my cousin Tanya arrived last Saturday, and so began a whirlwind tour of Korea. But first… I went to my ex-colleague (T.T) Jason’s wedding which was a traditional Korean wedding! Have a look at these piccies to see him and hi lovely wife Sunah saying “I do” Korean style. It was very interesting and beautiful 
Anyway… back to Tanya. We went out for dinner with my colleague Allison and a new friend from Dubai, Kat and of course… WE WENT TO NO RAE BANG!!! Tanya was a bit shy at first (and jet-lagged) so she was camera-shy… but I was not and am not… here I am rocking out to “I want to break free” (one of my top 5 No Rae Bang songs)…
The photos tell the story of what we saw, but they don’t quite capture the humour… Tanya arrives and as soon as I see her, I remember she had MAJOR back surgery a few short years ago… and I don’t have a bed. I’ve really taken to this whole “sleeping on the floor on a thin mat” thing which the Koreans have going (although msot of them have a bed now!). The poor girl had to sleep on the floor for 8 nights, because I had booked us into traditional Korean houses and inns to stay in while travelling… sans beds! But other than this major eff-up, I managed to get us around Korean using my Korean… and since I’m sitting safely at my desk typing this and Tanya is safely in one piece on her flight back to Singapore, I can assume that I can speak Korean well enough to feed us (well), get us drunk, have great accommodation (albeit it on the floor), travel well, and see awesome things. Yay me *^^*
Anyway, moving along. On Monday we were to begin the first leg of our journey around Korea. We were taking the high-speed train (300km/hr) down to Gyeongju, which is the old capital of Shilla which was one of the biggest and most powerful countries in historical Korea. (note- the name Korea is very new, a few hundred years old, where as Koreans can trace their history back more than 5000yrs.). Gyeongju was interesting and nice. But our next port of call was Jeonju, and I fell in love with this city the moment we arrived! We took a super frindly taxi to the Hanok Village (hanok = traditional Korean house) and when our hostess came to pick us up and found out we were South African she hugged us tightly, and with a squeal informed us she’s been to CAPE TOWN and she wants to go back ASAP. How lovely is that! This village is historical, as well as beautiful and has delicious food everywhere. And of course… it has bokbunja, which is a delicious wine made from rasberries… meant for sipping after dinner… not for throwing back while laughing and crying our way through “the old days” and our crazy (but lovable) family. Let it be known, if you come and visit me, we will go to Jeonju!
We got back late Thursday night, and our weary but happy bodies sank to the floor (lol) asleep in moments. On Friday we were up and at ‘em early bells for our trip up north. Now this is when things get a bit serious. But first let me tell you about our guide, Laura. She was brilliant, that perfect combination of information and humour that makes a tour go perfectly! She giggled at her own jokes, which considering that her English was very good was even more funny. She was strict when needed ~ “no pictures now! Don’t wave your arms! Don’t point! NO PICTURES PLEASE!!!” and very cool when she could be “ok, you’re safe now, you can point anytime! lol” For me, having lived in Korea for well over 2 years now and having learnt all about the war and the last 60 years from my students and a long-cultivated interest in international relations, has given me a kind of sensitivity about the whole North-South thing. It was very tough going into the main MAC building in the Joint Security Area~ standing on the North Korean side and seeing South Korea. It is so sad to imagine the impact of the war, the 60year cease-fire (no peace treaty has been signed to date), and the current situation in North Korea. Ok… too heavy. Sorry. The bright side was the cute soldier who was a our guard/guide and of course, Laura. She was top drawer!
On Saturday I took Tanya up to Kukkiwon, which is the world headquarters for Taekwondo, and we got to see an hour of training and meet some guys from other countries who were here training. Super interesting, and oh so Korean! But before you know it, it was time to take Tanya off to the airport again… well to the bus that would take her to the airport. It was a fun week, interesting and challenging. So you can check out our photos here. Apparently, a lot of people thought we were sisters… I don’t see it!
