In this guest post by my husband Jeff, he describes the Real Hotel Quarantine experience in Sydney. TL;DR? We fumbled our way through it, he worked and I talked on the phone and did a course, we ate a lot, got a treadmill, did yoga and drank wine. Chapter 1 The new norm! D minus One. The test, the passport & the plastic chair So here … Continue reading Guest Post: An alternative description of hotel quarantine in Australia
In this brief post, the last of the quarantine series (for a while), and a contrast to the very long guest post by my husband about Mandatory Hotel Quarantine in Sydney, Australia, I share how home quarantine is so much better for mental health than Hotel Quarantine. Last month we arrived back in Seoul after visiting our relatives and friends in Australia. I would like … Continue reading Home Quarantine is a gazillion times better than Hotel Quarantine
Our preparations for our trip to Sydney last month to see our children, our siblings our parents and friends began months ago. Initially, overseas travel was out of the question. The multiple PCR tests, the heightened risk of catching COVID, the quarantine and the expense seemed insurmountable in 2020. Then the risk of outbreaks which could rapidly lead to lockdowns within Greater Sydney and inevitably … Continue reading It’s travel but not as we knew it
In Australia, the mandatory 14 day hotel quarantine due to the pandemic is federally mandated but it is run by the individual states and territories. Thus, each system will be slightly different. The concept is the same though, you are required upon arrival into whatever state or territory you land in, to quarantine for 14 days in a hotel that is randomly assigned to you. … Continue reading Top Ten Tips for Mandatory Hotel Quarantine In Sydney, Australia
One of the topics for Korean lessons last week was 쇼핑하러 가요, let’s go shopping. I quite like shopping but things have changed in the pandemic and with no events or reason to browse, I guess we don’t shop like we used to. It’s smarter to be outside rather than in a mall these days too. Nonetheless, we still have to buy things don’t we? … Continue reading The Goods on Gangnam
I’ve started a new Korean language course with Global Village in Itaewon. For now, its via zoom, twice a week, for 75 minutes or so, with many students and, along with the revision each week, it’s a manageable amount of time to spend learning Korean. Last week we studied how to construct the future tense -을/ㄹ거에요 and phrases to describe what we can do/possible to … Continue reading Just Desserts
September 2020 marked a full year of our residency in South Korea. I had been looking forward to spring in Seoul and the famed cherry blossoms from February 2020 just as the pandemic hit full force in Seoul. Instead of experiencing that spring I travelled to the Southern Hemisphere late February to visit my children in New Zealand and Australia and hence went straight from … Continue reading Two Autumns
The Han River is vast. Over 300 miles long. It cuts right through Seoul and viewed from the top of one of Seoul’s mountains it’s incredible. Stroll across one of Seoul’s many bridges over the Han and you’ll soon feel its immense width, over a kilometre wide in some places. To take exercise across and along the river is a must do in Seoul. I … Continue reading Some Snapshots of the Han River
In January of this year my daughter Emma, her partner José and I, decided to hike to the Golden Buddha statue on Bukhansan on the very day they were leaving Seoul on a late-ish flight to return to New Zealand. If you like hiking I recommend this one. It’s a short hike with great surroundings and the Golden Buddha statue as finale is awesome set … Continue reading A golden moment
The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose George Gissing Although I have four cups of coffee a day and adore cafe culture in Seoul (a post for another day), I also have a lot of time for tea. In Seoul, I like trying, and buying, different teas in Insadong. It’s an interesting part of Seoul because apart from the … Continue reading Spilling the tea at Insadong
Korean Lessons - Living in Seoul 