i am finally back from my 7 days korea trip!!!! trying to get back to my singapore lifestyle. waking up late as usual (i woke up at 2pm today), slacking around at home, listening to music, sitting in front of the computer, eating singapore food once again and wearing ONLY t shirt and shorts.
what happened at korea?
i dont like the pre trip preparation at all. it was a mad rush for me. we were only briefed about the trip a few days before the departure day. i hate it!!!! i guess it is because i am a planner. furthermore, it was my first time visiting a cold country. so the more i need more time to prepare for the trip.
when we arrived at korea, i thought everything was well prepared but i was wrong!! the LOUSY hotel management screwed up our accommodation. hello!!! are you in the right mind to have 9 girls living in a room that was meant for 4 people only? the food at the four seasons were not up to standard. i think it is a staff canteen. they served the food in the prison style. come on, make my money worthwhile. i was there to experience the korea culture not to be tortured. serve us some traditional korea dishes excpet kimchi. luckily, the YMCA and ms ho managed to make some necessary changes to the accommodation and food before the first night. me and goi moved in to stay with ms ho at room 201 for 2 nights. we were relunctant to get out of the room and bunk in with the other girls for the last night. the roon was just nice for 3 people and our room was always warm and cosy when we returned from our skiing and snowboarding lessons. =(
i chose skiing over snowboarding although the fun part of me wants to try snowboarding. it's okay. there is always another chance for me to learn another sport. =) anyway, we had 3 days of skiing lessons. the instructor had a hard time explaining to us the various techniques of skiing. luckily, sign and body language saved the day again. i found the lessons a little draggy and slow. i just hope i can still remember how to ski. the small and big A and the S which yuhui is damn pro at. after 3 days of lessons, it was the free and easy ski. 5 of us - yuhui, goi, me, kokkok and wh, could not resist the temptation of midnight ski. we thought the ski slopes would be less crowded but they were worse than in the day time. we started off at the beginner slope to try to perfect our S. after that, we went on to the 2nd slope. we saw many many many snowboarders. there were more snowboarders than skiiers. i was thinking how was i supposed to go down the slope safely when there were sooo many moving obstacles along the slope. my first time down the 2nd slope was pure maddness!!!! i went straight down the slope. it was wrong but the feeling was damn good. the wind was about to tear my skin off my face. the speed was ultra fast. i tried to do the big A but it did not seem to be helping me to slow down. we stopped skiing at 230am not because we were tired, but because it was freaking cold. the heat pads under my feet and in my skiing gloves were not working. i guessed it was too cold for me to feel any warm. =( i had problems trying to pronounce the some words properly, like PEAR-lyn, pro-PER-ly. argh!!! after that, we went to full our hungry stomach with udon or instant noodles at the food centre. we reached our room at around 4am. we rang the doorbell, waiting for eileen to open the door for us but she did not wake up at the first rang. oh my!! we were freaked out. we were not going to spend the night outside the room. we were damn tired and smelly. we needed a new set of clothes and a warm floor or bed to sleep on. after waiting for around 10 minutes, eileen finally opened the door. yeah!! the last day of skiing was taking group photos and more group photos. i did not ski because i was too shagged and cold to ski. skiing was fun and exciting except that i had a lot of bull dozers aka brusies while learning. let's go skiing and snowboarding next year again!!
we had cultural night with the korean students for the first and second nights. the ice breakers were funny. we just linked our hands together and walked around the room, not forgetting the big and small basket dance. they did presentation on corruption. they performed a music item and a hip hop dance item for us. in return, we had to perform something and it was damn last minute. there was no planning at all cos we were not informed of it until the day before. no time to discuss at all. in the end, we danced the friendship dance. we had the korean studnets to join us in the dance. luckily, they enjoyed themselves and it did not turn up to be as bad as i thought.
the second highlight of the trip was the homestay. me, goi, yuhui and eileen had to stay alone for the first night. the 4 of us were supposed to meet up to go shopping before we went to our separate families for the night but eileen did not join us in the end. finally, we ate traditional korea dinner - takabi, which is hot plate chicken mixed with rice cakes, vegetables and sweet potatoes. yummy!!! i dont really take spicy food but the hottness was just nice for me. oh my!!!! it was heavenly delicious. i want to eat that again. after eating, we took bus to this huge supermarket called emart to do some shopping. after walking around the emart, my head felt feverish and my throat was killing me. i felt guilty that my homestay buddy had to look after a sick singaporean. she had to accompany me to buy my medicine and constantly reminded me to take my medicine. i felt bad because i was not in the right mood to interact with her when we were out. =(
when we got home, i felt much better after taking the medicine and maybe partly because the house was warm and cosy. i felt very welcomed and cosy when i came to her house. the family would sit together in front of the TV and greet each other when they returned home. i dont see that happening in many of the singapore families. she could speak a little of english, so we had a little difficulties communicating. she used this auto directionary that converts korean into english and a few sheets of papers with korean sentences with the english meanings to talk to me.
after the first night, i and eileen went to another family for the part 2 of homestay. i nearly cried when i had to leave my homestay buddy. it's strange how a bond can be foster within such a short period of time. this time round, they shocked us when we met. they told us they were going to bring us to a party for dinner that night. we were like are you sure??? we were not properly dressed for a party in track pants or jeans and winter clothes. hmm... end up, it was a traditional korean wedding dinner. woah!! cool... it was not like the chinese traditional wedding dinner. it was more like a simple affair which the bride and groom exhanged vows. after the dinner, we went back to their nice and cosy home. the kids were awesome. they know how to play the piano which eileen is very very jealous of. haha... after putting the kids to bed, it was our time to wash up and pack (argh!!!! me and eileen hate it) and sleep.
we reached our meeting point at 5am the next morning. i was surprised to see my first homestay buddy there. she, together with goi's and yuhui's homestay buddies came to send us off. i was touched. they woke up so early in the morning to send us off and they had school later in the morning.
i am missing everything and every people i have met in korea now. i miss skiing. i miss homestay. i miss my homestay buddy. i miss my cultural night buddy. sooooo many wonderful experience. it is a right decision to go to the korea trip. the money had been well spent on a priceless experience. how many times do i have to be out of my comfort zone? it is one of my regrets i had for the korea trip. i was always in my comfort zone during my homestay. they tried sooo hard to speak to me in english but i did not put in as much effort as them to learn korean. there may be unhappy experiences with one another within the group or with the korean people, but anger disappears when i start to understand and compromise. dont lose my cool.
ps/ to look at photos, please go to photolinks in my blog. the second one is the link to my korean pictures. cheers! http://www.flickr.com/photos/72419396@N00/sets/1622679/
"understanding solves problems"
what happened at korea?
i dont like the pre trip preparation at all. it was a mad rush for me. we were only briefed about the trip a few days before the departure day. i hate it!!!! i guess it is because i am a planner. furthermore, it was my first time visiting a cold country. so the more i need more time to prepare for the trip.
when we arrived at korea, i thought everything was well prepared but i was wrong!! the LOUSY hotel management screwed up our accommodation. hello!!! are you in the right mind to have 9 girls living in a room that was meant for 4 people only? the food at the four seasons were not up to standard. i think it is a staff canteen. they served the food in the prison style. come on, make my money worthwhile. i was there to experience the korea culture not to be tortured. serve us some traditional korea dishes excpet kimchi. luckily, the YMCA and ms ho managed to make some necessary changes to the accommodation and food before the first night. me and goi moved in to stay with ms ho at room 201 for 2 nights. we were relunctant to get out of the room and bunk in with the other girls for the last night. the roon was just nice for 3 people and our room was always warm and cosy when we returned from our skiing and snowboarding lessons. =(
i chose skiing over snowboarding although the fun part of me wants to try snowboarding. it's okay. there is always another chance for me to learn another sport. =) anyway, we had 3 days of skiing lessons. the instructor had a hard time explaining to us the various techniques of skiing. luckily, sign and body language saved the day again. i found the lessons a little draggy and slow. i just hope i can still remember how to ski. the small and big A and the S which yuhui is damn pro at. after 3 days of lessons, it was the free and easy ski. 5 of us - yuhui, goi, me, kokkok and wh, could not resist the temptation of midnight ski. we thought the ski slopes would be less crowded but they were worse than in the day time. we started off at the beginner slope to try to perfect our S. after that, we went on to the 2nd slope. we saw many many many snowboarders. there were more snowboarders than skiiers. i was thinking how was i supposed to go down the slope safely when there were sooo many moving obstacles along the slope. my first time down the 2nd slope was pure maddness!!!! i went straight down the slope. it was wrong but the feeling was damn good. the wind was about to tear my skin off my face. the speed was ultra fast. i tried to do the big A but it did not seem to be helping me to slow down. we stopped skiing at 230am not because we were tired, but because it was freaking cold. the heat pads under my feet and in my skiing gloves were not working. i guessed it was too cold for me to feel any warm. =( i had problems trying to pronounce the some words properly, like PEAR-lyn, pro-PER-ly. argh!!! after that, we went to full our hungry stomach with udon or instant noodles at the food centre. we reached our room at around 4am. we rang the doorbell, waiting for eileen to open the door for us but she did not wake up at the first rang. oh my!! we were freaked out. we were not going to spend the night outside the room. we were damn tired and smelly. we needed a new set of clothes and a warm floor or bed to sleep on. after waiting for around 10 minutes, eileen finally opened the door. yeah!! the last day of skiing was taking group photos and more group photos. i did not ski because i was too shagged and cold to ski. skiing was fun and exciting except that i had a lot of bull dozers aka brusies while learning. let's go skiing and snowboarding next year again!!
we had cultural night with the korean students for the first and second nights. the ice breakers were funny. we just linked our hands together and walked around the room, not forgetting the big and small basket dance. they did presentation on corruption. they performed a music item and a hip hop dance item for us. in return, we had to perform something and it was damn last minute. there was no planning at all cos we were not informed of it until the day before. no time to discuss at all. in the end, we danced the friendship dance. we had the korean studnets to join us in the dance. luckily, they enjoyed themselves and it did not turn up to be as bad as i thought.
the second highlight of the trip was the homestay. me, goi, yuhui and eileen had to stay alone for the first night. the 4 of us were supposed to meet up to go shopping before we went to our separate families for the night but eileen did not join us in the end. finally, we ate traditional korea dinner - takabi, which is hot plate chicken mixed with rice cakes, vegetables and sweet potatoes. yummy!!! i dont really take spicy food but the hottness was just nice for me. oh my!!!! it was heavenly delicious. i want to eat that again. after eating, we took bus to this huge supermarket called emart to do some shopping. after walking around the emart, my head felt feverish and my throat was killing me. i felt guilty that my homestay buddy had to look after a sick singaporean. she had to accompany me to buy my medicine and constantly reminded me to take my medicine. i felt bad because i was not in the right mood to interact with her when we were out. =(
when we got home, i felt much better after taking the medicine and maybe partly because the house was warm and cosy. i felt very welcomed and cosy when i came to her house. the family would sit together in front of the TV and greet each other when they returned home. i dont see that happening in many of the singapore families. she could speak a little of english, so we had a little difficulties communicating. she used this auto directionary that converts korean into english and a few sheets of papers with korean sentences with the english meanings to talk to me.
after the first night, i and eileen went to another family for the part 2 of homestay. i nearly cried when i had to leave my homestay buddy. it's strange how a bond can be foster within such a short period of time. this time round, they shocked us when we met. they told us they were going to bring us to a party for dinner that night. we were like are you sure??? we were not properly dressed for a party in track pants or jeans and winter clothes. hmm... end up, it was a traditional korean wedding dinner. woah!! cool... it was not like the chinese traditional wedding dinner. it was more like a simple affair which the bride and groom exhanged vows. after the dinner, we went back to their nice and cosy home. the kids were awesome. they know how to play the piano which eileen is very very jealous of. haha... after putting the kids to bed, it was our time to wash up and pack (argh!!!! me and eileen hate it) and sleep.
we reached our meeting point at 5am the next morning. i was surprised to see my first homestay buddy there. she, together with goi's and yuhui's homestay buddies came to send us off. i was touched. they woke up so early in the morning to send us off and they had school later in the morning.
i am missing everything and every people i have met in korea now. i miss skiing. i miss homestay. i miss my homestay buddy. i miss my cultural night buddy. sooooo many wonderful experience. it is a right decision to go to the korea trip. the money had been well spent on a priceless experience. how many times do i have to be out of my comfort zone? it is one of my regrets i had for the korea trip. i was always in my comfort zone during my homestay. they tried sooo hard to speak to me in english but i did not put in as much effort as them to learn korean. there may be unhappy experiences with one another within the group or with the korean people, but anger disappears when i start to understand and compromise. dont lose my cool.
ps/ to look at photos, please go to photolinks in my blog. the second one is the link to my korean pictures. cheers! http://www.flickr.com/photos/72419396@N00/sets/1622679/
"understanding solves problems"
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