How To Get to the Fiji Embassy in Seoul

Well first of all,

The Embassy address is 210-69 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea.  (Hoenamu-ro).

Business Hours : 9am to 5pm (Mondays - Friday)

The Embassy office phone line  is +(82)-2-792-6396 and  fax +(82)-2-792-6397.

The embassy of the Republic of Fiji is located on the second floor of this white building.







Taxi
If you are taking a taxi you may wish to tell the driver that you would like to go to the Fiji embassy which is near the Grand Hyatt Hotel or Kayarang (가야랑) in Itaewon.  



View Embassy of the Republic of Fiji in a larger map

Subway & Bus

• At Noksapyeong station (line 6, orange line), take exit 2, cross the road at the underpass and walk or taxi up Hoenamu-ro /Haenamu road; or 
• At Noksapyeong station (line 6, orange line),take exit 1. Cross the road using the overpass (as if walking towards Itaewon). Turn left, there, there is a bus stop under the overpass. Wait for the 03 little green bus. It will cost you about 800 won. The bus will turn right into Kyung Lee dang ... after it turns right count 4 stops ... get off at the fourth stop, you will see the Embassy.

(The direction above was kindly contributed by Lata Galu, one of my favorite Fijians in Korea, she is a walking GPS, she knows Itaewon like the back of her hands. )

Hope the directions will be of some help :)

Opening of the Republic of Fiji Embassy

So if you haven't heard our Embassy, the Republic of Fiji Embassy was opened in July.  We were thrilled to be part of this important occasion.

The opening ceremony took place at the Westin Chosun Hotel in downtown Seoul.

It was raining cats and dogs outside but investors and Fiji friends continued to turn up in numbers. Overall it had an excellent turnout. I also met many Fijian students studying in other parts of Korea. It was good to sit back and speak in our mother tongue for a bit.

 

Image from : http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=446782905354650&set=a.446780745354866.102704.207532522613024&type=3&theater

Below a fellow Fijian student and I garland the chief guests at the beginning of the ceremony.   The Chief guest was the  Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama  and Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ahn Ho-young.

Image from : http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=001&aid=0005706350

The opening was also hailed a success.

The next post explains how you can get to the embassy :)

Where am i from...Guess?

Living in one of the busiest metropolitan cities of the world, you feel like you’re rushing all the time; even if you really aren’t.  Most of the time, when i see everyone else rushing I feel like i have to too.  But amidst the hustle and bustle, I, being a true pacific islander can’t help but stop to talk to the locals who would come up to me and start a conversation, especially in the subways (trust me I wouldn’t do this in any other country). 

Most of the time they are speaking to me in Korean and I truly do not know what they are saying to me and all I am doing is nodding saying “Neh” (yes in Korean).  One of my favorite conversations begins with a question on where I am from, but the funny thing is they always try to guess even before I answer.  So I put together a list of all the nationalities I have been pinned against:

·         Canadian (surprise to me too);

·         American (a lot of Americans in Korea);

·         Filipino (my Filipino friend also told me I look Filipino, interesting);

·         Dominican Republican (fist time for me to hear);
.         South African;
·         Closest guess was Tongan (but it was from a Hawaiian who owns a bar in Korea where we had a Pacific islanders do)

Not many get Fijian, well understandably so, one cannot deny that Fiji is indeed a small island country, some people do not even know that there is a country called Fiji (take my Peruvian classmate for example, he only knew about Fiji when i introduced myself at our first student briefing, he came back to me at breakfast the next morning and said " i looked for your country on google earth, i had to zoom zoom and zoom to finally see it").  Another interesting example was when i told a student on campus that i was from Fiji and without missing a beat he quickly said, Yes thats where Wyclef Jean is from.  ( maybe he probably thought he heard me say Haiti)

But Koreans or the locals are not ignorant about Fiji, a lot of Koreans know Fiji.  As soon as they give up trying to guess my nationality and I tell them, Peejee (how Fiji is pronounced in Korean); the next words I hear from them is “beach”, honeymoon or just beautiful country.   This makes me so proud to hear.   I heard LG has to be thanked for that because they advertise Fiji on their TV screens and as well as the hardworking Ms Park of Fiji Me.

The small island country, that dot in the Pacific Ocean called Fiji is what i proudly refer to as home.

Fiji Booth at the Yeosu Expo 2012

Fiji booth at the Yeosu exposition 2012 is  really a proud display of Fiji's rich indigenous culture and tradition.  The theme for the expo is "The living ocean and coast : diversity of resources and sustainable activities"  and the Fiji booth reflects this through displays which promote creative and sustainable maritime activities. 

The main center piece at the Fiji booth is the Drua or Fijian canoe.  This iconic feature boasts our forefather's ability, talent and innovative streak in design and boat building before European contact.  The Drua is said to be one of the finest and largest seagoing vessel in Oceania maritime history.  The Fiji Islands Voyaging Society recently launched the Uto Ni Yalo a sailing canoe which utilises modern boat building materials but displays traditional knowledge and ingenuity in the twin hulls and traditional designs.  This initiative is aimed at reviving and sustaining traditional Fijian canoe building, sailing and navigational knowledge, skills and customs.

Below is the miniature version of the Drua which is displayed at the Yeosu expo.

One of the more intricate detailed displays is a Fish Trap (wea) woven from the roots of the rhizophora species of mangrove which is commonly referred to in the indigenous fijian language as Tiri (mangroves with aerial roots).  Crafted by villages of Lasakau of the Bau Province in Fiji.   Along side this display is a an eel trap (vuvu) which was woven especially by the people of Vugalei in the Tailevu province.  The eel trap is woven out of bamboo stems.

Also on display are the Pacific Green products made from the "tree of life" or coconut tree.  Pacific Green also displays oil and other products made from coconut at the Yeosu expo Fiji booth.

The booth is served by two friendly and pleasantly spoken Fijian women by the name of Niqa and Frances who have a rich knowledge of Fiji's traditional maritime history.  

Please do stop by the Fiji booth and say BULA (prounounced boolah! 부라) to the two ladies and more importantly learn about the beautiful Fiji islands and the country's maritime conservation journey.

Patbingsu 팥빙수

So it feels like summer in Korea but the nights are still chilly.

This post is about a new Korean dessert i had lately when we went down to Jeju Island.   Our guides ordered 팥빙수 pronounced as "Patbingsu".  We didn't really know what that was until we saw a big bowl filled with ice shavings, topped with fruits, corn flakes, chopped up rice cake (green and chewy) and ice cream.

Below is the picture of the 팥빙수 we had at Papalagi restaurant, Jeju do.

Jeju Island

Jeju reminds of Nadi Town in Fiji.  Something to do with being a tourist place, the locals are very friendly, the restaurant owners stand outside to lure tourists into their restaurants; the same in Nadi.  But Jeju overall has a very well developed infrastructure.  Although there is no subway or railway it is very easy to get around the whole island.  

Though we were only there for three days of work, we managed to find time to go down to the southern part of Jeju island to take a cruise around the harbour which was one of our favorite part of Jeju island.

The highlight of our trip was supposed to be the climb to mount Halla but because of our busy schedule we weren't able to do so. The guides to Halla mountain were very strict about keeping to the schedule, you have to be at the top of the mountain by a certain time and so for the safety of tourists and hikers they ask that no one is on the mountain before nightfall.  I  guess they are just looking after the welfare of tourists and hikers.  Though we missed this opportunity we more than compensated for this by visiting the two designated UNESCO sites on Jeju Island.

Rock climbing

Rock Climbing in the month of May with our Professor.

  

Gwanak mountain stands at 629m and it was literally rock climbing from the word "go", there was only a few points where we could walk a straight passage, most of the way up was hands grabbing jagged rocks and pulling yourself up.

 

that is some drop......

view of Seoul City from Gwanaksan

hikers enjoying the view from Gwanaksan

  

If you're ever in Seoul City and would fancy abit of rock climbing, i highly recommend Gwanaksan, just don't stray away from the hiking guide like we did, well four of us and we ended taking the longest route which ended at Gwacheon.  Taking the taxi back to the dorms was absolute torture, it was a Friday afternoon, traffic was bound to be heavy since everyone was trying to make their way home. 

In Korea the best way to end a hike is in a korean bbq restaurant with some soju, makgeolli or makju; so do not hesitate to do the whole korean experience and enjoy!