Yikes... so I'm not even going to start on the apologies... Even with my previous track record, nearly 19 months is a long time not to have posted any updates! In my defence, updates were going up regularly (for a while there anyhow :P) on my travel blog at Ally Around the World. That said, I have now been home for nearly 2 months and have thus far still failed at updating... and now I have no idea where to start...
Korea was an awesomely fun amazing experience. Much as I may have occasionally hated the tedium of doing the same thing day in and day out at work, my colleagues were pretty great and the kids were hilarious. They never once failed to brighten my day with some antic or another. I am so glad I got to work at Hanam, I am not sure my experience would have been half so awesome anywhere else. That, combined with the chance to go hiking nearly every weekend (seriously amazing - check it out); the wonderful friends I made at work; my fellow expats and all the climbers at the rock climbing gym (I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH! 정말 보고 싶어요 ㅠ.ㅠ); the chance to hang out with Min Jung and her family; and, of course, the food; meant that I never once regretted my decision to go. Even though I only managed to get up to Seoul for dance once every couple of months, I managed to have a seriously fun year (especially once I decided to use my excess prep time to pick up some Korean) exploring, learning and eating my way through a new country and culture. It didn't hurt of course that I managed to save enough money to send myself over to China and North Korea for my summer holiday (definitely an experience! Anyone interested in the latter should check out YPT for the best tours at the best prices), Japan for winter break (where I got to visit Ayumi and Erika and Tommy and Jack!!! And go skiing in the most awesome powder ever!!!) and still have enough left over for a 6 month-long overland trek beginning in Cambodia and finishing up in France (hitting Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia (including Borneo), Brunei, Singapore, China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Transnistria, Ukraine, England and Belgium along the way (okay, so there may have been some flying in there towards the very end)). And now, I'm back. And not entirely sure what to make of that... except that, as much as I desperately want to leave again, I am now stuck here for the foreseeable future - both for happy reasons and for bureaucratic ones. The most pressing at the moment is the need for me to stay in the general region of home for the next 4 months in order to retain my provincial health coverage. More excitingly, however, is the need to be around for my sister's wedding next summer and that of one of my best friends next fall. After that, all bets are off ;).
Much love,
Ally
Korea was an awesomely fun amazing experience. Much as I may have occasionally hated the tedium of doing the same thing day in and day out at work, my colleagues were pretty great and the kids were hilarious. They never once failed to brighten my day with some antic or another. I am so glad I got to work at Hanam, I am not sure my experience would have been half so awesome anywhere else. That, combined with the chance to go hiking nearly every weekend (seriously amazing - check it out); the wonderful friends I made at work; my fellow expats and all the climbers at the rock climbing gym (I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH! 정말 보고 싶어요 ㅠ.ㅠ); the chance to hang out with Min Jung and her family; and, of course, the food; meant that I never once regretted my decision to go. Even though I only managed to get up to Seoul for dance once every couple of months, I managed to have a seriously fun year (especially once I decided to use my excess prep time to pick up some Korean) exploring, learning and eating my way through a new country and culture. It didn't hurt of course that I managed to save enough money to send myself over to China and North Korea for my summer holiday (definitely an experience! Anyone interested in the latter should check out YPT for the best tours at the best prices), Japan for winter break (where I got to visit Ayumi and Erika and Tommy and Jack!!! And go skiing in the most awesome powder ever!!!) and still have enough left over for a 6 month-long overland trek beginning in Cambodia and finishing up in France (hitting Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia (including Borneo), Brunei, Singapore, China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Transnistria, Ukraine, England and Belgium along the way (okay, so there may have been some flying in there towards the very end)). And now, I'm back. And not entirely sure what to make of that... except that, as much as I desperately want to leave again, I am now stuck here for the foreseeable future - both for happy reasons and for bureaucratic ones. The most pressing at the moment is the need for me to stay in the general region of home for the next 4 months in order to retain my provincial health coverage. More excitingly, however, is the need to be around for my sister's wedding next summer and that of one of my best friends next fall. After that, all bets are off ;).
Much love,
Ally