2011 was an awesome year!  I experienced so many firsts, had so many random experiences, basically just had a ball.  I sometimes wonder when the bubble is going to burst, but then realise – life is what you make it…… these are the highlights of what I’ve made of it for the last 12 months…..

After much begging to get a room (and ending up in the Honeymoon suit!) the year started at the beautiful Muju ski resort with lots of skiing, lots of drinking, and fire works at midnight over the mountain.

Climbing Mudensan, in January, in the snow without crampons was both beautiful and terrifying! We climbed up the back side of the mountain, which was by far the steepest route I've climbed it by, on a path that was sheet ice using a rope to haul ourselves up....I think its the first time I've ever been hiking and my arms ached more than my legs the following day! But it was well worth it, the views from the top were stunning, and the hospitality of Korea hikers, in sharing their soju and food, heart warming.

My Mum and Dad came to Korea to see me! Sunrise, the teddy bear museum, lava caves, and great food on Jeju, climbing Mt. Halla with my Mum (where she picked up a Korean army toy boy), skiing with my Dad, the ice festival, or any of the other things we did.....I couldnt pick any one best bit, it would have to be the whole experience of finally getting my folks to my side of the world and showing them why I love it so much!

Serious hiking! A weekend away that started with the first sightings of blossom after a long cold winter, a crazy Korea karaoke boat tour, being whisked off to a private island at sunset and watching sun rise the following morning, and then heading out on the most brutal and exhilarating hike I've ever been on.

I completed my first marathon! I've never felt so fit or so confident and happy in my own skin as I did in March.....I've signed up to do the race again this year, and am hoping it has the same effect!!

My awesome birthday! Meeting up with my friends on my birthday morning having not had any sleep, and still being drunk, to go and swing through the tree tops....it was one hell of a way to avoid getting a hangover!!

I met and fell, for a while at least, head over heels for a lovely guy. And although ultimately it didn't work out, for all of the firsts I experienced with him, and all that our relationship taught me about myself I'm pretty sure that he will always have a special place in my heart.

Noribangs! Pick a time, any time...theres nothing quite like belting out your favourite songs!

Spending time in the UK with family and friends...LOVED IT.....theres nothing more to say!!

The years melted away on a morning spent surfing with my brother on a beach we used to surf on as kids

The Mud Festival in Korea is so much fun, its basically a weekend in a bikini covered in mud, then throw in a bouncy castle obstacle course for good measure!

Summer camping weekends! Sun, sea, sand, swimming, bbqs, beer, out door living, and great company .....my idea of Heaven!

Fires on the beach....for all of the same reasons as camping!

Fun in the water! From water roller coaster rides, to jet pools, to a ride that see a friends bikini come down in a plunge pool surrounded by a bunch of Korean guys, to rides that are so scary the adrenalin could keep you going for a month of Sundays, Korea sure knows how to do water parks!

Accidentally completing my second marathon of the year! I'd planned on using part of the marathon as a training run, with the idea being that I'd run around 30km and then hop into the stragglers bus to the end. The bus never came and being a lot more unfit than I though I was I ended up running 17km and then walking to the end! Looking back the sheer fact that I made it to the end is a highlight.....at the time, as the photo shows, it was anything but!

I love the randomness of Korea and never knowing what might happen next. Like walking down the beach at sunset and being accosted by a Korean photography club and being asked to stand for a photo, only for it to turn into a 20 minute photo shoot of running and jumping....so much fun!

Being taught Meditation and Martial Arts by Monks (and sneaking out for icecream!).....an amazing way to spend a weekend.

Sitting on the beach for the Busan fireworks competition - just mind blowing. 4 counties with 15 minutes each to wow the crowds with displays set to music; all were pretty amazing - America was loud and brash and in your face - China was very regimented, with lots of red fireworks - Japan was beautiful and perfectly set to the music, though a little understated - Poland was the real surprise, I had no idea what to expect but theirs was the right amount of fireworks, perfectly timed to the music and felt like being told a story, stunning......they won! The night was then topped of by being picked up by an off duty taxi out of a crowd of hundreds and hearing stories of his life living around the world while being driven back to the hotel....Korean randomness

Live performances.....from Cirque Du Soleil, to professional Korean dance companies, to stand up comedians, to the fine expats of the Gwangju Performance Project.....all great shows!

Hiking (again!) from the frozen Winter, to the first blossom of Spring, to the sweat-fest that is Summer, to the vibrant leaves of Autumn....I love it all!

Spas! From the traditional......

....to the super modern, they're all awesome!

Returning to Muju for the new Skeason, it felt like the year had passed in the blink of an eye and we were returning to a familiar old friend! I think Korea is spoiling me, hot Summers, gorgeous clear Springs and Autumns, and blue sky Winters with a ski resort on my door step.....moving on (when it happens) is going to be hard!!

Without a doubt the best of the best bits of this year are my wonderful friends. I've laughed with them, cried with them, been highly irresponsible with them, they've humored my whims, and been my sanity, I couldn't wish for nicer people to have spent my time with xx

And so the year ended where it began with beer in hand, huddled with friends watching fireworks over the slopes of Muju.....Heres to 2012 and another year of fun and frolics!

Draw your best friend, and answer the questions.

Q.What does your friend look like?

A. My friend look like mechine.

Q. Who’s in your friends family?

A. Monitar, Speaker, Mouse, Keyboard —

Q. What do you do with your friend?

A. I play computer game.

Q. Where is your friend from?

A. He is from SamSung.

Q. What language does your friend speak?

A. He speaks Ailrian language.

It turned out I wasn’t on my own on Friday.  Poor Juliens in a bad way with his back so spent most of Friday evening being poked and prodded in the hospital, so after work I packed up my running kit ready for Saturday morning and headed over to his house.  We chatted a bit over some fried chicken before exhausted he took himself to bed.  Eating one last bit of chicken I felt a crunch, “that can’t be right” I thought, it was meant to be boneless.  I spat out the tiniest bit of chicken bone, but still something didn’t seem right.  I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror at my mouth.  SHIT – where did part of my wisdom tooth just go?!  There was no pain, but there was definitely part of my tooth missing.  Its not like its a bit that I need, its been mostly hiding under my gum for the last ten years or so having never fully emerged, but still the loss of it meant I finally needed to bite the bullet and go to the dentist; something I think I’ve been avoiding ever since I had a traumatic experience having my other wisdom tooth removed.

I spent the night tossing and turning, I’m not sure if it was knowing that I wanted to be up early to get out running before it got too hot, or if it was the thought of going to the dentist.  I actually thought about not going running and heading straight for the dentist, but then decided that if he did pull the tooth out I probably wouldn’t be running for a few days.  My tooth didn’t feel like it was going anywhere so I figured it wouldn’t really make a difference if I didn’t get to a dentist until the afternoon.

The weather in Gwangju suddenly changed about a week and a half ago, gone was the intense humidity of summer, suddenly it was blissfully cool.  With this in mind I thought that as long as I was running by 8am I’d be done the 24km run that I needed to do before there was any real heat in the air – how wrong I was!  The first couple of kms were great, but I could see the sun coming out and already it was starting to heat up.  By 4km the sky was blue and I was dreading the rest of the run, by 6km I was sweating more than I thought it was possible to and focusing on each bridge ahead for the second of shade that each offered.  By 8km I’d stopped sweating and knew I couldn’t carry on!  I headed off the river path and into the closest  7 Eleven for a huge bottle of water.  After a couple of swigs I took the bottle back down to the river with me, where in an attempt to cool down, I proceeded to empty half of it over me (much to the bewilderment,  if the double take I got was anything to go by, of the little old Ajumma who cycled past.  I did a double take of her too though, she had stabilizers on her bike, it was so cute!).  Having drank most of the other half I decided that I should carry on, as long as I covered the distance, even if I only walked, it had to be better than nothing.  So, carry on I did, what should have been a two and a quarter-two and a half hour run turned into a three and a half hour run/walk in the blistering sunshine.  By the time I got home I had a decidedly pink and prickly sunburn on my shoulders and lower legs.

After a cold shower, to take the heat out of the sun burn, and a quick lunch, there was no putting it off any longer – I had to go and find a dentist.  There’s one that advertises in the local ex-pat magazine every month, and it said he speaks English, I figured that was my best bet.  I walked into his practice already full of nerves, and they weren’t really helped by what I saw, I dont know what it was exactly that bothered me, maybe just that it looked really old and dated.  In my mind it was too late to back out, I was through the door and besides, I didn’t know where else to go.  As soon as the dentist came out to meet me though I started to relax.  I’m not sure if he just likes to speak English and is always really chatty, or if he picked up on my nerves and was trying to put me at ease, what ever it was, it worked.  Before I’d made it into the chair we’d talked about how long I’d been in Korea, how I found out about him, where I’m from, where I went to school, what I studied, where I work, what I like to do in my spare time, who my boyfriend was, where he worked, and what he studied, only after all of this did he ask if I’d gone with a specific problem! 

After looking at my tooth and asking “does this hurt?” while whacking it several times with a force that rattled my head, no it didn’t, he wanted to do an x-ray.  As he waited for the x-ray he asked if I wanted the tooth removed, before I went I just assumed this is what he would do so was a little surprised by the question.  I said I’d do what ever he thought was best, and was really happy when he said that since there was no pain he could just restore it – I loved that description, “restore it”, so much nicer than “fill it”.  He set to work at giving me a temporary filling, starting off by saying, with his hands in my mouth, that I had to be a man and not scream if it hurt, I was only allowed to use sign language, his delivery was awesome, I couldn’t stop laughing!  He then spent the whole time chatting away, cracking jokes, and singing “Don’t worry, Be happy”……..I’ve never met such a great dentist!  I just hope hes still as lovely when he does the proper “restoration”, and does a full clean in the morning!!

 I’m not sure if it was the disturbed nights sleep, the 24km in the sun, or the release of tension and stress at having been to the dentist and it being ok, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open when I got home in the late afternoon.  I spent the rest of the day curled up on the sofa watching movies and sleeping, before having an early night…..I don’t remember the last time I did that!

Sunday morning, and most of the afternoon, was spent in much the same relaxed state as Saturday afternoon, relaxing in the house, reading, cooking, chilling out.  I finally emerged at half four to take my bike out across town to meet the running club.  It should have been a fairly straight forward 10km ride, but I think my map was wrong….or at least thats my excuse and I’m sticking to it!!  Lots of wrong turns later I finally got to the meeting point after they had set off for the run.  I thought about doing a couple of laps of the reservoir while I waited for them to get back, but then decided that the 70km I’ve ran in the last 7 days was enough, and that it was OK to just sit and wait and enjoy the scenery!

I love the random Koreans that will sometimes come and talk to you if you’re sitting still for long enough.  First there was an old guy who wanted a bit of random chat, and then there was a lovely older lady.  She started by looking at my bike, and moving the handle bars around a bit, and asking the usual questions.  Then she told me that she was part of a cycling club that meet on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and invited me to join them!  As the running guys all started to get back and we were getting ready to head off for dinner the lady started asking how I was going to get home, and was really worried about me cycling back in the dark; she told me I should head back while it was still a bit light because Korean drivers were not good, and it wouldn’t be safe for me to ride in the dark.  I assured her that I could go all of the way home on the pavements and that seemed to make her feel a bit better -  I thought it was really sweet though, a complete stranger being so concerned.

By that point all of the runners were back and we headed off to a restaurant, my second new restaurant this week (the first being an amazing Vietnamese style place with the girls mid-week).  It was another great place, a vegetarian eat as much as you like buffet of deliciousness, that combined a mixture of Korean and western style dishes.  Its a good job I had to cycle home, it meant I limited myself to some soup and a small plate of food, I think if I wasn’t riding home I would have gone a bit crazy!

The ride home was lovely, dark and cool.  I think I’m the most relaxed and rested I’ve been for quite a while, I even resisted the urge to pick up some wine on my way home…..my halo may choke me!!

I was in great shape three months ago, but three months of not doing a lot have wreaked havoc on my body!  I think a combination of finding the running so tough last week, and seeing photos of myself in a bikini at the water park have been enough of an “OY FATTY” wake up call to make me actually do something about it!  I certainly dont fancy lugging the weight I am now around a 42km course!  I even went into work today and told the girls so that they would only bring food in for three and I can start taking my own pack lunch in – I think they all think its funny, and that I’m a bit strange!!

So, this is it, 16 weeks to the race, 16 weeks to shift 16kg, here goes nothing……wish me luck!!!

We walked into the changing rooms and they were set up in full Jimjilbang style, lockers on one side and all of the pools and scrubbing areas you find in a Jimjilbang on the other, and as with Jimjilbangs lots and lots of naked ladies – I thought Charlotte was about to have a nervous break down!  We quickly changed into our bikinis and went out into the main area.  This was split into an outside area, that I’ll come to later, and an indoor relaxing area, complete with Saunas, a toilet bowl slide – imagine what it would be like to be flushed down a toilet…pretty much exactly the same, only with clean water!  And the best massage pool I’ve been in in a while – stand up jets, sit down jets, lie down jets, jets that were powerful enough to knock you over, feet tickling jets, and jets that put mighty big smiles on the girls faces!!!

I think we went straight for the toilet bowl, Julien went first letting out a big scream (that I’m sure was more for dramatic effect than anything!!), followed by Anna, then me (my scream was real, no amature dramatics here!!).  What I didn’t realise until we stood watching Charlotte and Chris come down was that the pool you plunge into is glass sided – there I was slightly adjusting my cleavage back into my bikini thinking I was being all discrete doing it under water, and the chances were that every one around the pool could see exactly what I was doing!  That said I was near the steps to get out, so was probably not very visible.  Charlotte in true Charlotte style splashed into the pool and then did a really funny little doggy paddle around the side of the pool to get to the steps, it was so funny watching her.  little did we know until she got out that it was because she was still in the process of pulling up her bikini bottoms that had come right down when she hit the water; little did she know until she reached us that the big group of Korean lads that were sitting watching the pool had got a right eye full….I’d say a bit more than they bargained for, but actually I’m pretty sure that’s exactly why they sit there!!

Inside, super relaxing; saunas (because Korea isn't hot enough!), a full circuit of water massage therapy, and the toilet bowl slide.

Walking outside the resort sits in beautiful countryside on the edge of a lake surrounded by tree covered hills.

The first ride we hit was the giant slide, I think my technique was a little wrong first time as I got a face full of water all of the way down!!  I’m not entirely sure that it was that much better when we went back for a second go later in the day, I got no water in the face, flew down the slide, beat Julien and Charlotte in the distance race but managed to smack my nose on the edge of the mat you rode down on as I flew over one of the bumps…I’m sure it crunched and was a bit wobbly after…no black eyes though so it can’t have been that bad!!

Super fast slide

The wave pool and the funnel, the most scary and awesome water ride I’ve ever been on!

We then moved onto the funnel, the most terrifying and awesome ride ever!!  You basically sit on a raft and pray for your life, I didn’t know I could scream so loud!  The first time we went on it the adrenalin was pumping just from not knowing quite what was going to happen.  Thankfully it was Julien who ended up going backwards down the super steep drop, because that also meant that he went highest up the side of the funnel, pretty sure I had my eyes closed the whole time and screamed all of the way.  I was just pulling myself together sitting in the raft at the bottom of the ride when I found myself unceremoniously tipped out, I did a full somersault head first style into the pool at the bottom…..was it a wave or part of the ride?  No!  It was Julien – who needs enemies when you have a man in you life like that!!  I swore I’d get him back at some point, but every time I tried to during the day I always seemed to end up being the one who was worse off….hmmmm I will get my revenge at some point, just don’t know how yet!!

The second time we went down the funnel I somehow ended up being the one going backwards, turns out the backwards isn’t so bad on the down bit; its when you go up the other side and the raft has gone vertical and feels like it’s about to flip over……..Arrggggggggggggggggggh!!!!!!!

Then it was on to the water roller coaster, again huge amounts of fun, and huge amounts of screaming from me!!  It was a bit like being in a log flume, only we were sitting in a rubber raft.  I remember getting off at the end and feeling like a kid again, there’s something about that feeling you get when you leave your stomach behind that transports me back to being in primary school!

After all of those adrenalin fulled rides a nice float down the lazy river seemed like a good idea.  I figured you really could be lazy, what with having to wear a life jacket and a rubber ring!!  The lazy river turned out to be not so lazy, infact there was a pretty big swell on it, so much so, that once we’d moved from the Korean style of having the rubber ring around our waists, to actually sitting in them, it seemed like more effort than it was worth to get out, so we merry floated round a few times chatting away, and laughing at the people whos rings got flipped!

The (not so) Lazy River

We finished our time there with some serious relaxing in the massage pools, it was pure bliss, well, except maybe the foot massager; there’s a thin line between pleasure and pain, and it tickled that much it was verging on the latter! Some of the other jets were almost a little too much for some; I looked up at one point to see Anna and Charlotte across the pool from me, years of working in noisy bars means you develop a knack of a bit of lip reading, lets just say I daren’t repeat what I saw said!!

Another awesome day with my favourite people in the Land of the Morning Calm

I felt like I spent the entire of last week on an emotional roller coaster, and by Thursday I’d made myself really ill.  I’m not sure how much of it was down to not dealing with the emotions a trip home inevitably brings up, and how much of it was down to lack of sleep and jet lag – arriving in Seoul at 10pm on Sunday night and being back at work at 2.30pm on Monday afternoon didn’t allow any time for recovery!  Then add that, other than the 15 hours I slept on Tuesday night, I didn’t really sleep much all week.  I wasn’t in a good place physically or emotionally.  But what a difference a week makes!

I’ve slept, I’ve figured out things that were playing on my mind, I had an awesome weekend with friends – eating, drinking, and even going to see a play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile – a brilliant performance put on by some of Gwangjus finest ex-pats.

This week I’ve started to make some serious changes, I decided that after two and a half months of doing some serious relaxing (read that as eating junk and not running!) it was time to pull it together again!  So, I’m eating properly (helped by the new cook book that I got for inspiration and the entire shop full of spices I brought back with me from the UK) and I’m back into training mode.  Two runs down this week, so far, and I’m feeling a world of difference – I forgot just how much I love to run.  It’s a good job I’m remembering……I’m doing another marathon later this year!

Going for walks around the ressy....

Looking at this years new arrivals.....

Kanga

Fin

My Dads amazing cocktails

Roast Lamb

Roast Dinners

My Mums fruit bowl that's always full of deliciousness

Relaxing

The comfiest bed in the world!

I’m not one for making cookies, I like to make proper cakes, so after a little hunt on the internet I found a BBC Good Food guide recipe for carrot cake, and after checking that I still had enough of the spices from home (I’ve yet to find mixed spice in Korea) I set off yesterday morning to the supermarket to pick up the rest.  I got home from work and got straight on with chopping and mixing, and when the cake was made and in the oven I sat down with a nice glass of red.  The smell that filled my house was nothing short of delicious!

I was up early this morning to decorate the cake and for a bit more cooking, I decided that I’d knock together a few apple and cinnamon crumbles too.  They dont look very pretty but again they smell amazing…….would it be wrong to have crumble and custard for brunch I wonder!

Carrot Cake and Apple Crumble Mmmmmmm

While I was doing the cooking I started to wonder again if I’m in the wrong job, for years any time I think about work and what I really want to do I always find myself going back to the same idea.  A little B&B somewhere with a tea shop attached, with enough ground that I could grow my own fruit and veg; the menu would be made up of homemade dishes, with locally sourced ingredients….probably even with homemade jam from the fruit in the garden.  I wonder if I was actually born in the wrong century, spending all day cooking and cleaning…….it sounds a little bit like an old fashioned housewife!!!

For the time being though, until I win the lottery to be able to afford to buy the sort of business I want, there’s small children that need to be entertained by a funny speaking white person, so I’m off to work……..

An Obituary printed in the London Times

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved
old friend, Common Sense, who has
been with us for many years. No one
knows for sure how old he was, since his
birth records were long ago lost in
bureaucratic red tape. He will be
remembered as having cultivated such
valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the
rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound
financial policies (don’t spend more
than you can earn) and reliable
strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly
when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in
place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for
kissing a classmate; teens suspended from
school for using mouthwash after lunch;
and a teacher fired for reprimanding
an unruly student, only worsened his
condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents
attacked teachers for doing the job
that they themselves had failed to do in
disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools
were required to get parental consent
to administer sun lotion or an aspirin
to a student; but could not inform
parents when a student became pregnant
and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as
the churches became businesses; and
criminals received better treatment than
their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you
couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar
in your own home and the burglar could
sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to
live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee
was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge
settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by
his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter,
Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so
few realized he was gone. If you
still remember him, pass this on. If
not, join the majority and do nothing.

“If you want to know how rich you are,
just count up all the things you have that money cannot buy.”