My Adventure

January update!

Update for December!!!

My Birthday Weekend!!!!

My first week!

SAFE AND SOUND :)

Welcome!

Photo Album: Melbourne Cup

Photo Album: Tasmania

Photo Album: Byron Bay!

Photo Album: Bondi Beach, Sydney Australia

Photo Album: Beijing China!

Photo Album: January

Photo Album: October

Photo Album: October 31 - Halloween At School!

Photo Album: Chusuk - trip to Gyeongju!

Photo Album: Very Last Day of September

Photo Album: September

Photo Album: My Birthday Weekend!

Photo Album: Sculpture garden

Photo Album: My work!

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:53:36 GMT

HELLO! Finally i have some pictures up because my extremely nice parents gave me a very amazing camera for christmas and now I can once again document my travels with words and pictoral evidence. December was very fun. As some of you know Charlotte flew me home as a surprise for Christmas and so I got to see some people and have some very solid/quality family time! It was great....it was also good to be back and get on with my time in Korea. I'm in winter semester at the moment which means my students have no school so where i work becomes their school and it's called 'winter intensive course' which sounds exactly how it is. It's awesome though and i'm working over time and really getting to prepare some serious lesson plans and feeling pretty good about it. Heather and I are starting to plan for our trip to China over Chinese (or Lunar) new year. Very exciting. I'm just trying to enjoy every day as it comes and slowly figure out my plans for the next few years...they seem to change daily. Happy New Year to all and a big THANK YOU for all that support everything I am doing here!

lots of love,

Felicity

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:49:36 GMT

Hello ALL!!!

Wow...so it's been three months since the last time I wrote in this thing. I am very sorry! I felt that the pictures were keeping most of you guys up to date on the happenings of my adventure in Korea but a few weeks ago I lost my camera and therefore I am forced to use my words! haha.

SEPTEMBER: So September was an extremely whirl wind month. I was settling in....working at Maple College and helping out at a bar called the Basement. My days and nights were pretty much filled with a lot of fun and not much sleep. I live in a fabulous area that is right by one of the Universities in Busan and therefore never sleeps and has a lot of very fun night life and people in the area. I am lucky enough to have met and befriended three guys, twins called Greg and Owen and their life long friend Mark (aka Clem) who are from England and came here together. I live 5 minutes one way from Owen and 5 minutes the other from Greg and the three of us share alot of meals and alot of really good times. The four of us plan to back pack around Asia in the fall after our contracts are up. The maps are out, the money is being stored away and if all goes as planned; it will be yet another adventure of a life time. By the end of September Heather arrived and Korea as a whole had begun.

October: The Korean Thanksgiving landed one week before the Canadian one, and a group of nine of us headed to a little town called Gyeongju to celebrate. We had alot of fun which included 4X4ing (resulting in a flip of the 4X4 and landing me with a HUGE bruise...don't worry I was wearing a helmet) A day of biking and discovering some amazing hidden pottery villages (HEAVEN) and a day of paying a cab driver $50 to drive 5 of us around for 8 hours to amazing temples, tombs and tiny places that a foreigner would never find on their own. All in all chusuk (the name for the Korean Thanksgiving and my students FAVORITE holiday) was pretty special. I am still helping out at the Basement and the guys have started DJing at a club up the road from me and so weeks and weekends are still very full and very fun! I got to witness a birth which was pretty amazing!!! Yet extremely terrifying at the same time! I got to give the little angel an English name and he is growing and healthy and beautiful! Sleep is slim to none but I'm 23....I can sleep later haha! I was really sick for Halloween and visited a 'real situation English village'. I had a fantastic party with my kids and put on a haunted house and had 'brains', 'intestines' and lots of fun Halloween games.

November/December: The weather is finally getting a little colder and everyone is going into hibernation mode. I have left the Basement now and I'm getting a lot more sleep! About 8 of us plan Wednesday night dinners every week and take turns cooking...but I don't tend to eat alone too much during the week which is nice! I have booked my trip for China. I'm heading there for Chinese New Years on an organized tour with Heather! I'm very excited to walk the Great Wall of China, hit up some CHEAP markets and eat some solid Chinese food!!!! The guys are now DJing at some bigger clubs in Busan and I am starting to feel like a very solid part of the community. Helping out at the Basement allowed me to meet alot of foreigners and Koreans and so I'm constantly bumping into people I know and getting drinks bought for me as a result of being a bartender! haha.

Korea as a whole: Korea is a pretty amazing place and a wonderful introduction to Asia. They love their children and respect their elders. They even have a separate way to speak to their elders as a sign of respect. It is a clean, kind society that makes me feel very welcomed and very included. The Korean friends I have made are the cutest and kindest people EVER. You can be standing on a street with a map and a person will stop and try to help you, even if they don't know a word of English. It's amazing what a BIG smile and lots of hand gestures can get you! If you eat Korean food it's EXTREMELY cheap. The other night I went for dinner with a couple friends and a large amount of delicious food cooked in front of you with alcohol cost about $16...for THREE OF US! They have amazing markets with fruit and veggies and the oldest, tiniest, little Korean women that sit and peel their goods all day! Korea is a very strange and wonderful place and I feel very lucky to be a part of it!

Teaching: I LOVE MY JOB!!!! Do I want to be a teacher for the rest of my life? No! Am I in awe of the teachers?! YES!!!!!! Do I feel sorry for all the teachers that have ever had me as a student?! DEFINATELY!!!!! My students are amazing. Going into work is not really like working at all. Korean children are very wonderful, very courteous and extremely driven. These kids go to school all day and then come to Maple College OR go to a math academy and then to maple college. Some of these children are in classes from 8 in the morning until 10 at night. It's a challenge keeping them entertained and excited about learning that late in the game, but very worth it. If I speak Korean in the classroom I get a round of applause every time and I have alot of sweeties that just pop into my class to say hello or good bye or just to show me that they know what 'boots' mean. My boss is pretty amazing and it's pretty wonderful working for a lady that you want to do a good job for...strictly to help her out and make sure her business succeeds. (I work at a brand new school which we're trying to develop in a new area and have very fierce competition around us!)

ALL IN ALL: I am safe, happy and fell pretty lucky. Plans for Christmas are in progress! Thanks to all that have sent their love and support and continue to check me blog!!!

Lots of of love,

Felicity!

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:43:14 GMT

Hello!

Thanks to all that sent their love and birthday wishes my way this weekend! I will be replying to everyone personally but for now this is the update! haha! As you can see by my pics i am having a blast here! We all know how the camera loves me haha and i wanted to just publish those that were flattering...but then i would have none left to show so get over it....i have four chins in a couple of them...big deal! haha!

So Friday i was taken out for lunch by my co-workers. they absolutely spoilt me with presents and flowers and a green tea birthday cake, that, despite how that sounds was delicious! My boss got me a happy birthday crown which i didn't take off all weekend. So we celebrated friday day and then i went and helped out at the club called the basement and at mid night all the lights went off in the bar and the owner of the bar walked in with a cheese cake! The entire bar sang me happy birthday and we shared the cake with the whole place. It was fantastic! Then saturday day I had to give a speech to prospective parents that were thinking about having their children join our campus. I think i did a good job because there were a bunch of new faces at work today so that's good. My co workers then took me to a fantastic sashimi restaurant and i rushed home to shower and change for the night. I met a bunch of guys at a restaurant called shell and pork. There were balloons up around the restaurant and after we had a delicious grilled meal, my third birthday cake was brought out and they had streamers and everything. It was all very wonderful! We then all headed out for the night and went to a few different places and met some people in front of the vinyl underground and partied the night away. Sunday was spent on the beach recovering and we had some food and then sat on the beach as the sun went down drinking some beers and celebrating my first day being 23. It was the first time since i've been here that i got that 'holy cow i'm in korea' feeling! It's just so fantastic!

So basically the birthday diva lives on even in Korea! Thanks again for all the love from everyone!!!! And to all that made such an effort to make my birthday so wonderful!!!

Felicity!

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:21:42 GMT

Well hello all!!!!

Words can't really describe what my first week in Korea has been like. There are so many things to do, places to visit and people to meet the sleep factor is at an all time low,yet my energy level is higher than it's ever been. In short i've been out every night since i got here. I know where the wal-mart (people are just so eager to share their knowledge here it's amazing!!!) I keep getting myself all turned around and lost but everytime some nice local is able to get me back on track and even carry my bags and walk me to my door step. The safe feeling isn't because i'm a giant and after a week here I'm feeling rather average height. Everything is actually as safe as it feels and the only people you might have to watch out for are other foreigners (it's so strange to be a foreigner but at the same time it's fantastic) So my week consisted of going to work, learning about my area and sitting in on some poker games and having some social beverages. The typical week day so far has been waking up, going to yoga for an hour (i'm with a studio that is literally at my door step and it's the equivalent of $50 a month and it's five days a week at three different times and i can go as often as i want) So once i've stretched and oozed out some booze through my pores i grab the Korean Herald (an english newspaper) and pop into the restaurant around my corner. It's so nice to be greeted every morning. I get a big welcome "oh fel good morning come eat eat eat" haha it's great. I eat a huge bowl of noodles with egg and broth and veggies in it and have some green tea for the equivalent of $3. I then go home shower on my toilet and make the 10 minute commute to work. Work is fantastic, my students are really eager to learn and the classes are filling up. I'm at a brand new campus so i'm the only english speaking person at my school and i'm working about 4 hours a day although today i am working 5 which is fantastic and the interest in the campus is picking up. Before work twice a week i am taking Korean lessons for an hour and then i start my day at 2:30. I end at about 9:30 and then commute home to change to go out or commute some where in Busan to meet the people! haha After that i head home where i usually get lost and go to sleep and wake up and do it all over again. I can't wipe the smile off my face...i think i'm really starting to annoy people with my happiness! haha

This friday i met up with one of the guys i met on the plane and we went to a huge beach party. There was a bonfire and about 60-80 other english teachers. The beach is amazing! Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. Then saturday i went for a facial and massage for $30. Two women worked on me for an hour and a half and i was like jelly at the end of it. I was supposed to go on a harbour tour but the timing wasn't there so i met up with some of my new friends and we had some drinks and went to this fabulous restaurant down the street from my place where clams were spitting water at us and then we cooked them over a large flame in the middle of our table and put them in this yummy concotion of spices and cheese. One of the guys got lost the other night and stumbled upon this place where the owner gave him a ride home so that is how we found out about the place. They were nice enough to show us how to cook everything and so any fear of food poisoning was not there. The other day i went to a restaurant (eating out by yourself is not as weird or as intimidating as it seems and if u take a book, which i usually forget to do, you're just fine) But anyway there were no picture menus so i just sort of pointed to something and it was a cook it yourself deal. I started to cook the meat, and then popped a piece on my plate. A lady sitting at the table beside me yelled at the waitress and she came over and stood there and cooked my food for me for 20 minujtes, showing me how to do it and what to add when. It was incredible. You don't tip here as it's seen basically as an insult so all i could do is bow a lot and smile. So after the amazing meal we hit a club around my area and partied for the rest of the night. On Sunday and went and played in a beach volleyball tournament with people all over the world. Those Russians can jump. I was terrible, you wouldn't know i had played the game for years! I t has been awhile though i suppose! I then went out for a meal with some people at a fantastic fallafel place and then headed home at about 9 to catch up on some sleep but bumped into two guys that i had played poker with on Monday and they said there was a game starting in about an hour so i ran home, brushed the sand off and went out. The two guys own the bar and one is Korean and one is American. We played a few hands and i'm going to start helping out on weekends around there. It's literally just around the corner from me! Those of you that know me understand just how in heaven i am right now. i'm waiting for it all to fall apart as it's kind of silly how wonderful everything has been but until those rose coloured glasses fall off i'm just holding on and enjoying the ride.

Thank-you to everyone who was been emailing me while i've been here. The support and love is overwhelming and it's allowing me to truly enjoy everything that is going on as i feel so loved form everyone at home! I promise my entries won't all be this long! haha!

Lots of love to all!

Felicity!

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 02:32:45 GMT

Hello all!!!!

Well I've made it very safely! The last 48 hours has been incredible and everything so far has exceeded my greatest expectations!!!! The plane ride was great...although all but one inflight movie of the 11 hours was in english! I met some english teachers from the flight from Seoul to Busan which calmed my nerves and prepared me for the whirl wind that was about to occur! Anna (my boss), her father and siter-in-law all met me at the airport with a great big sign. Luckily they had brought a van from the school to pick me up and we took all my luggage back to my flat! I was given a cell phone immediately off the plane with a camera and mp3 function! It's fantastic! Anna and Kelly took me out for dinner after all my boxes were placed in my studio apartment! Pictures will explain in better words exactly what that means. I hang my clothes in the kitchen and my shower is a hand held shower head which I use sitting on the toilet! haha! It's great! My bed is right there when you open the door...it's all very magical! I really am quite charmed by it!

So my first night Anna, Kelly and I had some Korean food and drank some beer and got to know one another. Kelly and Anna are both alot younger than I had imagined and just as wonderful as I had hoped. They both will be working at my school with me so I'm very glad to have such fantastic colleagues and new friends. It was about 1 AM when I got back to my place...where the streets were all still awake and full of young people. (I'm living right by the Busan National University so there are alot of young and friendly Korean faces everywhere). I woke up the next day and unpacked and Anna met me for coffee at 10. We got to know the subway system (the stop is right around the corner from me) and I have a train pass which is in the shape of a little star attached to my cell phone! It's so CUTE! (like most things here) Then we popped back to my apartment where the cable guys met us and my internet and cable were hooked up. I get a bunch of english channels including CNN, random movies and shows such as Sex and the city, UFC (yay!) and the Simpsons. We then met James (Anna's husband) for lunch and did some shopping at the E-mart. I got to see my school and it's brand new and beautiful. I get my own classroom with pens and rules and everything! It's beautiful! James and Anna then drove me to meet my new western friends (I think they were a bit nervous for me meeting random strangers all by myself...again SO CUTE) by an irish pub which was closed so we went to the beach in Haedon and got some beer and food and talked travelling etc! I am definately not as lonely as I feared I might be and I even have numbers in my phone already hahaha! I then headed back to my place via the subway system and the area around my place was still abuzz. It was so late and some restaurants were just opening (this is like mid-night we're talking here on a Sunday) some clothing stores were still open and the streets were packed. I got accosted by a group of Korean girls my age very excited to meet me and we popped into the 'clover' for a drink and spoke in broken giggle filled English. So now it's Monday morning. I had a Korean breakfast of beef and noodles in broth for about $4 and am just about to head out for my training/first day of work. I haven't had my 'what have I done' moment yet and I think that I might not. Transit is fantastic and easy to use and the people are so lovely. Everything feels so safe. People don't lock doors, they leave their bags in their shopping carts while they walk around stores and I don't even have a lock on my mail box in my apartment. I still haven't figured out if the 'safe' feeling is due to the fact that i'm kind of a giant here or it's really this lovely! haha! There is a yoga studio down the street which i've introduced myself to and I think I might be able to join dispite the language barriers. I'm going to try and learn three Korean words a day and use them. Kelly (Anna's sister in-law) has agreed to teach me the alphabet and Korean so hopefully i'll become one of the locals in no time!

Thank-you again to all who have encouraged this adventure and listened endlessly to my fears and plans etc.! Keep the emails coming and i'll do my best to upload some pictures and keep this thing updated. My computer can't really handle the speed of the internet here and keeps crashing...I might have to commit to buying a new one soon before I get frustrated and throw this heap across the room! haha!

Love to all!

Felicity :)

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:55:30 GMT

Hello!!

Well as promised here is my blog for the next year or so of my life. I'm getting ready to head off to South Korea in a few days and will be updating this space frequently with pictures and info on what i've been up to. I figured this would be a nice alternative to the large mass email and allows me to back up my photos and memories via the internet! Pretty cool eh?! haha! I am flying into Pusan South Korea on the 25th of August and am planning to stay at least a year here, hopefully exploring all that Asia has to offer. I am then planning to go to Kenya for a month or so and rehabilitate lion cubs into the wild at an African wild life reserve. So we'll see....all I know right now is I'm getting ready for some great adventures and some very random stories! I hope to hear from you guys frequently and please let me know what you think of the page!

Felicity :)

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:29:53 GMT

Melbourne Cup

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Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:19:54 GMT

Tasmania

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Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:08:30 GMT

Byron Bay!

Eve and Jamie arriving at the Ballina airport!

Eve and awesome roomie number one: Chef Dave!

Awesome roommate number two: Kolby

Our home 13 Cemetery Rd.

Eve and Rupert!

On the way to Nimbin!

The bus to Nimbin!

Nimbin!

Daisy and I on the beach!

Tea Tree Lake!

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Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:41:37 GMT

Bondi Beach, Sydney Australia

This is what a landed to...Evie, floaty top and VIEW!

The view from our rooftop!

Evie and the view from job number one Mocean

Opera House

Harbor Bridge

In an area called Kings Cross

How far away I am from the rest of the world!

Evie, Zoe and Lena eating $10 steak

Footprints on Bondi

Having a fabulous BBQ on our roof!

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Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:40:20 GMT

Beijing China!

China 004

China 005

China 006

China 008

China 011

China 013

China 014

China 015

China 016

China 024

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Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:43:51 GMT

January

Me, Heath and Jullian

Me, Heath and Yeye and Meymey

Heatha!

Soju warrior

In family mart...good times

Heather and I holding up the family mart...he's so scared!

Cart man...very cute!

This guy was out for the count

soju warrior!

soju warrior

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Sun, 12 Nov 2006 05:12:30 GMT

October

Heading to the mountains!

She was NOT happy!

The mountains! It was beautiful!

Where we stayed!

Creepy!

The editors in Korea are GOOD :-)

devil

My Kick Ass Shoes!!!

View when you walk in my apartment door!

View from my bed!

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Tue, 31 Oct 2006 13:41:15 GMT

October 31 - Halloween At School!

Human Remains!

Some of my home made decorations!

Spooky Hallway!

Creepy dead guy!

Ariel and Ryan!

Face Painting

Ewwwwwwwww Teacher gross!

My pumpkin!

My secound pumpkin...i swear pretto I carved it all by myself...isn't she a beaut?!?!

Charlie!!! Yarrr

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Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:42:22 GMT

Chusuk - trip to Gyeongju!

05/10 Arriving at the hotel!

05/10 View from our room!

05/10 QUADDING TIME!

05/10 Heather and Clem

05/10 Tim, such a gangsta!

05/10 Westsdie!

05/10 Catching some jumps!

05/10 Bomun lake!

05/10 BL

05/10 Hardcore Heather!

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Sun, 01 Oct 2006 20:13:57 GMT

Very Last Day of September

Greg before he was told this ride is for children

Indiana Jones ride...aka awesome!

Heather, Clem, Greg and Owen on their way to the temple

Not quite sure what clem is doing here

Some shrines

Temple in the middle of the woods

Some temple art

Under neath side of temple roof

Some buddhas...aka i am in heaven!

Chanting monk

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Tue, 26 Sep 2006 03:43:16 GMT

September

09/02 Greg and Clems arrival

09/02 Welcome to Shell and pork!

09/02 Tim, Clem and Owen

09/02 Settling in fine!

09/15 Korean pose!

09/15 Twins and Clem Djing

09/15 - at shell and pork

09/15 owen sharing the wealth of neon bracelets!

09/15 Time to go home owen!

09/16 Under the subway!

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Tue, 26 Sep 2006 03:36:44 GMT

My Birthday Weekend!

My Birthday lunch with my co-workers!

My first Cake!

It was green tea!!! So good!!!

Me and my flowers and prezzies!

Me and Kelly!!!

At the basement with my other co-workers!

birthday girl

Behind the bar!

My boss AJ!!!

Trying to cut it!

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Sun, 24 Sep 2006 00:54:13 GMT

Sculpture garden

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Melbourne!

The day before the cup parade!

THE Melbourne Cup!

Christmas in Aussie!

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 04:51:39 GMT

My work!

Our campus!

My director and one of the nicest people in the world! ANNA!

My first picture for my classroom!

On the way to work!

Some veggies!

Some more veggies! They sit there all day and peel their goods!

A stand on the way to work!

Balancing act!

My walk to work!

Mountains!

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