2 Days: Busan and Back

At the end of August I had 3 days vacation. I saw this as an opportunity to travel somewhere with just me, myself and I.  I decided on Busan, on the southern east tip of Korea, and the 2nd largest city in Korea.  I took a 5 hour train there and fortunatly slept most of the way.  I arrived at about 3pm, and to my delight the sun was shining and the sky was blue. (It had been forecast to rain all weekend). I left the train station area and went in search of the subway entrance. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I never found it! With my heavy backpack and sweat-patches, I hopped into a nice air-conditioned taxi and headed to Songjong (Songjeong, Songjung), an area east of the city.

One of my hopes for the vacation was to relax on a pretty beach somewhere, which is why I chose Songjong. The taxi from Busan station to my hotel cost about 17,000 won. My hotel (aptly named 'Songjong Hotel') was fairly pleasant, clean, and in a good location to the beach. I had been led to believe that there would be a computer in my room but to my dismay, there was not. I mean, any sane person would desperatly need to update their Facebook status after 6 hours, right?! Well anyway, in Jenny-style I emptied my backpack, making a nice mess on my bed, found my bathing suit and headed to the beach.


One thing I love about Korea is that not many Koreans seem to wear bathing suits. No, I don't mean they go naked. They actually wear clothes. I've seen many kids wearing shorts and tshirts. Best of all, was a little girl (who was in a swimming costume) splashing in the water and playing with her father. He was waist deep in a full-out business suit. Amazing. The place was actually pretty busy with young Kreans and families, which is the point where I wished I had company. Beaches here are really funny to me. There's a line of buoys so close to the shoreline and if anyone goes even a small amount past, they'll have a lifeguard whistling at them within seconds. One other thing is that when they are in the sea, all they do is scream. Just scream and splash. Sorry if I offend any of my Korean friends reading this, but it's true.

After swimming, sunbathing, reading and getting bored, I left the beach and went to my room. I rested a little (so hot outside) and decided to explore the area. It turns out there's nothing there. I walked from one end of the beach to the other and passed some restaurants, coffee shops etc, but nothing that interesting. It is a nice quiet area though, and I found a peaceful spot overlooking the sea.

For dinner I had ramen on the beach whilst looking out into the dark, vast ocean, and as I sat thinking about life the terrential rain hit me. So, I ran into my room and watched the thunderstorm from my balcony window. Then, I watched Mission Impossible III. What a great movie.

The next day I set off in search of a bus to take me to Haeundae, one of the most famous spots in Korea. I like to think that the next part of my adventure was fate. I saw a sign for Haedong Yonggung Temple, less than 2km away. How can that be? I thought it was much further and had therefore decided to give it a miss. As took a few seconds to contemplate walking, a taxi pulled up next to me, as if he had known exactly what I was thinking. He was very friendly  despite not being able to speak a word of English, and it was as cheap as 3000 won. The temple itself is built into a cliff overlooking the sea. It was really beautiful and I'm so glad I took the time to visit. It is told that the great monk Naong built the temple to host prayers for rain to end a huge drought. It is now said that it will answer at least one of your wishes. You can leave token offerings at one of the hundreds of Buddha statues around the site. Apparently, one hundred-won coins and probiotic yogurt bottles are local favourites.

And meeee

Haeundae Beach is the most popular beach in Korea and considered by everyone to be 'famous'. Now, I am not entirely sure if it is famous because of its location, size, or the movie 'Haeundae', but it is certainly loved in this country.  Haeundae the movie is definitely worth checking out, by the way. It's about a 'mega-tsunami' that hits the area Haeundae. It's worth the first hour of pointless story just for the last hour of bad special effects and over acting.  On weekends, Haeundae Beach is packed. There are rows and rows of umbrellas and the ocean is full of splashing, screaming people. Personally, I this this sounds like the worst kind of beach a person could go to. Though I guess as a kid I would have loved it. I was there on a friday so it wasn't as busy as a weekend.

I walked along the beach front and found Busan Aquarium, which costs a steep 17,000 won to get into. It was worth it though, and not just because of the air con. Granted, there were hundreds of little kids running into my legs, but it was a good chance to play with my camera, and there was one of those awesome glass tunnels with pretty fish and sharks!

After that, I headed to Jagalchi Fish Market, the biggest fish market in Korea. I was pretty exhausted by this point due to the heat, but I wanted to check it out anyway. The first part I looked at was a huge outdoor market. An endless stretch of small market stalls being run by little ajummas, selling all sorts of dead sea creatures. Outside some of them were tanks of live fish, and at the back of some stalls were tables and chairs where you can eat.

I've heard the food there is delicious but at that point I was feeling a bit weird, and bad for all the dead animals. There's no other way I can describe it aside from 'weird and bad'! There is also a huge indoor market which is apparently packed at the weekends. It was so quiet when I went and I kind of wish I had been there on a weekend for the atmosphere.

I had planned on staying in Busan for the whole weekend, but due to a mixture of financial constraint and being a little bored on my own, I got a train home. I was also satisfied with the amount I had done in 2 days. I enjoyed what I saw of Busan and hope I can go back with a friend sometime to see more and perhaps experience the nightlife.


Last week was Chuseok, kind of like the Korean Thanksgiving, so I had Monday to Thursday off work. Peter and I went to Sokcho, the 'gateway' to Seoraksan National Park. Many of you might have seen the pictures I uploaded to Facebook, but perhaps I will write a blog about it soon

The Korean Who Loved Me

A recent blog post written by my very good friend, Peter West. I needed to share it with my readers (Hi Mum.) If you want to read more of his writing, click here: http://pwestmeetseast.blogspot.com/

"As I have described before, a job in Korea stamps you with an instant expiration date, and from the time you meet, you know the exact date during which your new friends will be leaving the country for good. When placed in a situation like moving across the world, many people try to sink in to the most solid lifestyle imaginable, and a big part of this includes building a stable group of friends. Because of our shared experiences and situations which have brought us here, I have found that while in Korea, you bond with people much faster than in any other stage of life I have experienced thus far. It is a strange and surreal experience saying goodbye to friends. This week my friend Stephanie will be leaving to move back to Seattle, and just last month our friend Blake left Korea to go to Law School in California. Each goodbye comes with a somber weekend of one last hang outs, and it was during one of these hang out sessions that the blog worthy event that I am about to share with you occurred.




During Blake's last weekend, a group of us reminisced on experiences together and heard Blake's stories of humorous interactions with locals. One such story, told on his second to last night in the country, was of a young Korean man by the name of Min-chul. On a side note, please understand that I am in no way trying to talk down on this culture, but we do frequently find ourselves being placed in situations with very drunk Korean strangers who are more than excited about the prospect of making a new Western friend. The friendship boundaries are very different between the two cultures, and these overly friendly situations can range from awkward but funny to get me the hell out of here. Interactions with Min-chul have landed closer to the latter.



Blake first met Min-chul late one night while walking back to his apartment. Min-chul, seeing a tall foreigner walking alone, read the situation as the perfect opportunity to make a new best friend. Not worrying about the fact that he really doesn't speak any English, he took it upon himself to stumble on over, lock hands with Blake, and inform him that he would be accompanying him on the walk home. Over the man made river and through the apartment complex playgrounds they walked, hand in hand* (one significantly more sober and uncomfortable with the situation than the other) all the way back to Blake's apartment. Upon arrival, Blake informed his new best friend that they had arrived at his building and it was time to say goodbye. "I come see apartment?" asked Min-chul. "Well, no." replied Blake.



Blake encountered Min-chul several more times during his stay in Korea, and each incident produced pretty similar results, with consistent levels of sobriety on Min-Chul's end. A seasoned expert, Blake was wise and remembered the most important rule one must follow when in a Min-chul-esque situation. Don't give out your phone number. They will always ask for your phone number. We laughed at his story, all creating images of Min-chul in our minds, images we, at the time, did not know would soon be corrected by the walking (stumbling) talking (slurring) version of Min-chul in real life.



On his final night in Korea, only one day after we had all learned about the existence of Min-chul, we were sadly sitting around a table, eating our final meal together and preparing to say goodbye to a good friend. With his back facing the door, Blake didn’t notice the young Korean man stumble inside. “Brake?” said the man. Blake turned. “BRAKE!” said the man we soon learned was Min-chul, who was just as sober (or not) as we had imagined.



Without a moment’s hesitation he pulled up a chair and, despite our cries of protest, ordered the group a bottle of Soju. He proceeded to confirm all of the details Blake had shared with us about the awkwardness of the Min-chul experience, and we threw in the necessary lies we felt were needed for a quick exit once the bill was paid. Table conversations included the most amount of conversation that can be expected from two groups of people who don’t really speak the other’s language, though he did know enough to inform Jenny and Stephanie that while they were both beautiful, he thought Jenny was the most beautiful. Thank you Min-chul.



Our lies had painted a story that had the four of us going our own separate ways post dinner and strongly indicated that Min-chul’s presence was no longer needed. Unfortunately ‘strongly indicated’ was just not strong enough. Both Jenny and Stephanie hadn’t followed the ‘no phone numbers’ rule and both succumbed to the constant requests to exchange numbers with the wasted individual whom they had just met. I, however, felt really smart and claimed to be the one person in the world without a cell phone. Though I thought this seemed like a really good idea at the time, I never expected that it would actually secure me a spot as the most vulnerable person in the group.



Seeing as I didn’t have a phone in which to store his number, it only made sense that we would have to stop by a convenience store so he could write down his information on a napkin. Clearly, I would be calling him really, really frequently. In times like these one relies on their friends to take their equal shares of the awkward person burden, and as we neared the convenience store, I was horrified to hear Stephanie yell, “HAVE A GOOD NIGHT PETER” and turn to see the three of them running off down a side street. Great. Just me and Min-chul. I got the napkin with the number and I announced I was really exhausted and would be sure to get in touch soon, only to learn firsthand that history really does repeat itself. “I walk you home.” Fantastic. Hand in hand, we began the walk to my apartment.



After what felt like the longest 2 minutes of my life, we arrived at my apartment, and for the 157th time that evening, I told Min-chul that it was “really great meeting (you). Have a good night.” He stumbled around for a moment not sure what to say next, while I took the opportunity to bolt inside my building. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am not the type of person who will run for anyone or anything, but I broke this personal rule and ran like the wind, ignoring Min-chul’s yells of “WAIT! WAIT” in the background.



I reached my apartment door and, hearing that Min-chul had followed me inside and was climbing the stairs in to my building, I pounded in the key code to my door with the intensity of a high school cheerleader in a 90s’ slasher movie. Just as I began to open my door a breathless Min-chul rounded the corner. @#&%!. “I use bathroom?” “Ok,” I said, feeling defeated and on the verge of tears. This is how, just a day after hearing Blake’s story, I found myself sitting alone in my apartment with none other than Min-chul, the 20 year old, foreign stalking, Korean alcoholic.



He was in my bathroom for several minutes, though in all fairness, what comes in must come out, and when taking into consideration just how much he had to drink that evening, it is no surprise that it was quite a lengthy stay. He had barely stepped foot out of my bathroom before I all but pushed him out my door. He came up with every question imaginable to prolong his departure, and after several minutes of me telling him that really, I absolutely had to go to bed right that minute, he turned to me with a huge smile, said in very broken English that he was so happy to have made a new foreign friend, and then dropped the big one. “In Korea ok to say to man… I love you Peter.”



…

…

…



“Ok, good night!”



After he finally left, I sat on my bed, still in shock about what had just happened. I was soon joined by Blake, Stephanie and Jenny who had been hiding in an alley outside, giggling as they watched for Min-chul's exit. I can honestly say that I never expected to hear the L word after knowing someone for 45 minutes, and now that I have, I can say from first hand experience that it is not quite as one would hope. I fortunately have not seen Min-chul, the Korean who loves me, since that night, but I round ever street corner with fear in my heart that I will once again be escorted home by the friendliest, most awkward individual whom I never called back.





That is all for now, stay tuned for updates on my recent vacation back to Busan, visitors to Korea and details on the time I flung a full cup of pepsi all over a nice little Korean family.



Until then,



Peeta Teecha





*

In the States this situation would most likely be seen as a homosexual pass, but I assure you that in Korea this simply not the case. It is not uncommon to have conversations with Koreans who firmly believe that there are no gay people in Korea, and, with wide eyes, will ask if you have ever seen a gay person before. This means that straight men are not at all uncomfortable with being overly affectionate with their male friends, because no amount of hand holding/cheek grabbing/hand resting on crotch action will be viewed by their fellow Koreans as anything bordering gay. I frequently will see a male construction worker taking a cigarette break while sitting on the lap of his construction worker friend or two old business men walking down the street hand in hand. And while I think it is great that Korea is a very openly affectionate culture, the invasion of the bubble by wasted strangers can take some getting used to."

There's a Drumming Noise Inside My Head and It Sounds Like South Korea

As it dawns on me that my expiration date is nearly up, I have found myself thinking a lot about the things I will miss here. I do still have 4ish months left, but judging by how fast this year has gone, know that soon I will be packing up my apartment.  It is definitely too early to be talking about things I will miss, especially as there is still so much I want to do here. So, maybe, I will say this is a blog about some of my favourite things in Korea.

When I first decided to come here, I never expected my life to be this enjoyable. I didn't even expect to meet such a vast array of interesting people from all over the world, or to feel like this place was a home. I can understand why some people stay or such a long time. Needless to say, the thing I will miss most is my friends. I think it's hard to truly understand every aspect of a year in Korea (or another country) without actully doing it for yourself (and I'm not trying to sound pompous or pretentious.) Therefore, there seems to be an automatic bond wth those you meet and become friends with. Perhaps, I am talking out of my ass, and have just been very lucky with some of the people I've met.

The thing I love about this life, is the easy-going pace. I generally have enough money to do what I want (unless it involves a trip to Japan, apparently). I can finish work and pretty much go to do whatever I want. At home, I would be worrying about money a lot more.  Bare in mind, I get out of work at 10pm. This is definitely something I will miss. Although I have realised that I feel better and healthier in a 'normal' routine, it is still great being able to go to sleep at 4am, wake up at 2pm and still have a full working day.

Meal times. Oh, Korean restaurants. I do love them. The most common type of food is 'galbi', which is basically different types of meat that you cook on a grill in the middle of the table, with various delicious sidedishes brought to you. These places are usually full of hustle and bustle, with tables of businessmen and women knocking back soju and eating to their hearts content. The noise and laughter is sometimes obnoxious and offensive to my ears... but only sometimes. I think one of the reasons I love these places so much is because it's much more of a relaxed dinner. At a regular restaurant, you order, eat, and leave. But here, you can take your time, cook as much or as little as you want, and have long conversation that doesn't feel rushed by eating.

One of my favourite things here, which I have mentioned several times, merely because I think it's such a genius concept, is DVDbangs. A comfortable cinema room, with a huge screen, big couch and large selection of movies. Yes please! You can go alone, or with friends, and it costs between 6-8000 won each. Which is probably about £5. Something I haven't mentioned, is that if you tell a student/class that you went to a DVDbang, they will giggle and laugh at you. The reason for this is that it's generally accepted that DVDbangs are places for the younger people to fool around/make out/have sex. Therefore, if you are reading this and are planning on going to Korea, don't tell your students if you go to one. This is one of the conversations I've had with a class:
Student: What did you do at weekend, Teacher?
Me: Went shopping, went to DVDbang.
Student: Oh!! With boyfriend?
Me: No...with a few friends.
Students: Ohhhhh, Teacher!!

If I returned home for a night out with friends and suggested going to kareoke, they would look at me like Korea had scrambled my brain. Here, however, it is a perfectly acceptable and welcomed suggestion, and a great way to end a night. Yeah, singing till 7am. I admit, I am often against the idea, but once I am there it is lots of fun.  Some of them are swish and fancy, with white sparkly walls, marble floors, and huge rooms with big windows.  Others, are shitholes.  One of my favourite Noraebang stories involved one of the fancy ones, whereby a bottle of soju, hidden in Blakes jacket, falls out and smashes all over the pretty floor right infront of the reception area. You're generally not allowed to take in your own alcohol.  In another, really crap Noraebang one rainy night, we were surprised to realise that the microphones were giving us electric shocks so bad that they actually caused pain all the way up the arm. In an attempt to find out why, the response received was "Ah yes... raining."

I love that it's acceptable to sit outside convenience stores and have a few beers. If that was in England, people would think the very lowest of you and you'd probably be arrested for public drinking.  One of the astonishing things about Korea is that although the drinking culture is high, the crime rate is low. I think this could be because the binge drinking seems to mainly be among adults (This could be debated). I haven't experienced that much drinking with the younger people, due to where I live, but even in Seoul they seem much more carefree instead of having a lets-go-fuck-some-shit-up attitude. I guess what I'm saying, is that I'm grateful there arn't chavs in Korea.

I know, this is turning into an essay. Bare with me, the following paragraph is in no way related to this blog post.

In Korea, students will not even hesitate on ratting out their friends or other classmates. "Teacher! He say bad word!" "Teacher! He Korean speaking!" "Teacher! He hacking!" and my personal favourite form one student of a friend of mine, "Teacher! He hand-fark!"
'Hacking' is another word for cheating. I have never seen one of my students cheating, but they are all absolutely convinced that their classmates are trying to steal their answers. One of my students, James, will cover his answers with anything he can use - his hands, arms, pencilcase, books. It's so funny for me to watch. We just had a big test and he was pressing his hand so hard down on his answers, as if little Alex next to him had Xray vision. Well, maybe he does.

This blog did seem to lose it's way, but I guess it was my way of appreciating the things that I have here. Aside from my 'hacking' story. Because, quite frankly, I miss home and it's been a tough last few weeks, with a lot of change. It's not particular material things I miss from home, but more like certain situations. I am also happy and content here almost all of the time. Little things, like cooking in the kitchen on a cold, rainy saturday night, drinking wine and having conversation with my parents, whilst constantly updating Twitter. Or, driving to Canterbury on a friday ready to party and recover afterwards with tea/Laura/Coach Trip. I guess the hardest thing to think about when deciding if I want to stay or not is whether I just have this romantic idea in my head of everything being the same when I get back.

Well, if it's not the same, I must embrace the change. I guess the most important thing for me to realise is that this year of my life, with all the ups and downs (but mainly ups), I would not change for the world.



.

Why I am Sure I Will Go Prematurely Grey

This month we have two weeks of study session. This is when middle school children have a week of school tests. In many English hagwons it means their middle school classes are cancelled for 2 weeks. In my school I am assigned 2 classes, which are not my usual students, and I have to watch over them whilst they do English study, or I give them a test, given to me by the Korean teacher. This means that I teach 6 classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday instead of 7. It still sounds like a lot, but I don't really teach these two classes, so it is much easier. It also means I have a 50 minute break after 4 classes which really improves the quality of my day, and my mood. With these breaks I have been going to a lovely coffee shop called Etre, and reading.

This is last week of study session, but slowly the children will start studying at home. So, hopefully my friday will consist of 4 classes and a finish time of 7pm.  The week after that is when the actual tests take place. And then, I will be back to my usual 7, which is always a tough transition. My evening middle school classes are low levels, and I never thought I could get so angry at a group of children, let alone shout at them.

One of my classes is group of 15 student, about 15 years old. These are the ones who just, literally, don't give a crap. They don't care about learning or listening. I know what you're thinking, this is typical for children close to a nasty bout of puberty, but it's different here. The level of respect given to Korean teachers is shocking compared to foreign teachers. I truly believe that this is simply because Korean teachers can shout at them, in Korean. I know for a fact that it is not my teaching, because I have some amazing classes.  This particular class is at a phase in their life where they just make it harder on themselves.  It's like a vicious circle - Their bad attitudes make me turn into Evil Bitch Teacher, so they dislike me for it. In one of my classes with them, I split them into teams - Boys Vs Girls. The winning team would get a bag of candy. I did this in the hope of getting them motivated, but alas, they took it for granted and were ungrateful.

My second bad class is entirely different. Their bad attitudes are on a whole other level of behaviour. I get stressed out just thinking about them. The last class I wrote about stay in their seats and are quiet if I tell them off enough and threaten them with punishment (more about that later). It is however, quite a mission to get RJ1C settled down or to stay still and focus. Often, if I ask one of them to move to the front of class they will try and argue with me about it. Of course, I can never, ever back down because then I lose all power. Their English is so bad that they have gotten to a point where being at English academy is their play time.  I primarily teach listening classes, and when we are listening to the CD I can see that two of the worst students don't even try to answer the questions. I stress this at them often - It doesn't matter if you don't get the right answer, as long as you try. The frustrating thing, is that one of them is the worst, yet I know he is capable. He is just an incredibly angry boy.

I want to help them and teach them, but the language barrier makes it feel near impossible. My coworker and I have discussed the lower level classes and think they would be better with the books designed for younger children, however this would really upset the mothers. I feel that these lower levels have it so much worse. Their parents pressure them to improve which makes them angry and frustrated. I also find that the girls (in my bad classes) try a bit harder and I think this may be true all around the world. In this class there are 4 girls who generally do their work but it is still hard to calm them down without shouting at them.

Remember in school when you always lean your chair back on its hind legs, and you know you're not going to fall, but there's always the kid who does? Your teacher constantly tells you not to do it. Well, I have become that teacher. I have one child, named Zealot (a name from Starcraft) who always has his chair as far back as it may go. He must have fallen off his chair 4 times now. You would think that the initial shock would scare the crap out of him, but no. He's probably just adjusted to it.

You may have been wondering about what punishment is like in South Korean academies. In my school, the main thing we do is make them 'stay after'. So, after class finishes at 9.35 they stay and do extra work. We also recently introduced a 'minus point' system, so if they don't do homework, forget books, say a bad word, draw on the walls/desks etc, they get a minus point or 2. Once they receive a certain amount they get a phone call home, have a meeting with the boss, or get expelled. I have so far found it ineffective. If the child does something really bad or constantly has a bad attitude in class we can ask the main Korean teacher to call their mothers. I have found that threatening them with a call home occasionally works.
In other schools, mainly one near mine, there is someone employed to watch all classes on CCTV. If they see a child do something bad (and sometimes it's a misunderstanding) they will come in and hit the student. In the school of a new friend of mine, she has been told that she cannot shout at the children or tell them to be quiet. I know from 6 months of experience that this is often impossible. Last week a Korean teacher came into her class and took a child into a small cupboard, I forget what the student had done wrong, but my friend could hear the student being hit. Now, I know that in England or America a teacher would be arrested for that, but in many schools here it seems to be acceptable. (Not all, it would never happen at my school.)

If you're thinking that teaching in South Korea sounds like hell, it is not. I love it here, and I love teaching (usually). Every teacher has a couple of bad classes, and my good ones completely make up for the two or three stressful ones. So, if you started reading this with the hopes of becoming an English teacher in South Korea, and have swiftly changed your mind, I apologise.  I would not change my decision to come here for the world.

On a lighter note, one of my ex-students (he quit, possibly because the only English he knows is 'what?' and 'teacher!') would try and bribe me every month to give him a good score on his essays or speaking tests. He was my favourite.

Hi Blog, Long Time No Write

The 16th June marked my 6 months in Korea. Where did that time go? A haze of Seoul trips, bad beer, and attempting to teach little angels and devils. Mostly devils. I feel pretty wrong for using 'teaching' and 'beer' in the same sentence, but given my working hours I'm sure it can be justified. And, on a friday night after a long week of teaching, all you need is a drink or 20.

I know I haven't written since March, and I apologise to all my avid readers (ha). I just find myself with nothing that I feel is worth writing.

In May, my parents came to visit me. I had been excited and antsy with anticipation weeks before their arrival. The day arrived and as I'm about to leave my apartment to mission to the airport I get an e-mail informing me that their plane is delayed by 7 hours. 7, whole, hours! I'm pretty good at leaving myself with way too much time to kill, so I got to the airport about 3 hours before their plane landed. Made friends with a girl from Kentucky. I spoke to her because I thought she might be a new teacher, and she was looking a bit worried. Turns out she was waiting for her military husband. She was moving to Korea to live with him, and she said she knows absolutely nothing about Korea. Military/Kentucky/Married sounds so appropriate for Korea.

On the first day of my parents arrival I nearly killed them - A long walk along Hwaseong Fortress on probably the hottest day of the year. For some reason it didn't cross my mind that the steps at the fortress are huge, and my mum is only small. I also took them to NOW bar where they had an impromtu soju experience and socialised with my friends till 5 am. Granted, it was a great night. They loved meeting my friends and my friends liked them too. I think I tried to make their week here too action packed, when all they really wanted was a relaxing time with a bit of sightseeing. I guess I just wanted to show them Korea.

We went to Seoul a couple of times, and on Wednesday to Thursday we spontaneously combusted. I mean, got on a plane to Jeju Island. The weather was very muggy and cloudy but the island was still really gorgeous. We arrived pretty hot and exhausted so instead of finding a cheap motel, we got a couple of rooms in the first hotel we found. And it was wonderful.

We went to 3 sets of waterfalls, one of which, Jeongbang, is the only one in Asia that falls directly into the ocean. I don't know what it is, but I'm sure my heart just melts when I see waterfalls. There is something so natural, peaceful and serene about them that just makes the world seem like a better place.

The Jeju people believed that a holy dragon lived under the waterfall. It has been said that since the water has its spirit, it can cure illnesses and causes rain to fall during a drought.

A couple of weeks after that, I took a trip to Muui Island with 3 friends. Of course, the only way of doing this was to drink until the early hours and proceed to wake up at 7am having had 3 hours of sleep. We got a bus to Incheon airport, a bus from the airport to the ferry, a ferry to the island, and one last bus to the beach. After a really hot week, we ended up there on a fairly cold day, and it started raining at 5pm. So much for the romantic and idealistic thought of sleeping on the beach! It was a good area and apparently a big foreigner spot. The water was so clear that I'm sure on a warm blue-sky day it would have felt so tropical, though as it is only 10minutes from mainland Korea, I imagine it would get very busy.

I haven't had any major trips since then as money has been very tight. My weekends have mostly been spent at Garten Bier, in a DVDbang, or in Seoul. I decided that if I ever want to get into photography, I must buy myself a proper camera. So I did it, and am now the proud owner of a DSLR, Canon 400D. I haven't actually used it as much as I would like, because I don't have a case for it and am a bit paranoid. I got it 2nd hand from Namdaemun market. Amongst the hustle and bustle there is a long stretch of so many camera stores. I went in several, and despite the language barrier was able to get a decent enough price. I think.

There has been discussion about extending my contract for another few months, but I'm apprehensive. I love Korea, and can't imagine returning to England to live at home, struggle to find a job, and have normal working hours. However, I desperatly want to be at home for Christmas, and the winters here are so harsh. I feel that if I stay, it would just be putting off the inevitable.

I leave you with one of my favourite pictures from the World Cup so far. (I don't think I would be watching it in England, or supporting England. I have a lot of Korean pride right now.)

Blake and Peter, two of my favourite people in Korea. <3<3<3<3<3<3

Clothes in Korea

I haven't actually read any fashion magazines in Korea yet, mainly because they're in Korean (though I have been tempted to buy them and just look at the pictures.) So, this isn't really about fashion, just the clothes I've seen, and mostly loved. A large amount of the clothes I've seen are pretty baggy, funky, and have an I-don't-care look about them. But it's strange, because I've barely seen any Korean woman actually wearing clothes of the styles that I have seen. I'm trying not to generalise, but a lot of the women I've seen who look to be in their mid-20's wear quite conservative clothes, dark colours, etc.

Most of these pictures are taken in Ingyedong (Suwon), with some in Hongdae and Myeongdong (Seoul). I think the clothes in Ingyedong are great, but unfortunatly much more expensive than other cheaper places in Seoul.

I see this dress everytime I come down the escalator from the cinema and want it so bad! Unfortunatly, it's in tiny-Korean size >.<

This was from a mall-type place in Myeongdong. It's filled with what must be 100's of tiny little shops with some awesome and cheap clothes.

Hongdae at night

Some slightly 'classier' styles in these two...

Heels are huge here, and I don't just mean in the heel-size. I know they're worn everywhere in the world, but most of the women just seem to wear them all the time. It's beyond me how the teachers at school wear them for such long hours whilst teaching. Years of practice, I guess.Everytime I see the shoe stores I just want to buy them all, but knowing me I would wear them once and never again. Or just buy them to admire.

Finally, here are a few pictures of some mens clothes in Ingyedong. I find them quite funny, and like nothing I've seen before. These are all from one store, but I've seen many similar. Inside, there are a lot of elaborate 'decorations', for lack of a better word. Spangly, feathery brooches, shiny and sparkly ties, tight ass-hugging pants...

That's all for now. My next blog will either be about my current life, or Korean food. And I'll try not to leave it other a month between posts...

Lunar New Year, My Favourite Class, and Funny Writing

I am forcing myself to write a blog. I'm not entirely sure what it will be about yet, but maybe that will work out for the best. I am sure that over the past few weeks I keep thinking of things to write here, but never remember, despite always taking a notebook wherever I go. I have decided to do a food-blog soon, because people keep asking me what sort of things I eat here and I can't really explain.

The last few weeks have been pretty good in terms of teaching. In march, all the kids will be moving to different classes (It's kind of like our school year starting in September.) I'm quite sad about this because I will most likely lose my favourite kids, and be teaching different classes. Maybe it will be good to have my schedule mixed up a little.

This weekend was Lunar New Year in Korea, so we had Monday off work. This, of course, called for much celebrating. Saturday night I headed to Seoul. We went to this awesome bar, I'm not sure how well I can explain it. It's really dark and ambient, the walls were like brown, desert-ish cave walls, you take off your shoes and there are nooks to sit in with cushions on the floor. I will upload pictures when I get round to it. After that we went to a small club called Sensation, because we had heard about a dubstep night that was going on. It was just one dubstep set and the music was okay, but it was still good to do dance to the dub! Went to another club after that but I think the music there was a bit rubbish too. We stayed in a hostel so that we could hang out in Seoul on sunday, but due to it being New Years Day, most things were closed. The City Hall area was cool though - Weird Korean games going on, the girls wearing Hanbok (traditional clothing), lots of families, ice skating, pretty kites flying everywhere etc. The view of the mountains from there is amazing too. I will put some pictures in a picture-blog soon.

Here are some pictures of my favourite class, MK2B:
Mary at the front left, her English is really good. Quiet Chris sitting next to her, she never talks.

Little Lily in the back, she's one of my favourites. She always comes to meet me in the teachers office and then walks with me to class. She tries to speak English to me but gets really frustrated when she can't and giggles about it. That's Philip on the chair, he doesn't talk much and sometimes freaks me out a bit with weird faces he makes! Jack is hiding from the camera, and Harry at the front is clearly pissed that I'm taking a picture of her.

Bill on the left, who is generally quiet too. James on the right, he's a little ball of energy and just loves to draw pictures on the board - I let him, even if they're messy, because I feel creativity is so important.

 

Quite a funny/scary picture of Andy, he was trying to hide from the camera. I think he's a little genius, he seems to pick up on things that the others don't

Last friday I played a team game with them. I told them the left half of the class were one team, and the right half another. Andy and James wanted to pick their own teams and we discussed it for ages. I said no because I didn't want anyone to be left out. They started saying something in Korean, used their dictionary to translate it and showed me "Decision by majority." I couldn't stop laughing.

Now for a couple of pieces of brilliant writing.
I did a spelling test with MK2B and this was one of the girls' answers. I have no idea why she's in a higher class. (the brackets are what it should be):
1. polt (pilot)
2. dother (doctor)
3. ceroon (clown)
4. amalekn (american)
5. petsher (picture)
6. indeno (India)
7. polisa (police)
8 cakoer (soccer)
9. alests (artist)
10. frier fert (fire fighter)

Two of my classes have to write a couple of journal entries per week, which only I read, and then comment on. These are two from one girl, it's pure poetry!

"I'm tired.
Sometimes I'm tired.
because I don't know.
Very ubsurd.
I dont know reason!
I dont like tired.

Everthing is tiresome!!
Everything is tiresome.
Because it is tiresome. haha!
I dont like sports.
So I fill everything tiresome.
don't like doing...."

Well, I think that is all I can think to write about for today. Next two blogs will be food and clothes, I think!

My Lovely Little Apartment

A couple of you asked to see what my apartment looks like so here you go...

View from the doorway. I tried to make it look unmessy but I'm not sure I did too well.

This is called a bed.

Small kitchen area, there's a sink and gas stove, but Korean apartments don't really have ovens. I'm so glad I brought those postcards and pictures from home, plus cards from Miss Sophie ^^

The door. I live near the entrance to the building and right by the staircase - The Koreans around here really love walking as loudly as they possibly can. I'm also waiting for the day I drunkenly open my door and fall straight down the steps.

The incredibly interesting laundry room.

View from my window.

So there you go! I think mine is a pretty decent size compared to some others I've heard about. I think I'm also lucky to have a double bed! I really love my apartment, but with the lifestyle I lead it's a bitch to keep tidy.

A picture tells a 1000 words

I thought some of you may like to see picures of the area I live. It's possible that the pictures of the buildings will all look the same to you, but here they are anyway...

This is the building I live in, my apartment in the first window above the car. My work is only about a 5-10 minute walk away.

I pass this shop on my way to work called 'Herb Story'. I hope that the day I go in, they sit me down and tell me stories about herbs..

Can't think of a good advertising campaign? Go with half naked women! (Advertisement for soju.)

One of the streets right next to my work. On the right you can see 'Denver' which is a nice little American bar we sometimes go to.

The main square in Maetan-dong. There arn't a huge amount of foreign workers here, compared to somewhere like Yeong-tong. The Dunkin Donuts on the left is our meeting place.

This is the building I work in. Kim and Lee Language Centre is on the 7th floor (the blue). The top floor, 8th, is another school where Tara and Peter work. I think Stephanie and Adam work in a school on the 5th floor.

A street in Ingyedong. It's about a 25minute walk from Maetan, and a very short taxi journey. It's where Homeplus is, lots of shops, and some good going out areas. There's also CGV cinema.

Cinepark! It's on the top floor and pretty huge.

This is the Galleria. I've only been once but there are some lovely clothes, and all pretty expensive. There's also a Zara there, so, when I get paid...

And this is how much snow there was on Snow Day.

That concludes that. I'm afraid those pictures wern't actually very interesting. If there's anything you'd like to see, let me know!