2016 Recap: Part 5 - Friendsgiving, Korean Santa, and Champagne Showers Down Under
Originally posted January 16, 2017
November
With November came a wicked chill in the air and the sudden realization that my time in Korea was quickly running out. Though I’d been doing a lot all year, I still had an inexhaustible list of places I wanted to go and things I wanted to see. Up until then, it had been easy to put them off and make the excuse that I’d do them later… but my time to do things later was dwindling fast. Since there were no international trips this month, I kicked crossing off the Korea bucket list into high gear.
Exploring Seoul
One of the first places I went on my Seoul Searching adventure is Yongma Land, an abandoned amusement park on the outskirts of the city. It was creepy, quirky, and made for some interesting photo ops. I got there pretty early, so I had the place mostly to myself for about an hour, but, by the time I left, the park was filled with hordes of Koreans. From amateur couples with their selfie sticks to teeny models with wardrobe changes, a full blown posse of photographers, and a blaring boom-box, the influx of people and K-Pop tunes kind of ruined the creepy vibe for me. I grabbed my GoPro and called it a day.
I explored new parks in the city, marveled at the JunkHouse piece on the side of LuLuLemon in Apgujeong, and went to the Euljiro Light Way Exhibit at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Despite my best efforts to stay ridiculously busy, as the temperature grew colder and Thanksgiving drew nearer, I couldn’t help but start to miss home. Thinking about all the turkey and mac and cheese I wasn’t going to be eating had me feeling low, so I got high and had breakfast with a view. No, not THAT kind of high… the mountain climbing kind of high.
I’ve been meaning to hike Gwanaksan for ages. I can see it from my apartment window and it’s only a short walk away… but, because of its proximity, it had always been one of those, “Oh, just do it later,” things. Finally, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I got up well before the sun and headed to the mountain. I’d been TO the mountain, but had never hiked up it. It was still pitch dark outside, so I found an ajussi who looked like he knew what he was doing, and followed close behind til the sun came up and I got my own feel for the trail.
Losing a few extra hours of sleep was well worth getting to watch the sun come up over the city. The view at the top was absolutely incredible. If you’re in Seoul, I definitely recommend checking out Gwanak Mountain. It isn’t the tallest mountain by any means, but it is a fairly easy climb and highly accessible from the SNU subway station.
The following weekend, to celebrate Friendsgiving, a couple girlfriends and I went on a winery tour and to the Daedunsan Cloud Bridge. I definitely hadn’t anticipated hiking in the snow that weekend, but, when the snow began to fall and the world turned white, the Cloud Bridge got that much cooler… literally. Though it was freezing, the snow was beautiful and refreshing, and we were like a bunch of giddy little kids...
...So giddy, in fact, that I decided to start a snowball fight with no gloves on, and I'm not convinced the phrase, “Cold hands warm heart,” was made for that day. My hands were so frozen I couldn’t properly hold or use my chopsticks at dinner, but, all in all, I am not sure there's a better way to spend a Saturday than with a post-wine tasting snowball fight on a suspension bridge. Click here to read more about our Friendsgiving day away from the city.
Another HUGE thing that happened in November was the finalization of my backpacking plans. After weeks of planning various routes, and searching one-way flights at such super human speeds that SkyScanner literally kept locking me out, and asking me to solve CAPTCHAs to prove I wasn’t a robot. I’m so pleased with the deals I was able to find and can’t wait for this two month, 8 country adventure. Shout out to Air Asia for the cheapest flights in the game.
December
Andddddd (can I get a drum roll please), we FINALLY made it to December – The coldest, and seemingly longest, month of the year. Last December, I was twiddling my thumbs and counting down the seconds til I could get on my Christmas day flight to Thailand, but, this year, that was not the case. In an attempt to stay busy and prevent the pre-holiday away from home blues, I went into full blown Christmas elf mode... but I bit off way more than I could chew. I had SO much to do to prepare for my trip to Australia that I was actually wanting the weeks to slow down.
Pictured below: A wild Kirst in her natural Christmas decorating habitat.
I'm never at my apartment, so I decided to decorate my classroom instead. This tree was covered in ornaments and actual lights by the time I was done with it, but, first, I had to cut it and make it a bit smaller... which was tough because I was practically in tears from laughing when I realized I was literally trimming a tree. If that's not funny to you, we can't be friends.
The month FLEW by with a slew of tests, corrections, report card comments, and, for me, funky Christmas sweaters and packing. I didn’t just have to pack up enough clothes for a week… I had to go through literally everything I own and decide what I was going to sell, what I was going to send home, and what I was going to bring with me on my post-Korea trip. In addition to that I took on a rather big (given everything else I had to do) endeavor of creating a massive advent calendar and daily gifts for my Kindy kids.
It was a pretty stressful month, and I didn’t have time to get sick… so, naturally, I got sick… for two weeks. It was absolutely awful. Being a sick adult with no one to have your back or make you soup is the worst… but imagine how bad it is in a country where there is no such thing as sick days, and doctors only halfway understand what you’re saying when you finally find the time to go to them. I had been coughing so hard for so long that I literally pulled a muscle, and, when the pain in my ribs became too much to bear, I headed to the doctor for a third time. Read all about that literal nightmare here.
Open Class
Thankfully, the third time was a charm, and my voice came back just in time for the last week of school before the winter holiday... and our open class. Open class happens twice a year, and is the day where all of your student’s parents sit in on a lesson. You are judged on your looks just as much as your teaching, and so I had to do my hair for the first time all month. I wasn’t nearly as nervous for it as I was the first two times. It could be because I know these parents better than I knew parents in the past… or because I’m about to leave this job anyway and have a serious case of “end of contract-itis.”
The open class went really well. The students (per usual) mocked me when I hadn’t asked them to repeat after me, and so I took that opportunity to tell their parents that a lot of the English the kids learn comes from copying what I say when I don’t want them to.
Later on in the lesson, which was about the five food groups, Jayden (my youngest, and brightest, student) provided more comedy when he shouted out some very insightful information about the protein group. He said… and I quote… “PROTEIN GIVES YOU MUSCLES BUT MISS KIRSTIE DOESN’T HAVE ANY.” Like I get it… I should probably train arms more at the gym, but geez. (Side note: After getting straight up called out by a five-year-old, I trained a little bit harder at the gym that evening).
Pictured below: Jayden also critiquing my photography skills. (Also pictured... Korean Santa Clause. He looked super uncomfortable in his beard, and the kids and I were not convinced. It took absolutely everything in me not to shout, “You're not Santa, You smell like soju and kimchi!”... which he did.)
Winter Holidays Down Under
Once open class was over, I felt like I was home free. I finished up my packing and started to get SO pumped up for Australia. Bright and early on Christmas Eve, I started pumping some tunes, headed to the airport bus, and prepared for what would, after layovers, be nearly 24 hours of travel time.
When I boarded my final flight from China to Melbourne I was so pleased to see that 1) I had a window seat, and 2) I was sharing a row with the most adorable old Chinese man. He was reading a newspaper as big as he was and greeted me with a friendly smile when I sat down. I could see that his passport was brand new, and, throughout the flight, he was visibly confused about things like how to turn on his T.V., light, and what to write on his declaration card.
He didn't speak a lick of English, and my Mandarin (despite my attempts in Taiwan) still doesn't extend beyond hello and thank you. Through a series of hand gestures, nods, and smiles, we were able to communicate (and laugh at our hilariously failed attempts). I was able to help him sort out his T.V., light, and, somehow, what to write on his arrival card. Towards the end of the flight, he pulled some tangerines out of his bag and shared them with me. I had Christmas cards in my backpack so I discreetly wrote one for him and gave it to him after we landed... He definitely couldn't read it, but was still so tickled.
It was a pretty beautiful way to spend Christmas morning, and a nice reminder that no matter where you are in the world, no matter who you encounter, and no matter what your differences may be, you can always find common ground and share beautiful experiences with people when you open yourself up to them. Traveling on the holidays can make you forget that it’s a holiday at all, but the connection I made with this man served as a pretty good reminder of what Christmas is all about.
I went through customs, picked up my bags, and then began the (seemingly endless) wait for Bethany and Rachel’s flight to arrive. Their luggage was lost, and we had a bit of a rough start, but the days that followed would be filled with so much fun.
There were bottles of champagne, rainy bicycle rides, wedding fun and family catch ups, marvelling at Melbourne’s street art, eating all of the avo-toast I could handle, obligatory sister fights (had to happen), ogling at Australia’s incredibly good looking men, penguin watching (and meeting a smoking hot doctor who was also penguin watching).
Said hot doctor would later pick me up in his Ferrari for an all nighter that was followed by a New Year’s Eve morning hot air balloon ride over Melbourne (read more about all that here)… and, finally, watching the fireworks at a rooftop bar as we said goodbye to 2016 (...and also watching my little sister mack on the Aussie boys).
Side note: she was the only one of the trio to land a New Year's smooch.) - Ya heard it here first, mum ;)
Bethany is going to kill me... so I suppose I'll leave it at that for now.
Andddddd that’s a wrap on 2016!
For those of you who followed along with my 2016 recap, thank you so much! – I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures from the last year. If you read the recap in its entirety, you know 2016 was a pretty dope year for me. It began on a beautiful beach in Thailand, where, as fireworks exploded over my head and the waves crashed at my feet, I said goodbye to 2015 and decided that all I wanted is to spend a life chasing stories to tell when I’m old. I’m proud to say that, last year, I did just that.
From jumping off cliffs in Thailand to climbing mountains in Korea… getting stuck in typhoons in Taiwan and ending up backstage at music festivals in Japan… riding in pedicab “Ferraris” in the Philippines, and actual Ferraris in Australia… there has rarely been a dull moment this year. I realized that you can make all the excuses in the world, but, at the end of the day, life is what you make it… and I want to make mine a damn good one.
I became a yes girl – I said yes to adventure, yes to dessert, yes to “one more drink,” and yes to booking the flight. I said yes to trusting strangers and yes to trying strange foods… yes to loving and doing all the things I’d only ever dreamed of. I said yes to living MY life, and making the year my best year yet... and now that year has come and gone. I am so thankful for the places I’ve seen, the people I’ve met, and the memories I’ve made on the way.
2016 you were unforgettable… but I am so ready to see what adventures this new year holds.
