The Mother of All Parcels

Creme eggs for Easter// Pop Tarts for Nick, even though I taste tested two for him //
The missing shoe that I forgot to pack when I was in England//
If anyone from Sheffield is reading this...HENDERSON'S RELISH
This may be one of the best packets that I've had yet. All thanks to my mum.

Is anyone a massive relish fan?! Henderson's is a Sheffield made product and I love it on literally everything! Beans, cheese on toast, in soups, bolognese.

Happy Friday everyone!

Care Package V6

I need to say two big thankyous for some amazing gifts I've received in the past month.

Firstly my lovely ex colleague sent me a package with a skull and crossbones scarf inside which it's actually been cold eough to wear this week. This came along with a packet of Yorkshire mix to remind me of home and Curly Wurlys, chocolate I haven't eaten since I was about 8!

It's always a good day when you're sent Marks and Spencers' Percy Pigs (the very ones that inspired me to get me up to the top of Mount Seoraksan), accompanied by a dark mark lollipop and angel delight. Angel delight always reminds me of children's parties back when I was young

Thank you Lou and Lizzie for bringing out the Harry Potter loving child in me.

Care Package V5

It's like Christmas has arrived since my mum's visit. I've received two parcels and my big bag from home, so lots of new goodies to eat, wear and use!

I love all the weird and wonderful things that you can buy from Korea, but sometimes you can't beat a good old box of Cadbury's chocolate fingers, or shoes that fit properly! Those chocolate fingers got dunked straight into a cup of tea and turned into straws.

This one was from Lucy, the first proper friend I made when I started university. We met on the tour of the uni, before either of us had decided to go to Trent, so it was nice to see her there in my first lecture. If I only I'd known what I was letting myself in for with this girl with the looks like Princess Jasmine and the mind of a potty. There were lots of laughs and the occasional moment where I'd feel the pit of my stomach go when I couldn't actually believe what I was seeing/hearing. I think the doodles on the postcard, that you conveniently can't see here, say it all really! Thanks Luce!

Care Package V4

After 4 weeks of waiting avidly for this parcel it finally arrived this morning, sent all the way from the UK by my lovely friend Hannah.

It had been squished and prodded and was almost as flat as a pancake when it arrived but everything inside was fine.

Inside there was:

1. M&S Percy Pigs, some of my favourite sweets that I've shoved in my cupboard and am trying to forget about.
2. Limited edition Olympic themed peanut M&Ms. (Well done UK you did so well!)
3. A jelly Belly lollipop.
4. Jelly!
5. Aero dessert mix which I'm already chilling in the fridge to try and brighten up this gray Monday afternoon.
6. A key ring to match my tattoo, it's a shame they don't use keys in Korea!
7. Primark pants, how I miss Primark.
8. A cherry coke flavoured lip balm that tastes good enough to just eat out of the pot.

I was so relieved to see it sat on my desk this morning as I was beginning to think it would never turn up.

Letters from Home

It's always nice to receive little notes from home. I was really happy to get Leigh's note, updating us on all the news from home, including how the Sheffield Steel Rollergirls are doing. I miss everyone alot, but love that I can keep an eye on what they're upto on Facebook. The Crucibelles recently went over to play the Dublin team and won by 2 points, it sounds like an ace game.

She also sent some Werther's Originals which are one of my absolute favourites and I always get addicted to them. I think I managed to eat nearly the whole packet as I was reading the other night...ooops.

She also sent some Bart Simpson fart putty which the kids at school will probably love.

There's nothing better than coming home from work to find a note from home waiting for you. I have a pile of letters that I have written back to people but just haven't posted yet. All the news is probably really out of date now, but they will be on the silver bird back to the UK soon!

Care Package V3

This week has been a strange one so far. Somehow I managed to lose my purse last Monday. It was in my bag one day and then when I went to use it on Wednesday it just wasn't there. Not only did it have my Korean bank account card in there, but it also had two English credit cards that I carry around incase of emergencies, and my Alien Registration Card.

Luckily I checked all of my accounts and nothing had been taken out, but I still had to cancel everything just incase, which meant all of my phone credit was eaten up by calling the English banks. I spent 6 annoying minutes trying to explain to someone at Natwest why I couldn't just go into a branch to sort out the credit card. It's amazing to compare the Korean and English banks. Not only do the Korean banks avoid interior designers who're stuck in the 80s  but they instantly issue you a new card while you wait, no having to wait 10 days for a new one.

So in the last few days I've been to the police station, on Monday I went into Nampo to get some more phone credit and yesterday I went to the Immigration office again to try and replace my card. When I got there at about 4pm the ticket machine told me that there were 59 people waiting ahead of me. Bad news. I managed to read a chapter of One Day by David Nicholls, break the photo booth and make myself look like a crazy foreigner after I started screaming and jumping around, just as I caught a big spider trying to crawl into my bag. Quite a productive hour and a half of waiting. Now I have to wait another month to go and pick it up, which kind of ruins our plans for the Summer break as I won't have it back until the end of the holiday.

So hopefully everything is sorted now and I can have my nights back. It cheered me up lots to go out for some pajeon with friends last night and that when I got home a parcel had arrived from my Aunty Ann. Thank you!

Inside it there was lots of M&S chocolate, Socks, jewellery, glowsticks, and a cute union jack purse which can replace the one I lost. Hurray for care packages, they never fail to put a smile on my face (hint!).

Sick of not being able to get any new music I've also signed upto Spotify Premium tonight so I've been making playlists all night, especially reminiscing about when I was 19 and 20 with lots of bands I've not listened to in aaages!

Care Packages V2

Hurray! Another care package arrived at the end of last week. I don't think the novelty of receiving gifts from home will ever get old.

This one was sent from my lovely friend Pauline, a.k.a Jane Doe A Go Go to the roller derby world. Just the one who's to blame for my obsession with roller derby...

It arrived a couple of days after Natasha's birthday. She'd been receiving a huge pile of post most mornings so it was a nice surprise to find one addressed to me tucked amongst the birthday gifts...although I said to Tasha that I'm unsure as to whether this may fall into the pity present category. I don't mind though, I'm enjoying reaping the benefits of being pitied!

I was treated to:

1.Cadbury's Creme Eggs. Slightly melted and disfigured.
2.Jelly Snakes. Unfortunately I decided to take the Jelly snakes with us to the World DJ Festival this weekend and they got washed away by the storm. Those that didn't get washed away lurked in the sand and inconveniently stuck to the bottom of your shoe when you stepped on them.
3.A letter on stationary that is cute enough to compete with my vomit inducing stationary.
4.Finally she included a programme from the Sheffield Steel Rollergirls' most recent home game, where both Natasha and I get a mention...

So thankyou GoGo! I loved it all and now only have the photo and programme left of what was in there...

Care Packages V1

Nothing puts a smile on my face more than getting a care package filled with my favourite bits from home. Especially ones that arrive on my desk completely out of the blue on Monday mornings.

I ripped open the crisp brown paper and the first thing that greeted my eyes was a gorgeous paperchase box that matches my kindle cover. Over here there is a company called Artbox, which is similar to paperchase, which I've wasted many an evening looking around and persuading myself that I could find a use for everything in there.

When I took off the lid I think my face must have mirrored Mickey's from the Goonies as he first met One Eyed Willie and his treasure. Inside there was:

1. Paperchase stationary. Including the cutest butterfly shaped paperclips and highlighters with happy cat faces on them.
2. Cadbury's chocolate. Something I miss everyday out here.
3. A strawberries and cream Chupa Chup.
4. White Chocolate buttons.
5. A Lemon Muffin flavoured lip balm. I'm so excited about trying this one out, but i'm saving it until my cherry coke one has finished.
6. A Sherbert Fountain. I've not had one of these in years and it was probably the thing I got the most excited about. Not only will it make me nostalgic for England, but also the 90s when I was a primary school kid, and used to be given £1 to go round to the local shop on a long Summer evening after school. This would definitely be something I would buy, along with Millions, Wham bars and massive sheets of rice paper with money printed on it!
7. Last and in no way the least, Parma Violets and Love Hearts! If anyone knows me even remotely well they will know how much I LOVE Parma Violets. They will also know that i love the sweets so much that they inspired my roller derby name, Parma Violence. I think they're a bit like marmite, you either love the fact that they taste like you're eating powdered flowers, or you hate it!

So thank you to my lovely friend Stacey for my totally unexpected care package. I love that it was packed up with so much thoughtfulness and care.