What to pack for a year in Korea

Only one more lesson before I have to dash home and start madly packing for a weekend in Seoul, far less stressful than trying to pack for a whole year away from home.

I feel like I packed well last year, although it did take me about a month and I must have packed and unpacked at least ten times before it was moving day.

If i had a delorian, here are the things I would tell my past self to pack:

♥ Underwear and lots of it
Koreans are incredibly tiny and I don't understand their sizing. H&M and F21 in Seoul do sell underwear, but in Busan it's a little hit and miss, so it's a good idea to stock up! Unless you fancy wearing holey knickers to school.

♥ Towels
Koreans seem to be able to dry their lithe and nimble bodies with towels the size of flannels. Homeplus do sell them but they can be expensive so take at least one.

♥ Shoes
Again, they usually go up to UK women's size 6, so if you need anything bigger than that then stock up.

♥ Tights
Because as I previously mentioned, Korean girls are all so tiny, I don't think I could fit my arm in a pair of their tights.

♥ Chocolate
Or any other food that you think that you might not be able to get here. This time I brought lots of chocolate (because from experience, nothing quite compares to Cadbury's), porridge, tea and spices. You can get lots of things from the Supermarkets, Homeplus and Lotte's international section but you will be paying a little more for it.

♥ Deodorant
Apparently, not only are Koreans lovely and slim but they don't sweat either.

♥ Toothpaste
I find Korean toothpaste ok, but I know lots of people who don't. It's not quite as fresh tasting and quite gritty.

♥ Photos
Instantly make any tiny studio room feel a little more homely.

♥ Blu Tac
It would appear that Blu-Tac is a specifically British thing. No-one had heard of it in Korea, apart from one of our teachers who had spent a couple of years in England. Without it, you realise how handy it is. And when you use it in class, the kids think you're magic!

♥ Foundation
You can buy MAC products here, but there aren't as many easily accessible places that sell foundation in shades that I could use, so I stocked up while I was home.

♥ Sun Cream
The lowest they do here is about Factor 40, and you're paying ridiculous amounts to rub gloop into your skin that resembles tippex, it's that white.

♥ Things you really don't need to bring: socks, stationary, jumpers, scarves, gloves, hats, nail varnish, most make up products.

Is there anything that you think you couldn't live without?

Shop Local

I have some incredibly talented friends, not only are they knock outs on skates, but they're industrious little bees that sell amazing products.

If you have access to the internet, or find yourself lucky enough to be in or around Sheffield, you should check them out.


Not only is Kandy Diamond, owner of Knit and Destroy, a Harry Potter fanatic, but she's a wizard when it comes to knitting too. The magic spills out through her needles into the cat cushions, pencil scarves and book worm book marks that she crafts. I love all of the things she has in her shop and think they make the perfect presents for your friends, or yourself. I have my eye on the glow in the dark Elvira cushion and the tea cup coasters.

Take a look for yourself here.


If you hadn't already noticed, I am a massive fan of tea. That's the one thing I always have to make sure people from home are sending me. When you mix tea with amazing flavours, then it's even better. I've tried the Earl Grey and the Caramel tea from Ten and Six and they're the best. What's more is that they sell the cutest tea accessories that I've ever seen, Swan shaped tea diffuser anyone?

Why not throw a tea party and try a few of the flavors? I'm definitely going to try the Wild Cherry one as soon as I get the chance. Visit their site here.


Run by the awesome Holly Hotrod. She's barely opened the doors of her bakery and already it's been nominated for two awards for Sheffield's Exposed magazine. She sells delicious rustic bread and the gooiest, stickiest and richest brownies that I've ever tasted, along with lots of other treats that I need to try. The perfect accompaniment to a good brew.

Call in on a Saturday morning to get the perfect weekend bread to have with butter and scrambled eggs, or smother in jam for afternoon tea. Yum.


Find out how to get there here.

The Wizarding World of Warner Brothers: Harry Potter Tour

The penultimate day of my stay in England we packed up the car with all of my bags and started the trip down to Heathrow airport. We decided to stop off at Watford to visit the Warner Brother's studio where actual Harry Potter was filmed. I'm a massive fan of the books, and can take or leave the films, but it was still exciting to see everything in real life and learn some of the tricks of the films.

I loved Umbridge's office and all the cat plates, what's your favourite?

February

I'm sat at my desk at school now and it feels like I've hardly been away, despite spending nearly 3 weeks back in England. Above are the pictures of my room when I walked in shattered on Saturday night, it would appear that without me there Nick had far too much time on his hands.

The month started brilliantly with some skiing at High One although alot of the time was spent on my behind in the snow, wallowing about the lack of skills I have when it comes to skiing. I blame roller derby and my dodgy knees for that!

After that, we wrapped up the last few days at school by madly preparing lists of all the things we wanted to do back in England. After a whole year of being away from some of the things you love, and your're so used to, those lists were as long as my arm.

I shared with you the little bit of customisation that I'd done to my old Mac, RIP. I now have a shiny new computer, so I no longer have these stickers on my keyboard.

I tried to get everyone to come and join me in Korea by telling you how easy it is to come and work here. Is it any surprise seeing as so many of my friends have decided to leave Korea and go on new adventures recently?

Although it seems like I missed some great farewell shindigs in Korea, I had a great time at home. I got to celebrate my sister's 22nd birthday.

Being home reminded me of all the reasons why I love my home town, Sheffield. Lots of friends were seen and food was consumed. I ate my weight in scones and chocolate by visiting the exquisite Cocoa and White Rabbit Cafe in the same day!

The next weekend I went to the city I went to university, Nottingham, where I met up with other friends and some family in Leicester.

I also decided that it was about time my hair got its own post on here after the torture I've put it through...with the weather getting warmer here it's time to start dreading the humidity and what it does to my hair.

On top of all of this I also managed to fit in a trip to the cinema to see Wreck it Ralph, which I would recommend to anyone, and not to mention the fact that I celebrated Christmas, stocking and all in the middle of Feb with my mum. Whst a lovely month.

I'm going to have to call it a night there as the jet lag is playing havoc with me at the moment. I was up at 5:30 this morning, to escape I took Ziggy for a walk. Do you remember Ziggy from January? Look how much he's grown! He's still cute, even if he is gangly at the moment. Sadly he's leaving to his proper home in America this week.


There's also so much more exciting things to update about what I did at home, I'll add it this week, and there are a few new things i'm going to add to the blog, so watch this space! Here's to a productive March!

Merry Late Christmas

I've never celebrated Christmas in February before, but as I was away for Christmas this year we decided to celebrate it while I was home.

Christmas in Busan was great, I was surrounded by new friends and we managed to nearly get our hands on everything that makes a traditional English festive dinner. But, it was made even better knowing that I had the excuse to celebrate it again when I got home.

I walked in the day before my mum and I had planned to celebrate it and the Christmas tree was there sparkling away. The next day we both had a stocking to open. I'd bought my mum a few bits from Korea, and she'd bought me some of the essentials that I miss while I'm there (these have a whole other post dedicated to it though).

Afterwards, we got cracking with the roast and I made a start on the dessert. I decided to do the banoffee pie that Grace cooked for us in Busan on Christmas day. I was pleased to find out that it doesn't need any cooking so I'll definitely be making that again once i'm back to being oven less.






Fake Christmas was great, and what's better is that it's only 10 more months until next Christmas rolls around, not that I'm counting or anything.