Everland

I am quite late in the second part of this post but this is the “other” adventure worth mentioning that occurred over The Korean New Year.

Camille and I went to EVERLAND. This would be similar to the Korean version of Disney Land. Now if asked, I would say that I am not all for these type of amusement parks but I thoroughly enjoyed myself! On second thought, as I write this blog I can’t help but remember that at one point of in the day… I said “This is what I am doing when I retire…. I am going to be THE FAIRY GODMOTHER at Disney World”… I suppose me being the princess that I am, I do like a good Fantasy World.

So on to the story. It began at a decent hour of the morning with Shon (our boss) picking Camille and I up along with his wife and 4 year-old son. We drove to Everland and lucked out. We were able to park in ‘Parking lot 2’ (there are 5 parking lots… what parking lot you are situated in denotes how busy the place will be). Upon entering the place, Camille and I (probably one of five non-Asian foreigners at Everland that day… were given gifts—free calendar stickers and a discount) ha ha sometimes it is nice standing out from the crowd.

My initial reaction was the beauty of it. I mean it was clean and Disney-ish… but the stark difference from a Korean street made me immediately feel as if I were on a vacation. There were large sidewalks, coloured (as in not grey) buildings that had some architecture (vs a big tall box) and there were a couple trees as accents. So in actuality what you folk see daily.

Camille was the best person to travel with to Everland. Going to the Zoo part of the complex was entertaining for myself because she had never seen over half of the animals before. It seems New Zealand has a lack of wildlife (besides the Kiwi people themselves). She was surprised that a porcupine looks the way it does, that foxes look the way they do, essentially she was ooo ing and awing like a four year old child. I loved it! Camille has also never been on a rollercoaster before so we were sure to hit up the 2 they have there… which were decent size and one of them even went upside down a couple of times.

Camille and I also make friends wherever we go and a group of university students talked us up while we waited in line… in order to practice their English. It will be strange upon returning home not to have people comment on the shape of our beautiful (Western) noses or eyes. Hahaha ohh Korea Korea. I think it must be even more strange being a Western man in this country because so often they get commented on how handsome they are by other Korean men! Ha imagine that!

One of the most interesting rides would have to have been the Korean version of “It’s a small world after all.” Camille was giggling like a small school girl that the ride “really was a boat with toys dolls moving around.” I was marveling at some of the rides perspectives of the other countries. America for example did not have any traditional costume (like the others) instead it had football players on a field with blonde cheerleader in the background. Ohhh dear! The worst/ yet best for laughs was South Africa’s. It consisted of black children in grass skirts/spears in a jungle setting with Giraffe’s in the background. Ohh our South African friends here would have “had a bird!’
We closed the already memorable day off with a light parade, where there were floats decked out in crazy lights, men/woman walking and roller skating around with lit (probably 50 lbs outfits) and a fire work show!

Ohh Everland we heart you!