The last two weeks in Korea I spent at the school, on the beach and hanging out with my closest friends - those still in the ROK.
Rachel and I made sure to fit in some tanning sessions at Gwangan Beach after school and to end Summer Camp with a bang. The kids did some really cool role plays and made tuna sandwiches which they ended up liking. (at first they thought it was really disgusting!)
Every night was jam packed with dinners, I had a lot of people to greet and a lot of food to eat for old times sake. San geopsal, vietnamese, chinese take aways and many more jummy korean dishes.
The last proper weekend I spent with Frankie, Yuna and Rachel. Saturday night we had a girls night that started off with a lovely Italian dinner at Aiola followed with a drink on the beach. After basically swimming we had to get rid of all the sand and headed towards Fuzzy navel's disgusting bathroom. All three of us (Rachel, Yuna and myself) attempted washing our feet in a very small unstable basin. It was so much fun! Once we were clean Yuna bought herself a fire shot. It was so sick! The shot itself consists of 4 or 5 poisonous layers of alcohol, but the show that goes with the shot was awesome! All of the bartenders flaired and the last one was with fire and just before they lit the shot one of the barmen blew fire - it got the crowd very excited! That evening we ended up in Ghetto ... enough said :)
Late Sunday afternoon we all met up at Heaundae beach for a quick swim before the beach closes at 7 and for a round of beach bats.
Tuesday was my last day at school and we celebrated it with the kids having a mini class party and awards day. It was great fun and a great way to end off a year of teaching.
After school Frankie took me for my first Jimjilbang experience. A jimjilbang is basically a sauna and an area with a few small pools with various temperatures. It's a relaxing place where you can go hang out with other girls - naked. Sounds very strange, I know but it was not uncomfortable at all. Everyone in the jimjilbang is naked and so intune with their bodies and so confident that you can't help trying to fit in. Having not bathed in almost a year it was really nice to just chill in an oversized bath tub looking over Gwangan beach and the beautiful bridge. The showering experience after the baths/pools was different. :)
They have a few mirrors lining a wall and in front of each mirror their's a small stool. Each section has its own hand shower thing and a bowl. So you sit in front of this mirror on your small (korean but sized) chair and clean yourself. Very strange. We had a good scrub down. Just around the corner from the sitting shower thing you can go for a full body scrub. This scrub/service is performed by ajima's (older ladies) in their undies and they scrub you all over literally until you shine. Sorry I don't have any photo's for this part ..
Tuesday night Cindy took Rachel and myself out for dinner in Seomyeon and she gave me a beautiful dress as a goodbye present. So sweet!!! After dinner we went to Rock and Roll bar for a night cap. Needless to say you never just drink 1 drink - Rachel and I eventually changed into our new dresses and did a mini photo shoot in the bar.
Wednesday was Frankie's last evening in the Bu, so we met up for drink at Ol 55. Every Wednesday night is open mic night at Ol 55 and it was so cool to listen to new talent and to have a few drinks with friends. Jen, one of Frankie's friends just came back after a few months and was great seeing her again too. After everyone left, Frankie and I got stuck infront of the Family Mart with chips and coke. I miss her so much and really really hope that I will see her again soon. May our travelling paths cross again very soon!
Thursday and Friday I tried to sort everything out for the big leaving day. I had to cancel my phone, internet, bank accounts and settle all my final bills. What a mission. I managed to do that and go to my mani, pedi and hair appointments. How's that for multi-tasking?
Friday I tried to finish everything and to get my packing done as well as clean Salome's new flat. I met up with Melinda, another South African friend, and we went shopping and for a lovely lunch at Thursday Party. Melinda was on the same flight as me back home. Later that evening we went to Eva's for a last few drinks. The evening was really weird. There was so much I wanted to do and so many people I wanted to see and I was really nervous about going home. Eventually I ended up home 2 hours before we had to leave for the airport and I just hung out with Rachel and Yuna. We were just taking pictures and joking around at home. We all fell asleep and they woke up just before I had to go to the airport. I was so happy that they stayed with me until we had to go. I would've been depressed if I had to sit there by myself. They are such good friends!
At 5 o' clock (am) Saturday morning, Melinda and I found a taxi to take us to Gimhae airport. We arrived slightly early but still had time for breakfast right after check in. It still didn't really sink in that we were flying home, but luckilly we were so tired that we slept the whole way to Seoul. We had about 3 hours in Seoul before our next flight left, but it went so quickly. We just had time to check in, go to the bathroom and to shop. We bought some perfume and soju! The next flight was about 5 hours long and hectic with turbulance. At one stage the plane was nose diving for a few seconds. The air hostess fell in the corridor and the guy that sat in front of us definately needs a new 'ontie' now cause he was screaming like a girl. It was one of the most scariest things I have experienced in a long time. The next flight was only 2 hours and lot better that the previous one.
Salome tipped me off that there's a really nice lounge in the Kuala Lampur Airport. As soon as we arrived Melinda and I went searching for the lounge. It's the coolest thing, you pay a certain amount and then you get a 20 minute free massage, you can eat as much as you like from the buffet, free flowing beer, water and any drink you like and you can even take a shower. This was awesome seeing that our next flight was going to be 10 and a half hours.
As we were sitting by the gate waiting to board, I saw someone looking familiar approaching us. It was oom Shorty and tannie Letitia. What a small world!!! I grew up with these people and all of a sudden all of us were standing in an airport in Malaysia. Crazy!
After 14 and a half hours we finally arrived in Cape Town. What a beautiful sight seeing the mountain first thing in the morning. It was such a beautiful day in Cape Town - the perfect way to say welcome back. As soon as I was able to see my parents standing outside waiting for me - I saw that the video camera was already glued to my dad's hand. So sweet! Immigration and luggage claim was really quick and painless but then I got pulled off for customs and the dude made me declare $6 soju and 2 small bottles perfume. Luckily he didn't find the other things I was hiding :)
Being back home was awesome! At first it felt a little weird, but you get back into the groove of things pretty quickly. We had a feast on Sunday and my mom even made malva poeding for desert - my favorite. After lunch my friends started showing up one by one of my surprize welcome back party. How cool is that? My mom and Santie organised it all. It was soooooooooo good seeing all my friends again!! I really missed them so much and loved catching up with them. I even had them taste some soju!
It's good to be home!!!!
