Farewell Korea

Well, our time in Korea is coming to an end. With tickets on a slow boat to China booked for Saturday, 21st April, we are taking in the last sights, smells, tastes and sounds of this wonderful city that has been home for the last 12 months. We've been fortunate enough to spend some of these last few weeks with Louise, Luke and Laura, providing us with an excuse to revisit some of our favourite places and do plenty of eating, drinking and wandering. Here is a collection of snaps from this time. We're not sure when we will get to update the blog next (particularly since we've heard a rumour about Blogger being banned in China), but we'll try to put some up as soon as we can.

A glimpse of a temple on Mount Dobong

Sunset over the streets of our neighbourhood

Louise outside her cosy room at our guesthouse in Gyeongju

A peaceful scene at Bulguk temple, Gyeongju

Me, Laura, Luke and Louise under a canopy of Gyeongju cherry blossoms

We arrived in Gyeongju at the perfect time for blossom viewing

Anapji pond (former Royal grounds) are beautifully lit at night

Cheomseongdae, built in 634, is one of the oldest existing observatories in the world

A Korean street scene would not be complete without a sighting of a couple wearing matching 'couple shirts'

After our last venture to Gyeongju, when we took to the roads on four-wheelers, we knew that no future visit would be complete without another motorised adventure.

A young driver manages to execute a u-turn whilst stuffing his mouth with popcorn

Luke and Trent take to the dirt on some battery-operated beasts

Trent attempts some circle work with little grace

Laura opens it up on the straight

A much needed drink after a hard day at the track

The spring blossoms were also out in Seoul- here in the foreground of Gyeongbuk palace

Police on skates

Luke takes a swing in a batting cage with a view

A melting pot of flavours on a stick

Laura saw a 'different' side of Luke emerge when he got hold of the mic in the norae bang

One of the songs Trent sang that night!

In the depths of Namdaemun market, large pots of beef and potato stew simmer all day

A couple of minutes walk away one of the new additions to the Seoul skyline is emerging- the giant zipper!

Laura sips on a refreshing beverage at the Vinyl Bar, where even the drink vessels are vinyl

... And finally, the view from the front door of our apartment, it's not that pretty, but it will be missed!

Thank you to all of the 14 people who made it to Korea in the last twelve months. We were amazed so many of you made the trip and are really grateful for the time that you spent helping us explore our new hometown. Also, a big thanks to everyone who has viewed the blog and left comments- only on one occasion did a message have to be removed for inappropriate content (but thanks anyway Eric).

Cheers to the other weiguks we've met over here, we look forward to catching up with you somewhere in the world one day.

Thank you to all our Korean friends who have made us feel so welcome here, you have made our time in Korea a special one that we will never forget. We think that Korea is an amazing place and we will be back here one day for sure. 감사합니다!

A Korean Wedding- Where East Meets West

We were privileged enough to go to a wedding while here in Korea. One of our co-teachers, Christine, was married in March, in a ceremony that incorporated very Western and very traditional Korean components.

The first half of the ceremony, and the part which most of the 300+ guests attended, was Western style. The guests sat at tables surrounding a central aisle, which the bride and groom walked down, shrouded in smoke from a smoke machine. At the end of the aisle the ceremony took place (in Korean... so we can't tell you much of what was said!) and after the cutting of the cake and a few songs, the guests ate a traditional Korean lunch at the tables.

Christine and Jacob standing on a smoke cloud

After the lunch most of guests left, or stayed and mingled in the room where the Western ceremony had taken place. Christine and Jacob, however, were whisked off down stairs to participate in a traditional Korean ceremony. This ceremony took place in a small room with a elevated wooden floor, Korean paintings adorning the walls and colourful cushions on the floor. Christine and Jacob wore beautifully decorated hanboks- Christine's was so heavy that she had to be helped every time she rose and fell for ceremonial duties. We were told that this ceremony was all about Jacob's family presenting the new couple with gifts of money and wishing them luck for their life together.

Christine and Jacob attempt to catch nuts that Jacob's mum is throwing into the sash on the front of Christine's hanbok- the nuts representing the number of children they will have