Hong Kong in pictures

Victoria Harbor

Victoria Harbor

New year’s eve at Victoria Harbour

Fireworks at Victoria Harbour

Hiking Dragon’s Back

Hiking Dragon’s Back

Sunset leaving Hong Kong

It’s a nice day for a Korean wedding

Last month, I had my first opportunity to attend a Korean wedding. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty excited.

My first protocol was, of course, to sort out what I was going to wear. In Ireland, people make a pretty big effort when they are going to a wedding. In fact, some guests make it their mission to look better than the bride and groom. Hats, fasteners, make up, eyelashes, nails, dress, shoes, handbags.

Essentially, the embodiment of Helen from Bridesmaids.

I posed the question about what an appropriate outfit was and received vastly difference titbits of information.

‘I’ve seen people go in camping clothes.’

‘Just don’t wear anything in light colours, I heard stories about brides who got deadly offended if one of the female guests wore even pink or beige outfit.’

‘It really depends on how close you are to the people who invited you. DO NOT go casual – people will gossip about you if you do and the bride and groom will be pleased if you make an effort – You might end up in their wedding photos (don’t want to be the only one in jeans right?). Wear something office smart or smart casual and don’t go too much above the knee if you wear a dress.’

It was like a wedding minefield. 

I decided on a simple dress. Not too casual, not too fancy, not too bright, not too dark. I felt like the Goldilocks of Korea.

The day arrived and we made our way to Gangnam. The groom worked for Samsung and so the wedding would take place in the Samsung event hall there. We had been informed, before we got there, that we should put money into an envelope for the bride and groom. We would arrive, sign our name, pass over the money and take a ticket for the dinner that would follow the ceremony. The amount of money you give, we were told, would be based on how close you were to the bride or groom.

We then made our way into the wedding hall. It was huge and not at all what I was expecting. It was not ‘traditionally’ Korean. I think I was expecting something along these lines.

What I found, though, was completely different.

This wedding was very modern and, from what I have since been told, this is becoming more and more common for Korean couples.

The only real ‘Korean’ aspect of the wedding was the hanboks worn by some members of the wedding party.

The only other traditions that this Korean wedding followed was the fact that it lasted around just 20 minutes, people talked quietly as it happened, a man in front of me answered his phone and once we ate our food, we all left and went to find our own fun. No rock the boat at this wedding.

The best part for me, however, was when a Korean couple stood up during the ceremony to sing ‘A Whole New World’.

Amazing.

Turning 28.

I had another birthday here in Korea. I turned 28, which officially makes me 29 in Korea. What a ridiculous country. Oh well, there are worse places I could celebrate turning another year older.

My beautiful 6th grade class got me a cake and sang happy birthday. Adorable.

My birthday also happens to fall on Pepero day. Here, you give pepero to your loved ones to make them tall and skinny. My students were being artistic.

Eating birthday cake with chopsticks. How else?

Such a cute birthday gift from one of my fifth grade students.

Enjoying the autumn colours of Bundang park.

Enjoying the beautiful autumn colours in Bundang park.

‘No! I don’t want to turn 28! Oh, ok then. Pass the tequila.’

Autumn colours, Korea 2016

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.

This September, we made a decision. The decision was that we would stay in Korea a little longer. We will return to the UK in July. The decision was giving me sleepless nights until it was hastily made. I keep the fortune I received in Tokyo in mind, if ever I have any doubts.

Jeju Island: Seogwipo

“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”

This September, three of some of my best friends paid me a visit. I hadn’t seen them in over a year. Here are some of the highlights of our jaunts through Seoul and Jeju.

Tokyo

This summer, we spent a long weekend in Tokyo.

The trip got off to a pretty disastrous start. We checked in online but didn’t realise that this was going to put us at the end of a pretty long queue at the airport. So, yes, I cried. We did not have time to be at the end of this queue and were on our way to missing our flight. By the grace of a sympathetic steward, we were able to skip to the front, grab our boarding passes and sprint to the boarding gate.

We would have been relieved had the plane not been delayed.

Eventually, we made it to Japan. We had visited Fukuoka before but this was our first trip to Tokyo. I feel like we were able to cram in a lot of things into our three day visit. We also got to meet up with friends that we hadn’t seen in over a year.

Tokyo skyline

Tokyo skyline 

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo by night 

Hozomon

Hozomon

Street food, Asakusa

Imperial Palace

Shibuya Crossing 

Super Mario cars, Shibuya Crossing 

Wedding at the Meiji Jingu Shrine 

Japanese food 

When it was time to leave, our trip home was no less eventful. We couldn’t get a taxi, waited outside in the rain for longer than we should have and then had to sprint like Usain Bolt to the train station. By the skin of our teeth, we managed to get the last possible train to the airport. We were feeling pretty smug. That was until the air steward decided to tell us that the flight *might* be cancelled or delayed due to ‘adverse’ weather conditions. We were definitely lacking in the luck department when it came to travel on this trip.

We managed to board the plane on time, but had the most horrific flight home with the worst turbulence I had ever experienced.

Tokyo was worth it though. 

The ‘easy’ road to South Korea.

‘It will be so easy.’

‘You’re a qualified teacher? You’ll get a job in seconds!’

‘Don’t worry about it. You’re stressing over nothing.’

Flash forward 5 weeks later and I was worried about it. I was very worried about it.

The journey to South Korea has not proved to be an ‘easy’ road. I like to think of myself as someone who looks at life objectively. Yes, I might have had a lovely flat and a secure job, but there was always an inkling to travel. If I had this feeling in my twenties and I didn’t act on it, would it ever go away? Would I always think to myself, ‘what if?’

I didn’t really want to take the risk.

However, quitting my job and leaving the country was also proving to feel increasingly risky. Who knew?

Myself and my long suffering partner had been discussing it for months. We had drawn up countless pros and cons lists. Here’s how it went:

Pros of leaving: better work/life balance, new experiences, opportunity for travel.

Cons of leaving: missing family and friends, fear of the unknown, lack of job security when we return.

We went round in circles on numerous occasions. When we had a disastrous day at work, one of us would ceremoniously declare,

‘THAT’S IT! WE’RE MOVING TO KOREA! IT’S A DONE DEAL.’

Yet of course, it wasn’t. The following day, we would feel completely different. We would feel the warmth and comfort of the familiar and would never want to leave the safety of our cocoon.

The real turning point? Visiting my partner’s sick grandma in hospital one sleepy Sunday afternoon. We listened as she told us stories only those with real life experience could. My partner quietly slipped in that we had begun to consider the prospect of moving to the other side of the world, apprehensive about her response.

‘Well that sounds great. Why wouldn’t you?’ She declared.

That was it. If she could be so confident about it, why couldn’t we?

We decided on the drive home from the hospital that afternoon that we would be moving to South Korea. There was no turning back. Seriously though, the visiting hours were up. There was literally no turning back. A feeling of both excitement and dread began to rise in my stomach and would prove difficult to shift for the following months of my life.

What happened in those next few months proved to be somewhat of a blur. We walked the Green Mile towards the head teacher’s office and announced that we were leaving; we began the laborious process of moving out of our flat and perhaps the most difficult task of saying goodbye to family and friends.

Whilst making these significant life changes at home, there was also the small matter of what would happen when we actually arrived in Korea. It was proving increasingly difficult to work with recruiters to actually get a job. We were sending up to twenty emails a day, yet were getting the exact same responses back. We took it upon ourselves to move to Korea without a job or a place to live. We would stay with my brother until we got ourselves established there. Lucky him.

Flash forward 5 weeks later and I was worried about it. I was very worried about it. Still very worried about it.

I woke up at 4am in a cold sweat, wondering what I had done. 

6 months later, and we are working in our ideal location with a perfect job. The journey here may not have been easy, but you know what?

I think it’s been worth it.