Korea you will be missed. 

Goodbye!

So for one last time, Cheers from Kimchiland!

I was placed at a, how would the Koreans put it, ‘notorious’ school in a very poor area.  My area and middle school has been referred to as the Harlem of Daegu.  So yes teaching at one of the worst schools in Daegu was, let my put it this way, challenging.  I wanted to give up.  I wanted to pack my bags and go home.  But I didn’t.  I stuck through.  And that to me is a great accomplishment! Yes you might think how hard can it be to teach English to some of the most intelligent people on the planet, and in one of the best education systems in the world.  Well, I experienced another side that spectrum.  The majority of my students will not go to High school.  My school has one of the lowest academic ratings in the whole city and the kids’ behaviors attest to that!  My year started off pretty bad with the whole apartment saga, and then one of the students threatened another teacher with a knife.  Not the best introduction i’d say! I mention these things because I’m giving myself a pat on the shoulder.  Well done, you did great!  And I did.  I was a great teacher and the kids (well most of them) really loved me.  It was tough, really tough, but I made it through and now I am a stronger person.  I grew so much this year and that my friends, as MasterCard would say, is priceless.  I learned so much about myself and what I can accomplish.  I managed to live in a country where I don’t speak the language, am not to fond of the local cuisine and had my issues with the whole culture shock.  But I managed, no in fact I flourished.  Even so that I started to get really fond of Korea!  Not that I would want to live here permanently but Korea definitely has it’s up sides!  And there are so many things that I will miss dearly!

To my co-teacher I would like to say thank you.  She stuck by me and was always there when I needed her.  To all my new and amazing friends, damn, I’m gonna miss each and everyone of you so much.  It’s amazing how close you can get to someone when you are all experiencing the exact same thing.  If not for all my Epiker friends I would not have made it through this year!  And then to my school I would like to say, so long suckers!!!!!!!!!!  I will definitely be doing cartwheels in my heart tomorrow when I leave the Faksan behind!  But I will  wipe a hypothetical tear (i’m not much of a crier) when I board that Singapore Airlines flight on Saturday!

Korea, even with our love hate relationship I will never forget you or what I have learned this year.  It has truly been one of the greatest years of my life and I will cherish this experience forever.  To my fellow Epikers who decided to stay behind, good luck and enjoy every minute.  Before you know it your time here in Kimchiland will be over!  To the other Epikers returning to their ‘normal’ lives, the best of luck to you and I wish you all great success (Borat voice) upon all your future endeavours.

Korea, you made me laugh, you made me cry, you me scream and you made me jump!  I will never forget you!

Kimchi, to you I want to say, you can suck it!  I never want to see, smell or taste your ugly face ever again!

Cheers from Kimchiland!  It’s been good, real good!

217 km of the east coast of Korea there are these two small islands, more like two big rocks.  At first glance these rocks might seem insignificant even unimposing!  But these two volcanic rock formations are far more impressive than you could ever imagine.  Without any real value these rocks can easily be a symbol and representation of the Korean culture.  The Koreans call these rocks Dokdo and claim it as theirs.  The Japanese call them Takashima and also claims the sovereignty of the rocks.  The rest of the world calls these two rocks the Laincourt Rocks and really can’t be bothered who they belong to.

There is an ongoing dispute (among many others) between South Korea and Japan over the sovereignty of the rocks.  Although for all practical reasons the rocks belong to South Korea as they have 2 Koreans who permanently live on the islands.  Also there is a rotation of about 40 people (police officers, light house operators and other random folks) who lives on the islands.  South Korea has set up 2 cell phone towers, a helicopter pad and a giant South Korean flag that can be seen from the sky!  So the island belongs to Korea, get over it.  But Japan does not want to retract their claims of the rocks and that infuriates Koreans even more.  I completely get this because Korea has a lot of anger in them for all the wrongdoings by the Japanese in the past.  Koreans really suffered under Japanese colonialism, so much so that it was forbidden to speak Korean on the streets.  So I completely get their frustration when Japan continues to claim soemthing (even if it is a pair insiginificant rocks in the middle of the ocean).  But instead of just accepting the fact that Dokdo belongs to Korea in their hearts and move on, Koreans get very obnoxious and heated up whenever the topic is raised.  Like I wrote in a earlier post, one of my students actually threw me with her pen after I joked about Dokdo belonging to Japan.  Pictures of Dokdo is everywhere.  If you are in Korea and you read this, start looking out for these idyllic rocks.  On cars and buses bumper stickers that read (in English) Dokdo is ours, Giant stickers on restaurant windows, giant framed pictures in the subway stations.  Dokdo is everywhere.  Almost like in a dictatorship where the face of the leader is absolutely everywhere.  In fact Dokdo dictates so much of Korean thinking.  They get so passionate about something so ridiculous.  They get offended so easily by these rocks that they turn to violence.  They lose all rational thinking capabilities when Dokdo is mentioned.  It’s frightening.

During my vacation in Malaysia I met the nicest Korean couple.  They are both from Seoul and work as tour guides (the guy is actually a Korean tour guide in Malaysia).  And as the conversation jumped from one thing to another it quickly ended up at Dokdo.  The girl soon told me that it is my task and responsibility to tell everyone I meet that Dokdo belongs to Korea.  Because people need to know this.  I didn’t know what to say.  So I just smiled and changed the topic.  But that’s how they think.  They think if the whole world agrees with them that these two useless rocks belongs to them and not Japan that it will make any difference.  I’m sure the starving children in Sudan and the political prisoners in Iran are really concerned about this.  The Koreans are so high on Dokdo juice, there are even ‘dokdo riders’.  People going around the world spreading the Dokdo message.  Yes Dokso is pivotal to our existence.

I read on Wikipedia that when Japan announced that one or other day will be known as Takashima day Koreans went nuts.  They protested in front of the japanese embassy.  They decapitated pheasants, one man lit himself on fire and a woman actually cut off her fingers.  This all for two volcanic rocks in the middle of the ocean.  To make matters worse, these people have probably never even been to Dokdo because it is ridiculously expensive to go there!  Another thing that can be seen during these protests are Koreans eating the Japanese flag.  In Korea it is illegal to burn a country’s flag, so here they eat the flags to show their disrespect.

But Dokdo is Korea and Korea is Dokdo.  Everything that those two rocks symbolizes is a perfect representation of the Korean way of thinking and their culture.  They have a very troubled history and it is a continuous fight to leave their mark!

Dokdo belongs to Korea!

Cheers from Dokdoland!

Now it’s one year later, and I must admit that I had the most amazing year of my life!  It has been a non stop adventure, and even though things got a little monotonous towards the end I will never forget this experience!  Today I packed my boxes so that they can be shipped home.  It finally sunk in that I will be leaving Korea in very soon.  What makes this even more daunting is that I have absolute no plan for the future!  But now I am taking it one day at a time and will make the most of my last remaining days here in Kimchiland!

Cheers from Kimchiland (for now)

I got an email with the title “you know you grew up in the 90′s if …” and I immediately thought it is one of those annoying emails where you had to send it to 15 people and then you will go to heaven or something.  But as I read the email I felt very nostalgic about my childhood, and it reminded me of a world that does not exist anymore.  Yes I’m a tad melodramatic and even thought the 90.s only ended 10 years ago, so much has changed!

So I will highlight some of my favorite parts of the email and what it was like growing up in the 90′s!

YOU KNOW YOU GREW UP IN THE 90′S IF:

You remember collecting Tazo’s

I sure can.  During break time at primary school we went nuts with these.  You only got one in a packet of chips and I knew there are some kids that had like hundred!  I was in awe of them!

You remember watching Kiddeo, Pumpkin Patch and Zet.

Kideo

You remember 95 Rugby World cup slammers

You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons

In the days before cartoon network came to our shores we only had M-net.  And KTV’s saturday morning cartoons were the best!

You remember reading Goosebumps!

Sure do, I think I read all of them!

If you ever got a Zoo Biscuit in your lunch box!

Not only Zoo Biscuits but also bite size super C’s or Melrose cheese!

If you listened to the radio all day long just to record your favorite song:

We are definitely the last generation to use these!  I can remember a time before mp3′s and Cd’s took over.  I still had an original Walkman!

If you ever watched Full House or The Dinosaurs TV show:

You knew that Kimberley, the pink power ranger, and Tommy, the green power ranger, were meant to be together.

my favorite was always Jason the red one!

You remember holy moleys

If you haven’t always had a computer, and it was cool to have internet.  Windows 95 was the best:

We only got a computer in 96 and maybe internet only after the millennium turned!

Sesame street was actually Sesame street and not Takalani Sesame:

I don’t think I have ever watched Takelani, but i sure kan remember Sesamie!

If you know all Roxette songs!

If you collected trolls:

I don’t know if I collected them but I know my sisters and I had a few of them!

You know the Macarena:

Still do!

If you ever danced to Sexy Eyes:

This was one of the biggest songs in South Africa.  Every single teenager knew the word and whenever it came up spontaneously burst into dancing!  Brings back great memories especially the awkward school dances!

Growing up in the 90′s was super awesome and even though I would have preferred to have grown up in the 80′s, the 90′s in my eyes can be seen as the last simple generation.  We grew up without Facebook and internet and even cellphones.  TV was just becoming main stream in South Africa.  We still had a normal childhood!  Those were the days!

Cheers from Kimchiland!

Image via Wikipedia

So the Chinese celebrate their own new year.  It’s based on the lunar calendar.  Korea also celebrates this Lunar new year, and that meant that I had three days off just after my winter vacation.  Now being so close to China I thought it would be excellent to ring in the Chinese new year in China.  I booked my ticket and went through the motions to secure a Chinese visa for the second time.  Since I already went to Beijing in September, Shanghai was next on my list.  I got my ticket for super cheap, half the price of my ticket to Beijing and the flight from Korea to Shanghai was very empty.  I had all 6 Emergence exit seats all to myself!  I arrived in Shanghai and everywhere I looked there were people.  Millions and millions of people.  But it’s to be expected of the most populous city in the most populous country in the world!  I navigated my way on the super over crowded subways to my hostel, and as I got off at East Nanjing road station I can remember my first glimpse at the Pearl tower.  I was super excited to be in this world city.  I quickly dropped by bag at the hostel and started exploring.  I walked the entire length of the Bund, went on a very boring and money wasting sightseeing tunnel ride to the other side of the river.  I explored Pudong and took in the marvel of all the skyscrapers.  As it started to get dark I made my way back to the bund and took in the famous Shanghai illuminated skyline.  But even though it was new years eve the place was very deserted.  Where are the people?  Where are the tourists?  I went back to the hostel to try and find out if there will be any celebrations or parades for the new.  Apparently not.  Families get together and shoot fireworks, but it’s all done at home.  So coming to Shanghai for Chinese new year was not going to be what I imagined it to be.  At around 11:45 pm I strolled back to the bund and waited for the new year to announce itself.  There were fireworks everywhere and more people arrived.  But midnight came and went without a spectacular fireworks display.  Yes there were many fireworks but more random than anything else.  That was also my cue to head indoors as the crazy fireworks being lit up in the streets was a definite safety hazard.

The next day all of China embarked on the main sights of Shanghai and being squashed was basically the theme for the remainder of my time in Shanghai.  Being Chinese new year many establishments were closed thus making things a lot less interesting.  An itinerary that was supposed to keep me busy for two days could not even keep me occupied for one whole day.  I’ve seen all major Shanghai sights in my first day and a half and I had two more days to kill.  That;s when I realised that Shanghai over Chinese new year and 4 days there was not the best decision.  But I tried to make the most of it and got really creative with my sightseeing.  In the end the crowds triumphed over me and I decided to just get coffee and read my book for a whole afternoon! The rest of my time in Shanghai was very low-key.

Shanghai did not leave a great impression on me but I don;t think it’s the city, it’s just the timing of my visit.  Although I must admit that the Shanghainese are some of the rudest people I have ever come across.  This is in complete contrast with the folks from Beijing!  I also found that the Shanghainese to be somewhat on the gross side.  Spitting and puking more than average, kids urinating ON the sidewalks and so on! They are also very short!  I read that in the guidebook that the Shanghainese are very short, but they are all really tiny!  It got super angry when a very short guy, probably 19 or so, tried to pick pocket me.  Now I am very street smart when I travel and know where to carry what.  But on a quiet street on my way back to my hostel I decided to put my ipod in.  Waiting at a crossing with about for other people I suddenly felt a hand reach into my coat’s pocket.  I casually look to my side and saw that this little Shanghai midget is trying to grab my ipod.  Not only did I feel his hand in my pocket but also the bloody thing is connected to my ears.  I grab his arm and shove him very hard backwards.  I shout at him and curse him only to be looked at as if I am the jerk!  What an idiot.  If someone is twice your size in width and in height do not attempt to pick pocket him and fail.  You will come second my friend!  So when I think of Shanghai I think of that idiot!!!

All in all I would not want to go back to Shanghai!

Cheers from Kimchiland!

On our way from one temple to another our Tuk-Tuk driver casually asks if we’d be interested to visit the Cambodian Land mine museum.  Seeing that we needed a break from temples anyhow we said yes.  Very nonchalantly we strolled into the museum taking pictures of the workers/volunteers cleaning and rearranging the land mine display in the courtyard.

I started reading all the descriptions under the pictures on the wall and sadness struck my core.  Asian history is rarely covered in our curriculum so all I knew about the Vietnam war was that America fought Vietnam because there were communists and they didn’t like it.  I didn’t even think about the fact that the Vietnam war had a large effect on Cambodia.  Together with the many civil and regional wars, Cambodia is in fact a war torn country.  Something I did not know.  Apart from different political groups in Cambodia raging war against each other, The US, Vietnam, Thailand and Japan all played a part in tearing Cambodia up.

It’s shattering to realize that around 35 people are killed a month, every month, due to the aftermath of all Cambodia’s wars.  I read on wikipedia that one out of every 275 people have lost a limb.  That is shocking.  In the museum I read that  there are well over 3 million undetonated land mines in Cambodia.  These mines are everywhere – in the countryside, in villages, in the jungles.  All Cambodian guidebooks actually warn you that you should be very careful whenever you travel off the beaten track.

Here is the website of the Cambodia Land Mine Museum

watch?v=MqfywtjBjIM

Cambodia is one of those places that every traveller has to go to before they die. It’s a mystical magical place that can rub shoulders with the ancient wonders of Egypt.  Unfortunately the 1000 year old temples are the only remarkable thing about Cambodia.

The major temples of Angkor are all located near the town of Siem Reap.  If not for the temples Seam reap would just be another Cambodian village.    Siem Reap is the rest stop for all tourists exploring the temples, and unfortunately that’s all you experience.  Just thousands of tourists, from backpackers to package tourists, roaming the streets.  There is no real feel of Cambodia or Cambodian culture.  everything feels a bit fabricated.

Even with some of the most spectacular sites in the world, Cambodia is a very poor country and poverty lurks around every corner.    Coming from a country where poverty is a daily issue, I have become somewhat immune to it.  I know this sounds very selfish and arrogant but if you are faced with something everyday you tend to get used to it.  But this year in Korea took my away from the reality of seeing beggars on the street and people living in shanty towns.  Seeing people suffering after such a long time really broke my heart.  Little kids begging for food and people missing limbs going around with a sign asking for some help was just horrible.  It’s horrible that people have to live like that.  We gave what we could.  As with any poor country in Asia, I guess, a tourist is a walking talking shiny dollar sign and that is exactly how we were treated.  Apart from the staff at our hotel I found general Cambodians to be very rude.   They would stick a smile on their faces when they are trying to sell you something or convince you that you need to take a ride in their tuk-tuk.  But after the sixth”no thank you” that smile quickly goes away and is replaced with a look of disgust.  When they shouting out prices of things in the market they sound like whiney 3 year olds.  All of them.  The sounds of ‘one dollah’ coming at you from all directions was a little unnerving.  So I came to the conclusion that Seam Reap is just a stopover, a resting place, somewhere to recuperate and regain your strength for the next day’s tomb raiding.

Also it’s important never to be in a place for longer that is required.  It is possible to take most of the important sights in Siem Reap in 3 days.  We had a total of 5 days and it felt a little long.  But nonetheless I had a great time and it was magical to walk and climb inside the temples.  There is just something about walking in a 1000 year old structure that is difficult to put into words.  It’s just amazing.

I happened to have my birthday in Cambodia and although it’s very exotic and everything I missed celebrating my birthday with my friends.  But that doesn’t mean that my birthday wasn’t awesome.  I was treated to a helicopter ride/flight (I don’t know which one) around the magical Angkor Wat.  It was truly magical and something I will cherish for the rest of my life!

Cambodia was great and right up there with the awesomeness I experienced in Egypt!

Malyasia was probably the last place I thought I would be going this year.  But as I started looking into places to go for my Winter break Malaysia kept creeping up!  Adding that the flight tickets there were also the cheapest of all South east Asian destinations, it really was a no brainer.  Malaysia is tropical, located very close to the equator, just what I needed to escape the freezing Korean winter.  I really did not know what to expect from Malaysia and in a way I think that is what made the place so amazing!

Arriving in KL we were greeted with humidity.  It was easy enough to get a bus into the city from where we took a taxi to China town.  We hadn’t made any hotel reservations for Malaysia.  Once we got to China town we looked at about two or three different cheap hotels before settling on one decent enough.  We wasted no time and went about exploring the city.  We took the hop on hop off bus as this would take us to the city’s main sites.  KL was amazing and everywhere I went I was amazed by how green and lush the vegetation was in the city.  There were many mosques and older buildings that transpired you to a time of sultans and flying carpets.  Everywhere we went there were these traditional Indian eateries were the locals ate.  It was easy enough to decipher the malay menu and indulge in the Indian goodness.  If nothing else Malaysia is definitely a food destination.  I fell in love with Kuala Lumpur, the scenery, the people, the vibe, the trees – just everything!  One thing that I immedietly noticed was the friendliness of the people.  Everywhere we went people wanted to talk to us and smiled at us.  It was strange experiencing this, especially coming from Korea where this is not common practice.  But what made Malaysia even more memorable was the fact that these people were genuine.  In many South East Asian countries (or poorer countries) people usually are very friendly but it’s with an agenda.  They want your money, to them you are just a big walking dollar sign.  But in Malaysia we never got that impression.  The people were genuinely friendly, they didn’t want to sell us anything or take us on a tuk-tuk, nothing.  It was great.

Kuala Lumpur’s multi-cultural population adds to the splendor of the city.  The mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian groups makes Malaysia a melting pot of Asia.  From the architecture to the food these influences are visible everywerhe you go.  Kuala Lumpur is definitely among my top 10 World cities!

From Kuala Lumpur we set out to the UNESCO world heritage city Malacca about two hours south of the capital.  Malacca is great with Dutch and Portuguese architecture and a very small but vibrant China town.  The main sights of Malacca are all concentrated in the town square area so it wasn’t too hard to see everything in one day.  So that same evening we returned to the bus station to catch a 7 hour bus ride to Lumut, north of Kuala Lumpur.

We arrived in Lumut freezing at 4am.  The AC on the bus was set at the minimum temperature and we soon realized that all forms of public transport were freezing!  It seemed like we were the only people awake in Lumut and just sat on a little bench to wait for the ferry at 7am.  I venutered a little donw the street and spotted a little restaurant/shop down the street.  We had a cup of the most fowl tasting coffee at this little place until it was time to board the ferry for Pangkor Island.  The lonely planet described Pangkor Island as the girl next door of islands and it truly is.  Very queiet with limited cars on the island we had a blast.  We spent our three days chilling on the beach.  We even had a small island all to ourselves for a full day!  It was great!  One of the days we rented a scooter and explored the island on our own.  It was really hard for us to leave Pangkor Island but we knew we wanted to more of Malaysia.  So back on the mainland we took a bus to Butterworth where we would catch the ferry for Penang Island.  Georgetown is described as the mecca of backpacker destinations.  We arrived on Penang on the day of the Hindu festival Thaipusam, so finding a place to sleep proved to more difficult than anywhere in Malaysia.  After seeing some of the most horrible places I’ve ever seen (literally beds separated by office dividers) we found something suitable and affordable.  We wanted to take the Ferry to Langkawi the following morning but could only get seats for the day after so we had an extra day on Penang.  Penang truly is the food Island as I had some of the most delicious Indian food here.  Restaurants and local eateries are everywhere.  Gerogetown is also a UNESCO world heritage city and everywhere you go you are surrounded by history.  Georgetown is really pretty and it has a certain charm to it that I don’t think you can experience anywhere else.  Our time in Penang quickly ran out so it was time to head to Langkawi by ferry.

Langkawi is a collection of 99 islands and it is truly beautiful.  I was really hesitant to visit Langkawi because from everything I read about it on the Internet it sounded like a Malaysian Phuket.  But due to the Monsoon season on the east coast we we had no choice but to visit Langkawi.  And contrary to what I’ve read Langkawi was nothing like Phuket.  It still felt like Malaysia and not just a cluster of tourists.  Among the Europeans and other backpackers there were many locals as well.  We spent another three days on Langkawi and once again just relaxed.  One of the days we took an excursion to Palau Island where we snorkeled and saw some of the most beautiful tropical fish.  We also swam with black tip reef sharks and it was an amazing experience.  We ended our Malaysian trip in style by taking a sunset dinner cruise on a yacht.  After our yacht trip we went to the airport for our flight back to Kuala Lumpur. We got into KL at midnight and our flight to Cambodia was at 6AM so we decided to just sleep at the airport!

Malaysia is one of my favourite countries and definitely in my top 5.  It’s an ideal holiday destination where you still get a feel of the people and not just feel like a tourist among thousands of other tourists like Thailand.  The people are some of the friendliest and warmest people I have ever come across and the culture is amazing.  The food is so great that being back in Korea is so hard because nothing can compare to it!

Malaysia, what a wonderful place!  I will definitely go back one day!

It’s a new year, and even though the 2010 gave way to 2011 without a real break these past three weeks have been great.  Christmas was wonderful and new years weekend was just as enjoyable.  We ventured down to busan to count in the new year, and even though we literally froze our butts off it was a great party.  It was my first trip outside of Daegu since September and I needed a scenery change really bad.  We had an amazing time.  Being a large city we spent a lot of time on the subways navigating our way underground between the places we wanted to go.  It was all a bit exhausting.  So since our time here in Kimchiland is running out faster than you can say Kimchi we decided to make another weekend trip to the coastal city of Pohang.  Why go to Pohang? Well, to get away from it all.

Pohang is a small city on the east coast of Korea, famous for crab and POSCO, the second largest steel manufacturer in the world.  There’s not much to see or do in Pohang but that was not the objective of the weekend.  We wanted to go somewhere where we could just relax.  Pohang rose to the challenge!  Driving into Pohang we noticed a lot of snow.  Much more than had fallen in Daegu a few days earlier.  A day or two before we arrived Pohang experienced two days of snowfall which accumulated around 15 inches of the white stuff.  That’s the most snow I’ve seen in any urban area ever!  We quickly found our way downtown and booked into a nice centrally located motel.  We ventured into the streets of Pohang and immediately noticed that somethings different.  We could immediately feel that we were not in Daegu anymore.  Although the scenery in Korea hardly changes from place to place there was just something we could not pin down.  The people.  Even though Pohang is a small city with a very small foreigner community, we weren’t faced with uncomfortable glares and deer-headlight looks from the Koreans.  It is as if they didn’t even notice us.  My dear friend Diane immediately called it out and said it is as if the people in Pohang are a lot more progressive than their counterparts in Daegu.  How is this even possible.  Daegu is the third largest city in this bustling country and even claims to be the fashion capital of Korea.  Daegu is a very conservative city and I have come to the conclusion that many of the Daegunites cling on to an ‘old Korea’.  Like the pan-Africanists would say Korea for the Koreans!  I realize that it is completely different to live in a city as opposed to just visiting it, especially just for a weekend, but this weekend away made me experience a sence of liberation that I have not yet felt in Korea.  The people are super friendly and kind.  They help us without scurrying away when they notice the Waygooks.  The amount of english speaking Koreans was astounding, especially considering the size of Pohang compared to Daegu.  All in all it was wonderful.

The friendly vibe and the 15 inches of snow made for a awesome weekend.  We walked on a beach with snow.  Truly a rare sight and one I will not forget very soon!  Even though my Korea clock is ticking super fast now there is still so much I want to see and experience.  Pohang was a great and fresh way to start of this new year and a great memory to add to my Korea chapter.

That’s all for now, cheers from Kimchiland!