Two weeks ago we had a week off for a national holiday, so I got to go visit George in Seoul! Even though he had to work a ton (thanks a lot, MES), I had such a fun visit and was able to spend lots of time relaxing. After being in Terengganu for so long, it was pretty easy to keep my happy in Seoul, a land where hot water and movie theaters and four seasons exist. I was just thrilled to be able to go outside with a coat on and not sweat!
Since George and I had already done a lot of the touristy Seoul things during my visit in December, this time things were much more low-key. We did go back to Insadong, which is probably my favorite place in the whole city. We just always seem to have magical experiences there. We had traditional Korean tea again at an amazing teahouse and I also got to try kim chi chiggea (kim chi stew) which was so good. Also, there was a parade of people dressed in traditional Korean outfits to promote the upcoming cherry blossom festival, so that was fun to see.
Another highlight was spending an afternoon with Jenny (one of the receptionists at MES) and her husband Kyle. They are such sweet people, and the four of us went on a cruise down the Hahn River and then had a delicious meal of shabu-shabu near Olympic Park. Shabu-shabu originated in China, and it’s a meal consisting of very thinly sliced beef and tons of vegetables (mushrooms, onions, leafy greens, etc.). They put a big pot of water on the gas grill in the middle of the table, and once it starts boiling you add the vegetables and meat a little bit at a time. Since the meat is so thin, it cooks within about 30 seconds, and then you take it out and dip it in a tasty red sauce. It was so great that George and I went back for shabu-shabu again before I left!
Our busiest day was the day before I left to come back to Malaysia. In the morning, George’s friend Brad took George and me ice climbing at an indoor climbing gym. It was such a fun experience! It was similar to an indoor rock climbing wall, but with a huge wall of ice. George had been once before with Brad, but this was my first ice climbing adventure. After we put on our huge spiky boots and tons of layers of clothes (since we were essentially spending the morning in a gigantic freezer), we grabbed our rented ice axes and one by one took turns climbing the wall. Brad was by far the best, but George made it to the top of the wall, too! (I did not, but I made it about ¾ of the way.) I was nervous at first, but it turned out to be really fun and not as hard as I’d expected. Brad was a good coach and helped to let me know where to position my feet as I climbed. It turns out that the most painful part of the climb is once you come down from the wall and put your arms down. Because you’ve been holding the axes up for so long, and since it’s so cold, when you come back down and the blood rushes back into your hands it really, really hurts!
After ice climbing, the three of us headed to the Cheonggyecheon River to check out the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. We had missed the parade, but made it in time to hear some wonderful Irish music played by Korean bands (pretty cool) and meet up with some other MES teachers. We finished our day with a wonderful meal of steak and ale pie and a glass of green beer (to continue the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations) at an Irish pub in Itaewon (an extremely Western part of town). We came home tired but so, so happy!
Saying goodbye to George was just as hard as ever. It just never gets any easier! We left each other not knowing the next time we’ll be able to get together, and that made things hard.
Last week was a short week at school (thanks to Prophet Muhammed’s birthday on Thursday) and so on Wednesday afternoon Gwynne and I took a bus up to Kuala Besut to begin a weekend trip to the Perhentian Islands. We quickly discovered that we weren’t the only people in Terengganu interested in going to Besut for the weekend. The bus was so crowded that Gwynne and I had to stand up in the aisle for an hour and a half, being jerked around, as the bus made frequent stops to pick up even more passengers along the way. It wasn’t a terrible ride, though, by any means, and we kind of enjoyed our experience on the crowded bus. That being said, we certainly didn’t complain when we finally were able to sit down!
On Thursday morning, bright and early, Gwynne, Jackie, Ellie, and I took a boat from Besut to the islands and proceeded to have an amazing weekend in paradise. We had been to the Perhentians once before, but this time the weather was better and the island was so much more lively and full. We made some good friends and are even planning to go back again this coming weekend to visit them.
Some of the highlights of the trip were a snorkeling trip on Friday and, for me, a dive on Saturday. Snorkeling was wonderful because we went with a group and were taken to four different locations, seeing different animals at each spot. We swam through beautiful purple and green coral and saw a stingray and countless fish. The best part for me was when our guide quickly stopped the boat and encouraged us to all get out and follow a sea turtle. We scrambled into the water and, sure enough, there was a huge turtle swimming up and down in the water, surfacing for air every now and then. Even though there were about ten people following him, the turtle gave no indication that he noticed us and just went about swimming as usual.
Scuba diving the next day was another wonderful experience. I got my scuba certification last fall in Birmingham, but was nervous to dive “for real” since my open water dives in the States had taken place in a murky, cold rock quarry. I summoned up my courage, though, and signed up for a one-hour fun dive with a friendly and helpful German instructor named Andy. I kept telling Andy how nervous I was, and it soon became very obvious that I was a beginner diver. (The best example of this was when I started to put on my wetsuit backwards. Andy said, in his German accent, “Actually, ze zipper goes in the back, but keep putting it on zat way because it’s funnier.” Oops.) He was so kind and patient, though, and the dive turned out to be incredible. There were five people in our group (all beginners) and the second I got in the water all my fear disappeared. During our dive we swam through beautiful coral, some of which were tall and white and looked a bit like all-white candy canes. It was like being in a world Dr. Suess had created. We were able to swim right up to sea anemones to see the little orange and white clown fish playing, and at one point a school of five foot long, three feet tall hump head parrotfish swam right by us. Now I can’t wait to dive again, and hopefully will be able to this coming weekend.
The best part of our time on the island, though, was the complete sense of freedom and happiness that we all felt there. I came back to KT on Sunday ready for my week, and with new energy and a positive attitude. Sometimes being in KT gets overwhelming, but I’m quickly learning that the secret is to get out and have time to recharge, because then I am so much happier during the week.
No comments:
Post a Comment