My last days in Fiji & stopover in Gangnam-Town

Saying Goodbye To Fiji

My last week approached fast. Too fast. Together with the other volunteers, I went partying four times in a row during my last week in Fiji. We were dancing all night long – on the tables, on the dancefloor, on the bar.

Social in Suva
Saying goodbye to my colleagues and volunteer organization staff was heartbreaking.

On my last weekend, I decided to stay home due to a lot of things I had to do before I finally said goodbye to Suva. For example, I had to go to the Bio-Security Council to have my Kava export declared. Also, there was farewell dinner with my host family. Saying goodbye to the PA-Staff, my former co-workers at Suva Primary and my host family was heartbreaking.

Nadi & Baby Cockroaches

I spent my last two days in Nadi together with Shoko, another volunteer whom I closely worked with at Summer School. On our trip to Nadi, there was another unusual situation:

Halfway into the bus ride, the A/C broke down, and it became boiling in the coach. When we reached Nadi-Town-Station (one stop before the Airport, where we were supposed to get off), the temperature indicator on the bus said 33 degrees outside / 29 degrees inside. Everybody on the bus was sweating. I´d noticed before that there were some bugs crawling on the floor of the coach, but due to the heat I didn´t care about them. Then suddenly, my friend next to me (she sat at the window) screamed. I turned toward her and saw what she was yelling about: There was a bunch of cockroach-babies dropping down from the ceiling of the coach right on top of her and me. Once they´d fallen down, they started crawling everywhere. To cut a long story short, we both screamed, got off the bus and took a cab to the resort. I wonder if that bus ever reached its final destination…

Manamuca Island Cruise
The last weekend of snorkeling and diving on our Manamuca Island Cruise.

We did a Manamuca Island – Cruise on Tuesday, which was terrific. I could do some last-minute snorkeling and free-diving. I was glad Shoko also accompanied me to the airport.

When They Didn´t Want Me To Leave The Country

After a second heartbreaking goodbye, I was challenged by another funny situation. After the Security Check, there was Passport control, and the officer wouldn´t let me pass. Just a brief summary of the conversation:

Officer: (stares severely at my passport, then to me, then back at the passport) I´m afraid, Mam, but you can´t leave this country!
Me: (think he´s joking…) Haha… I can´t leave Fiji? Okay, I´ll stay then… haha
Officer: (looks even more severe) Your visa has not been extended.
Me: OH. Ehhhm. And now?
Officer: Now, you´ve been illegal in this country for quite some time, Madam!

Then I had to follow the officer to a Security Office somewhere in the airport, where they were trying to solve the problem. I showed them my Immigration Letter, which confirms that my Visa had been extended, but, apparently, not long enough. Anyways, after 15 minutes they gave me a special stamp on my boarding card, and I was free to leave.

A Little Taste Of South Korea

On my way back to Germany I had a long stopover in the city of Oppan Gangnam style: SEOUL.

Of course, I´d asked my friend Shoko, who is half Asian, for some food recommendations and she told me to try the national dish called Bibimbab. It was truly delicious.

Bibimbab
My Korean dinner in Seoul.

I was glad I had a proper stopover this time because it is. On my way to Fiji I had two red-eye-flights of twelve hours each, which had been incredibly exhausting. Also, I must have picked up the flu or something during my last couple of days in Fiji. I felt sick, had a fever and a bad cold, which made flying even worse. It really was a shame I had to leave South Korea the next day already, but I´m glad I got the chance to experience at least a tiny bit of Asian culture. On Thursday, I caught a flight back to Frankfurt and twelve hours later touched down on the other side of the world, in the snow with black ice on the streets. So surreal.

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Lena

Hi, I'm Lena. I've been on the move traveling the world, diving oceans and climbing mountains for almost 10 years. On the blog, I share with you my favorite once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences, places off the beaten path and tips on how you can travel and dive the world without spending a fortune. Also, say hi and join my journey on Instagram - see you there!

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