Despite the title of this blog, I have made a brief pit stop in wonderful Korea to visit relatives. I feel as though I have spent this last week being 'quintessentially Korean' - that is, spending time with family and eating lots and lots of delicious food (though I understand this practice is more widespread than in Korean culture alone).

When I got off the plane, my jetlag rendered me completely susceptible to my aunt's 'makeover' tendencies. I soon found myself walking around in public wearing parachute pantaloons (a.k.a. MC Hammer pants) and tops glittering with sequins, with an Asian fringe to match. My Korean-ification aside, spending time with my aunt has been a big highlight from my stay here. I have especially enjoyed hearing her translate various Korean dramas on TV (since my Korean is so limited) - it has been entertaining simply watching her, as she speaks with such speed and gusto to keep up with the ever thickening and quickening plots. She is also an 'iron chef' in the kitchen and can conjure up a multitude of delicious dishes at any one time, including crab soup, bulgogi (marinated BBQ beef), japchae (potato noodle salad), salt-grilled king prawns and fried egg rolls. It's a wonder I didn't pack elasticated trousers.

I have also loved spending more time with my brother, sister-in-law and beautiful baby nephew. They too made a quick visit to Korea from Sydney, before heading off to the U.S. (for 5 years!). Even in the span of 7 days, my almost 5 month old nephew Theodore seems to have doubled in size (we even had to up-size his nappies, as his current ones just weren't doing the trick - I won't go into any more details here). At this rate, he will be taller than Michael Jordon by the time he is 5 (perhaps that is a slight exaggeration).

A touristy highlight has been visiting Namdaemoon market, a gigantic wholesale market in downtown Seoul. In my aunt's words in Japanese - "nai mono wa nai" - there is nothing that this market does not have. There are over 1000 stalls, shops, street vendors and retailers selling anything from shoes, clothes, fabric, toys, souvenirs, crockery, food and random knick-knacks. Alleyways were crammed with an eccentric mix of shops like a string of colouful beads. Stalls selling wooden masks and tacky key rings stood shoulder to shoulder with purveyors of porcelain chickens and rubber sandals. There were old ladies perched in the middle of busy thoroughfares holding baskets of green chillies or wheelbarrows of cheap pantyhose, and the streets were peppered with little portable shops steaming with hot dumplings or crispy sugar-coated doughnuts. I have never seen my purse empty so quickly. I would advise those wanting to visit that market to carry cash (as many stalls do not accept cards) and arrive in Korea with an empty suitcase!

Tomorrow I will board a plane and head over to Prague to start my 'puppet adventure'. I will be doing a marionette wood carving course at the Puppets in Prague school (you can read more about it here http://www.puppetsinprague.eu/up_coming_carving.html#what) - I'm a little nervous but more excited than anything! Now, to finish packing... (and here's to hoping I'm not over the baggage allowance before my journey even begins!)