When I first began the lengthily application process to be a teacher in South Korea, one of my worst nightmares was being placed in an incredibly rural area. I had envisioned living in the centre of a big cosmopolitan Asian city surrounded by like minded and interesting people. I think my assumptions were way off and totally unrealistic.

One of my biggest concerns coming to Korea was that I would be placed in some forsaken one stop country town, alone and nestled in amongst the rice fields. If you had given me the option I wouldn't have dared to choose a quieter area of Seoul, never mind rural apple-loving Yeongju.

Ariel view of Yeongju

However, a year and a half later I am advocating for why, in my opinion, small towns are better for native English teachers abroad.  Full disclaimer- I have grown up most of my life within 20 minutes of a big metropolitan city centre and don't do well without 'basic essentials' like a decent mall and a number of bars to choose from. Small town living was a massive change for me.

Yet, today I quite happily call Yeongju-si my town. After being 'dumped' by EPIK (The English Programme in Korea) in a town I knew nothing about, I have come to see  'The Ju' as my home base in Asia - a far cry from my initial frantic Google search of the area. Yeongju's Wikipedia page has little to no information on the area and is quite hard to find in the first place. My heart definitely sank when I was told by our coordinators that  I was going to a small town in Gyeongsangbuk-do province.

The riverside in the winter months.

On my walk home from school in Autumn.

Cherry Blossom Season at the river side in Spring.

Looking down on Yeongju.

Months later, I can see that it was the best place for me. Being put in a small community of 50 foreigners makes you a bigger fish in a smaller pond. When your whole life has been turned upside down by continent-hopping its nice to know things will be closer by and smaller to navigate.

Within my first week of being in Yeongju, I had had about 20 Facebook friend requests from the people living in my area, including a number of people who had come forward, offering to help me if I needed anything. The pay it forward attitude to the new people was incredibly comforting. Because that's the thing about living in small towns like these - there are only about 50 of us at any given time who can speak English in the city - so you might as well become friends.

I recently relived this experience, when  an expat, Shirley moved to Yeongju and came out to meet the expats at our local bar. Later on in the evening once she had left, we all looked at each other and said "Ok, we'll keep her".
She impressed us with her ability to drink multiple shots of soju and still down a beer afterwards,
Its as simple as that, if your an expat and can speak English - congratulations your in. You have a new set of built in friends to negotiate this country with. It doesn't really matter that you initially come from different ends of the globe.
Your friends now.

Shirley and I up in Seoul for St Patrick's Day.

Yeongju girls sleepover.

At the Norebang (singing room) at 3 am.

Simon and Jacques with all of us at Maekoli bar.

My birthday party a few months ago. Everyone, even peoples coworkers, came along.

Small towns mean that you also get to do a number of nerdy/cool things. Like throw an annual Halloween party and live in the same  apartment block as 10 of your friends. This mainly being because Yeongju doesn't see many western faces and somebody along the line decided it was best to just put them all safely together somewhere away from harm. My building has be affectionately named "the dorms".

Although I will say that small towns provide an endless stream of gossip. Especially when you have a small community leaving in a bout 4 or 5 different buildings across the city. I have gotten messages at 8 am in the morning at school saying things like, "You will not believe who hooked up with who last night".

A hike up Sky Bridge to the temple. About 20 minutes outside of Yeongju.

A view from the Temple halfway up  the mountain. 

Despite the gossip, you become very close with friends and find yourself immersed in a pretty tight nit community. When you have a birthday in Yeongju, its assumed that everyone is invited, even if there's someone new in town that you've never met. I have found that because our families and friends from home are not hear, your big occasion becomes everyone's big occasion. I write this as I am recovering from Frances' St Patrick's Day birthday party.

Last week after a drunken argument between friends over how Shepard's Pie was made, we decided to throw a 'Yeongju Masterchef' competition. I sat on a panel of esteemed judges/ whoever was hungry and in town. It was delicious and lots of fun to watch Simon and Lauren pick at each others dishes.

The panel of esteemed judges, for Masterchef.

The best advice I can give someone looking to come to Korea is try not to play it so safe. Everyone wants to live in Seoul or Busan because its the most familiar to us. Safe in a big city with everything at our fingertips is where most of us apply to be. Yet in reality, unless you work at a hagwon, this is highly unlikely to happen.
My opinion is be open to going wherever they place you because you might just be really surprised.

I have been teaching at Nambu for nearly 6 months. Its been a massive change from teaching the ever naughty high schoolers - although I do see them around town often. An old student offered me one of his cigarettes at the bus stop the other day. Which I suppose was kind in a backward way because he's probably a broke teenager secretly buying smokes without his parents approval. I was almost honored. He said he had heard that western woman smoke sometimes.

I said, Thanks but no thanks. He shrugged his shoulder and lit up anyway, 6 months ago he would have hidden and runaway for fear of punishment. But hey today I wasn't his teacher, so he wasn't remotely bothered. 

The 4th graders in the English class. 

A view from my office window in the winter time.

Its snowing at school!

My experience at elementary school has been hugely different. Everything is bright, colourful and optimistic. Nobody has pimples or hormonal mood swings. Little ones are easier to impress. When I see students on the street or in the grocery store, they come running up to me and eagerly point me out to their parents. Very different from the awkward nod and immediate change of direction away from the teacher that I so often experience previously.

Teaching the 4th graders

Some of my best moments of the last couple of month have been witnessing the cuteness and enthusiasm of my kiddies. One of my favourite days was doing a optional English camp in the vacation with the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th  grade students. On a particularly cold and snowy day we made pancakes with the students. 

It was carnage. Complete carnage. 

The students were throwing pancake batter around and kept dropping eggs all over the floor. When they left it looked like a fierce battle had taken place in the Science room.  I saw a perfectly normal grade 4 go nuts after he tilted his head back and squeezed 3/4 of a bottle of syrup into his mouth. My co teacher and I just smiled and sent him on his way, his sugar high could be his mothers problem. Either way making pancakes was a great success. We had a pancake stack competition and the principal picked the best stack. 

The pancake stack teams.

pancake making.

"Give me Sugar!!!"

One of the best parts of my job is going to Kindergarten on a Wednesday. I've had a lot of fun teaching the kindies basic things like, fruit, weather and moods.  The particular class that I've loved to teach over the last semester was the three year old's. Because at 3, they are still learning their own language, never mind mine. Basically the 8 of them would sit together and try and figure out what they hell I was saying. I couldn't understand any of their debate but I would see one of the 3 year old's take charge and make announcement to the group. This dominant little character had obviously made a class decision about what they needed to do. This often resulted in everyone getting up and running to the back when I had actually asked them to put their hands on their heads. I normally have no choice but to just laugh and say "Good job".

The Kindies

Nambu's annual sports day was pretty interesting. They hired out the local city stadium and had a bunch games. It was very unlike any of the of sports day I have seen at home. One game that I found hilarious to watch was where the kids had to stuff blown up balloons in a giant clear bag and get it to stand up straight. The first team to do this was the winners. I have never seen so many little voices screaming and grabbing at balloons. Even at 10 - it is a fight to the death to get all the balloons in.

The blue team and the white team.. races to stuff and collect all the balls. 

I can quite happily say that the move to elementary school was a good decision. Here's to my last 6 months of teaching in Korea. May it go smoothly!

For my summer vacation, I took some time to go home and see my family in South Africa. I think I have rarely been so excited in my life. After booking tickets home, I spent months fascinating about all the different foods I would eat and everyone I wanted to hug. I can quite happily say I had the best two  weeks ever. The best part was that my mom and dad had no idea I was coming!

Arriving at the airport - roses and biltong in hand.

After a very long flight to South Africa and a nostalgic moment listening to the cheesy jokes on Kalula airways, I finally got to see my sister, and surprisingly,  my close friends as well all waiting at the airport. It was  overwhelming combination of happiness, exhaustion and relief. I think I feel asleep at 7.45 that evening.

Lauren, Gabi, Justin and Hilary at the airport!

My favorite moment was my arrival at my aunts house. I sneaked up to the veranda area and simply said "hello". My mother who was casually sipping a glass of wine, dropped her jaw in surprise and put her head in her hands. "What are you doing here????" My dad was completely silent for 10 minutes. They had no idea that I would be home for a fortnight - expecting me to be exploring in Japan (I even sent them a fake itinerary).

I had a lot of fun waking my university friend, Gabi up from a nap. She dived out of bed in disbelief. "What?? I though you were in KOREA???"

Having a holiday beer with Justin and Gabi. Miss these two a lot. Justin fairly annoyed to be posing for a photo. 

Gabi - 5 minutes after I woke her up!

Being home can be very healing. There is something about being around your family and friends, who have know you all your life, that just helps you to de-stress and relax. I will be the first to say that I love Korea and my job as a teacher but sometimes you just need to go home to a sense of familiarity. After a long semester of work, all I wanted to do was lie in the sunshine and play with my puppy. I am happy to report that was exactly what I did!

My sister with Charlie as a puppy 6 months before - he is now fully grown.

6 months later and this dog is massive.

Matching Mr Price dresses! Hilary and I.

Out with all my High school buddies.

My mom and I at Moksh Curry House. 

My sister (also know as poo head) and I.

Moksh Indian Curry house for a family dinner (My dad and sister).

Drinking a glass of red with Justin at Beau Constantia. 

Possibly the best thing I did on my trip to South Africa was eat. I think I put on a good 3 or 4kgs while I was at home. It was great to do nothing but eat fetta, red meat and avocado. I think I had forgotten how much variety in food there is in South Africa. I can without a shrivel of a doubt announce that I did not miss Kimchi while I was away.

The braai my aunt prepared for the whole family! Steak, Spinach and Fetta potatoes and even Amarula. 

Col cachio - salami, garlic, rocket (arugula) pizza.

Coming home after such a long time meant that I could be a tourist in my city all over again. It really made me appreciate how beautiful Cape Town is.

Over looking Gordons Bay - Where you can go whale watching. 

Boulder Penguin beach.

The bay market in Hout Bay.

Somerset West (the area  I live in)  at Vergelegen Wine Estate.

Wine Tasting at Vergelegen.

The train tracks at Kalk Bay (from Cape to Cuba restaurant).

Recently, a group of the girls ans I went up to Seoul to watch our friend Heather play the jangu (Korean Traditional Drum). She had been taking classes on the weekends all semester so we decided to make a day of it in Seoul.

We went over to Itaewon, a famous foreigner district for fire baked pizza (The only one I have ever come across in Korea). Pizza Peel was delicious and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good English speaking pizza restaurant. Part of their appeal is that there is a wide range of toppings not often found in Korea. Everything from prosciutto, feta and brie to  Dr Pepper soda and American ranch dressing (a staple in American homes- or so I have been taught). A girl in my town from Alabama was borderline horrified that  I had never had "Ranch" before. She solemnly said that South Africa needs help, for no society can fully function without the help of 'Ranch".

Itaewon is located close to a big US army base which  means that many of the restaurants and shops stock western and American products.

Bacon, and Salami pizza from Pizza Peel in Itaewon. 

The girls waiting for their pizzas.

Shopping in Itaewon. 

 Another great thing about Itaewon is the foreigner food market where you can buy all kinds of  imported products from all over the world. I managed to get my hands on things like couscous, fresh humus and even Reese's peanut butter cups ( a new find that I absolutely love). They have all kinds of interesting things to look at like Tim Tams from Australia or toothpaste from Canada as well as an array of Indian spices. I always spend way too much money whenever I go there. Angelique nearly cried from joy when she got her hands on a pack of Salt and Vinegar lays in the mart. It was an emotional moment for this Afrikaans lady - an unexpected reuniting with her favourite chips. I watched her dance down the hill holding two big packs, explaining that she would not have dinner because she didn't want to spoil her appetite for the chips.

The alley way that the market can be found on is affectionately known as 'Hooker Hill'. I didn't personally see any Hookers, but I suppose I'm not really their target audience. Maybe if I go back at night? :P

How to get there: Take Itaewon subway station exit 3. You will be opposite the Hamilton Hotel. Walk straight towards the big KB bank and past Subway Sandwich. Once you see Jesters (a pie shop) Turn right up an Alley way. The foreigner market can be found up and along the hill. 

This is one of three Foreigner food market shops that I have visited along the alley way.

Itaewon

We also spent a great afternoon watching Heather drum in a concert.  She played the traditional Korean drum called the Janggu, along with a class of other beginner foreigners. Our superstar drummer stood out because she was the only left handed person on stage. It looked like she was leading! She attended a semester long course in how to play the Janggu in Seoul every Saturday for 10 weeks in a music programme paid for by the government.  There were also a number of other kids who preformed. The kindergartners in their Hanbok (traditional Korean dress) were adorable. I loved the rhythm of the drums, the sound carried so well that you could feel it beating in your chest. It was quite a special experience especially seeing my friend be the one to create it.

The one instrument however, that I didn't really understand, was the Gayageum. It is a traditional string like instrument that essentially lies on the floor and you pluck it. It was played by a few Korean families as part of the concert. In all honesty,  it sounded sort of like a very badly tuned sitar. Every time they plucked at a string, Brie and I would have to stifle a giggle. I don't necessarily think it was the players but more the instrument itself. Even if Mozart himself had played the Gayageum  it would have sounded just as strange. The Gayageum is definitely the less cooler of Korean instruments.

Here are some photos of Heather's performance:

Heather drumming at the concert. 

The gayageum. 

Kindergarten Jangu

Until next time.

xx