Pedicures and Cake!

Today I drove to Okpo (yes, I am driving by myself over here and am finding it okay) to meet up with Christine and go get pedicures. We thought we’d splash out and treat ourselves! I usually do them myself but thought it’d be nice and relaxing and I can’t even remember the last time I got one done in a salon. They did an incredible job! I think I’ll be going back there every now and again J

We strolled through the streets afterwards and came across a gorgeous little shop that teaches cake decorating. The only problem being that she doesn’t speak English. After I pick up the language a bit I’m planning to go back. I was about to enrol in a course back in Perth just before we found out about this job so it’s fantastic to know that something is available over here too. Would be a handy little skill to have I think!

Write soon xx

GFRA Wednesday

Today I met up with Christine, the soon-to-be wife of one of Adrian’s colleagues. We actually have mutual friends from Karratha and are both planning weddings for next year. It’s really nice to have things in common and be able to talk about lots of familiar things from back home. We went along to the GFRA morning tea, which was entertaining this week to say the least. They decided to play charades and if you guessed right then you got a prize but it also meant you had to act out the next thing. I won 3 times but I’m not going to tell you how I won the prizes, I’ll just say that one of them made me blush scarlet red!

Write soon xx

Local Hospital

Today I had to go to the local hospital to receive my final vaccination for Japanese Encephalitis. The hospital was huge and so much better than I had expected. The doctors, nurses and receptionists all spoke enough English so that I could be understood. There were people everywhere; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a busier hospital. I was told it was only that busy because of the long weekend which makes sense. And even though it was crowded I was still in and out rather quickly. Compared to my experiences at Australian hospitals this one was a lot quicker and easier. Very surprising and reassuring.

Write soon xx

Trip to Busan

Wow! Today we had our biggest adventure yet. We drove 67 kilometres to Busan, the closest city to Geoje. The trip took 2 hours each way and years off our lives. We had three near misses that would have caused some serious damage to our car. It was scary and stressful to say the least! It also didn’t help that our GPS seems to be out-dated and made us go this long roundabout way. We went there thinking we’d spend the day going to the shops and then checking out a beautiful beach everyone had been telling us about. The first shop on our list was Costco, it was apparently the place to go to get everything you need for your apartment. We were so glad just to arrive and get out of the car. I think our blood pressures were through the roof! We lined up to get our members card, all foreigners need one in order to shop there. It’s only 35,000 WON and lasts forever. They processed us really quickly and we were free to shop our little hearts out. We went from aisle to aisle and never really found anything that took our fancy. Everything was bulk buy but in huge amounts, I’m talking 24 packs of baked beans etc. We got a few things but couldn’t get too much as there’s not enough room to store it all in our apartment. We thought it would be like a giant sized Kmart or Target from back home but it was nothing like that. And there wasn’t really anything there that we couldn’t get back here in Geoje, the prices were all the same too.

After spending an hour looking around we decided we’d gone through enough today and to just head straight back home. Neither of us felt up for driving any longer than was absolutely necessary.

We got home safe and sound and agreed there would be no more trips to Busan for a little while!

Off to put the feet up!

Write soon xx

Our new apartment!! :)

Today we finally moved into our apartment! We were told to be there at 3pm to have handover but ended up waiting around til 6 until we could call it our home. There’s a lot of waiting in this country, it’s helping Adrian and I with our patience levels J

The apartment is amazing! Well compared to the hotel, it’s fantastic. It’s bare though so we need to do a big grocery shop so we can finally have a home cooked meal. Tonight we decided to just stick with the simple option, McDonalds. We figure from now on we’ll be eating in so why not have it one last time. (Ok so I know it won’t actually be the last time but still I needed an excuse ;) ).

I’ll post some pics of the apartment when it’s all ready.

Write soon xx

AikWangwon Tour

Today the GFRA women went on a tour to the AikWangwon Orphanage. It was really inspiring, we met the lady who actually started the orphanage 60 years ago and we were lucky enough to have a private lunch with both her and her daughter Mrs Woojung Lee whom I met at the previous weeks GFRA morning.
It’s really spectacular what they have managed to achieve and how many people’s lives they have changed. It was a great day.

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Yoga and Adrian gets a bike!

Today I took a yoga class which Jana teaches at the GFRA. To put it simply I looked like a clumsy giraffe, long limbs going every which way but never resembling the yoga flow movements I was supposed to be mimicking. Not a good look but I persevered for the 90 minutes and it hurt like hell! I’ve taken Hatha and Bikram yoga classes before and thought I was quite flexible and could do easily do beginners classes. Well this class put me back in my place! I couldn’t believe some of the moves Jana was doing, legs hooked up over the shoulders so you can’t see your knees, just your calves and feet. (I didn’t master that one by the way!) She, and the majority of the other ladies there, were so flexible and made all the moves look so easy and graceful. I was slipping and sliding all over the place, I’d just get into position and my feet or hands, or knees for that matter, would start drifting away. I tried so many times to shuffle back into place as silently as I could. One of the other ladies told me after class that the yoga matts over here tend to be slippery until you wash them. Had no idea you were supposed to wash you yoga matt! Hope that doesn’t make me some gross and grubby yoga goer, but I honestly never knew  : /

I’m going to go again next week and I’m hoping that in a few weeks I won’t look like a fish out of water.

A few of us had coffee and cake after class and I found out there’s a hot yoga in Okpo that’s on every day and it’s a mix of yoga, Tai chi and Pilates. I think I might start giving that a go too.

We met up with Ian when Adrian finished work so the boys could look at push bikes. I tagged along to make sure they got all the safety gear to go with it. After about 20 minutes of walking up and down so many different streets we finally found the bike shop. Adrian got one, it’s white and has shimano gears (apparently that’s a must have?!). He got a light and helmet too. The helmet even colour coordinates with the bike, my doing J

We had dinner at a little Italian restaurant in the shopping centre, it’s the second time we’ve been there and it’s SO good! Last night we ate at VIPS, another restaurant in the shopping centre that had been recommended by lots of different people. It didn’t disappoint. It was similar to a sizzler from back home in that it was buffet but everything was so tasty. We loved it and will definitely be going back again!

Off to bed. Write soon xx