It's Tramlines Time!

Every year my lovely city, Sheffield, has a festival called Tramlines. The name comes from the fact that Sheffield is one of the very few cities in England to still have a working tram, I love the fact that it's called Supertram!

It always takes place in Summer and I remember when the festival used to be completely free. Most of the clubs and pubs and public spaces get involved, holding music events for everyone to enjoy. My favourite memory from last time was watching the Everly Pregnant Brothers do their rendition of 'No Oven No Pie' at the Fat Cat, then taking the special event bus back to town which had an acoustic duo playing on the top deck for passengers to enjoy while they travelled.

I've been lucky enough to see dananananaykroyd,  Ash and the Everly Pregnant Brothers before. This year I'm really looking forward to seeing Sister Sledge, Funeral For A Friend and Annie Mac. I also love the spirit of the city when it's filled with people having a really good time.

So here are some photos from the last time I was there, in 2011. Sophie, my friend from uni came up to stay and we had lots of fun. I can't believe how much I've changed since then!

The next time I post the festival will be over and I will be in Norwich. See you then!













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I love lists...

I started this post a long, long time ago, when I'd first arrived in Korea. It was about the vast amount of lists I had for films that I wanted to watch, books I wanted to read, places in Korea that I wanted to see, and things I wanted to do, but recently a whole new species of lists has been developed with my imminent trip to England. I love lists, they really do make me feel like I'm getting things done, even if it is partly indulging the side of me that likes to procrastinate.

Having been in Korea for a year, I've been deprived of several things that used to be pretty important to me, here are the lists I've made for my visit home.


Warm scones with raspberry jam with seeds and lots of fresh cream, served with hot tea made in a teapot and served in a china cup. Yorkshire puddings, mash potato and real sausages covered in gravy (my Northern side coming out!). Thick hummous and big juicy olives. Not to mention fish and chips. Yum.


The largest lady's size in Korea is a UK size 6, and that's considered big. Cue a man shouting 'Hey big ladies' at us when we walk into a shoe shop. I can't wait to walk into a shop and have my choice of any shoes. Ballet pumps, flats, trainers, sandals, boots, I'll try them all. At the moment I'm torn about these shoes.


Most shops in Korea do 'One Size' so nothing seems to fit quite right, it's usually horrifically baggy or torturously tight. I can't wait to be reunited with my faithful friends, Primark, New Look, Top Shop and Ark.


Every other song played is Gangnam Style, this is interspersed with awful techno music. I can't wait to dance with my friends to songs that I feel slightly mediocre about, never mind the ones that I love.

I think I'm going to be a whirlwind around the shops back in the UK. I've already pillaged the online sales and hope that there's lots of bounty waiting for me when I get home.

If you're a fan of lists, here's a list of 9 lists that it's recommended everyone should have.

July

One of the promise lock trees at the top of Seoul Tower

The one good thing about Summer camp has been the fact I could leave school at 1 and not have to sit at my desk until 4:30. But it also means that the few hours I usually use to write my blog have been taken up by sunning on the beach or meeting friends...it's hard sometimes!

It was really nice to have a whole week all to myself to do whatever I wanted this month. We made the most of the weather by spending a few days relaxing on the beach, reading and eating watermelon. Another day I went for a really long walk in Hwamyeong which is becoming one of my favourite places in Busan. Then there was our trip upto Seoul where we explored the ancient palace and got a kitty overload at the Hello Kitty cafe. Visiting Forever 21 and H&M was also great, and I was excited to see the opening of the H&M in Shinsegae department store when I got back to Busan.

These few days were followed by a hot, sticky weekend in Jisan where I got to watch Radiohead, James Blake, The Stone Roses, Owl City and M Ward. I loved the festival, but my favourite part was definitely dipping my feet in the stream that ran through the grounds and being introduced to Bubble Pong drinks!

As if that wasn't enough festivities, there was Boryeong mud festival where we all got covered head to toe in mud. The atmosphere was amazing and running into the sea afterwards to wash it all off and start the madness again was definitely the best bit. Although I had to try and not think about how dirty the water must have been, especially everytime I walked through a suspiciously warm spot of water. No matter how exhausted I was on the bus ride home after that weekend, I couldn't help but laugh at everyone on the bus serenading the drunk guys.

This month was filled with superhero movies, we went to see Batman at the IMAX and Spiderman too. I love that in Korea there's no messing about with movies and they don't show any adverts before hand. I also visited the DVD bang to watch Toy Story 3 as I realised it was getting a little ridiculous that I hadn't watched it yet. I also finished the first season of the Wire and am well on my way to finishing the second. Is anyone massively anti McNulty like me? For some reason I just can't stand him!

I finally started my language classes this month, so I'm hoping to be able to speak alot more than I can at the moment, and stop giving blank looks whenever I'm asked anything. The teacher seems really sweet and as the weeks go on there are less and less students, which means more teachers for me!

We had our second event day session where I was a weather girl and Tasha was made to dress as a polar bear, not exactly what she needed when the weather was so hot and humid here.

Finally I shared my love of soju and the perhaps insincere compliments that we're peppered with day in day out on the last couple of Friday Favourites. I've decided to give Friday Favourite a break as it was becoming  harder and harder to think of things.

Finally I shared my love of StumbleUpon (Noone's bought me the Gatsby jumper yet), we discovered a tasty new Mexican called O Taco and just couldn't stop singing Carly Rae Jepson, thanks to everyone at Mudfest! Someone help me to get it out of my head!

Jisan Rock Festival

So the second half of my Summer vacation was spent at the ski resort of Jisan Valley, which turns into a ski paradise in the Winter. But the sun was blazing and all the slopes were green and grassy so that's where we headed to watch some bands at Jisan Rock Festival.

I think it's the most green I have seen in one place while in Korea, as most areas are pretty populated and built up, so it was nice to be back in nature.

Some of the bands I managed to catch were James Blake, Radiohead, M Ward, Owl City and the Stone Roses. Although I wouldn't say I'm a massive fan of any of the bands that played, I really enjoyed how mellow James Blake was and the effect he had on the crowd. I saw a grown man sobbing in the crowd at Mr Blake's music, although I'm not sure whether that had more to do with the vodka bucket in his hand.

I tried a delicious Bubble Pong drink, which is like a frozen smoothie/tea with pulses in it. I can't really do it justice with words. I also had an amazing strawberry frozen yoghurt drink. I wish they would come to Busan and open a branch.

The only downside was how hot the sun was and how little shade there was...thank goodness for the stream that ran through the festival grounds and the air con in the porta-loos!

Us arriving in Jisan looking fresh faced// a well deserved drink was had after putting up my tent// Watching M Ward// The Stage and grounds// Luigi and Mario coupling! By the third day she had discarded the hat, but he was still going strong!// Max Hammock// Cooling off in the stream// Bubble Pong Tea// Leave my camera with Caroline for two minutes and look what happens// Our array of bands// The way to our tents// Pretty Girls with Pretty flowers// Watching Beady Eye and waiting for our 1am train to take us home.

The first day of camp was pretty hard as we didn't get home until 6am and I had to be at work by 8am but I made it was well worth the fun that was had there...

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!

Our Weekend: Firsts

This weekend I think we saw in the start of the rainy season (booo) but I'm glad we'll be getting it out of the way and hopefully have some more sunny days before Autumn comes. We tried lots of new things this weekend, and also Tasha went to listen to a talk from a North Korean defector, I am so so sad that I missed it, mainly due to my bad timekeeping and a rubbish taxi driver. Tasha's offered to write a bit about the talk so everyone else can find out some of the stuff that goes on just miles away from Seoul...

Some new things we tried this weekend

1. The PNU area of Busan, namely the bars called Crossroads and Soultrane where we got to dance to some of my favourite songs including Weezer and Jimmy Eat World, it's been far too long since I heard them played anywhere public (I miss Corp...).
2. We also ate at a really nice restaurant in PNU although I doubt I will ever be able to find it again, and have no idea what it was called. 
3. We went to our first metal gig in Korea on Saturday night at Club Realize in the KSU area, it was great to see some local bands and we were welcomed with open arms too. 
4. It was also the first time I went to Club Elune in Haeundae, where I got to see lots of interesting dance moves from the Korean guys, I love how they dance, but more about that some other time!
5. My last first of the weekend was eating at the amazing  Buccella sandwich shop in Haeundae. I loved it, not only because the food was delicious but also because it's on the sea front so the view only adds to its awesomeness!

And here are a few things that we did (again)

1. Drank alot of soju
2. Popped into our favourite makgeolli bar for a banana makgeolli.
3. Went out in KSU.
4. A lazy Sunday on Haeundae beach.
5. Ate at Thursday Burger and Pasta.
6. Spent alot of time in street bars talking to strangers.
7. Danced like noone was watching in Eva's as they celebrated their 3rd year of being open!

A fun but exhausting weekend.

Makgeolli and nibbles

Tasha doing the honours

Club Realize

Haeundae Beach 

Buccella sandwich