Hi all,
I realise it's been over a year since I last sent out a blog. I'm obviously running out of steam. As it happens this is my last one (see later).
I'm going to miss signs like this ...
And this. You'd need a Very Good Doctor if you ate here ...
*****
It gets really chilly in Korea. So
cold that even small furry creatures feel it. This of course makes it the
perfect place for winter sports and so, when the Winter Olympics came to Korea,
we popped in …
At first I thought I’d have a chance of getting into the snowboarding team …
But then I saw what they get up to and thought better of it.
Perhaps I’d just be a supporter.
I took this flag to the area near the prize-giving ceremony and it got me spotted on the BBC.
The whole place was buzzing …
A welcome from the mascots.
And ladies in the traditional
Hanbok dress.
Korean dancing girls.
A group from Slovakia.
And ice sculptures in town.
We also got along to the bobsleigh.
This close to the track is awe-inspiring. You hear them coming long before you
see them and they belt past in a flash.
It was definitely one of the highlights of the year.
*****
In my last blog I came
across this sign and put it down to a confusion between the letters 'l' and
'r'.
Well, I've since
discovered I made a mistake ...
Legend has it that the cow defended its master from a tiger but subsequently died from its wounds. It really
was a Loyal Cow. You don’t find many of them.
Another highlight of the year was finishing my walk
across Korea.
The second half of the
route went from Sangju (top left), due south, past Daegu, and snaking around to
the right to finish at Busan (bottom right).
The route took me
through some very quiet towns.
Past lovely countryside and temples.
And to fried chicken. They think of everything in Korea …
The farmers are
well-prepared too.
Sleeping on the floor is
the traditional method. This guesthouse was empty so I had the room to myself.
I finally hit the sea at
Busan.
In all, I had covered about 633km over a period of months.
However, just when you
think you've done something hard, someone comes along to top it. Unfortunately
I left Korea before he arrived, but I had made plans to meet up with
SuperCyclingMan, aka Will, who is cycling around the world dressed as Superman.
You can follow him at http://supercyclingman.com/
He's raising money for Parkinson’s UK and you can donate on his website if you'd like to.
****************************************************************
All good things come to
an end and so has my little adventure abroad. I came home in September and have
settled in Brighton, so this is the end of my blog.
After nine years I have so many memories.
Of Korea …
Where else would you get
this many side dishes?
Or spicy pasta as appealing as this?
Parking like this …
Or so many amazing
sights and sounds.
And an amazing multinational
bunch who meet up every Sunday to provide food for the homeless in Seoul.
Well, Vietnam can
compete with these amazing sights and sounds of course and there are loads of photos to prove it in
previous blogs. Seoul and Hanoi are very different but I loved living in both
of them.
One particularly fond
memory of Hanoi (amongst many) was my time working with REACH, a charity that
helps disadvantaged young people by providing them with vocational training.
(It's hard to spot me in
this photo!).
This is another charity dear to my heart so I’ll provide you with the link for
this too …
Any donations to this charity makes a huge difference to the lives of these young people so if you're looking to give to a charity, I can recommend this one.
Of course, I'll never forget Poland either. Torun was, without doubt, the most beautiful place I'll ever live I'm sure.
*****
OK, that’s it. I had an
amazing nine years abroad, met loads of fantastic people, and enjoyed my job immensely.
It's taking a while to adjust to being home but I’m getting there. I look forward
to catching up with you all again at some point – feel free to pop in!
All the best,
Graham
*****
Right to the very end there were laughs. This was the case that my belongings were packed in when they were shipped over. Clearly, someone was not impressed with my belongings ...
