Our Weekend: Firsts

Nearly a year ago this weekend, I went to a beach party on Songjon beach, and half way through the night two guys with what sounded like the thickest London accents I'd ever seen stumbled onto the beach. It turned out that Nick's accent was actually an Essex one, which is only slightly worse. A few drinks and a bruised shoulder later, firm friendships were made that are still strong now.

After a year of spending lots of time with the boy with Marty McFly hair has come laughs, excitement and adventure and I'm looking forward to another year to see what it might bring. To celebrate, we went to the same beach, where it turned out it was some sort of initiation for Korean Universities. Cue lots of Koreans playing strange inexplicable games and diving into the sea fully clothed. Nick also gave me a carefully hand crafted troll, which was very thoughtful of him. I was hoping the nickname wouldn't stick.

Other firsts this weekend were...

Playing poker, Nick and his friend Chris spent the night on Friday explaining the rules to me, so hopefully I'll be able to join in next time there's a game.

First time I've ever seen a huge dragon lantern that exhales smoke. This was at Nampo's lantern festival on Saturday night. Next weekend there is a big national holiday to celebrate Buddha's birthday, so for the build up to it, they had a procession. Unfortunately my camera wasn't taking great pictures and then it died. There were lanterns in the park under Nampo tower, so it was really pretty to wander around at night. The atmosphere was really nice too, everyone seemed so content to be out late at night enjoying the first warm summer nights.

With the sun shining brightly, I had my first bike ride in Busan, we went fora ride and a picnic down the banks of the Nakdong river, before it was time to get back to watch Nick's football game.

So that was another busy few days, but our last one before the long weekend away to Namhae. Last year for Buddha's birthday we went to a festival and were nearly blown away by a massive storm that swept through Seoul.

Did you do anything new this weekend?


Here is a video from the lantern festival:



















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Currently...

I'm currently awol from this blog, but hopefully I'll be back in full force next week...

Watching Dexter. And I have to admit that I'm a little bit obsessed. I managed to watch a whole season in little under a week and am well on my way through the second season. I just can't. stop. watching it! I really can't warm to his sister's character, but love Doakes. As always, I'm about a century behind everyone, but does anyone else love this TV show?

Obsessing over work. It's so incredibly busy at the moment. The kids have tests next week which I have had to write, so rather than have time to blog, it's been writing tests. I can't wait until it's over!

Eating chocolate and cake. Only a few weeks until it'll be hot enough to hit the beach, so my backwards logic told me that the best thing to do to eliminate chocolate temptation and look all beyonce-esque in my bikini would be to eat everything I brought from the UK, so then I will have nothing to tempt me. Good idea, right?

Looking forward to a three day weekend next week. Six of us are going to Namhae Island in the South of Korea. Lots of BBQs, beach time and games planned. Also, I can't forget the release of The Great Gatsby next week! I won't be able to see it until the following week because of our trip, but I have been waiting for this for so long! I love Baz Lurhman, I love F.Scott Fitzgerald and I love that Jay Z has done the music. So excited!

Studying Spanish. I had my third class this week with my lovely Argentinian teacher. It's so nice to be the student again, rather than the teacher! It's good to see the language flooding back to me too as I didn't properly study Spanish after I went to University.

Reading The Princess Bride by William Goldman. I've been reading my way through a few books recently that were on my list, but when I started I wasn't totally enthralled, such as Brave New World and Candide, so it's really nice to read something I can get into again! I've not seen the movie so the plot is a complete surprise to me.

Excited about a mini project that I will be doing with some fellow bloggers who are living in Korea. I'll post more about this next week. I also have Natasha doing a guest blog for me next week for Trash, Treat or Stash!

I borrowed this blog idea from Sometimes Sweet.

Hope that you all have a lovely weekend!

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Our Weekend: Korean Weddings

There were lots of firsts this weekend. Saturday I went to my first Korean wedding where my lovely co-teacher, Grace, got married, and Sunday it was the first day that it was hot enough to go out in shorts! I had my pasty pins out at the ready.

I'd heard lots of things about Korean weddings, so I was really excited to have the chance to see one. The first main difference compared to British weddings is that Grace hardly ever mentioned it up until about a month before. I only got my invitation about 3 days before the wedding was actually happening, and she messaged me on the day of the wedding to give the guests details about the party that would follow. Playing it cool, obviously.

She got married at the Aqua Palace in Gwangalli. When we arrived we donated some money to the family, which is custom here and were shown into the 'bride's waiting room' where Grace sat in her massive white dress, people were queued up to get a picture with her.

We got ourselves a table in the ceremony room, which was set out more typically like our reception rooms would be, the guests sat around round tables. Eventually all the chairs were taken so lots of people squeezed into the back of the room.

The mothers of the bride and groom came in wearing their hanboks, which is traditional Korean clothing, followed by the groom and then Grace and her dad. I loved her dad's outfit, he had a neat little suit on and a trendy trilby and white gloves! Very smooth!

The other things that struck me about the wedding was that, there was no one visibly there to carry out the ceremony, rather there was a voice over, I don't know where it was coming from! People aren't silent for the vows, so it was a strain to hear anything (even though I couldn't understand it!)and everything was done in the ceremony, like the best man speech and cutting the cake. In total it must have lasted about half an hour, it was very short!

There was a noticeable emphasis on 'giving' the bride away. The groom had to get down on his knees and bow to the parents.

To top off the whirlwind ceremony, the groom's friends had a little surprise in store for him. His friend, who played a piece for him on what i think was an electric oboe, decided to up the pace halfway through his slow song, put on his sunglasses, and was joined by a handful of guys who started to dance. Even the groom got involved!

We ended the day by going to their party a few hours later, this was a lot quieter than the receptions that I've been to before, only her closest friends went. But everyone was so interested and friendly to us, it was nice to get to know some people that she hangs out with outside of school.

Other things that I got up to this weekend were soaking up the sun while Nick played football, eating amazing sushi with Katie and Alex, and watching This is 40. Has anyone else seen this? Although I loved Knocked Up and I love Paul Rudd, I didn't enjoy this film at all. I found bits of it funny, but I really didn't like the story line. Not one that I would recommend. i hope that your weekend was fun!





















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April

Spring arrived in Busan this month, so we spent lots of our time outdoors...here's what we got upto.

The cherry blossoms came and went incredibly quickly.

I got Cadbury's Creme Eggs in the post to celebrate Easter.

I had my first ever giveaway and shared some gifts I think are perfect to send home.

We had a rainy weekend so I tried out bowling in Korea for the first time. Loving the shoes!

I started a new feature, Trash, Treat or Stash. See week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4.

We sipped on coffee surrounded by Snoopy in the Charlie Brown Cafe.

Had the best weekend on a cycling tour in Gyeongju where we got to learn about lots of Korean history and I even got to ring a giant temple bell.

I talked about making friends in Busan.

I spent a few weekends with the roller derby team, it felt great to be back on skates.

It's rained so much this month. Not anything like it does in England, but a lot compared to last year. Here are some ideas of what to do when it rains in Busan.

We found out more about my neighbourhood after a visit to the Jungang Memorial Park.

The last park we got to explore this month was the Taejongdae Park, i loved walking through the quiet temple grounds.

Busy, busy. May has already started and there's lots to do this month, including my first Korean wedding tomorrow and a trip to Namhae Island on Buddha's Birthday! Hope you all had a great month!

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Busan's Parks: Taejongdae

Here are a few snaps from our late Sunday afternoon stroll around Taejongdae Park in the South of Busan. I love that all the lotus lanterns are up around the temples ready for Buddha's Birthday in a few weeks, it makes everything look so colourful and pretty.

The little train that runs around the park// Walking over the cliffs//
The light house// The light house stairs// Relaxing after a late lunch//
Walking down to the temple//  The temple ready for the birthday celebrations//
Say Cheese!

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Korean Make Up Trash, Treat or Stash: Etude House Pearl Extract Face Mask

Trash, Treat or Stash. The products I've discovered are better off in the bin, the ones you should treat yourself to every now and again, and the ones that are so good that you should definitely make sure you have a stash of them.




For me, face masks remind me of being 12 or 13, at sleepovers. Spending hours in Superdrug poring over the promises of each packet of gunk that you'd happily spread over your face, until it cracked and crumbled off. It turns out that Korean face masks are a little different, and pretty terrifying to look at when you're wearing one. I decided to try out Etude House's Pearl Extract face mask which promised a natural skin glow.

Etude House Pearl Extract Face Mask

Cost: These are only ₩1,000, which is about 60p. Also, Etude House will sometimes give you heaps of these for free when you buy something else from them.
Prettiness: There are lots and lots of different types of these face masks, I'd decided to try the pearl extract, but there's also pomegranate, lemon grass and blueberry. Lots of nice smells to try out. Although, I think the face masks are anything but pretty when they're on.
Usability: These are really easy to use, the mask is like a thin towel that's covered in the product, you take it out of the packet and put it onto your face. There are eye, nose and mouth holes to help you line it up. Leave it on for 20-30 minutes and then rinse it off afterwards. Although, sometimes there is a little too much of the solution on the mask, which drips, so use a towel to stop it going on your clothes.
Overall, take a big stash of these products. They leave your face feeling amazingly soft and cleansed. Not to mention when Etude House give them to you for free, there's no reason not to. They're perfect to send home as novelty gifts, as when you wear them you end up looking like you've stepped out of a horror movie. They'd also be good for nights in when you're trying, like me, to spare your cash!

See last week's Trash, Treat or Stash here.

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