Tag: South Korea

Spring has arrived

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As I walked home from work tonight I couldn’t help but stop and admire the Cherry blossoms at night.

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End of month dilemma

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Its one week before pay day. I don’t want to spend any more money this month, so food wise I have to  make do with what I’ve got.

  • 2 Kg baby potatoes
  • 3 kg chicken breasts and a small packet of salmon.
  • 1 packet of mushrooms
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 Onion
  • 1 packet of penne pasta
  • Baby tomatoes.
  • Wheat flour, chicken stock, eggs and various spices, oils and butter .

Meal 1

Chicken pie (serves 2)20160405_132820

I cooked the 2 chicken breasts and 5 small potatoes. Sautéed the mushrooms and onion in some garlic. Added half a block of chicken stock and mixed it into the mushroom mix

I then Peeled the potatoes, cut up the chicken and potatoes into smaller pieces and added everything together. I added some thyme and black pepper

I then made the crust with flour, butter, salt, eggs and water. I poured it on top of the Chicken mixture and baked it in the oven until the crust was golden brown.

Meal 2

I was a little lazy, I was planning on making potato quiche but I ate the eggs for breakfast

I made baked potato, fried mushrooms (sautéed with garlic) and salmon.

Meal 3

Pasta (serves 2)20160407_124925

I made half a packet of pasta the usual way but added some chicken stock to the water. I then fried half an onion and the yellow pepper. I made a white sauce and added everything together. I then topped it off with some fresh tomatoes because it looked kind of dull.

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5 Rules for Hiking in Korea.

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We recently went for a hike up one of our mountains and this is what I’ve learned from the experience.

  1. Do NOT, I repeat Do NOT follow the elderly up the mountain. They are much fitter than you can ever imagine.Don’t think just because they are old that they will take the easiest route, they won’t. They take the longest and most demanding route up the mountain.20160402_121417(0)
  2. Follow the families with the kids. They take the easiest route and come back down.20160402_131202
  3. Do not follow the road less travelled by. It is less travelled for a reason. The reason being that you WILL get lost and end up hiking for 2 hours instead of you intended 1.20160402_122012 - Copy (3)
  4. Don’t follow the easiest route. Do not think that if a path looks easy that it is. A path may look like its going down hill but more often than not it will go back uphill20160402_131115
  5. Don’t be afraid to turn back. When you get lost, don’t be scared to turn back, even if the hill is really steep. If you get lost try to get back up the mountain. Most of Korea’s hiking trails are more like a big hill than a mountain. You’ll get out of there eventually.20160402_122503 - Copy (3)

Now that you know the rules. Let me tell you about our mountain in Seosan. Once you get to the top there is a picnic area where you can sit and relax with your hiking buddies you can also go up the watch tower and have a view of the whole of Seosan. There is also an old Korean style building and statues that you can look at while you hike. 100_3814 - Copy (1)Once you go down the mountain there is a coffee shop and a Pizzeria where you can end you expedition.

Your job doesn’t define you

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When I was younger, the last thing I ever wanted to be was a teacher. Although my mother was a teacher. I somehow thought that being a teacher meant that you are unsuccessful.

I have done many types of work during the years. At first I was a florist and I thought that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to own my own little shop. I thought I was a creative person, although my mother reassured me that I was only about 30% creative, she was right by the way.268

Then things changed and I went back to school to get my bachelors degree, I developed a profound love for psychology but went to work for a Law firm. I liked wearing business suits because I looked and felt successful even though I only earned $800 a month. Our plan was to immigrate to Australia, but we had to be on their skills list, so I studied a post graduate certificate in Education. To my dismay, the skills lists changed and they no longer needed middle school teachers in Australia. We needed to leave South Africa because the crime and public protest has become too violent and too frequent. I had sleepless nights because I feared that someone would come into our home and kill us, which is what was happening all over the country.100_3832 - Copy (1)

We then came to Korea, where most foreigners work as either ESL teachers or Engineers. I’m obviously no engineer so teaching it is then. In my time here I have come to the conclusion that although your career sets the tone for your behaviour, example no nudie pics on the internet, you don’t have to label yourself as a specific type of person. You are who you are inside. Your life is what you make it. Just because you have a desk job where you sit in a cubicle all day, it doesn’t have to define you as boring or typical. You can run your own “fight club” during the weekend for all we know. Be true to yourself, read and study things that interest you. Build your knowledge with your interests. The only way a person can be happy is if they accept responsibility for their mistakes and realise that no one is to blame. Its in the past. Get over it and focus on what’s in your life now. No one knows what the future will bring. We certainly didn’t expect our lives to turn out the way it has.

What to expect when coming to Korea

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Money Matters

You have signed your contract, the school sent you your plane ticket and your about ready to go, but wait a minute, do you need to bring any money with you. Of course you do. There are many hidden costs the first few months that nobody tells you about. The first costs my husband and I encountered was paying for our own bus ticket from Incheon International Airport to Seosan. It amounted to about $20 each. This was after we were told that airport pick-up has been arranged. We still had to buy our own tickets.

Then when you arrive at your destination you have to buy food to hold you over until you get settled.

When will you get your first pay check?

Then the next thing you have to consider is that some schools only pay on the 10th or 15th of every month, therefore it you start working on the 1st of January for example you will only get your first pay check on the 15th of February. This means you have to have enough money to keep you alive for 6 weeks. I made the mistake of only bringing $800 for me and my husband when in actual fact we needed around $1500-$2000. I think if you don’t go out too much during the first few weeks and take some of your school lunches as leftovers for breakfast the next day you might not need that much money. But that might be pushing it…

In addition, most hagwons will charge you an “insurance fee”(in case you do a midnight run after they have paid for your plane tickets) of around $300 a month for around 3 months. Although this will differ depending on your contract.7-24_won_dollar

Groceries.

The first time you buy groceries might be a bit overwhelming because you don’t know what food is supposed to cost. You will try and convert your money to won and it will take you a while to know what a good deal looks like. 

When we first arrived here our boss took us to do groceries, we were so overwhelmed that we only bought some Kimchi (we didn’t eve know what it was) bonemeal soup, toilet paper and rice. I din’t even buy coffee…

Currently we spend $300 a month on groceries. This does not include luxury food items like smoked ribs or toast bread that we buy every now and again.

Medical expenses.

As soon as you arrive your boss will ask you to go for a medical check-up. Depending on your area this will cost you around $80 per person.

Korean ID costs

Visa costs amount to around $60 each. And if you forgot to bring extra Passport photos you have to pay to have them taken for around $20 each.

If you have any further questions drop me a line in the comment section below.