My birthday in Korea

My birthday in Korea

My birthday in Korea
Cheonan, Korea Rep.

Cheonan, Korea Rep.


Who would have thought, a mere two months ago, that I would have made such special friends in such a short space of time? Two months ago I didn’t know that these people even existed! Yet they made my 29th birthday so very memorable and the beauty was that it wasn’t only a day, but lasted for four!

My birthday this year fell on a Sunday, but the spoiling started on the Friday. Since coming to Korea I have missed a few luxuries from back home – two of which are Jess’ amazing facials & Dr Horace White’s chiropractic treatments! All the travelling and carrying heavy things have messed up my shoulders and I have been feeling a bit achy. So Karina and Aalia together sent me for a two-hour long, full body massage and facial after school on Friday. The best part was that it took so long – after an hour I checked the time thinking it must be nearly finished and saw that I still had another hour left! The massage I had was very different to ones I’ve had at home – perhaps more eastern in style. She even massaged my ears! It was very pleasant. I jellied my way out of there and went straight home to bed, slept like a log and woke the next day feeling mighty relaxed.

On Saturday, Christine asked me over for lunch. It was raining (and had been since Thursday) but I was keen to catch up with her so plodded my way there underneath the new (sturdier) umbrella I had just bought myself. Upon arrival, I found her slaving away in the kitchen with the most amazing aromas wafting around. Turns out she was doing a fantastic home-cooked lunch for me in honour of my birthday! This included a Spanish omelette (I forget the proper name), fresh & crunchy salad with homemade honey & mustard dressing, Korean dumplings, fresh bread, camembert cheese and some chilled sparkling strawberry wine. To top it all off there were freshly baked, still warm, choc-chip cookies in lieu of a birthday cake, as having recently had her birthday where she was given 4 cakes she knew I’d be all caked out soon.

At midnight I saw my birthday in with Karina and Aalia and had a phone call from home with my dad singing happy birthday. It was lovely. Then I went back to my place and skyped with my brother Jon and my folks before going to bed. Skype makes you almost feel as though you are all together, I love it!

Sunday was the actual day where I turned the big two-nine. Koreans count their age from the day they were born so the moment they come into this world they are 1. Therefore, I am 30 in Korean age…but I choose to stick to my western age thank you very much. That morning Karina and Aalia accompanied me to church to celebrate my life 🙂 It was a lovely service and the rain held off, although there was a typhoon warning so we walked hastily home in case the heavens opened. En route we stopped to invest in some rain boots, which as luck would have it, were on a 50% sale! And even more amazingly they had some that fit my enormous (by Korean standards) feet! So it was a happy day and we weren’t even halfway there! In anticipation of Typhoon Meari, which was due to arrive in Korea on Sunday night, Karina wore her new rain boots to dinner. Sadly it never did arrive. (I was quite looking forward to it!)

Around 3pm the girls took me on the train to Songtan, an area about 45 minutes away, which is nicknamed “Little America” as there is an army base there so loads of foreigners and cool shops. There is also a fabulous Thai restaurant and that is where we went for an early dinner. The food was amazing! All the way from Cheonan we lugged around a big polystyrene box housing the most amazing ice-cream cake from Baskin Robbins…in my favourite flavour – “love-struck strawberry”. I also had a shiny pink party hat which I wore on the train, as if the 3 foreign girls didn’t draw enough attention already! An old lady on the train insisted I sit between her and another old lady and she kept stroking my arm and saying “why are you so thin? Don’t you eat rice?” (Karina translated!) She even allowed us to take a photo of her when she realised it was my birthday.

On Monday the birthday celebrations continued. The 3 male teachers in my row at school decided to take me out for Japanese food, as Junsik had told them this was my favourite. So at 5:30pm I went with Junsik, Mr Koo & Mr Woo for our dinner. The restaurant was cosy and we sat on the ground at a low table in a private room. The food didn’t stop coming until we left! There was some of the fermented skate (smelled like ammonia) which I had tried at Lotte World, there were pieces of “gaebul” which I had seen live at Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan (do a Google image search!!) and these still move when you pick them up. There was also pork, kimchi, sea slug, sashimi, octopus and I did try something which they said was abalone and also still moving slightly. This was quickly washed down with some soju (the local rice wine) mixed with plum juice.

After dinner we went to a bar and they ordered us a jug of beer and a plate of fruit salad. Then Junsik and Mr Woo disappeared and came back with a lovely birthday cake and requested “happy birthday” to be played while they all clapped and sang and I blew out the candles. It was really lovely. After the bar, Mr Koo decided to go home but Mr Woo & Junsik, now happily on their ears, wanted to take me to the “norae bang” (pronounced “gnaw-ray-bung”) which is the Korean equivalent of the Japanese karaoke room. All I can say is: WHAT FUN!! Why didn’t I go there sooner?! I had heard all about this norae bang thing and thought it was kind of silly that people went there in groups for a fun night out. I mean, how ridiculous! Until I went into the soundproofed, air-conditioned room with the couches, got handed a microphone, the lights dimmed low automatically, the disco ball spinning above my head and when I had finished singing the (recorded) crowds erupted with applause. I had so much fun and we all sang unashamedly for an hour and a half. All in all a fantastic and very memorable birthday.



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