April showers brought on some April flowers this year in Ulsan. With the winter months in Korea offering nothing but drab concrete scenery, April's blooms have been a welcomed change.
The most "famous" of these blooms are the cherry tree blossoms. The light pink and soft scent that lasted only about 10 days in Ulsan turned our barren winter into a beautiful spring scene again. We're now hitting temperatures in the high 20's, and Ulsan has once again become the more welcoming, colourful place we remember when we arrived last July.
The return of summer is all too reminding of the fact that soon enough, we'll be out of here (check out the fancy-dancy high-tech countdown feature of our blog). We've been in the midst of settling up our affairs, such as plans for next year, our teaching replacements, and our post-Korea travels.
Firstly, we've both somehow managed to get accepted into more university. I'll be plugging away at King's in Halifax for a one-year Journalism degree, and Colleen will be w
orking on her Master of Marine Management at Dalhousie. We're both more than excited about this news. They were our first choices, and when the acceptance packages landed in Ulsan (after miraculously surviving the Asian mail system), we both jumped for joy. We're currently hunting for an apartment in Halifax, which can be tricky when you live on the other side of the world. The internet listings are helpful, and mom and pop MacDonald are good allies in Nova Scotia. Anybody have a room for rent?Next, we secured our replacements for next year. The newest teachers at Sang Jin English Academy will be a lovely couple from Buffalo, New York; the first Americans to grace Mrs. An's establishment. We told her they're on the border, and that's close enough to satisfy her love for the Canadian accent. Eh?
Currently, we're diving into our South East Asia plans. We finish our contract on June 30th, and the next morning (Canada Day, no less), we'll be on a plane to Hong Kong. We wanted to get one more taste of China, and we're interested to see the blend with the British influences from the colonial day. Cheap electronics and Bruce Lee's star on the Chinese walk-of-fame are also on the itinerary.
A few days later, on July 4th (Independence Day... hmm... weird), we'll be off to Bangkok. We've heard so much about Thailand from our co-worker, Simon (a Brit by way of Bangkok), that we decided we had to check it out. We'll have a spot to stay with his gracious Thai fiancee Pbla, who grew up a few hours outside of the capital. She'll give us the dime tour of Bangkok, which will hopefully include some shopping, bar hopping, Muai Thai kick-boxing, the Thai Beatles, and the coup de grace of all travel -- a Bangkok dentist. I recently discovered that I need some fillings, and apparently the dental clinics in Bangkok are amazing and cheap. Beautiful dental assistants greet you at the door with a wheel chair. Ah, to be "wealthy" in a developing nation. If I return with a gold-plated smile, you'll know why.
After this point, our itinerary gets a bit foggy. We've got vague ideas of bumming around South East Asia, with Cambodia, Vietnam, and perhaps Laos in our sites. Simon's been filling our heads with all kinds of destinations, as he is somewhat of a S.E.A. guru. For more info on the area, you can check out his Cycling in South East Asia website. After seeing the sights, some idealistic beach time in Phuket will be necessary, of course. We'll also be interested in putting our new PADI Scuba licenses to use. We'll then return back to Bangkok, the major air hub of the area, and fly home. We haven't quite decided which path to take -- back across the Pacific, or maybe around the opposite way, with a potential stop in London UK to meet up with our pal Kate.
I plan on being back in Nova Scotia just in time for the St. Andrew's Big Top... if you're in the area, get on your drinking boots.
In other unrelated news, Colleen and I have become involved in the local ex-pat magazine, which is sort of a monthly lifestyle/travel mag. I've been writing articles and Colleen has been taking photos. Romantic, eh? It could be the beginning of something huge... maybe some day we'll take it underwater like Steve and Eleanor Zissou. Anyway, the magazine is called the Korea Sun, and you can click here to access the website. There are plans to soon expand it into neighbouring cities like Daegu and Busan. It's run by a fellow MacDonald, Sarah, from Saskatchewan. We've discovered that we may or may not be related... she's got roots in Antigonish. We think.
That's all for now... take care, one and all, we'll see you before you know it. For something really random, I'll leave you with a picture of a rooftop performance by Colleen and I at our last house party. The fun don't stop.
Jake
Photos from Facebook:
Colleen - March pt.1
Colleen - More March
Colleen - April
