My trip to Thailand couldn’t have come at a better time to be honest. My first three months in South Korea were incredible, but the constant schedule changes, the unannounced building work to my apartment and the inability of my boiler to sustain a month without breaking down had worn me out and left me feeling quite frustrated and fed up with the whole experience. In short, I needed to get out of South Korea and get out of the situation before I lost all motivation and drive, started teaching the kids French, and smeared the front door with superglue so the moment my landlord started hammering on it his hand would get stuck. Not only did I have an amazing and hilarious time, I also came to realise how fond I have become of Korea despite all the challenges, and how lucky I am to have such great friends, including the great ones I have made here.
I met up with the fabulous Sarah (honestly can’t thank you enough mate for such an excellent time! Suffice to say love ya Bitchmeister!), her wonderful mates Heidi and Tara (thanks for letting me gatecrash, you girls are awesome!), and Olly (nice necklace!) a fellow Brit they had met on their travels.
I was in Thailand from 5-10 August and we spent most of the time in Bangkok, with a day trip to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand. We stayed near Khaosan Road, which seemed to be some kind of backpackers Mecca. It was very strange being surrounded by so many non-Korean faces everywhere I looked after three months of being a very small minority in Hongseong. The sight of the Thai language was weird after conquering Hangul, but one of the biggest shocks was the level of English-even the sleazy guys who grabbed you without warning and whispered “ping-pong show” like it was some magical drug could communicate in English-something I have only really experienced a handful of times in Korea.
The trip was characterised as such:
o On the cultural side-lots of Buddha statues, temples and pagodas. We also made it to the Grand Palace (after several Thais gave us conflicting directions and information about its whereabouts and whether it was open or not-it was. This was a lot like Korean signs “Temple in 400M”, turn a corner “Temple in 300M”) When we were at the Grand Palace we missed out on the famous Emerald Buddha because we were having too much fun laughing at the shirt Heidi had to wear to cover her shoulders. Good times!
o On the wildlife side-elephants, wild dogs (who according to our tour guide worked for the FBI and KGB-though looked more to be procreating rather than spying), roosters, and of course mosquitoes.
o On the transport side-Tuk-Tuks. “Just two stops, you want to drive?” Madness, the five of us cramped in a space made for three, clinging on to anything as the driver weaves through traffic, turning to face you and ask you where you are from. Then the awkwardness when you stop at a tailor, jewellery or travel shop so the driver can get free gas. Still I did buy two beautiful rings, and it was “funny” when we discovered that the air conditioned taxis were cheaper and much more comfortable.
o On the food side-British food-though I also had a Green Curry which was delicious. I was introduced to a café called “Oh My Cod” which served all manner of British cuisine-I really enjoyed tucking into a sausage and egg baguette while watching BBC World News, it was strangely comforting.
We went to a ping pong show, and it just felt so awkward and nasty to be honest, especially when the scary bouncer ladies in long black coats stood behind us and tried to rip up off. Sparklers should come with a label-not for internal use. Me, Sarah and Olly went for an oil massage, and who would have thought being nearly naked in a mattress filled room with a bunch of strangers could be so funny.
Bizarrely, one night I had a real craving for Gimbap, and I was excited when I saw things in Hangul-there was a Korean restaurant near our guesthouse Romanised as Dong Dea Moon (should have been Dongdaemun after the East Gate in Seoul! Hark at me making corrections!) When I was back in Korea the familiarity of it all was nice, I didn’t even mind the old Korean lady trying to actually stand in my shoes on the subway back to Yongsan. I didn’t get a seat on the train back to Hongseong so I crashed on my backpack in the café car, and a woman called Cho told me I “have good English pronunciation skills”-which was quite a relief. The train conductor took pity on me and found me a seat, all in all I came back to Korea in a much better mood than I had left it in.
But I just wanted to say a massive thanks to Sarah, Heidi, Tara and Olly for giving me some very funny memories, and a fantastic time.
Also, readers, can you please comment on my blog? So I can get some feedback, see who’s reading it and just because I miss you all!
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