Birthday presents from home

Lately I have been super lazy at school! Earlier this week I figured out how to watch series in the office, all the websites that you can stream any series off of are blocked at school, but now I know how to over ride that. Worst mistake ever, I now get no work done at school.

Every week drags while I await the weekend, but then before I know it, its Friday and the week wasn't as bad or as long as I thought it would be. Around lunch on Friday is the time that I notice that I have been procrastinating and haven't got a lesson for the following week. This happened to me last week and I'm sure it will happen again this week. So I quickly slap a few ideas together into a powerpoint, throw the information onto a worksheet and that will be my lesson for next week. Super lazy teacher I am.

On a more exciting note - My package from mom for my birthday arrived on Friday and I was so excited to open it, but it was covered in tape and I couldn't figure out which side was the top and which was the bottom. I did find the card which was taped to one of the sides/top/bottom. It was beautifully had sewn by my mom! And just seeing her handwriting made me miss her even more!

Tape covered box of presents I was so excited to open!

Beautiful hand sewn card made by mom.

What the box looked like when I was done with it.

Wonderful presents!

Beautiful ring for my birthday

I was so spoiled by my family! Got the jerseys and chocolate from Case, the monopoly from my gran, 30 seconds from Josh and Tess and the bohemian bag, African kitchen goodies and the ring from my mom and dad! All the other little spoils are amazing too! Especially the JOKO tea! will not be leaving SA without it ever again! Nothing compares to it!

Birthday celebrations

I celebrated my birthday on Sunday and had an amazing day! The weather was great, I got so many messages and the most amazing presents from my wonderful boyfriend. We had a picnic in the park with such delicious snacks and an ice cream cake! 

Singing happy birthday

Blowing out my candles

ice cream cake deliciousness

Beautiful polaroid camera and case from my lovely boyfriend <3

stunning bangle imported from Singapore by M just for my birthday! 

Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival

For only a few short weeks of the year the cherry trees bloom with pale pink blossoms. They are magnificent and something I have wanted to see for as long as I can remember. From the end of March to early April, Korea's largest cherry blossom festival takes place in Jinhae. Tourists from all over roam the streets and enjoy the beauty of the blossoms.

This year Korea had an especially cold winter, thank goodness we weren't here, and the trees were only 30% in bloom during the festival, I cant imagine what 100% would look like. 

The weather on the Sunday we went was amazing, it was the first time since arriving in the Land of Lace, Lanterns and Ligers that we were able to remove all the layers and scarves and wear only a T-shirt. It was amazing to feel the sun on our skin for the first time since leaving summer in South Africa. 

There were local people selling their crafts, many food stalls and carnival type games kiosks. 

When we arrived we met with our large group of people we had  come with but some how with in the first 30 minutes of being there we had lost them all. We strolled through the stalls and M played a few games, he won a goldern pig money bank, and we got young coconuts from a local man who was selling them near one of the entrances. I think we must have walked from one side of the city to the other and back via a different route. Taking in all the beautiful cherry blossoms on the way. 

We stopped and had some Korean BBQ for lunch, which had recently become our new favorite Korean food.

I wanted to go up the cable car to the top of the mountain to see the view of the city in a sea of cherry blossoms. The line for the cable car was ridiculously long so we walked up the 1000 stairs to the top. Luckily we came down on the cable car. 

Now that we had done everything there was to do we decided it was about time to head home. So we waited at the bus stop for the bus which never came, tried to catch a taxi to Changwon to collect our bags but the driver was having none of that. Eventually some sweet Korean girl said she was going to Changwon and we should just go on the same bus as her. There were no seats available on the bus and the driver took the long way around. We were standing for at least an hour and half in a very crowded bus. M was not a happy chappy. Quickly collected our bags at the hotel and went to catch the next bus home to Ulsan. The stations was close to the hotel but it wasn't the main bus terminal, it was the last stop out of Changwon. By the time the bus arrived it was already full but they allowed all the people in the queue to stand in the bus, much to M's dismay. Eventually M sat down in a small ball on the floor of the bus and went to sleep. A kind ajjuma allowed me to sit on her arm rest for the trip and I fell asleep sitting there. When we arrived in Ulsan we couldn't get off the bus fast enough. 

We got some fast food, put on a movie and vegged the rest of the evening.

Leaving the Rainbow nation

February 25, 2012 we left Port Elizabeth after much stressful packing and shoving extra clothing in the small gaps in backpacks and large rolly suitcases. Packing for a trip is never a very pleasant experience in my house, the packing is always left for the last minute and there is snot and tranne(tears) because everything I want to take with me cannot fit in my bag, no matter how many times I pack and unpack and refold and roll each of the items.

We arrived at the airport early because M insisted we could not take any chances at the airport. Better to be safe than sorry. We checked in and everything went smoothly. - We were only going to Johannesburg to sort out the documentation mentioned in the earlier post Organisational skills need some work.. 
We were saying goodbye to my family - more snot and tranne - and waiting to go through to the gate when M realized he had lost his plane ticket. Now we are all worried that if we don't find it, M won't be able to get on the plane, or he will have to buy another ticket, provided the plane isn't full. Eventually after much stressful searching some kind old lady told us her son/cousin/nephew had found a ticket and had taken it to the check-in desk. We rushed over and sadly they didn't have it, but eventually they issued a new one. Problem averted.

We said farewell to the family hoping all our documentation would be sorted out, our visas approved and we won't be seeing them again for another year or two. Not that we wont miss them terribly. We board the plane and off we go to Johannesburg. We stayed with M's aunt and uncle during the week that we were organizing final documentation.

Then it came time to leave the rainbow nation on 2 March 2012. More stressful packing the night before because we were leaving bright and early in the morning. M's uncle would drop us at the airport on his way to work. Due to him having to be at work we would arrive at the airport about 4 hours early for the flight.

Up early, breakfast eaten, on the highway to the airport - it is about an hours drive from where they live. Even although I know we are going to be early and probably bored stiff in the airport my stomach starts getting tiny little butterflies. I'm getting more and more nervous, afraid that by some stroke of bad luck we wouldn't make it in time. I mentally, and physically checked that I had my passport and money and other essentials about a thousand times. Reassured that I had everything and we wouldn't be late, I'm getting more and more excited as we pass each of the high-way off ramps.

We passed the half way mark and now I'm nervous but certain its for no reason. When suddenly M starts swearing really loudly. By some stroke of bad luck he had left his passport in the bed side table - he had specifically put it there because he thought he wouldn't forget it.
We do a U-turn and race back to the house at lightening speed. As we are driving I notice that the rush hour morning traffic on the other side of the road has become much more congested. We would have to wade through that on the way back to the airport.

We get home and M rushes inside to get his passport and then we are back on the road, this time in the traffic. We weave through the cars and now I have knots in my stomach and my palms are sweating because now we are really cutting it fine.

We get to the airport with barely 5 minutes to spare before the check-in closes. Quickly we rush to the front of the queue apologizing profusely to everyone in the line. We check-in and now I can breathe. We quickly grab something to eat and board the plane. We take off at around 9 am and wave goodbye to the rainbow nation.

Thank goodness we were initially so early for the flight...

In between the Pacific and Indian Oceans

One of the main reasons for us coming to work in the Land of Lace, Lanterns and Ligers is our desire to travel. I want to see as much of the world as possible and hope that our travelling will not stop once we head home.

I have a long list of the places I want so see in my life, but seeing as we are in Asia, I think we will start by ticking off the ones close by first and then moving onto those across the Pacific or a hop, skip and a jump over the Indian Ocean.

While in Asia my travel bucket list includes:

visit cambodia

visit Laos