#18 my first apaRtment (cos i'll be moving maybe)

my sofa and comp/study table.. the glass door heads to the laundry

my bed and new sheets!
kitchen and bed are both in the same room =\

the kitchen

#17 firSt day in yangju..

welcome to yangju!
the many restaurants and shops underneath my apartment

a street full of FOOD!

the middle school opposite my place (not my school) with apartments behind it .. and many many more after that!

apartments after apartments after apartments...

today was my first day in my town.. i live in the city of yangju.. its about half an hour away by train to seoul.. i woke up quite early this morning because my curtains are white and it woke me up at 530.. i ended up waking up anyways and got ready.. from 8-10 i just walked around a explored my town.. this place has like everything! anything u can possibly imagine.. pizza hut, dominoes, bbq chicken, dunkin donuts, lotteria, pet shops, banks, florists, markets, clothes, fruits.. anything you need!

the biggest shock here was the living style of koreans.. there are apartments.. EVERYWHERE literally there are like 100 or more apartments in sight from where i am.. the streets are also very clean and the ppl are very nice.

after exploring i went home to wait fo eunice my co teacher, she took my to uijeongbu which is a city nearby for me to get my health check .. the doctors here are are so young! most of them were like may age and they were doctors already.. wth ?

anyways so after that we went for lunch and then headed to school, school is nice and big, the students are on exams atm so i didnt meet them yet, today i just met the teachers and principle and vice principle. i wont be teaching this week or next week because they want me to get use to it beore i start conducting classes.. they also gave me a laptop! it helps cos now i don't need to bring my mac with me to school.

after that i headed to lotte mart to buy a travel adapter and sheets and blankets for my house.. i had to carry it all the way home and it was so heavy! i ended up organising my place today so it feels more like a home..

hopefully i'll be changing apartments soon, my place is on the ground floor and i dont feel very safe because when ppl walk past they alwasys look into my place and can see everything inside.. i hope i get something big and new!

안녕~

xo m

#16 hello kOrea!!

welcome to korea!

first class.. there wasnt much difference from first and business

business class.. where i was treated like a queen =)

the plane trip from sydney to here was sooo good, i sat in business class and was treated like a queen, food was good and the sleep was even better.... 11 hours flew by quickly because it was so comfy i just slept and ate most of the time, i didnt even read any of my magazines!

so i landed in korea safely and got picked up by a driver. luckily he spoke english so i was able to communicate with him with no problems, he did however started to ask me stuff in korean but, i found that i was better in korean than i thought. as soon as you get here, everything changes, no one speaks english and u just have to find your way around in korean. back in sydney i went to tafe for 4 hours a week and only used my korean then. i never practiced it so i sort've forgot abt it until now, there are still things that i cant say or explain so it was up to my broken korean and their broken english ahaha

i got to my apartment about 2 hours later ... the ride was so long! from the airport to the city is about 40mins-an hour and then the drive from seoul to my area was another 40mins ish! it took forever but in the end at about 830 ish we arrived and met up with my co teacher.

my apartment is ok... its not as nice as i would like it... the area im living in however is awesomeeeee, its abt 15 mind away from my school and train station but its very lively and busy. as soon as i walk out of the apartment there are streets of shops and restaurants EVERYWHERE... its so bright and lit up.. i love it!

as soon as i got here i dropped off my stuff and headed out to buy food and to find a net cafe to let my family know that i was ok... this was a bit of a challenge because there are so many small streets everywhere, luckily i saw this student and i asked him where it was, he was so nice he took me there =) it was only 2 mins away from me but just hidden.

after that i pretty much just went to shower, eat and then went to sleep.. it's been a long and tiring day, i got a big day 2moro so will update soon!

안녕~

xo m

#15 the airpOrt wait..

my sister & me

my mummy & me

business classs yehhhhh!!

waiting in the lounge..

i am currently sitting at the gate waiting to board... in about 10 minutes i can go in.. this morning i arrived at the airport at 5am ish... i met up with sammy sarahs friend and she checked my 30kg bag in and gave me a good window exit seat (which means theres no one sitting in front of u so u have plenty of leg room.

quite a lot of ppl came to see me at the airport.. i love my friends!! we basically just sat around and talked.. at 7am i had to start going in... it was very sad, my mum started crying so much so i cried, then my sister did as well... im sad to leave but im really grateful my parents are supportive of it and are letting me go.

after going through immigration i just shopped around, theres not much to buy here, i think its not that cheap the duty free stuff.. i reckon its prob better to buy things in korea so i saved my money.

sammy called me while i was inside and asked me to come to the gate cos the gate was changed and that she had to give me a new ticket.. i got there and found out i was upgraded to business classs!!!!!! that was pretty cool.. i don't know what to expect yet cos im sitting in the lounge still but im sure its good!

anyways time to board now... bye australia!!

안녕~

xo m

#14 my finaL day...

my cousin came to visit me
so did sarah!

my last day in australia was quite hectic... i woke up early to go to cabramatta, met up with sarah for lunch and bought a few magazines for the plane ride. after that we went home and just chatted and catch up cos i havent caught up with her for agess.. i then took her for a ride on my electric scooter LOL that was fun... then we went in and ate pho.. my mum cooked a huge pot of pho that could feed a whole army!

i then went out to buy more stuff such as locks and a neck pillow! i bought this really cute pig neck pillow for the plane hahaha

in the afternoon ppl started dropping by to eat pho and to say goodbye.. it was time for me to finalise my packing.. its so heavy!! sarah has a friend that works for korean air so she hooked me up so that i can get good seats and also increase my luggage limit.. i can now bring 30kg!

at night time i just basically stayed home.. me and peter went for a ride on the scooter again ahahaha we had nothing else to do but it was fun.. my cousin and aunty came over as well to say goodbye to me

i don't think i'll be able to sleep tonight.. first is cos im too excited.. 2nd i keep thinking im forgetting or missing something so i think thats gonna play in my mind and im just gonna forget! lol

anyways.. 2moro is the dayyy!!!! im leaving australia and moving to korea!!

안녕~

xo m

#13 what tO pack?

my packing adventure!

10.30pm the packing begins! (i actually cleaned it up for the photo haha)

stuff all over my couch..

and all over my bed!!

12am - all packed and ready to go!!

packing is so hard? theres a question thats been playing around in my mind for the past few days...

     "how do u pack your whole life into 1 suitcase?"

its really hard... i guess if im missing anything then i can just buy it over there but i want to bring my whole house with me! 

the past few days i been throwing stuff onto my couch... things that i want to bring so i don't forget abt it.. my room is now a total mess! i hope i don't go over the limit ... hahah i been reading blogs lately of other ppl who are lviing there .. i've read many posts that says to bring deodrant.. like whatt??? do ppl not smell there or something... how can they not? thats totally weird to me so i stocked up on deodrant lol

my most impt thing is just to bring clothes and my laptop i guess... everything else can be bought over there... korea is cheaper than australia anyways..

well its late and i have about 24 hours ish until i'll be heading to the airport.. it's gonna be a big day 2moro!!

안녕~

xo m

#12 last wEekend..

my last weekend with my friends..

group photo!

muck up photo

my surprise! they decorated the house for me.. awww....

opening my gifts

a photo frame of the ppl i love

and an album filled with photos and comments!!!

cho me & vu

my sister cho & i

this weekend will be my last weekend here in sydney.. i've actually been quite busy the past week... everyones been making plans with me to catch up, all i've been doing is eating really ahahah 

yesterday i was spose to start packing however the furthest i went was i took out my space bags.. hahaha i pretty much spent the day fixing my computer and just watching the OC (repeats) my rooms is like a total mess... theres just stuff all over it everywhere, theres not even enough walking space and i didnt even bring up my big suitcase yet!

last night i spent it with my group of friends.. they first took me to dinner which was really nice.. i had this duck pizza which was awesome.. i really liked that, then after we all went back to billys house to drink and catch up.. my friends are awesome and i love them so much... they decorated billys house with streamers and made a big sign that said 'farewell misha' that was so sweet of them.. they also gave me a photo frame with a picture of the group and also a photo album full of pictures! i cried when they gave it to me... i told myself not to cry in front of them but i couldnt help it ... im gonna miss them so much. last night while everyone was talking and mucking around, i just sat there watching them ans thinking.. this is what il be missing when im away... it makes me sad that i'll be leaving them of a yr but thats life i guess... a yr will fly by quick i guess.

today is sunday and i have a family gathering.. havent seen my relatives for awhile.. since like chinese new yr which was in feb so its a good chance for me to see them b4 i leave. today will be a busy day so i dont think i can pack either.. i will definitely start 2moro! i have 2 more days left to go ... i better get to it!

안영~

xo m

#11 prOcess over/flight info!

visa process officially over! on tuesday i went to the consulate for my interview... it was basically just a chat with her for about 10 minutes... after that i worked for 2 days then left on thursday.. now i got 4 days left and im just busy packing. today i went to the city again to pick up my passport and visa.. they got it all done which was good so i didnt have to chase it up.. now all i have to do is pack and then leave!

after the consulate i went shopping.. i bought  new phrase book, a pop out map of seoul and souvenirs! bought alot of australia pens, keyrings, and clip ons.. they were basically koalas, kangaroos and sheeps ahahahah .. i bought them to give out to my students/coteachers/principle etc.. they been really nice to me lately through this whole process so i wanna get them all something in return.

other news is ... my flight has been booked! i was really angry at myself and of this visa process cos all the flights kept getting booked out! on wed night i spent a few hours on the net just refreshing the page hoping something will show up.. most of the flights was via singapore or thailand.. they were pretty much 24hr+ flights... i wasnt looking forward to that.. luckily after hours on the net a flight opened up and it was a direct flight via korean air! good thing is it was so cheap as well.. only $825.. so i will be leaving on wed morning at 7.55 .. just 4 more days left to go!

안녕~

xo m

#1o my final weEk...

the people i love most~

this week is pretty much considered my last week here in sydney... i've been trying to spend as much time as i can with all my friends.. it's a bit sad when i think abt it.. knowing that i'll be leaving for a year and i won't be seeing them anymore.

i love you guys! you'll be missed =\

안녕~

xo m

#o9 nearing the enD...

my school

it is now officially confirmed... im moving to korea in a week o.O to be honest.. i told everyone that i was moving but i think it hasnt click yet that im leaving soon..

last week the embassy in korea approved of my documents and issued me my visa number.. with that number all i had left to do was to apply for the visa here in sydney.. i sent them my documents yesterday and am scheduled for an interview 2moro... from what i've been told from my friend, i just go in for like 5-10 mins.. they just want to see me and then they'll stamp my passport with my visa and then i book and fly off! how exciting.

im so glad this process is over... this last step is driving me crazy.. i think every part of it drove me insane... koreans like to do everything at the last minute.. i pretty much had to call and chase up all my documents all the time ... i think i've made like 10 calls in the past 3 adys just to see if they received my passport and to get them to schudule me my interview.

this is my final price list of this moving process..

$50 - CRC
$20 - Uni transcript
$60 - Uni letter apostille
$60 - CRC apostille
$74 - Send documents over via fedex
$75 - Visa
$15 - Express envelopes for visa
$10 - Postal fees
$10 - Phone call fees (hahaha)
------------------------------------------
total = $374!!

wow... i seriously didn't know i spent this much money... only now that i realised this was really expensive .. but its all worth it in the end!

anyways im off .. will update later after i have my interview with the consulate 2moro.

안녕~

xo m