Thursday 31 January 2013

Preparing for the big move!


To be honest, the idea of moving to Korea seemed a massive leap of faith back in February 2011.

We would be trusting our lives to a nation of people we did not know, trusting a culture with traditions that were more than a little alien to us.  A place where those with more senior age were deemed all knowing and infallible. A country where technology would one day soon be replacing human teachers.

Were our fears/hesitations justified... well, in some ways yes but in others no.

I know that when I think back on Korea it will be the lovely people here that will come to mind. Those that I will consider friends, even if we do not speak again, those that have helped us, those that seen as being some of the nicest people I have met without expecting anything in return.  Their smiles, quirks, silly mistakes and simplistic answers, their beauty, their paternal/maternal care, their enthusiasm for Korean heritage and history, their acceptance that Danielle and I don't like fish/shellfish/sea/river/lake procured foods.

So, there are 27 days until we head to Seoul for our flight home... and we are almost ready to move our lives into suitcases.

We have spent the last 2 months boxing up our belongings that we need to keep (mainly Danielle's clothes collection) and sending them on the slow journey home.  It is estimated that it will take roughly 2-3 months for the boxes and boxes of seemingly essentials to make their way back to N. Ireland and land on my parents' doorstep - which neither they nor we are looking forward to!

Packing up is so hard to do... Do we need it? Can we sell it?  Is it worth keeping? Why bring it home?

What seems like 20 boxes later, we still have lots of things in the apartment which we made our home.

We are currently trying to sell off some of those bits and pieces that we know we cannot bring home - ovens, blenders, scooter, car, ironing board, etc. etc. etc.

Even deciding what to sell and what to keep was a problem... I've decided to bring my Korean X-Box home even though I'm not sure whether or not games at home will even play in it.  I could eternally be buying future games from Asia in order to enjoy it! lol!

The last two weeks have been a bit of respite from the whole stress of leaving... well, almost.
We have spent a lot of time checking what jobs are available, trying to find something that doesn't want us until later in March rather than getting home for one week and leaving again... and our options have extended beyond our current fields of work.  Really we want something closer to home and that we can grow with - develop our skills in education, develop our language skills, maybe even develop a family.
Spain is still the country of choice for us... though I am still keeping in the back of my mind the undergrowth of what seems to be the return of Franco there - that could make for a volatile future but then again we're from N.I. so how bad can it be? (laughing inwardly!)

This week we also took the opportunity to get in some skiing/boarding before we had to get back to school.
We headed to a ski resort called High 1 which is generally considered the best in the country - and it was definitely the best we have ever been to (in our long history of skiing/snowboarding and of all the numerous countries we have indulged this winter sport in - which is very very little!).
We chose it because of reputation and that it has a nice 4.1 kilometre beginners' slope - which would mean we could get lots of practice in!  IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!

  

Danielle (who has all her own gear!) wanted to use this as an opportunity to practice and develop her toeing but it didn't quite work out that way... I just wanted to grow some balls! (? What Colm?) Well, I have this niggling fear that if I have a nasty fall that: a) the bones won't heal correctly or will leave permanent damage due to my age, and b) that if I did have a nasty accident then Danielle is stranded without someone to support her/calm her down or any transport home (since I'm the only one who drives here).

But... those fears were set aside somewhat and I was able to nicely build up more speed and slalom more; rather than doing pizza the whole way down and stressing myself out when I couldn't slow down! haha!

I quite fancy doing more skiing back in Europe - though I really need to get much better before I try an intermediate run.  We'll go again in a couple of weeks and I'll try and push myself a bit more... might have to actually get a lesson at some stage too rather than depending on Ski Assistant's Youtube lessons (which so far have really helped and I've even passed them on to others too!!!).  Ski Assistant (no idea what his real name is) also has a website which includes places in Scotland for skiing - something we may well be trying out next winter as an alternative to going to France, Italy etc.
A few resort regulars kitted out in Onesies!
View from our hotel room at High 1 Hotel & Country Club

Korea is great for skiing during the winter - there are resorts all over the country and for the most part the snowfall is good to great.  There are a few places where it can be very icey - here in Chungju it has not snowed for almost 4 weeks yet there is still 'snow' on the ground but is just dangerous.

After our next, and final, ski trip we will box up our gear and ship it home... all except Danielle's snowboard which we will be trying to sell as she wants to get a smaller one back home.

I'll be trying to get one last post on here before we leave Korea... but leaving here is not the end of our journey!

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