Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The End... of many things.

Well, readers, it certainly has been awhile since I last posted on this Godforsaken blog, and while I hinted that something was keeping me quite busy, I never got into full details. I'm not entirely sure I am still able to, but let's give it a shot!

So several, long months ago, I was asked to write a guide to Seoul for high end (aka, not those teaching ESL- although I'm sure there are plenty classy teachers out there!)expatriates for Expat Infodesk (dot com). I foolishly (?) agreed, thinking it would take a month, at most, for me to bring the world up-to-date on the wonderful city of Seoul (a city I have never resided in) and educate those in the process of/thinking about moving to the city from abroad. Mainly from Western countries.

It turns out, what I though would take a month ended up taking about six. Seoul has turned out to be the most impossible city in the world to obtain correct information on. Income tax? Shipping your car? As a lowly teacher, these are things I have never really thought about. And it took me six months to find the best answers to questions like these. It was hard. I am finished, though, and I am glad.

But in the meantime, having taken up this task, my time in Korea has also come to an end. A permanent one. Patrick and I are finished in Korea and won't be coming back- at least not as teachers- anymore. We both want to start (in Pat's case, restart) our careers. Korea was a wonderful place to get some perspective on my life. I'll never forget my experiences there, and will never forget the amazing people I've met who I'll remain friends with forever. In short, I really love Korea. I'll always miss it. But I am happy with my memories and am ready to move on!

I'll miss this blog, too! This was my first one, and I will never cease to be amazed with the fact that people read- and what's more- ENJOYED this blog. You're all great. Take care, and many happy returns. I hope Korea (and particularly, Suwon) is as good to you as it was to me.

As promised, here are the pictures from my last weekend in Busan. We had a great time! We stayed in the Haeundae area (no tsunami warnings, but we were only allowed to swim in a tiny little area). Since it was September, we were practically the only people on the beach since beach season is officially over after August (even if it's still boiling hot and the water is lovely!). We sunbathed a bit, partied a bit, swam a bit, and took in the gorgeous surroundings. Say what you want about Busan, but Haeundae continues to be my favourite Korean beach... aside from Hamdeok in Jeju-do, of course. Enjoy the pics! And... thanks for reading.

xo




Just stunning.


Sara and Sophie, catching some of summer's final rays!


Pat was clearly enjoying himself...


The pasty ones stayed under the umbrella.


And I figured I got enough sun in SE Asia, so I stayed under too.


Love!