more awesome things

1. having the exact amount of credit on my transport card for one more ride home
2. blowing air on a cold day - pretending to smoke
3. experiencing the first snow fall of the season (if  you come from Africa possibly first snow ever)

sending love to the BF from the east :)

4. reading/finishing a good book (Read The Help - even though I had already seen the movie the book was still worth it)
5. reaching the top of the mountain on a hike and being rewarded with an awesome view
6. crunching fallen dry leaves as you walk- got to love the sound of Autumn

sand festival

Coming from South Africa, I always took our beaches for granted. And now I realize our beaches are world class - no seriously, they are. And while Korea isn't famous for its beaches (although Hyeopjae Beach in Jeju is gorgeous), we do need somewhere to cool off from the heat of Daegu. And for that, we hit Haeundae Beach in Busan, probably the most popular beach on the mainland. On one of our trips to the coast we were lucky to find out that there was a Sand festival happening. On Durban beach front you often find artists building very creative Sand castles but Asians take it to a whole new level:

Laurentia and I on the train ride to the beach - excited much?

Some Alice in Wonderland

And these crazy people I call friends

Impressive right? I mean the Sand Castles - not my crazy friends :)

fireworks festival: busan

Anyone who knows me, also knows that my age is divided by 4 when I see fireworks against a night sky - honestly, the excitement of a kid in a sweet (candy) store. So to spend 45 minutes on an Autumn evening (last year) with nearly a million people on the beach, staring at the night sky for the Busan fireworks festival -
well, was a pleasure for me.

Gwangali Beach Bridge + a million people + neon lights and tall buildings + Fireworks = evening well spent

Final thoughts
I was on my feet the entire time!!! It was magical. Next Stop! Fourth of July U.S of A :)

loving lomo: School time

Some snaps I took of my school with my plastic lomo camera :)

Autumn - leaves are changing

Physical Education - who doesn't miss that?

Final thoughts:

I need more film - its almost snow time (haha get it, show time, snow time - never mind, I can be lame sometimes)

loving lomo: Hanoi to Beijing

Part of my simple goals this December was to get some rolls of film developed. While I didn't quite get them developed, I did get them put onto a CD so I can choose my favourites to print at a later stage. You can see more in this previous post - those were taken in Korea. These one's were taken on recent trips to Vietnam (also check out Hoi An lomo) and China.

1. boarding a plane from Hanoi to Seoul 2. Streets of Hanoi - famous hats :)

3. Tienanmen Square 4&5. Temple of Heaven 6.  Forbidden City 7. Cute Chinese Kid (already patriotic)
8. Great Wall of China 9. Me and my girls being patriotic on The Wall 10. Entrance to the Wall 11. bird's eye view 12. touch down

Final thoughts
I have been really blessed to travel so much these past 2 years (with on more trip to go). Coming from South Africa, travel can be very expensive due to our location (at the bottom of the continent) and our currency - that is one of the many reasons I decided to come to Asia, to work here so I can travel in and around more easily. No regrets! Thank you to my Provider, He always exceeds my expectations.

simple goals: photos developed

Ok not exactly developed, but I did take in 3 rolls of film from my lomo camera to get transferred on to a CD. Because I am still new at the game, I often shoot blanks and can't risk just developing the whole roll- that would be a very expensive exercise. So I always get the negatives put onto a CD first - then I can choose the best shots before actual printing. But I still think it should count towards my simple goals - don't you agree? You get a better rate for printing in batches rather than a few photos at a time so I will have to gather a few more before sending them off to print. Here are some of the pics:

1&2. Hyeopjae beach in Jeju (it was such a gorgeous day!!) 3&4 . Day at Suseong Lake riding Duck Boats

5. Hiking up 6. Views of the city from the top

7.  Border between North and South Korea on DMZ tour  8. Ancient vs Modern Architecture
9. Palace Courtyards 

Final thoughts
Nothing much - just loving lomo, that's all...

surprise

It's pretty difficult to not be around loved ones come birthday times. And although the usual gift giving, phone call/skype date would suffice, I wanted to really do something special for the BF for his crown birthday this year.

Sometimes in our schedule there are lot of changes leading to cancelled classes; sometimes so many cancellations that it doesn't make sense to start a new topic with the students since most of the classes would miss it that week - and therefore you cannot test it come exam time. On those weeks, I try to do fun lessons (not for test) with the students e.g. games, videos and drawing assignments. At my old school, I used the last week of lessons to allow students to create Christmas cards for their parents (in English of course). I gave them coloured paper (red/green/white), scissors, coloured pens and some Christmas carols playing the background. I saw my students transform from little monsters to delightful little angels. They were so occupied in those 45 minutes - I didn't know what to do with myself. And the work they produced was incredible. Pop ups, cutouts, some even created their own cartoon characters. I didn't realize how talented they were. Korean students work/study so hard that when you let them do something creative - it all comes gushing out :) 

So this year with some of my spare lessons, I gave my classes the same resources and asked them to write Birthday cards for the BF. I gave them a few suggestions of what one may write in a birthday card but gave them free reign (as long as it was in English). They were so excited - asking questions about what things he likes to do, how to spell his name correctly - I don't know if I have ever heard them speak English so confidently and enthusiastically. It was awesome - easy lesson for me to 'teach', lots of English being spoken, creative juices flowing and real life application of the language- its a win-win I tell you. These are some of the pics I managed to snap of them working :

And the final product

Aren't they just the cutest? Some of them were sealed so intricately I don't even know what they say inside :)
Was he surprised you ask? Of course yes and this has been dubbed the greatest birthday gift ever!!! Now how am I ever going to top this? Oh dear.....