BY die Bovlei Kelder op Wellington het 'n nuweling met baie ondervinding die leisels van l Januarie af oorgeneem.   

Marius Erasmus is geen onbekende in wynkringe nie. Hy het die afgelope 30 jaar 'n noue verbintenis gehad met die Swartland Wynkelder waar hy algemene bestuurder was.

Daar het hy bekend geword vir sy innoverende maatreëls en het hy ook diep spore in die wynbedryf self getrap.

Destyds het hy verskillende poele vir kultivars gevestig en ook 'n wyn-oudit geïmplimenteer, 'n unieke konsep veral by koöperatiewe kelders.  

Toe Erasmus aan die einde van 2002 aftree by Swartland Kelder, het Bovlei die geleentheid aangegryp en hom genader vir die pos as hoofbestuurder . 

Aangesien hy nog steeds 'n aptyt vir nuwe uitdagings het, het het hy die pos aanvaar.  

Hoewel hy en sy vrou Joey nog in Malmesbury woon, oorweeg hulle die moontlikheid om hulle later op Wellington te vestig. 

Volgens Erasmus maak die spontaneïteit en die gasvryheid van die Bolanders op vir die ekstra hittegraad of twee in vergelyking met sy tuisdorp.

NIE alle mense kan spog met 'n ekstra drukkie of bos rose op Valentynsdag nie. Vir Karen Brink was dit, ten spyte van haar verjaardag, 'n droewige dag. 

Haar motor het oornag voete gekry waar sy dit die vorige aand in die straat voor haar Seepunt-woonstel geparkeer het.

Groot was haar vreugde toe inspekteur Marlon Joseph van die SAPD Wellington haar Maandag laat weet het haar motortjie is teruggevind en dat sy dit moet kom uitken. Tot haar afgryse moes sy ontdek dat die kar geheel en al uitmekaar gehaal is.

Volgens insp Joseph het hy 'n oproep van 'n oplettende inwoner van Vanwyksvlei ontvang.

Daar aangekom, was die enjin en blok nie meer op die perseel nie, maar alreeds tot by Rudolphstraat geneem.

Die voertuigstropers het die verdagte wat die motor daar aangebring het uitgewys en hy is gearresteer. Die man sal aangekla en verhoor word in Seepunt.

Intussen is die deler net so aandadig as die steler en moes die twee stropers tot laatnag sukkel om die Golf se dele weer inmekaar te laat pas - met weinig sukses. 

WHAT a great feeling, wonderful, incredible and a touch unbelievable to be home again from South Korea, affectionately called: "Land of the Morning Calm".

Back in sunny RSA and Paarl, away from icy cold Incheon, the port city which I called home for a year.

How I missed the sun shining down from African skies. A year of endless wonder went by in a blur on a peninsula off the Chinese mainland.

For me the year was one of amazing experiences. From palaces and Buddhist temples in small towns to ultra modern cities like Seoul and Busan and Incheon with ultra modern shopping malls and one of the best transport networks in the world. A maze of subway lines crisscrossing the greater metropolitan areas and a clearly numbered bus system.

It must be said though that very few Korean drivers would actually succeed in obtaining a K53 driver's licence, they simply have no clutch control.

Lets just say that many passengers land on each other's laps unexpectedly in busses and trains.

Rich in cultural heritage this little country may be slightly too small for those who have extensive travel plans.

However, South Korea offers an excellent springboard to travel in the East. China, Japan and Hong Kong are about three hours away. Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines and Thailand just a little further.

The money you earn as an Instructor in Conversational English is enough to make such trips possible. The Won, as the Korean currency is called, is rather stable and trades at around 1.2 to the American Dollar.

Please be warned though South Africans, there are some horror stories out there. I met people who taught for four months without any salary, some don't get paid on time some are cheated out of their severance pay.

Reasons vary from anything along the lines of bad accents to lame excuses based on gossip.

Rest assured though, South African teachers are highly rated and sought after in the East, but please do your research.

However Korea is a very safe country and most of the time I left my apartment open to go teaching.

Most of the time my salary is lying in my bedside cupboard. Most of the time the motorbikes stand outside of shops idling, while their owners are inside shopping.

Cars are left open and you can walk the streets safely day or night.

In my case the Soccer World Cup gave me an excellent opportunity to meet fellow South Africans. It is truly the greatest sporting event I have ever witnessed.

With Korea doing so well and going all the way to the semi-finals it simply swept the country into a frenzy that nobody could resist.

Suddenly the grumpy looking Koreans were all smiles and songs, singing at the top of their voices "Tae ah mingho", that is South Korea's name in Korean.   

Suddenly foreigners were pouring into the country from all over the world.

Suddenly I was no longer one of five or six Westerners in the train anymore, because now there were entire compartments filled with them.

Suddenly you could speak English to people other than students and colleagues.

Some amazing occurrence was the way South Africans sense each other a mile away.

Imagine walking the streets of Seoul and having someone coming up to you saying "are you South African?" It feels great and you fall in love with your country all over.

It feels great if Quiton Fortune scores an equalizer against Paraguay in our opening match in Busan and strips his shirt.

It feels incredible if Benni, Zuma, Quiton and others run over to your corner shouting: "It's for you, it's for you!"

Spare a thought for the poor Koreans who tried to sing Xhosa songs from sheet music. No bonus points for guessing that most South Africans were singing The National Anthem with the Mandela shuffle in the streets and on trains and busses during the World Cup.

It just warms your heart to our wonderful country with warm and friendly people and sometimes in Korea with their grumpy looking nation you miss the good old RSA.

And yes, you miss things like "slap chips" and snoek and boerewors and real braais over there.

But then again when you get to meet and know Koreans, they are some of the most friendly, warm and caring people anywhere in the world.

Above all, I'll always remember the children. They filled my days with endless wonder. Over the top, funny, crazy, adorable and amazing Korean children.

Get used to having names like Baek Dong Hee, Choi Il Sun, Kim Sung ah, Lee (pronounced Hee) Gun Hee, Park Tae Sung and We You Kyoung in your class of maximum ten students and you are well and truly settled.

I'll never forget the kids, they just crept into my heart. Most of the time my class was a circus with yours truly being the ringleader teaching them Xhosa instead of English and showing them kindness and love and in turn earning theirs.

I still have letters and gifts and pictures that I shall treasure for the rest of my life.

To get some SA buddies the internet provided an interesting solution. A girl named Angie le Margue from Observatory met a Paarlite on the net and introduced him to me.

He is Morné Redelinghuys, son of André the transport man. He has a crazy sense of humour and a fun guy to be with and transformed my days from blank blurs punctuated by spots of darkness to fun weekends in Itaewon (Seoul).

I would be wrong though if I did not make mention of the unbelievable support I got from family, friends and the church back home, their prayers, letters, postcards, emails, sms's and phone calls in the early hours of the morning kept me going.

I must also mention that my sister Alma is the greatest a brother could ever wish for.

Finally being back home and expecting to find snow outside my window sometimes I must say, thanks to all those individuals in South Africa, Korea and all over the world who added in making my time in Korea a truly unforgettable year.