I'm Blair 29 and a New Zealander currently living in Korea. Any questions?
Why am I doing this? Well I thought I'd get one of these to that people know what the hell I'm doing with my life in Korea... and the answer is not a hell of a lot but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun and meeting some great people along the way, which always means for pretty painful good-byes but however it means for more hellos to ease the pain.
Well I arrived here for my second stint at the end of May and the first thing I did when I arrived in Gwangju was the smart thing to do after 16 hours of traveling. That is I headed to the bar and was lucky enough to catch up with some of my old friends from my last stint here... Any jetlag was quickly forgotten about as the feeling of tipping back a few handles of the average local brew was rehydrating me after the grueling day of flight layover flight, then a bus ride.
It was truely great to see all the old faces that are still here although was a little sad that some of the older faces had gone however there are plenty of new people to meet and greet so why dwell of the past when there is a future to be made.
So the last four months have gone by in a blur of heat, booze and laughs...
Let's see if I remember what I have done: Daejeon several times, Daegu a couple and Bigeumdo...oh and a bit of Gwangju.
Seeing as it seems I am the only New Zealander in Gwangju, which means I am the only sane one) I head up to Daejeon to catch up with an old school friend from my high school, Ron.
It seems amazing that we have known each other as long as we had and that we would even be hanging out in Korea together after our first somewhat aggressive meeting. Almost 20 years ago on a school field on the North Shore of Auckland an innocent Ron was just looking around wondering what the hell he was in store for the next seven years. When all of a sudden his wonder was distroyed by an angry ginger asking what the f**k he was looking at? My bad, Ron and I am just glad we got passed that and have had many an awesome time in Daejeon and with many more to come I'm sure.
Korea was blessed with the visit of Mr January. I have a cousin who is a firefighter and who is this years Mr January in the calendar. (And ladies I do believe he's single) It would have been rude not to have gone up there for a visit.
Jaco having a half marathon the next day did not stop anyone from hitting a Korean nightclub until 5:30am when he was required to wake up at 6:30. Both Jaco and Will put in an amazing effort during the middle of a Korean summer to complete the run.
So it required a repeat visit the next weekend, which all I am going to say is one of the first things I remember is being in the bus terminal in Gwangju... After putting the weekend back together all I can say is opps and I'd like to think it won't happen again but there is no guarentee.
The Korean version of Thanksgiving was upon us meaning we had a six day weekend so what better way to see of the last of the summer than with a camping trip. It was good to see Tentamus Maximus again... although I had seen him in better shape he had let himself go a little but can easily retun to his former glory.
So the group of us headed down to Mokpo and then jumped on the ferry over to the Island.
Pitching the tent involved a lot of swearing and throwing of toys but after a while it was sorted and swim time.
The next day it started raining so a cabin was broken into by someone who shall remain nameless but I hear is pretty awesome and it was a day of card playing. Although not what was planned we had fun anyway... at least the company was slightly above average even if the morals were not.
It stopped raining so we could therefore get amongst an evening of epic proportions. Although I will not go into anything that happened on the Island at night (the old adage of what happens on tour stays on tour) it was a fun time thanks everyone who had a part in the awesome time.
The epic group!I am not going to go into the weekend that have been spent in Gwangju. All that anyone needs to know is it involves soju and/or poju (this is poju mixed with powerade) average beer, which is made up for by awesome people and great times.
Right that will do for now... the next one will be shorter but may have more details but meh will see what happens when it happens.
Be good all or just don't get caught
Blair
Good work on your blog Blair. I didn't know you had one.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to checking in to see how you're doing.
See ya soon,
Dan