My Quarter Century Birthday

I am now officially a quarter century old! I just turned 25 on Sunday May 6th! Unfortunately, it’s also the first time in my life that I am celebrating my birthday without my family. I wanted to make sure that I kept the entire weekend busy as possible with fun activities that are not centered on drinking alcohol, which seems to be the only activity people of my age want to do. Instead I got creative with my plans and made it a weekend of eating, joking around, laughing and more eating with the friends I made in South Korea. These friends truly made my birthday memorable and an experience I will take with me forever!

On Saturday, my two friends Victoria and Yana made a mango birthday cake with dried mango chunks inside the cake! I never knew that was even possible but the cake was delicious! I had seconds and even thirds. This was right after I enjoyed some yellow chicken Thai curry for lunch. I had over 15 friends come down to Busan from all over South Korea (Seoul - Noelia, Hopcheon - Ogechi , and Uiryeong- Pelisa). They really enjoyed the Thai food and the cake as well. After lunch and cake, we wanted to go on a Pirate Ship cruise but that got cancelled because the original plan was at 4pm for the cruise but on Thursday I was informed that the times have been changed from 4pm to either 11am or 2pm. That means it would have affected the lunch plan and to those who are coming from faraway places. Instead I thought we could go watch Avengers in 4D or on Imax but the show times were not good for the majority. So we decided to go bowling! Only 7 of us showed up but we managed to have tons of fun and Nav was the best bowler out of the group. Although I got a turkey (3 straight strikes) on the 10th and final frame but I still managed to only finish second. Right after bowling we took a taxi to Daedaepo beach to see the Musical Fountain show. We waited for an hour for the show to start but when it did it was really good! Apparently, it’s the biggest musical fountain in the world. You can check out the pictures for yourself and let me know what you think of it.
All of this fun got me really tired and I woke up at 10am for all of this and by now it was 9pm. I decided to head home and I met up with the two guests who were sleeping over at my place at Seomyeon. We took a taxi back to my place and I cooked them dinner as a treat for coming all the way down to Busan. Both Pelisa and Ogechi were wonderful guests and they even left a birthday gift when I fell asleep. By the time we ate, talked, and slept it was 2:30am.

The next day I woke up at 7am. Yes, 7am on my own birthday but this was not the first time I did this. I remember working at the banquet hall on my 22nd birthday and I remember doing a walk-a-thon at 8am on my 18th birthday too so it was fine with me. This time around I woke up at 7am in order to be at BEXCO around 8:30am to take part in the bridge walk. Once a year, the Diamond Bridge (Gwangalli Bridge) is open to the public to walk on the bridge and to go from BEXCO to Namcheon (which is 5 subway stops away). Pelisa, Ogechi and I were the last three foreigners to finish walking the bridge because we took our sweet time taking tons of pictures. We did cartwheels, we did jumps, we did Romanesque poses, and other random crazy poses. We had tons of fun and fortunately we finished 3rd last overall because two Korean kids from different family stalled their parents because they didn’t want to walk anymore or they just wanted to sit down on the bridge. At least it helped us finish ahead of them. After all that walking, we along Gwangalli beach until we arrived at the Barbie’s Day lunch meat buffet at 1:20pm. Slowly everyone, all 16 of us, showed up by 2pm and by now I was grilling chicken and duck while my friends were grilling baby octopus, beef, and pork to chow down on. It’s a meat buffet after all so it was unlimited amount for 17,500 won a person. There was rice, sweet and chili chicken, and other small dishes, along with desserts and fruits to go along with the all of the meat we could grill. After everyone was stuffed, we slowly wandered to Mango Six for more desserts. I had a mango coconut smoothie and it was the best. At Mango Six, Victoria and Yana once again surprised me with a huge birthday card and more gifts! I was really surprised! Finally, everyone slowly drifted back to home and other plans because the next day was Monday (work day)! However, Victoria, Yana, Nav and I went to a Burger and Pasta place to relax, chat, play a game called 20 Questions, and eat some more. This time around I only had potato wedges because I was still full from lunch. Around 9:30pm we out to beach to play with the sparklers and that’s when I noticed the moon so big and bright. Then I remember someone telling me that May 6th is when the moon will be the closest to the Earth or something like that. I guess May 6th is truly a special day because not only is it my birthday but it’s also my eldest niece’s birthday, my favourite hockey goalie’s birthday (Martin Brodeur), and somewhere in Philippines it’s the Mango Festival! Anyways, I got home around 10:15pm and called my family and friends back home. I finally fell asleep by 1:30am and I had to wake up at 7am again because it was back to work! The weekend flew by so fast but it was a lot of fun! I will remember this weekend for the rest of my life and the wonderful people who made it special as possible. All the people who showed up for the Thai food (Ananda, Erin, Jay, Jeongeun, John, Karen, Nav, Noelia, Ogechi, Pelisa, Steven, Victoria, Warren and Yana), I would like to thank them so much! All the people who showed up for the Barbie’s Day Meat Restaurant (Elizabeth, Ezra, Jason, Mincer, Nav, Niki, Ogechi, Pelisa, Soko, Steven, Vivek, and Yana), I would like to thank them so much as well. Finally, I am exhausted and dire need of rest so I am going to take it easy for the remainder of the week until Friday night and the weekend craziness shall begin all over again with brand new adventures and with a boat load of fun!

Gwangalli Beach-E!

This weekend was practically spent at Gwangalli beach (Koreans pronounce it beach-e with a huge emphasis on the E). On Saturday I took part in the Gwangalli Eobong Festival (Fish Festival). There were many arts and crafts tents for children to participate in but all I did was design my own button pin. I also took some photos of the parade so check them out. Afterwards we headed out to Nampo-Dong to eat Thai food for dinner and watch Avengers (second time for me). It was a fun day but exhausting with all that walking and travelling because Nampo-Dong and Gwangalli are not close together. They are at least 25 minutes taxi ride away.

On Sunday, I was back at Gwangalli beach to enjoy a picnic with different set of friends. Tons of fun and Steven cooked lunch for all of us! He even made a chicken dish specially for me and my other friend who doesn't eat beef either. He also made desserts! Chocolate cookies! Afterwards Andrew, Erin and I just hung out at his place until 9pm.

The weekend was tiring but luckily the students have exams on Monday to Wednesday so I don't have to teach anything. I am looking forward to next weekend because it's going to be a special weekend for me.

Crazy Coincidence

I used my time wisely over the weekend to rest and relax at my place. On Saturday I volunteered at the Boys Orphanage. This is my third time helping out and this time I went by myself. I met a new friend named Vivek David. He's also Sri Lankan Tamil, he's also from Toronto, Canada, he's also Catholic, and he went to Woburn C.I. That's the same school my sisters went for high school. He's 5 years older than me (so he's 30), and his siblings went to St.Thomas More (same elementary school I went to from JK-Gr.7)! He lived near the area I was growing up in when I was a little kid. It's so strange that we met up at a Boys Orphanage event in Busan, South Korea. Half way across the globe and I still meet people who are from STM or lived in Scarborough. That's crazy. I asked a fellow STM friend and she confirmed that she does know Vivek and his siblings who went to our elementary school. Although, I don't remember his siblings at St.Thomas More, my STM friends seem to be friends with Vivek's brother and sister.

After the orphanage, I met up with Jay and her friend Megan for lunch at a Thai restaurant in Nampo. Warren met up with us while we were shopping. All this time, the weather was very bad. It has been raining non-stop. We were supposed to go to the Musical Fountain show at Daedaepo but that got cancelled for the second time. Instead all of us went to go see Hunger Games at theatres. It was a good movie but it was very predictable, and I didn't even read the novel.

On Sunday, I stayed at home and caught up on Dexster. I am now at the beginning of Season 5. Hopefully I can catch up before the end of this month. As of right now I have 2 months left in Korea! I'm excited, anxious and nervous at the same time.

Warming Up

On Saturday April 14th was Victoria's house warming party. I decided to get creative with my dish and brought something other than my usual shrimp or chicken curry. My friends told me it was good but I think I could have done a better job of it if I had the proper ingredients. Regardless, all of us a great time with fun and laughter. I am considering to throw another potluck event at my place. Most likely in June because May weekends seem packed already. Victoria is a fellow Canadian but she lived in New Jersey for most of her life. She's a nice person but with a weird sense of humour. She thinks she's Korean because she lived in Korea for three years. She's like an older Filipino sister that I never wanted to have. Joking aside, she was a great host and a memorable event. The next day Jeongeun organized a picnic at Haeundae beach. Most of the people seemed busy on Sunday but few of us did show up and had a great time soaking up the sunshine. We also went to my favourite mango smoothie place, Mango Six, and had Dakjimm for dinner. Jeongeun even made kimbap for the lunch picnic and she's a wonderful chef. This weekend, I didn't do anything touristy because the last two weekends I have been doing things outside of Busan (Namhae and Jinhae). In less than a week away from payday and the 10th month anniversary of being here in Korea or basically 2 months left until I am back in Canada!

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry blossoms are everywhere in South Korea! On the weekend I went to Jinhae's Cherry Blossom Festival! It was absolutely beautiful there. It was a breath taking place and I truly enjoyed every second of it. However, I did not like the waiting at the bus terminals in Sasang (Busan) and then again in Jinhae. I waited in line at Sasang's bus terminal for 1.5 hours before my friend Soko and I were able to get on a bus. The bus ride was only 1 hour and 10 minutes. On our way back to Busan, we waited in line for 2.5 hours. It was brutal. Thank goodness we got in line at a reasonable time. The line was super long (as you can see from the picture), and the line was still like that after Soko and I got on the bus. Anyways, enjoy the wonderful cherry blossom pictures! On Sunday, I went to Dalmaji Hill and took more local cherry blossom pictures. Cherry blossoms were always my favourite kind of trees, well after mango trees, but they are indeed pretty. Too bad Canadian weather is not appropriate for these lovely trees. If it was, I would recommend every home buyer in the future to buy a cherry blossom tree for their backyard! The pics from Dalmaji Hill were really good and less crowded. This last picture shows the cherry blossoms on my school mountain. Like I said, it's everywhere and I like it a lot! Overall, it was a fantastic weekend of exploring!

Namhae Excursion

On Saturday, March 31st, 2012 I went to Namhae with 7 other friends from Busan: Nav, Yana, Soko, Karen, Victoria, Jay, and Jeongeun. The bus rides from Busan to Namhae and back was 2 hours each way and it was a great way for everyone to bond together as a group. This was my first trip in Korea since my trip to Daegu with Jay. I took so many photos as you can see. We attended a ceramics class and walked through the German village. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay longer to check out some hiking destinations but we did have a lot of fun. I would certainly come back again to this place if I were to stay back in Korea for another year. However, I am not going to renew my contract so my experiences and memories from Namhae will be everlasting through these images. On Sunday, I stayed at home and got a lot of things done for school. I also watched a Tamil movie called "Vaanam" (which means sky), cleaned my room, washed dishes, and I got everything prepared for the upcoming week. Next Saturday, I am going to go to Jinhae for the cherry blossoms. I can't wait to take pictures there because I have seen so many nice photos on google and from previous EPIK teachers who have been there already.

Checkpoint: 9 months

Three fourth of my teaching contract has been completed. In 3 more months I will be back in Toronto, Canada. This weekend I went and played Capture the Flag at Igidae park with bunch of people who I hardly knew. It was fun though. Tiring because it was on a mountainous park. The rest of the weekend I just went out for dinner with friends and just hung out. Nothing special because everyone was quite busy with other activities happening in and around Busan. I decided to enjoy the wonderfully warm weather and relax.

In the next three months I hope to have saved up enough money to pay off some of my debts from back home, explore many places in Korea as much as possible and book my flight ticket some time in late April. I need to look for a job when I am back in Toronto and I might even consider teaching abroad in another location if I don't get a job by the end of August. Teaching in Korea has given me a different perspective of education, the different cultural values and expectations of students and teachers, and of course the experience the deal with many issues that happen in everyday life that I would normally not face in Canada. Communication, understanding and social situations are drastically different from Toronto but Busan has its perks, such as cheaper cost of living, no tipping, cheaper taxi rides, cheaper to eat out than cook at home, and an efficient subway transportation system that makes TTC look like a medieval invention.

Anyways, I am looking forward to the next few months to enjoy my working vacation in South Korea but I am equally excited about coming back home!