attended a korean class where we could dress up in hangboks and eat weird korean food.

The weekend there after, Frankie and I 'jogged' a 5km fun run in support of Breast Cancer. Many Koreans and foreigners, old and young, big and small, male and female, got together in their pink t-shirts to support a good cause.

National Breast Cancer Foundation estimates that each year, over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and over 40,000 die. One woman in eight either has or will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Approximately 1,700 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 450 will die each year.

Go to www.thehungersite.com and click on the breast cancer link. There you can click (free) to donate free mammograms so that breast cancer can be detected early. The earlier the better.

On Thursday 22 April, it was Earth Day - the 40th one. Have you done anything for your planet that day? Here are some helpful, very easy tips for the future:

www.savemyoceans.com

1. See Oceans, Save Oceans
- This is a movie/documentary following in the steps of The Cove.

2. Leave only footprints in the sand.
_ Bring home what you bring to the beach and what others leave behind.

3. Reuse not refuse.
- Each year, 26 million pounds of plastic travel hundreds of miles from inland areas to our oceans, contributing to massive floating garbage patches, and killing one million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals.

4. Choose sustainable, healthy seafood.
- Due to unsustainable fishing practices and high consumer demand worldwide, 70% of the world's fisheries are threatened or endangered.

5. Garden your yard and clean your home with ocean-friendly products.
- 32 million pounds of cleaning and garden products, often filled with toxins, are poured down drains daily and polluting local waterways and oceans.

6. Check beach conditions.
- 20,000 ocean, lake and bay beaches had warnings or closings last year because of pollution.
(Onrus beach was al een van die gevalle...)

7. Trash your butts.
- Cigarettes and filters are the #1 item removed from coastal and inland waterways during cleanups, comprising 25% of all trash collected.

8. Be a responsible fisherman and boater.
- Don’t dump waste overboard, choose ocean-friendly boat products, and keep your boat well-cleaned and leak-free.

9. Scoop your dogs poop.
- 15 tons of harmful pet waste pollutes oceans daily, traveling from storm drains, inland waterways and beaches.

10. Be an oceans hero.
- Learn and be inspired by individuals working to protect our ocean, lake, river, and bay waterways for us and future generations.

Back to what I'm doing in Korea. This past weekend was really interesting and entertaining. At first I said: I refuse to do anything this weekend! I'm staying in my bed... WHATEVER!

On Friday night I had the privilege of meeting a friend of a very close family friend. I was introduced via an email from Belgium. After school I boarded the subway and made my way to Busan Station where I was greeted by Olivia the very friendly secretary. She took me up to their offices for a brief chat and get-to-know each other session before dinner. As I entered the office I met Mr. MG Kim.

At first I was very nervous, because I just met someone new and I had to talk shipping, which I don't know much about. I met the engineer of the Shipping company, who also buys ships from Seatrade (that's the connection with the introduction if anyone was wondering..). I think I pulled it off and I think my ship stories made sense. I told Mr. Kim about my dad and Marnix' relationship and how they have become very close friends over the past 30 years of working together. As my dad said: "Tell him we built houses together and now we are making wine :)

After my sit down with Mr. Kim in his office we were ready to leave for dinner. But before we left I had to be introduced to the whole office. I felt like a celebrity! I walked down to the car park with Mr. Kim and got into his car. By that stage I really felt like a celebrity as I was in the front seat of a really grand silver Mercedes. It felt like I was flying first class. So much space and luxury! (Still a BMW fan though..)

Anyways, we were on our way to pick up his wife and mother-in-law. In our sit down I learnt that his daughter is currently studying in USA and his son in Seoul. I was a little dissapointed, cause I really wanted to meet them. However, I will meet his son, Jason, next week Saturday. As we were on our way back to his house to pick up his wife and her mother we got stuck in traffic and I ended up having a long conversation with his son on the phone. Very nice guy and sounds adventurous and fun. We got to his house and his wife and mother-in-law is soooo nice! They wanted to know all about me. They took me to a korean bbq place and the food was delicious! Afterwards we shared a big bowl/pot of soup, rice and see weed. After dinner we went to their house in LG Apartment City for desert. Mr. Kim's wife poured the two of us orange juice while we watched Korean soapies and the news. It was amazing! She brought some delicious fruit for us as well. Strawberries, pears, apples and oranges. I had such a great time and felt like I was at home. It's good to know that I have a Korean family. They said to me: "You are now family and you can come and stay whenever you like". Such sweet people!

After fruit and juice they took me back home and even borrowed me an umbrella. I am meeting up with them again on Saturday and will spend the whole day with them.

The rest of the weekend was also very eventful. On Saturday Jared invited Salome and me to his friends wedding at the Grand Hotel in Haeudae. Before we went to the hotel we stopped at his designer friends dress shop for a quick chat. Turns out she wants us to model some of her clothes and be photographed for advertisement. AWESOME! We tried on one dress each and it was very funny! I had to wear a korean strapless bra - HAHA so small and so cute. They don't know anything about South African women with boobs! Anyways we are going there on Wednesday for the photo shoot (at least i think). Her shop, the Dressing Yoon, is beautiful! She makes evening gowns and the place looks like something out of a movie. When she adjusts the dresses you have to stand on an big furry almost stage like construction in heels. O so sex and the city. Ons wednesday we are taking wine and making the most of it.
After playing dress up we went to the wedding. Wow, the hotel was enormous and magnificent! As soon as we arrived Jared lead us to the Bridal waiting room. The bride was waiting in the room (haha) on a chair and taking pictures with all the guests. She looked absolutely stunning! We felt so welcome, cause even though she never met us before, she knew our names, greeted us and was really pleased that we came. Aaaah :)

The wedding it self was a little strange but beautiful. It seems like the actual ceremony is some kind of an open event. As far as I understand - only invited guests go to the reception. Anyways, all of a sudden the wedding march started and the isle walk began. No one in the 'audience' kept quiet or even really paid attention to what was going on. The one lady's cellphone even rang and she answered it. When the bride finally made it to the altar (it was a non-religious wedding) her dress maker started fidgeting about her dress and didn't stop until the end of the ceremony. I have no idea how she concentrated on her own wedding with the dress maker being all over the place and the loud crowd. There was also a little boy who kept running around with his huge gun.

The ceremony was ended with a loud applause and no 'I do's'. Cake time. They had to then cut the cake with a sword, but it was a fake cake. And while all of this was happening, bubbles and smoke seem to come out of everything in the front of the room. Smoke even came out the table that was carrying the cake. Weird but pretty in some way I guess.
After the cake was cut, we had to leave. No congratulations, nothing. Strange but wonderful experience.

Salome and I was in great need for retail therapy and went shopping after the wedding. I bought two pairs of stripper shoes (haha they were the only ones that fit me - might have been transvestite shoes) and then we went for some well deserved pedicures at 9 in the evening.

Sunday, Frankie and I went for a jog a long the beach. I am so glad we did it, cause the weather was beautiful! After the jog, Salome and I set up a little gas braai on the roof of our building and braai'd ourselves some lekker boerewors! We had boerewors, garlic bread, mash and lettuce o and boiled eggs. For desert fruit and cheese cake - o wait we still have to eat the cheesecake. To top everything off, we had our lunch with Nederburg Lyric. JUM!

Wind shields

Sunday evening we attended our second Vagina Monologues show. It was amazing, again! Every time you go to one of those shows, it just opens your eyes once again. You just realize how much women go through and that some really need help and respect.

Just a quick follow up on my previous Vagina Monologues post:

The Korean Comfort Women are still going to Seoul every wednesday to protest at the Japanese Embassy in hope for an apology. 13 January 2010 was their 900 th protest and still nothing from the Japanese Government.

Three million girls get circumcised yearly through blades, knives and glass shards. Please, if you can get involved - these people need all the help and attention they can. You can go to www.vday.org for more information and shows in your area. Also if you want to host a Vagina Monologue show, this is the website to go to. Spread the word!!

I hope you enjoyed my very long post and photo's. To be continued very soon...

Leave me a comment, love you all! x

Kickin' it in Korea with the fam

For nearly 2 months I have been counting the days and scratching days off the calender awaiting my family's arrival at Gimhae Airport, Busan. Off course I arrived at the airport almost 2 hours early as the excitement was killing me.

There's not much to do at Gimhae except for sitting and waiting at one of the two cafe's. One was called Sand & Food, so naturally I chose the other one. I spent most of my time chatting on the phone with my dear friend Cecilia back home, trying to concentrate on staying busy and not fainting. It was so excited I struggled to breath. After my call back home I positioned myself at the gate waiting for the family to get off the plane. Off course at that time, the plane was still in the air. I never appreciated my ipod more than that day. Eventually the plane landed and a few minutes later I saw my brother coming around the corner followed by my mom and my dad. O and the tears. My dad and my brother saw that the luggage were taking off the carousel and my mom came to meet me. None of us said anything for the first 5 minutes... pff girls!

It was the most amazing feeling in the world to see my family in Korea. At the same time it was so surreal and weird.

We got into a taxi - that ripped us off by the way - and he took us to the Novotel in Haeundae. I threw a few words in Korean towards the taxi driver and impressed the parents with my very limited ability to speak the language. Off course it sounded very grand, but one Korean word sounds like a sentence to someone who doesn't know the language. Anyways we got to the Novotel in one piece and was sent up to our rooms. I was in Heaven at this point, because my whole family is in Korea and I get to stay in the hotel with them. Goodbye suckie, small Korean flat.

In the morning we enjoyed a lovely buffet breakfast at the hotel and started to get ready to go to Kyungsang so that I can show everyone where I live. At the flat we unpacked the suitcase of goodies that came all the way from home - easter eggs, NIKNAKS, top deck chocolates, clothes and SHOES o and a HEAT magazine! All the things I absolutely can't live without and can't get in Korea. I also received gifts and a beautiful card from my dear grandmother.
At the flat we searched the internet for another hotel that was better than the Novotel. The Novotel was dirty and each room doesn't have its own aircon/temperature control. So later that day we moved to the Westin Chosun hotel just down the street.

The parentals picked up a bug that came all way from Dubai so they stayed home to get better. Luckily we moved hotels.. Can you imagine being sick and stuck in bed in a filthy hotel without air conditioning??

Since my family arrived, Busan's weather was amazing! The sun was shining and spring was really in the air (right until they left again off course). My brother and I spent the rest of the day wondering along the beach, playing guitar and that evening we went for a lovely Russian dinner with our fellow South African friends. After dinner we went for drinks at Eva's and met up with a few of the other people. Frank got to meet some of our Korean friends and share some shots and drinks with them.

It's hard explaining how it felt having my whole family with me in Korea. It's beyond awesome! I got to show them everything, introduce them to a few people and they even visited school and participated in one of my classes.





On Sunday we took the subway to Sasang where we met up with Marie and boarded a bus to Jinhae to attend the Cherry Blossom festival. This time of year is Cherry Blossom time. It was beautiful. On the festival grounds there were traditional Korean stalls with basically everything you can think off. Check out the photo's below..


Larwes..

Shark/whale or dolphin ... (really not cool!!!!)


Chicken feet and stuffed squid

kimchi



During the week we had the privilege of having dinner at my co-teachers house. It was a great experience to be invited into a Korean home for dinner. Even better because I had my family with me. This was the first encounter the family had with Korean food and Korean chop sticks. We had delicious wine, pork and beef - barbecued as well as rice with radish. You should've seen my dad trying to pick up a slice of paper thin radish. He discovered that wrapping beef, radish and onion in salad leaves are absolutely devind! In the end he managed fine :) For dessert they treated us with jummy ice creams and the best fruit you have ever tasted!


I also introduced the rest of the Du Preez gang to one of my grade 4 students and her mom. Lily and Soo Young. They took us out for Korean BBQ to one of my favorite Korean restaurants. My parents absolutely love Korean BBQ and my dad showed off his new chop stick skills and that he knows how to wrap meat in leaves. During this night they got to meet 'kimchi'. My brother asked: Wat is daai weird, sif rooi goed? HAHA Dinner was amazing and was enjoyed with small glasses of beer and good company. Another introduction took place on the night of the BBQ - My mother discovered Korean coffee... YUM!


The following night, I took them to the doughnut theater. The best doughnuts on earth! Wait for it... wait for it (drum roll please) KRISPY KREAMS!!! As we watched the sweet treats on the doughnut treadmill making their way towards the glaze waterfall, I immediately went inside to buy two just so that they could taste. There was no way I could wait until after dinner. After devouring the jummy doughnuts we met with Ellie. Ellie was my previous grade 5 co-teacher. I love her. I got to meet her very sweet daughter that night as well. Ellie took us to a traditional chicken restaurant where the chicken is served with chinese medicine.





This Thursday my family came to school. The faces of the students were priceless, they couldn't understand where all the 'englishe' people came from. I introduced my parents to the school cafeteria and lunch. Seeing them eating out of these school plates which we call prison trays, was hilarious!! After lunch we had coffee in the Principal's office and he presented both my parents with gifts. What a big honour!






This week was absolutely amazing, we got watch movies together, my ma het my rug gekrap and we ate delicious food. The weekend started, true to South African tradition, with a stormers rugby game in an Irish pub (that opened especially for us). We introduced our Korean friend, Jared, to rugby and I think he enjoyed it very much. After the match we went to Jagalchi fish market. Jagalchi is a great experience and something a lot of people need to see, but once again it proves that if we continue to fish and slaughter like we do at the moment, our oceans will be empty in no time.













The last day of the visit Jared and Han took all of us to a baseball game. Go Lotte Giants!!! This was incredible! I never thought I'd be able to sit through a 4 hour baseball match in the cold and actually enjoy it. We even managed to get on TV 3 times. National Korean TV, mind you!












The last evening the four of us spent together at the hotel with a lovely dinner in yet another Irish pub. Monday I went to school with tears in my eyes and luckily got the last period off so I left for the hotel a little earlier. We had just enough time to catch the airport bus and off we went. The longest hour bus ride I have ever taken. Every minute of it sucked. As much as I wanted to be with my parents and enjoy the last few moments in Korea I couldn't help but feel sad. It just sucks knowing that they are going home, to my home, and leaving me behind in Korea. So what if that sounds like me being a baby. I was a big fat baby ... but what the hell. They are my family and I love them! :)



The goodbye was really really hard, but better than the previous one. I will see them again and be home in four months. I can't wait! But until then, there's still a shit load of stuff I want to do in Korea and I plan on enjoying all of it!!

x