Currently I don’t have any pets with me here in Korea, but we have 5 dogs that are living with my husbands parents in South Africa.
Shelly in the middle, Shakira on the right and Catniss on the left.
Casper, the white Labrador and Ryuke the Boerbull
Simple. I live in Korea and wanted to write about my life and experiences in Korea. Initially we came to Korea to use it as a stepping stone to immigrate to another country. But now since we’re here we are thinking of making it our new home even if it is just for the next few year as no one knows what the future holds. If you told me ten years ago I will be living in Korea now I would have called you out for bullshitting me.
My brother always quotes Robbie Williams by saying “I sit and talk to God and he just laughs at my plans”. This is absolutely true. We have made so many plans with our lives but in the end its not up to us no matter how much you try to take it into your own hands.
So… here we are in Korea living it up 😀
Although most of the Cherry blossoms have gone now there are still a lot of beautiful flowers across Korea
I’ve been in Korea more than a year and only recently had the opportunity to visit one of the Palaces. Contrary to popular belief, as a teacher in Korea, you do not have all the time in the world to do the touristy thing. But we had some time to spare on Sunday and decided to walk to one of the Palaces. Deoksugung Palace is situated in the Myeongdong district in Seoul.
History
Deoksugung Palace served as the king’s residence twice during the Joseon Dynasty. It was originally the home of King Seonjo and Prince Wolson who temporarily lived there after the Japanese forces withdrew from Korea in 1593. He lived here because all the main palaces where destroyed during the war. Prince Gwanghae renamed the Palace Gyeongungung Palace after rebuilding the palace and making it his main resident. The palace was used as a main residence by Gojong again during 1897. During the Joseon Dynasty the state was proclaimed an empire. The palace halls were rebuild and the compound was expanded to some three times its present size. Unfortunately Gojong was forced to hand his empire over to his son who became Emporor Sunjong in 1907. Emperor Sunjong Moved into Changdeokgung Palace and bestowed the title of Deoksu (virtue and long life) on his father, wishing him a long life. The compound came to be called Deoksugung Palace and the former emperor remained here until his death in 1919
Both Korean and Western architecture dominate the site. While walking amongst the Korean style buildings it feels like you’re walking in a different time. Almost like you’re part of a different era. It was quite an amazing feeling.
To get there you can take the dark blue line (line 1) and get off at the City Hall, across from Seoul Plaza. Alternatively if you get off at Myongdong (light blue line) you can walk about 2 blocks down Eulji-ro, past Lotte Duty Free to get there. Its right across from Seoul Plaza.
Next week I will feature the western style architecture at Deoksugung Palace.
Interesting reads to help save money in Korea
Staying fit is pretty hard. You have work, family and other daily occurrences that makes it hard to stay fit. When moving to a new country you have other factors at work like not knowing where any gyms are and not being able to communicate with the locals to find the right price for gym membership among many others.
When we first arrived in Korea we were like Hansel and Gretel at the gingerbread house. We ate everything we could find. We were in food heaven, but as it turns out it wasn’t really heaven. :p
To get my mind in the game again took me a very long time, I must confess. Luckily because we don’t have a need for a car in Korea, we walk everywhere. We can walk for hours on end. We tried joining a few gyms but our first gym ($45 per month) was very uninspiring so we didn’t go everyday and then later we joined a “fancy” gym ($80 per month)It went well for a few months but we started going less and less until we skipped weeks on end. We eventually cancelled our membership but decided that we still have to keep going, so we started going to gym at the park and now that it’s warmer its becoming easier to go everyday. We do a variety of things. Sometimes we jump rope and sometimes we do pull-ups on the bar equipment.
In addition we generally do bodyweight type exercises. My husband goes to the Gym once or twice a week (we pay $2.50 per day) to exercise the muscles he can’t exercise at the park. We also ride our bikes ever so often.
On the days that we don’t go to the park or ride our bikes we try and walk for 20-30 minutes so as to keep moving. I’ll keep you updated on our quest for health and fitness.
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