Countdown to Dubai

Wow - this has been the longest gap between posts our poor blog has experienced in its three year life. You can see why we should never be in possession of plants, animals or children for that matter - sometimes we just forget to feed our little blog. Actually it hasn't been due to absentmindedness, but rather to the craziness of the last month that the blog has been momentarily neglected. For those who haven't heard the latest, Brendan and I are leaving Korea in 9 days time for the next chapter in our adventure - DUBAI!

It all happened very quickly. In the space of 6 weeks the direction of the next couple of years of our lives has been completely changed. I guess that is the beauty of the adventure that we are one. One moment we think we are headed this way, and the next we are doing a 180 and off in a completely different direction. A tad scary, but always exciting! So what does Dubai have on offer for these two wayward backpackers?? I will be getting scarily close to transitioning back into business suits, working in a legal department as a document database manager. But have no fear, the middle east is beckoning us to explore it far and wide and we can't wait to be in a position to do that without having to take a 15 hour flight to get there. 2011 will be a very interesting year; a new country, a new job, and new territory to explore (and a much much warmer temperatures... woo hoo!). Bring it on!

So what has kept us busy over the last 4 weeks or so. Here is a quick wrap up:

* Brendan managed to get to the snow one last time before it melted. He headed up there with a couple of friends from Uljin. Was a great day except for our mate Rich heading home with a broken shoulder... oops.... not a great end to the snow season, and it has put him out of our squash tournaments for a few months. Thankfully he is recovering well, but no snowboarding for him for quite some time.

* Celebrated my second birthday in Korea by going back to our favourite Korean bbq restaurant. The lady who owns it is so lovely and greeted us with big hugs and free Korean wine.... a beautiful gesture... if only it wasn't so very terrible. The teachers at my school bought a cake on my birthday and sang happy birthday to me in English, and a bunch of my students made birthday cards for me and proudly thrust them at me saying, "Teacher Kate; this is for you. Happy Birtday (not a spelling error)" - a phrase we had conveniently been going over in the previous week.... ahhh.... my teaching being put to good use. Gotta love it.

* This weekend was a load of fun. We experienced another first in Korea, attending our first Korean wedding. The groom, Danny, who has hung out with the Teacher crowd quite a lot; got married on Saturday and invited us all along. Korean weddings are a little more business like than weddings I have previously been too. No presents - an envelope with cash is handed over by guests on arrival to the ceremony which is then swapped for a lunch voucher. Very practical you could argue, but when you have guys there with invoice books and calculators tapping away right outside the wedding ceremony the emotion of the moment seems to be a little lost. The bride and groom made a grand entrance, arriving into the wedding hall together and then proceeding around the room on an elevated Cinderella carriage that moved along on railway like tracks with a smoke machine billowing out white smoke. It was quite the entrance - a tad strange, but certainly memorable. A beautiful touch was during the ceremony the bride and groom paid respect to each other and their parents by bowing to each other. Danny's near-floor bow was greeted with wide applause! A musical performance of 'lean on me' by some of the foreigners was a nice touch to end off the proceedings. After the ceremony ended there were a few photographs with family and friends and then the bride and groom disappeared. Everyone heads off for a very informal lunch and 30 minutes later it was all over red rover. Quick, simple and beautiful.

* Brendan finally got to conduct his much anticipated Korean beer tasting. He had managed to collect 14 different Korean beers during our year here (including one North Korean beer that we got during our visit to the DMZ) and the challenge was on to determine which was the least terrible of the lot. The boys and Mareta (go Mareta! the honorary female taking up the cause) did a blind taste of all 14 beers and the conclusion was that they were all fairly terrible - some certainly more than others. The verdict according to the expert panel is that Max definitely trumps Cass and Hite - but really it is all pretty bad stuff.

* We ended the weekend with taking Mareta on what will probably be our final scenic walk around good 'ol Jukbyeon. Heading on our traditional tourist path we headed up to the cliffs, round to the lighthouse and then down to the harbor to treat ourselves to a coffee and frozen yoghurt (a strange combo...but those who have done it know that it rocks!) at Stone Coffee. It was stunning weather and with the temperatures starting to rise and the flowers blooming, Jukbyeon looked at her best. Later today we went to our last poker tournament and in keeping true to our form walked away with no money and less pride - but it was a great way to end an excellent weekend.

This week will be our last week of teaching and then we will be bid adieu to Korea the following week. Stay tuned for our final Korea wrap up shortly. Until next time....

//Kate