Friday saw the end of Winter camp and the start of a four day weekend, which is always welcome. And this weekend was particularly packed with friends and fun things to do.
On Saturday Nick and I headed to the beach early to take part in the Freezin' For A Reason January dip in the ocean for charity. I was umming and aarring about whether to do it or not, and at the last minute decided that I couldn't let Nick do it on his own. I won't be doing that again in too much of a hurry.
Saturday night was our last night out all together before Tash and I leave for our 3 week holiday in England and sadly Grace and Anna head off for greener pastures. To celebrate, or commiserate, we headed to KSU.
The next day was the final of the tennis, so we spent the night at Beached showing Murray our support. Sadly, us staring fixedly at the screen failed to help him, so we played darts instead.
Monday I became one of the guys and joined them on a walk up the mountain with Ziggy, on the way back down we treated ourselves to some goat, which is amazing.
And finally today, feeling like it's about time that I prepared myself to finish off this last week and a half that's left of school, I decided to relax. We went for breakfast at the coffee shop down the road and then spent the afternoon lazing in Spaland.
Amongst all of this, I also managed to watch Silver Linings Playbook, which I absolutely adored.
Now it's time to prepare for our last few days at school until March!
We've spent lots of time getting well acquainted with the bars and restaurants in Busan so we thought it was time to do something different. We arranged with a volunteer group to go and visit Soyang Orphanage this weekend. When we were told that the final numbers of the trip were going to be 25 volunteers with 12 children, I wasn't sure whether to go or not. I envisioned us being sat around or brawling over children, but I'm so glad that I went now.
We got dropped off by bus on the Island, and it was strange to be in such a green space after hardly leaving the centre of Busan for 3 months. There were a few houses dotted around, lots of pretty flowers and allotments all set into the greenest mountains that surrounded us. I'd forgotten what quiet really was until we got there.
It was in such a secluded spot that I felt like we'd found Peter Pan's hide out for the lost boys. IThe orphanage is an amazingly colourful set of buildings. My favourite place was the round library with a 'story telling pit' set in the middle which was brightly coloured and cushioned. We spent a long time chasing the kids around there, who would magically disappear thanks to the concealed cupboards and the mini door that lead to a slide where you could escape to the playground.
The little girls went wild for the nail varnish that someone had thought to bring along, while the boys liked to make the airplane models someone had bought from Daiso for hardly anything.
Tasha bonded with a little boy who must have only been two or three, who communicated mainly by throwing leaves at her. There was also a really tiny baby there, that the orphanage dad said he was personally bringing him up with the help of his wife.
I made friends with a 10 year old girl called Park Su Yeon who had brilliant English and whenever she could see that I was hot, would get me a prime seat next to the fan. She loved taking pictures and when we caught up with Tasha she drew these cute pictures of our favourite animals, and meticulously copied them so we all had a copy to keep. She later came to find us to introduce us to her sister and show us our cute new accessories that she had made us with pipecleaners.
It turned out she had two sisters and a brother at the orphanage too, who were all so cute and friendly. Tasha and I chased them around the playground and helped them run away from Ethan, who they insisted was a monster. The older high school and middle school kids eventually surfaced and the gaelic football team had a game of basketball with them.
At the end we all whipped out the snacks that we'd brought. I think they thought it was Christmas as we unloaded bag after bag of chocolate, sweets and crisps. It was funny to watch them all sneakily loading up their pockets as if we were about to turn around and change our mind about the food.
It was so sad to say goodbye when it was time to leave, and I felt a bit choked when Su Yeon quickly tore off a piece of paper from her sister's colouring book and wrote 'Goodbye' on it. I was really tempted to somehow smuggle them all out of their, but it seems like their life is alot better there than if I kept them all in my studio apartment!
We walked back down the hill, still donning our new pipecleaner accessories, back towards the hustle and bustle of Busan. I really hope that I can make it back there soon. I'd love to know what happens to the kids there, how long they're allowed to stay at the orphanage and when they're expected to leave?
We still found some time to go to Chinatown as there was some festivities going on, although we arrived a little late and ended up having a few drinks outside Amby's, watching the Russians stumble past, and Saturday night we attended an 80s themed drag prom night.
Then last night our lovely co-teacher, Hannah, took us to her friend's Japanese restaurant in Daeyon for the induction to our Korean language class which will be starting in a few weeks! I can't wait until I don't feel like an idiot when I'm trying to order in a shop!
This weekend was a pretty lazy one for us. We met some old and new friends in Nampo on Friday night and tried a few more bits of street food. So far I am still loving the pajeon and hotteok more than anything else. We deposited one of our friends onto the last metro and had an early night. I think the highlight of this night was discovering that Beer Mart stock Hooch, the ridiculously controversial alcoholic drink. We had one for old times' sake and after one my face started burning, which suggests it's probably a good idea they're not available in the UK anymore...
Saturday was all about the puppy cafe as it was a little overcast and dull, although I was very disappointed by it. It wasn't half as nice as With Cat in KSU and was very dirty. I definitely wouldn't go back, and wouldn't recommend it.
Saturday night some of the girls got together for an impromptu night out in KSU. I feel like Tasha and I may have ruined the tone as all the other girls looked so sophisticated, but we decided to wear our Thing 1 and Thing 2 T-shirts that I bought us from Universal Studios when I went last year.
We went for some amazing food in a gorgeous restaurant tucked out of the way from the main street in KSU and then hit Ol'55 for the Busan Haps launch night. We watched a few bands and had a few drinks, then ended up drinking at Family Mart out on the main street. I'm surprised how many of my nights turn out like this nowadays. I wish this was something that could be done in the UK, it's so cheap and nice to bump into everyone you know as they walk past to wherever they're headed that night.
Sunday was lovely and sunny again so I went to meet Ethan on Songdo beach. I am so envious that he lives 30 seconds away from the beach. Although the view is a bit questionable at times, as lots of ships drop their anchor and float around on the horizon all day.
That night we headed back to Nampo where we had yet more street food (gross chicken and mandu) and saw the last few hours of Sunday from the top of Yongdusan Park, below Busan Tower. This might become one of my favourite spots in Busan at night, it's so pretty and is only improved by the fact that you can buy a Cornetto while you're up there!
This weekend we celebrated Tasha's 27th birthday and I think it's one that she won't be forgetting any time soon... It started with baseball which turned into a bizarre night out in Nampo-Dong in a Korean night club, next was a trip to Daegu to practise roller derby with the ROKD ladies, a swift KTX ride back to Busan so we could go out in KSU, no time for sleep but Haeundae beach seemed like a good idea at 8am in the morning, tried to sleep it off there but just got sun burned. The best bit was Tasha being so deliriously tired that she managed to walk all the way into my room and stand there for several seconds before realising there was Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday blaring out, a massive cake and lots of presents waiting for her! What was even better was Birthday cake for breakfast this morning.
A street vendor casually chilling with a kitten on his shoulder.
Happy Faces all around when he let us hold it. Not so happy
faces from him when I pretended to run away with it.
Sajik Baseball stadium
Homemade pom poms
Sleepy Giants Fan
Bet he's had a fair few trips from the tooth fairy
Alternative head wear
Bag Heads
Noone wanted to join in our metro party
The third set of people asking for their picture to be taken with us
The fan then preceded to take us to a techno club
Escorted home
Daegu for the ROKD monthly scrimmage
ROKD ladies in action
Trying to get the Baskin Robins cake home in one piece
Ready for birthday fun
The lovely Maybelle Kim
Our view in the morning
I don't know how he stayed asleep this long
Secret birthday hijack attack Natasha. Stevie Wonder was
playing and everything.
Birthday cake which turned into Monday's breakfast
Trying to embarrass her failed miserably. She loved it.
