A long overdue update

WOW. Just… wow.

It has been three months since I updated this blog, and as you can imagine, heaps has happened in that time! I’ve gone from being a total newbie with basically no friends to a semi-confident expat who can navigate Seoul (mostly) with many a companion to join my weekend adventures!

 

The last few months have been quite a whirlwind, to say the least. In that time, I’ve visited the coastal city of Busan for the Chuseok holiday, celebrated my 25th Birthday in Seoul, celebrated many new friends birthdays, done a decent tour of the clubs of Hongdae and Itaewon, eaten wayyy too much dolsot bibimbap, and ushered in the beginning of the Siberian winter to the Korean peninsula.

 

It’s been quite an eventful few months. I’ll be attempting to update on everything. But for now, the important thing to know is that, despite some minor annoyances about living in an Asian country where the culture (and food!) is different, I’m pretty happy. I have a huge variety of friends from countries all over the world, which, because Seoul itself is a pretty multicultural place, has led to some awesome experiences.
But I can’t pretend I’m not happy to be GOING HOME for the winter break! Bring on readily available zucchini, grapefruit, lemons, dates, Haigh’s chocolate and sun! I hope you’re ready Adelaide…

 

What’s everyone else doing for Christmas?

 

xx

Discover Adelaide: Porthole Records

For those of you in Adelaide, or who might be likely to visit Adelaide sometime, stay tuned because I’m going to make more of an effort to post about some of the cool things here. I know Adelaide is not the most exciting city in Australia, but there are still a lot of great things to do. And eat. When it comes to food, we know what we’re doing. I regularly contribute to a website called Weekend Notes, and I recently wrote an article about a cool record store in my neighbourhood.

http://www.weekendnotes.com/porthole-records/

Check it out, y’all! It’s a great website resource for cities all over the world, too. And if anyone has some suggestions of things for me to check out in my own home, let me know! x

Three Months

Three months can seem like an eternity, or it can seem like no time at all.

Three months is roughly the amount of time I spent just in Eastern Europe last year. It’s one month longer than the two months I spent with my friend Georgia in Asia to begin my big adventure last April.

And it’s the exact amount of time I’ve been back in Australia, as of today. We’re still a week away from the day I returned to Adelaide and my “real life”, but nonetheless, today feels auspicious.

A lot has happened in the last three months, although in many ways, it seems as though nothing has happened. In any given three months out of last year, I traveled to countless ancient sites, learned phrases in any number of different languages, met a thousand people, some of whom I would Facebook friend, and worried constantly about missing my next bus/plane/train/taxi, and getting robbed or losing my passport/wallet/camera/laptop.

In many ways the last three months have been incredibly relaxing compared to life on the road. I know by the end of the ten months, it was wearing on me. I wasn’t feeling healthy, I was a little stressed, and I started to forget, lose, or misplace things. I needed a break.

Yet the coming home was incredibly stressful too, in its own way. I didn’t particularly want to come home; as much as I love Australia, my heart just isn’t here right now. I want to travel, meet people, eat exotic food, and learn other languages. I’m not sure if that will ever go away, and it’s certainly not gone anywhere at the moment.

Then there was the stress of figuring out where I fitted into life back here. Not knowing if I will be going away again in the foreseeable future meant that I needed to make an honest go of living my life here again, for the time being.

But it was hard.

I knew it would be, which was partly why I dreaded the homecoming. My “reverse entry culture shock” as it’s sometimes referred to, after my first overseas trip to Africa in 2009, was one of the worst periods of depression I’ve ever experienced.

It was a period where no one could help me because I couldn’t help myself. I was in a place I’d always liked living in, but my world had been turned upside down. I missed my new friends, my old friends didn’t understand me, and I felt helpless to deal with all the feelings I was having. I eventually got over that period, and have tried to incorporate the positive lessons I learned from my Kenyan experience in life ever since.

I’m not sure if I’ve always succeeded, but remembering those few months made me so aware of how things could turn out when I came home this time.

It has been tough, but I think I’m through the worst of it. I’ve got a job, I’m basically eating my parents out of house and home (and loving eating my way through Adelaide), and I’ve got some good things happening in regards to writing. I have spent loads of time with people who a year ago, I would never have predicted I would, and I have spent almost no time with the people I would have sworn I’d be inseparable from. I’ve felt loved, missed, hurt, neglected, misunderstood, and appreciated. Sometimes all at once!

To everyone who’s made the effort, you can’t ever know how much it means to me. I know I make the choice to leave and I don’t  expect life to simply stand still. But I’m so appreciative of those who understand why I need to do the things and go to the places that I do, and welcome me home with open arms.

To everyone who has continued or started to read here even though I am no longer traveling, it really means a lot that people are enjoying hearing what I have to say.

I hope to continue bringing stories of exciting and exotic food, places and people from all over the world for a long time.

Has anyone else experienced a tough time when coming home from overseas? Or found it easier than they expected?

As always, like, comment and share x

Fork on the Road

I will never again complain about living in Adelaide. Alright I will, but not while the glorious Fork on the Road continues to exist. Appearing as part of other festivals around Adelaide, Fork happened again last Friday night as part of the Adelaide Food and Wine Festival.

Basically, it is a gathering of food trucks. Yes. Food trucks. As if I didn’t love street food enough (one of the reasons I find many other countries superior to Australia is our lack of portable, cheap and delicious food), but to put like twenty food vans together! In one place! MADNESS!!!

Exactly the kind of sign one likes to see, no?

Anyway one of the greatest things about Fork is the variety. You have your usual suspects like Burger Theory, some churros, heaps of great looking Mexican/Spanish stuff, and some curries and so on. But then you have these random vans I’d never even heard of, although my friend tells me some of them appear at Gilles St Markets and the Night Markets in town, so forgive my ignorance.

One of my personal highlights was my mushroom haloumi burger from Veggie Velo.

How cute are these guys

 

Mushroom and haloumi burger

I also sampled the delicious, buttery cheese goodness on offer from Little Big Cheese Co. No regrets. Get yourself a toasty from these guys ASAP. For dessert I treated myself to a pastizzi from Archie the Pastizzi Bus. I can’t even- just do it. Do it as often as humanly possible. 

Ricotta and chocolate pastizzi. Unbelievable.

Fork is about bringing together the novelty of food trucks, but I think it’s more than that. My favourite thing about most of the vendors is that you can see they’re individuals, not a conglomeraition. The girl whose brownies I bought, the people running Veggie Velo, the young guys behind Little Big Cheese Co- they’re all young, local people, putting out great tasting, quality food at a good price. It’s the sort of food that makes me happy to eat because I feel like I’m supporting small Adelaide business. Plus, the better they all do, the more Forks will hopefully be run!

Quite a good turn out

If you missed out this time, keeps your eyes and ears open for news of the next one. I promise, it won’t disappoint! If you have any doubts, just look at how much I enjoyed my burger.

A picture is worth a thousand words

IndoFest

Well, I had a busy festival weekend. IndoFest, Adelaide’s festival of Indonesian arts, food and culture was on, and I attended the Rymill Park Family Fun Day on Sunday. Now, I’m all for arts and culture and whatnot, but I can’t pretend I wasn’t there for the food. And in this instance, the food was definitely there for me.

It turns out, Indonesian food and I are going to be best friends from now on. Armed with my two trusty eating companions, I was able to pass all decision making on to Laura, who has an interest in Indonesian language and culture. If you’ve ever seen me try to make a decision, you’ll know this was a good move, especially considering the vast array of food on offer.

We ended up sampling three different dishes, beginning our culinary experience with a big bowl of Soto Ayam from Bali Corner. Soto Ayam is a chicken broth with shredded chicken, vermicelli noodles, sliced egg and vegetables. The broth was light yet flavourful, with coconut and lemongrass coming through. The hardboiled egg added nice texture and we all drank the leftover broth at the end. I could eat bowls of this stuff.

We followed this up with Gado Gado, from a stall by De Sate restaurant. It was a delicious yet light plate of steamed vegetables in the tastiest satay sauce I have ever encountered. I couldn’t get enough of the cabbage, and the tofu was pretty spectacular too.

Gado Gado aka delicious plate

Finally, after a long wait in the line for Warung Semarang, we got our hands on some Nasi Kuning Komplit: a traditional ceremonial dish of yellow rice with spicy fried potato, potato fritter, egg in chilli sauce and beef curry. Although the presentation of the dish was a little mystifying, everything in this container was incredibly tasty. The rice was a standout, and we wished we had more curry sauce to put over it. The egg in sambal was nicely hot, and the little potato and egg fritters were just delish.

The piece de resistance

It was great to see such a big turnout, although the loooong lines for all the warungs were a little annoying. But, it dispels the myth that Adelaide goes dead after March. All of the food was pretty well priced and I was really happy with what we had. The only downside was that I behaved like a normal human being and only ate what I’ve just told you about. I kind of wish I just ate until I felt sick. Oh well. Next time.

Fringe Fun: A Silent Dinner Party?

The Adelaide Fringe Festival is without a doubt, one of the highlights of the year. Every year, the city comes alive with countless venues, bars, eateries, events and of course, the one and only ‘Garden of Unearthly Delights’. It’s a glorious time for those of us of the younger age demographic who otherwise feel as though Adelaide can get a bit boring.

I had literally just arrived back in Australia as the Fringe was beginning, so I didn’t have a huge festival. I did catch a good play, but definitely the most interesting thing I did this year (and indeed, in any Fringe) is attend the Silent Dinner Party. I was invited by a friend, who had found the event online, and we were lucky to get tickets as the first two dinners had sold out. Born out of the communication issues of an English speaker on exchange in Germany, the Silent Dinner is built around the premise that we overcommunicate with our words, and that we can interact with one another at a far more basic level when words are eliminated as an option.

Well anyone who knows me knows that staying silent for over two hours is a huge challenge. So, not without some reservations, I signed up. My friends and I arrived early, and sat in the car, giggling with nervous energy, as we decided when we should go in. Seeing some others arrive we finally mustered our courage and approached the house. After being signaled to wait for 5 minutes (that answered our question as to when the silence began!),we were shown inside and chose some seats.

More and more people arrived, until finally we were a group of around twenty arranged around several long tables. After some dips and a salad, our attention was drawn to the host. We were then all required to deposit our keys in a bowl, and the host drew out two sets at a time, and made us change seats.

Switching the seating definitely took us all out of our comfort zone again, especially as I went to a completely different table, whereas my two friends remained pretty close together. But everyone at my new table was very friendly, and we all had a good giggle as we tried to introduce ourselves.

The food was vegetarian and extremely delicious, which enhanced the experience. Silent Dinner Party was probably one of the most interesting thing’s I’ve ever done, and it was practically in my own backyard! They are held all over the world so be sure to check their website out.

I suppose one of my main concerns before going to this was that it was too ‘artsy’ for the average person, and I was glad to find that was completely untrue. Definitely, the people in charge were performers, but you were able to make as much or as little of the experience as you wanted. It was a challenging yet worthwhile experience, and I urge anyone with the chance to take it! Or better yet, host your own!

African in Adelaide

To alleviate the depression of being ‘stuck’ in Adelaide, I’ve been making an effort to do all those things that I’ve never gotten around to. We all fall into the trap, when we’re in a place for a long time, of thinking ‘I’ll do it next week/month.” Well, no more! Now is the time I uncover Adelaide’s hidden secrets!!

 

This week, I finally visited the African Twilight Market in Prospect. It was a bit smaller than I had expected, although apparently there were four of the usual stallholders missing, which would make quite a difference. But that aside, it really was the most wonderful, low key evening, where you can go and enjoy something a bit different and not spend a huge amount of money. I had a great conversation with the founder of the market, and quite a long chat with a lovely stallholder named Caroline who has spent a lot of time at Rangala Baby Home in Kenya, which I visited on my first trip there in 2009.

 

And the food. Oh, my god. There was just the one food option but it was so amazing I didn’t care. For $10 I was served a plate of ‘everything’ by the friendliest young girls, and it was my greatest regret that I couldn’t finish it. Rice, veggie curry, chicken curry, fried chicken, curry puff, and injera. For those unfamiliar with injera, it’s a staple in Ethiopian/Eritrean food, and is a strange kind of sourdough bread that tastes fantastic when used to mop up curry sauce. I highly recommend it. We used forks, but I can’t wait until my next Ethiopian meal that will be eaten, sans cutlery, with piles of injera.

Dinner!

 

Unfortunately the market is now closed for the winter, but I’m told they might pop up at some events in the next few months, before they reopen when daylight savings resumes in October. The atmosphere is terrific, with African music blaring, lots of friendly faces, and plenty of things to spend your money on if you’re so inclined.

 

And did I mention the food!?

Where Have I Been All Your Life?

You’re probably wondering what’s happened. Or you’re not, in which case, you’re dead to me. So my last news was that I was going to Melbourne, and go I did! I had a wonderful weekend full of friends, family and food. The three most important ‘f’s’ in the world!

Since then I’ve been busy busy with helping organise things for my sister’s wedding/hen’s night/kitchen tea, and I even managed to get a job! So that’s a huge plus. I’ve also been still semi hibernating as I try to figure out what exactly my life is all about now. I can’t really define myself as a ‘backpacker’ any longer, and it’s difficult to think what else to say. I’ve had to fill out forms where i put my occupation as ‘sales’ or, before I got that job, ‘unemployed’. My soul died a little.

However as you will see in forthcoming posts, I’m committed to blogging about Australia! It’s a ridiculously expensive country to travel in, but I do firmly believe Adelaide has some great stuff that’s not necessarily ‘hidden’ or ‘undiscovered’, but that the average person might not find time to do. And I hopefully have some more trips coming up later in the year, to Canberra or NSW somewhere.

Fear not, just because my international traveling days are at an end, doesn’t mean I am!

Traveling Again!

Don’t get too excited, it’s just to Melbourne. But it feels good to be able to say it.

I’m off to the city I consider my second home for 5 days. It’s funny I consider it my second home because I’m about as hopeless in it as I am in Adelaide, although I know the CBD fairly well. I think having so many family and friends there gives me a feeling of authority about it.

In any case, it’s definitely the best city in Australia. It’s so different from Adelaide that I don’t think the two are really comparable, but it always seems like Melbourne and Sydney are in contention for top dog, to which I say, Melbourne kicks ass. It’s sad to leave Adelaide during Fringe time, but I have an exciting weekend of friends, family, Mexican food, and a Megan Mullally cabaret show that I am almost peeing my pants over. Plus there’s sure to be some sneaky Lebanese bakery time and a decent amount of shopping.

And that’s why I love Melbourne!

So long Adelaide!

Coming Home

Coming Home is a movie about a disabled Vietnam war vet. So, you could say that I have very little in common with the premise of the film, apart from that I have actually recently come home…

The point being, I’m home! Home sweet home, as they say. Adelaide, the City of Churches, the Festival State. Whatever it is, I’m in it, and it’s weird. The pros include: familiar faces, food, language. Cooking for myself, Adelaide having the Fringe Festival on, and hanging out with my cat.

The cons include: That same feeling of what the hell am I doing with my life!? Although I must admit I’m trying to treat it as part of a general coming home disorientation. But it’s weird, I feel all adrift. I have no uni to go to, no job to hate, no trip to save for.

It’s also really odd being so close to so many friends but not seeing them as much as I thought I would. I’ve been home a week now and it’s like I’m not even here. I know I can’t expect people to sit around waiting anxiously for me (and I don’t!) but it’s a bit of a bummer. It certainly doesn’t help with the readjustment.

Right now I’m trying hard to stay focused on useful things such as reading books, throwing away useless crap, and applying for jobs. I definitely have some travel plans in the future, but it would be nice if I could get my sleeping patterns back to normal first.

Thank god for TV.