As Summer ends

OK, so the humidity is calming down and all of the signs of Autumn are coming, the Autumn flowers are out and the leaves are getting tired, I'm looking forward to trekking in the red and golden leaved hills before my time here comes to an end and the cold of Winter hits.

So just to let you know what has been happening here in recent weeks. I have been finding myself becoming increasingly comfortable, this means that I am being a little over indulgent at times and am conducting myself in ways different to usual, but a little discipline and thought will get me back on track for my adventures. I have less that three months left and this means that it's time to consider what it is that I will do after my Korean experience. Recently I have spent a lot of time in Hongdae park listening to live amateur music, which I have to say at times is some of the most interesting, entertaining music I have ever heard. Drinking seems central to Korean social culture, just as it is in Europe. I find the more I get used to speaking and understanding Korean the better my time is here, I have less of the inconveniences I had at first and I can actually make friends with people not relying entirely on their English ability.

Recently many of my days are spent just relaxing and talking with my friends, it is good to be in a place with many (fairly) like minded people, though as with every experience, especially when working on fixed one year contracts, people leave. An recently most of my first friends here are leaving, this makes sense seeing as they had been here for around three months when I arrived. It's an interesting time, but reflects my usual experiences as I am now getting very used to these emotions and I have to admit I am less affected than others. There seems to be a goodbye party every weekend, and it's making me very jealous, as this feeling of comfort which I am experiencing here inspires me to new adventures.

This weekend there was the weekend of a large Dance Music festival in Seoul (Gatecrasher) this festival would probably be the best option for a party, but the desire to save money for my future travels, and the desire to have more varied relaxed times, meant that I chose instead to go camping, so the dissenters from the usual crowd made our way to the beach near to Seoul. Immi, Simon, Eunyoung and I spent Saturday might on Muido (Mui Island). It was beautiful, the sand was perfect, the scenery amazing and the camping conditions perfect. We cooked food on the fire, listened to music and chatted about everything and anything. Simon and Immi have amazing plans for when they leave, involving living outside in New Zealand, I love hearing about future adventures, seeing the excitement in people's eyes and their idiosyncratic thoughts, it's amazing and possibly my favourite topic of conversation. I can safely say I will truly miss the people I have met here in Korea, and at the moment my thoughts are that as my life progresses, it is indeed heading in the right direction, that of me becoming increasingly more comfortable, educated and increasingly enjoying my existence.

I'll check in again soon no doubt, and hopefully I'll have more of an idea of what it is that I am going to do with myself, but I am firmly aware that plans always change, nothing should be set in stone and that any experience can be enjoyable in it's own individual way.