365 Days in South Korea

The Seoul of Korea

I am really really really sorry for that title LOOOOL…but I really just had to. With that being said the pun in the title completely stands!!! Seoul IS the soul of Korea…and I can say eventhough so far I have only visited 4 cities (Gyeongsan, Daegu, Incheon and Seoul). I guess it does actually make sense as Seoul is the capital! The city is sooo busy everyone is constantly moving and it’s filled with a lot of young people,foreigners,Koreans, places to eat/party/drink/shop. It reminds me of central London however I think it is 10 times better!

So about two weekends ago 5 friends and I headed over to Seoul to meet up with our friends we made at orientation and also our orientation teacher - the awesome Rumi!!! Then we met up with the rest of my orientation class, went to Pizza Hut ( yess very Korean..not). Half of us went to the St Patrick’s Day festival and the other half went around Seoul to see the sites…I went with the latter half.

On the subway to ‘Incheon’ ….we got on the wrong Subway!!!!

The sleeping man in McDonalds (Incheon) and the view from my friends room in Incheon…

Pizza Hut in Seoul! yummy..

Street food in In sadong !!! Trust me that stuff is goood!

Cutest tea shop ever…!! I don’t like tea so I didn’t have any but that place was soooo cute!! and the tea they served are like pieces of art! It’s such a ‘looks at me I am sophisticated’ / ‘ladies who lunch’ kind of place…yeah I love those kind of places.

Seoul at night! 

After taking in the sites in Seoul during the day, we headed to another part of Seoul for dinner! We had ‘Korean Barbecue’ which basically is just portions of pork - which you cook yourself on the burner in the middle of the table accompanied with various side dishes; vegetables, rice, soup, Kimichi, lettuce,onions etc. This is probably my favourite thing to eat in South Korea!

After dinner we went off to the Noreanbang (translates to singing room /Karoke room) Noreanbang seem to be really huge in Korea and this is the second one that I been too in two weeks of being in Korea…in the UK I probably went to two for the whole year! Anyway… so this Noreanbang..omg! it was the most lavish Karoke place I have even been to! The decor was something else and so was the customer service (10 out 10)

We had previously arranged to stay with some friends in Incheon but the commute between Incheon and Seoul was too long, so we checked into a Hostel called The Backpacker: Mr Sea. I highly recommend this place for anyone visiting Seoul for a weekend, the prices were great and the rooms were better than I had expected! We plan on going to Seoul again in May so I will definitely be going back there to stay.

Lolade x

Orientation: Day 3-5

Day 3 was a day filled with lectures and talks on tips for successful teaching. The lecturers were native english speakers from mostly the UK and the US so that was a good thing . For many of us who had no experience teaching as well as being SK first timers, it made the lectures more relatable. The classes were on Class management, EPIK life and Etiquette and Edutaining (Education + Entertaining) activities. My favourite for the day was Edutaining Activites as we could be very active and after 4 hours of lectures it prevented me from sleeping off in class!!!

Later on in the evening was the first of our ‘Survival in Korea Lessons’. Of course I placed myself in the beginners class! Learnt how to say Hello, thank you, my name is and I come from. Also learnt the how to say and read Hangul/Korean vowels.

Day 4 another day of lectures and a very important one, on co teaching and  lesson planning. Korean classes in the evening aswell, learnt more Hangul character and words..!! That was when I decided that Hangul and I would have take a very looooooong minute!!!

Day 5 We went on a field trip to ermmmmmm yeah cant remember what the place was called ( i will fill it in later)  We did alot that day though, made tofu/tofu pancakes (yucky), dyeing and learn about Korean culture. It was good to get out of the training centre and out to the great outdoors!

Oh yeahhh I had Mc Donalds!!!! It was great, better than in the UK!! Everywhere else I have tried beats the UK to be honest France, the US, Portugal, Morocco, Germany! The menu is just alot better in other countries! My roomate and I went to a shopping center in Daejeon called Galleria!!! arghhhh so awesome I spotted Zara and the young Koreans and their fashion sense gave me a lot of joy!!!

Sorry about the way this post is..I just wanted to get a post out there because I am behind on posts, all my friends and family are asking for updates! I will sort it out this weekend and order everything properly

Orientation: Day 2 - Medical Check and Intro

(Current SK time: 4.03am)

YES!! We had to have a medical check (to make sure we were not druggies or something loool). The check included a urine test, blood test, sight test, colour/blind test, hearing test and an x-ray!! yeah so a fair bit of testing and checking. As I said before I left my glasses on the plane, so I pretty much failed the sight test before I even took it. The woman reassured me that I was ok…but I am not convinced! lool.

I would LOVE to tell you more about my first day of orientation, however after I came back from the medical which finished around 11am, then I went for a ‘nap’ and woke up at 4.50pm. So I missed the welcome ceremony and my class meeting! So are 4.50 I rushed down to the reception area half asleep and a Korean guy called Charles who works for EPIK drove me to my class!! Result?! Kinda, I got there with 10 mins left. Needless to say I will not be missing anymore lesson, I think jetlag just got the better of me!!

The food from dinner today.. rice and Kimchi (fermented cabbage). I wasn’t brave enough to try it…maybe tomorrow.

Lolade  x

Orientation: Day 1 - Flights and Arrival

I have been travelling for a grand total of about 25hours (6hr London to Doha, 6hr wait at Doha Airport, 7hrs Doha to Seoul, a 3hr coach journey from Seoul to Deajeon, and then about 3 hours of general waiting in between).

London to Doha was a great flight because I slept the whole way and I was seated next to a Scottish man who happened to be quiet the chatter (I thought that was going to be a problem) but I mean once you close your eyes no one can really talk to you can they?

Even my 6 hour wait in Doha wasn’t too bad, I just tweeted my way through it and used their free wifi to surf the internet. Talked to some random folks as well (a lady going to Jerusalem and two dutch guys)

However Doha to Seoul was not so great, started to get sick and claustrophobic. Also the plane food was really starting to get on my last nerves ( they call the dishes different things but they all smell the same Chicken Curry = Chicken Wrap = Chicken sandwich = Veg bake = everything…I personally couldn’t deal with that. So I stuck to 2 crackers and several cups of water. On the up side I was sat next to an American man who works in the military, who lived in Germany but now is moving to South Korea for about 4 years. He had been to South Korea before so he had loads of tips and info for me.

Right now its 12.38 am and I in Daejeon for a 10 day orientation. After 10 days I will move on to where I will actually be living and teaching.

I am super tired and my arms ache from carrying/dragging 3 suitcases, 1 hand luggage, my huge Zara shopper bag and carrier bag with my laptop and SLR camera! I feel like SUCH a Nigerian with the amount of stuff I brought..but I hate wanting to use/wear something then realising I left it behind..

Oh yeah I also left my glasses on the plane to Seoul. :’( Sad times!!

Lolade x

South Korea….the begining

So it feels like I have been planning and getting my documents together for South Korea for absolutely ages! (because I have!!!)But finally by God’s grace everything has come together and I’m going to SK in February (TODAY) for a year…wooooo wooooo

Soooo excited and anxious at the same time, this is like the perfect thing for me because my intention was always to work and travel for a yearnafter University before the real Graduate grind and i’m doing both!!. Obviously it is going to be SO different from anything i’m used to but I am glad. Life is all about new experiences.

I found out about the opportunity in SK from a friend of mine (@desoye !). It is basically a teaching position in various parts of SK in association with EPIK ( English program in Korea) but i’m recruited by a company called ESL starter- who are more than amazing. They offer alot of benefits in terms of free luxury accommodation, free airfare etc..

So yeah, I’m going to be a teacher..which is weird because when I was younger I actually wanted to be a teacher.

This is a blog will detail my time in South Korea and around Asia. As I do plan on travelling around the whole of South Korea, China and just Asia in general during my year.

Sooooo the ‘Gap Yah’ has begun!

(I am currently at Doha International Airport waiting for my connecting flight)

The blog name was inspired by Nikki Loux Photography. Check

out their tumblr. amiraculouspower.tumblr.com/