Cherry Blossoms and Kimchi : Teaching in South Korea: 29

For the last few years on my old little blog I have made lists of the things I’ve achieved during the year. This is mainly because my birthday hasn’t always been my favourite holiday so I’ve tried to look at the day differently. Instead of putting a lot of expectation into one day, I’ve tried to use it as an excuse to reflect on the year just passed. It’s been a very busy year indeed. I’ve done this for the last two years which you can see here: All the things I did as a sprightly 26 year old, and my achievements as a full blown Korean Alien at 27. So what have I been lucky enough to experience in my 28^th year?
.Won a charity scavenger hunt by being as embarrassing as possible on the Korean Streets (Go team ‘gin on my face’)

.Danced the night away in Busan on an epic girl’s night with about 25 ladies. The hen do to end all hen dos, but without a hen.
.Met three of the best girls around.
.Walked the Great Wall of China.
.Listened to the world’s oldest jazz band in Shanghai.
.Played the same piano as Cole Porter and Charlie Chaplin.
.Fell in love with Taiwan.
.Saw Taroka Gorge (Hualien, Taiwan) in all its splendour.
.Learned to like gin.
.Rode a bike for the first time…on Vietnamese roads no less.
.Went swimming in the sea (deeper that my knees terrifies me)
.Taught an art class to cute kiddies
.Ate Peking duck in the old capital of Peking/Beijing
.Noreabanged with Lee’s family.
.Became debt free (kind of..well close enough)
.Was interviewed for a Korean newspaper
.Travelled to Namhae Island in a 9 hour car ride and still loved every person in the car at the end of it.
.Learnt to Kayak
.Beat Lee at pool
.Left our jobs and house …and Korea.
.Lee and I had our first Christmas together
.Learnt to pole dance and danced in a show (I front of people, no less)
.Planned and started traveling on the trip we had always talked about around Asia.
. Got an Australian working Visa
. Met snow monkey’s in Japan
.Saw a geisha
.Ate Okonomyaki
.Went to a Japanese Photobooth with Lee
.Went to a wedding dress café (?)

. Started this blog
. Made a new animation Showreel
. Got offered a job in a large animation company (couldn’t take it but it’s still an honour to have been offered)
. Sold my first photo and article to a professional newspaper
.Visited the Philippines
.Met a Tarsier
.Went to the mountains of Guilin.
.Fell in love with Hong Kong
.Learnt the importance of Skype
. Learnt the importance of cheese.
.Spent three weeks exploring Vietnam
. Saw Lee turn 30
. Discovered Cambodia
. Went to my first Opera
.Celebrated 10 years with the tall one.
Watched my fantastic friend run a marathon.
Got a new tattoo
.Heard my sister’s first piece of music played live that she had composed…See’s now a mini musical genius.
.Became addicted to Instagram
. Ate far too many noodles
. Read 10 books
.Filled 3 sketch books.
.Bought our first laptop together
.Got a lot of wrinkles/laughter lines

Favorite film this year: Guardians of the Galaxy or Big Hero 6
Favorite song: Uptown Funk
Favorite drink: Gin and Tonic or Red Wine
Favorite food: Lee’s Pad Thai Curry and Bahn Mi
Saddest moment: Saying goodbye to our home and friend in Korea and not seeing my family while i was 28 🙁
Happiest moment: too many to count but sitting in our own private paradise in Cambodia was one and singing at the top of our lungs while dancing to Michael Jackson at a friends house in Korea also is a winner.
Main thing I’ve learnt: Hard times make the good times better, hard work pays in the end and food poisoning is the devil
All in all it’s been a fantastic year and I can’t wait to see what my 29^th has in store. I know it will have lots more travel . I have now currently seen 24 countries and I’m hoping by the time I turn 30 it will be 30 (quite a tall order but I think we can just about do it). I also hope it includes a lot of catch ups with all my favourite people, especially my family and friends back home. Thank you again to everyone that helped me achieve this crazy list. 29 and feeling fine (I’m old enough to understand how lame that sentence was and still say it proudly without irony).