Toby, The Seoul Man

Korean TV debut...... Outstanding!

2010-10-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

So, no blog for a long time. Well, this is worthy of a blog.

So, one of my kids mothers is a journalist/publisher/slave to the media merry-go-round. She requested the attendance of three foreign faces to appear on a Korean TV show. She has recently published a book by a monk. The book is about temple food. So, to market the book she got a slot on a famous TV show. The show, weekly, is about foreigners trying Korean food and commenting on it.

So, off we went to a beautiful temple up in the hilly part of northern Seoul. We learnt how to bow Buddhist style. Then we picked vegetables from the garden, prepared them, watched them being cooked and finally, of course, ate them. All on camera. We were interviewed at different stages as we tried the ingredients raw. 50 year old soy sauce straight from it's fermenting and awfully smelling brewing pot outside. Quite a smell. Also some soup paste. Smelt like a number 2 trip to the bathroom, but tasted good.

The eating process was very interesting. We were informed NO SPEAKING NO EYE CONTACT and NO NOISE whilst eating. And most importantly, don't let anything go to waste. So much so that we cleaned the bowls with a large piece of fresh radish. Very interesting indeed.

The day was made all the more interesting as we were joined by 4 European monks. One of which, from Poland, was acting like a movie star. Walking away from the camera, demanding to speak to the producer etc etc. Very amusing.
This will be it now for another 6 months or so. Bye bye again blog.....

"Where the hell do you think you have been?"

2010-02-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

A nice view of thriving modern city, from an old vintage setting.

OK...... been a while huh? Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I said I had all these big ideas for my blog once I got back to Korea, like the format would be refreshed, enthralling and dripping with juicy, plump originality etc. But hey, what can I do? Sometimes things pan out differently against ones will. This will be my excuse. Things changed.

Some of you lucky enough to be really close to me, haha, will know that I have given my all to studying Korean. For those of you that aren't lucky enough to be close to me, and had no idea that was what I was doing, well, that is what I have been doing. I have spent on average 4/5 hours a day studying. Why? Because my brain isn't as efficient as others and I need to put in the extra work to get the same results as those others, with those natural absorbing brains, I hate those people.

I'll use this as an example. You know car oil? Well, I'm the cheap stuff you buy in a local garage, usually in the bright yellow plastic bottle, and other people, they're the GX, Multi Action, Super lubricating car oil, that comes packaged in the bomb proof, sexy silver bottles, and costs thrice as much (also comes with a free packet of XXX strong mints).

Struggling to think about things that would possibly interest you about the past month or so. Instead I will brief you briefly on the next week or so. Tomorrow I have my final test, and it's the mother of all tests, SPEAKING. Thursday is graduation. Friday, move out of my mini house/room. Saturday, take a boat ride to Fukuoka, Japan, in order to get my visa. Take some pictures, walk around and take it all in. Wednesday, come back. Thursday, start work. Friday, sign contract for new house. Get keys. Saturday, find a bed, fridge, sofa, chair, table, desk, cabinets, washing machine, toilet roll, in other words, my house has nothing...... Sunday, hopefully get very excited about my new house, whilst rummaging around cleaning and arranging. But, possibly, will discover things here and there that I didn't discover when I looked around first off. Example, when I moved into my house last year, I discovered that there wasn't a sink in the bathroom. Quite a shock at first, but soon adapted.

OK.... Here's a quick demo of where my Korean is at. I wrote this to my Korean friend, who lives in London. In Korean it says.......... (English Below)

지금은 홍대 PC빙에서 이메일을 써요. 오늘 공부하러 학교에갔어. 재미있어서 기분이좋아. 이본주에 복숩수업 많이 있어. 왜냐하면 다음주 화요일부터 듣기하고 쓰기하고 읽기하고 말하기 시험이 있어. 그 다음에 학기를 끝날거예요. 반 친구는 친절하고 재미있어서 보고싶어요. 그런데 일주일에 반 친구를 한번 만나려고 해요. 아마더
오늘 비가 오서 모두사람은 우산을 가지고왔어. 오늘 영국날씨가 어댔서???
한국날씨하고 영국날씨 중에서 어디가 더좋아요?
영국이 한국보다 날씨가 더 좋아요.

Now, I'm in a PC room, in Hongdae, writing an email. Today I went to school in order to study. It was interesting, so I'm feeling good. This week I have lots of review classes because next week, from Tuesday, I have listening, writing, reading and speaking tests. After that my course will finish. My class friends are fun, I will miss them. But, I plan to meet them once week, maybe more.
Today, it's raining, so everyone brought their umbrellas. What was the weather like in the United Kingdom today?
Which is better, Korean or British weather?
I prefer British weather to Korean weather........

Not bad huh??? Wrote this in about 20 mins.....

Much Love to all.....

25.2cm. 70 year record broken.

2010-01-05T02:10:00.000-08:00

Well, had quite an eventful few days. In fact I have been apart of Korean history. On Monday it snowed 25.2cm, which is the deepest snowfall in 70 years. I woke up to, what I thought was a large amount, and a large percentage of this 25.2cm, but then it snowed for the entire day, and just spiraled out of control. I have never seen such cumbersome snowflakes. It’s like you could actually feel them hitting the ground. Luckily there wasn’t any wind, if so, I think I would have cried. I left the house with damp hair, and this soon froze in the outside conditions. The usual hustle and bustle of a Monday morning rush had been replaced with a delicate silence as the crunching of snow bellowed from underneath the wheels of cars. People shuffled and murmured their way to work, probably feeling a little romantic, and nostalgia for winter festivities just passed, in comparison to their usual commute.

As I sat in my class, the snow fell in true fairytale style. A small break every now and then, gave opportunity for thought, but the snow pretty much consistently worked its way down through my peripheral vision. My class is on the 10th floor, so it was even more dramatic, as we floated within the storm. As our class finished we made our way outside to the snow caressed streets. Men and women of all ages had been, and still were, busy at work, clearing pathways for pedestrians. Huge banks of snow created tunnels that worked their way along the pavements. Women still maintained their elegance, strutting carefully in their heels, and men shuffled along aggressively in their suits and ties. Life carried on.

I took the opportunity to document the event by taking a few pictures. Just outside my apartment sat a procession of motorbikes that had sensibly been left aside for decoration. Now, was certainly not the time to be working your way, from A to B, on a motorbike. This gave me a creative opening.

The day passed, without anymore snow fall. Tuesday arrives, and the snow remains. Temperatures remain low, very low. The snow is slowly solidifying and becoming slushy on impact and icey on the edges. Conditions are worsening. Cars seem more confident, but are more vulnerable than ever. The confidence in the suited men and the elegance of the heeled women has been replaced with a general cautiousness, as every step is carefully chosen and delicately executed. The sign of things to come I feel, as the winter of Korea is very much in a full empathic swing.

2009-2010 Transition

2010-01-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

I think I should start of with correcting my last blog. I said I was off to research into my New Years Revolutions. HAHA, obviously I meant to say resolutions. Thanks Wizzo, for pointing that one out.

Maybe, we should all up the game a touch and embrace a little revolutionary thinking around Christmas, instead of just eating our way through quality street, nuts and various flapping game birds. Not a serious suggestion at all.

I don’t have any specifically mouth watering resolutions this year. Always seem to make some kind of promise to myself, unofficially, and then officially forget it a few weeks later. Anyone know why this whole New Years Resolution gimmick started? Heading off now to research.

OK, so New Years Resolutions all began with the Babylonians approximately 4,000 years ago. News Years Day used to be March 23^rd. This date will have significant interested to my friend Rick. He loves the number 23. Add this one to the collection of coincidences Mr Politz.

Small piece of exciting news. I have gone through this conversation with so many people, that can’t remember if I have mentioned this before, but anyway, I have signed up for another year at the school I spent two years at. Easy decision in the end. I have spent a day or two there, over the last few weeks, just to hang out, and my mind cruised its way to the decision. So, come end of February, I will make a small visa run to

Japan

and begin working early March. Also, my very close friend Rick, will be joining the Korean Revolution at the same time, and if all goes to plan, which it usually does in

Korea

, then we’ll be living together again. Coverton Road, part 2.

My News Years Eve was very tame, enjoyable, chilly (in regards to weather), and warm (in regards to company). I spent the day with a new friend Dooki. Actual name Doori, but changed the –ri- to –ki- because that’s the noise she makes when she laughs. Fairly simple stuff.

We took a little tour of some popular spots around town for some window shopping, lunch, coffee, chilly wind dodging and picture taking. As the day grew older the temperature got severely close to ruining my ability to walk, think and speak. Some people were throwing the minus 16 mark around. I can clarify, safely, that it was definitely cold. As the evening hours ticked closer we decided to start forming a plan. Food and a couple of drinks was the obvious choice, so we decided to do just that. We found a rather repulsive place in a very nice area. The picture you see below is what was left over from our sausage, mash and chip platter type dish. The dish was ruined beyond all possible sensible judgements of taste by a repulsive sauce, that can only be described as a mixture of three or four over salted, over spiced, over peppered unnameable ingredients, by a very excited novice chef, in a kitchen of no culinary experience or guidance. At a glance at this place, Gordon Ramsey would have chopped of his right arm, diced it, lightly grilled it in some olive oil, served it on a bed of sesame leaves, rocket, cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of swear words directed at anyone brave enough to associate them with this dish, I promise you!!

We ate it all, for some reason.....???!!!!!?!?!?!

Anyway, we ate, as we had paid, and drank, because it was New Years Eve, and then left, because of the food, and headed for the nearest place that had heating and NO, sausage, chip, potato, chef, kitchen or menu in sight. At around 11:30 we joined a very small group of friends for the midnight champagne moment. We all raised our glasses, clunked them, cheered, smiled, hugged, kissed and got back to our conversations. We were all in good spirits, and more significantly, a tame mood. Nobody wanted to wake up feeling like a 20 year old freshman, so we polished off our bottle of champagne and red wine and headed our separate ways, before the clock had struck 1:45am. Good work. Maturity paid off as Kyle and I had an absolutely delightful first lunch of 2010. We sat down for a large portion of Shabu Shabu, at around 1:30pm. This entire lunch sitting was all the confirmation we needed that heading home at a sensible hour, was indeed, as mentioned, the mature thing to do. See how long that mindset lasts.

The Goodbye 2009 congregation. Minus the Photographer, ME....

Hope you all celebrated New Years Eve as you wished. Much love for the year ahead. Here’s to 2010.

Happy 2010, from Doo-ki

The last few weeks have passed.

2009-12-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

Little bit of snow

I'm dreadfully sorry for the lack of updating. I have been awfully busy with adapting to the monstrosity that is the climate of this country. That has had me on the back foot for the last 7 days (originally wrote this a week ago, so sickness was actually 2 weeks ago now). Sunday morning I woke to the feeling of a regular hangover that would be issued to any normal foolish person that drinks too much, of this, that and the other. Thing is, this time, I had a very sombre, tranquil and neatly paced evening.

We kicked off with some nicely fried and spiced chicken drum sticks with a few chilled beers, then onto a birthday party at a house, with a couple of cans of chilled beers, then final stop, two more beers before bed. Went home feeling fine. Woke up feeling like I had spent the entire previous day and a half swimming 20 metres down in a pool of Scottish, forty year old, whiskey. My head felt like there was a sand bag, or two, sitting at the back of my sore strewn head. Lifting these sand bags wasn’t easy and resulted in very little movement from around 6am-11am. Then someone kindly sent me a message on my phone. I picked it up and opened my eyes. The result was an instant spin of the innards of my skull and then a very urgent dash to the kneeling position, around my ‘loo’, in my bathroom. The next few hours followed in this pattern, with any light exertion of my eyes, head or brain causing panic and muscle excitement from neck to waist.

Basically I had been struck down with something nasty. The headache stayed for a couple of days, as did the stomach muscle strains. The sickness was just for the Sunday. The next few days saw me hitting the Korean health sections in the corner shops. Stocking up on Ginseng juices, soups, candies, granules, etc etc. Saturday morning arrived and all was well.

Despite this fall in spirits I managed to have a very productive week of studying. Confidence was very high during this week. Still speaking like a 4 year old Korean, but still enjoying the classes and the life of a language student. My week goes something like this…….

Monday to Friday – Wake up at 8:45. Breakfast, shower, leave around 9:15. Get to school for about 9:30-9:40 – depending on weather I have bought a coffee on route or not. 10:00-11:00 speaking and grammar class. 11:00-12:00 more speaking and listening. 12:00-13:00 reading, listening and little bit of writing. 1:15 go to the University restaurant for some very decent and cheap food with a few of the students from my class. Once lunch is done then it’s off to a coffee shop for 1-2, or maybe, like today, 3 hours of studying.

So that is standard scheduling. Morning till evening is set aside for studying, evenings go as follows.

Monday night – language exchange with two Koreans. 45 minutes in Korean, for me, then, 45 minutes in English, for them.

Tuesday night – no plans. Usually get to together with a couple of mates for dinner and catch up.

Wednesday – round two of language exchange with two Koreans, as mentioned above.

Thursday – two hours of teaching English to a Korean.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as true as us western folk are I leave this open for festivities away from studying/work, although the more I drink, the less I want to drink, so might be occupying these leisure hours with something a little more brain powered. What a change that would be?!!

It’s now Christmas Day morning (now I’m editing this on Sunday evening, 27^th). I had written most of this blog last week (and been editing it ever since), but then delayed publishing it as I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Today I will be having a very traditional Christmas, Korean style (I did). In Korea families don’t really get together, it’s more of a couples event. I don’t have a partner these days, so to have a traditional Korean Christmas was looking like an unlikely option. But then two nights ago (actually now 4 nights ago, as I’m editing) I was chatting to a lovely Korean lady in a bar and we decided it would be nice for all involved if we met on Christmas Day for lunch. So, I have a date on Christmas Day (It went well). Everyone back home will find this very peculiar, but as they say, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”.

Up to present time now. Boxing Day was relaxed and productive. I went and bought an electronic dictionary to assist in my journey of learning another language. It has helped me immensely already. Boxing Day afternoon I went to a coffee shop and utilised it successfully. Then again today, I went to a coffee shop and got some educational usage out of it. Very useful indeed.

Today, Sunday, I went to a new shopping bonanza, in Seoul, called Times Square. It’s a department store, come entertainment village, of epic proportions. The first thing I thought on arrival was, North Korea really did make the wrong choice back in the 50’s. It’s a ridiculous exhibition of wealth and class. My goodness, I have never been so gob-smacked, at such glutinous, but gorgeously stylistic shopping mall-esc architecture. I got a few snaps, here are a couple just to give you a taste.

Very questionable, but equally interesting sculpture, outside one of the many entrances and exits.

Week ahead consists of more studying and electronic dictionary usage, and of course some research into some New Years revolutions.

What are yours?

The last few weeks have passed.

2009-12-27T07:47:00.001-08:00

Little bit of snow

So that is standard scheduling. Morning till evening is set aside for studying, evenings go as follows.

Monday night – language exchange with two Koreans. 45 minutes in Korean, for me, then, 45 minutes in English, for them.

Tuesday night – no plans. Usually get to together with a couple of mates for dinner and catch up.

Wednesday – round two of language exchange with two Koreans, as mentioned above.

Thursday – two hours of teaching English to a Korean.

Today, Sunday, I went to a new shopping bonanza, in Seoul, called Times Square. It’s a department store, come entertainment village, of epic proportions. The first thing I thought on arrival was, North Korean really did make the wrong choice back in the 50’s. It’s a ridiculous exhibition of wealth and class. My goodness, I have never been so gob-smacked, at us glutinous, but gorgeously stylistic shopping mall-esc architecture. I got a few snaps, here are a couple just to give you a taste.

Very questionable, but equally interesting sculpture, outside one of the many entrances and exits.

Week ahead consists of more studying and electronic dictionary usage, and of course some research into some New Years revolutions.

What are yours?

Role Reversal

2009-12-01T00:21:00.000-08:00

So, quite a big change of events today. I just got back from my first day, in over 5 years, as a student. I got flashbacks from my first day at University, in regards to that uncertainty feeling, the excitement of exploring empty classrooms and scanning the corridors of fresh student faces. My first job was to find the list of names. There are seven different levels of study, within each level there is an ‘a’ and ‘b’ level, and with anything from 5-15 in a class, you can imagine the amount of names floating around the walls. I found my name, it was standing out, due to its length. DENHOLM TOBY ALEXANDER. Not hard to find. It was sitting 3^rd in a line-up of about 10. 903, was my classroom number, 9^th floor. I had a breeze through my co-students names, studying them and trying to dissect them and conclude upon some nationalities. I’d been told that most of my co-students (past statistics have proven) would be Japanese.

Well, I would never have guessed the line-up. Our first task was to introduce ourselves, in Korean of course (NO ENGLISH in class time), so as we went around we all said our name and nationality and something extra, maybe an “I like” or “I don’t like”, just something simple. Anyway, as we went around we discovered the geographical diversity of our group. From left to right we have, an American, a Frenchman, an Austrian-Korean, a Korean-American, Me, an Australian, a Vietnamese lady, a Japanese lady, a Singaporean lady, a Danish-Korean and finally a Cuban man. Oh, please don’t forget the Korean teacher.

Amazing I thought.

Something else amazing was the role reversal I’d found myself in. For the past two years I had taught myself to be a teacher, then became one, and loved it beyond my wildest and most distant of dreams. Now, here I was, being the student, sitting back and watching a teacher, teach me. It did feel a little peculiar. There were moments when I was like, “I wish I was up there”, making little jokes, funny facial expressions, and strange shapes with my mouth, tongue and cheek bones, to convey to the audience the perfect phonetical deliverance. At the same time though, I was loving the simplicity of sitting back and being a sponge, absorbing this and that, jotting down things at my leisure. A nice reversal of roles, if you like.

Both of my teachers are lovely. One male and one female. The male was very relaxed and leisurely. His style expressed this. Some loose, beige, trousers, with a long sleeved, nicely fitted t-shirt with beach/ocean imagery. The lady was a little more abrupt, styled matched this, but with that, more expressional and dramatised in actions, AKA, fun…..

The content, of the textbooks we got, seems to be all stuff that I have studied on my own, in the past. It’s material that I’ve studied but always stumbled and eventually tripped upon when it comes to the crunch, conversation. My university is geared towards enhancing speaking ability, so laminating this, previously swatted knowledge, into my conversational nature, is the goal. Fingers crossed.

No pictures yet.

I arrived.

2009-11-25T18:13:00.000-08:00

Safe and Sound.

The flight was pretty much a formality. Two hours of tailed wind assisted flying from Heathrow to Helsinki, was followed by another two hours of transit at a very relaxing departure lounge at Helsinki. Then a very easy 8 hours and 30 minutes from Helsinki to Seoul. Whilst I was drinking out in London with my friends on the Friday night, exactly 36 hours before my departure time, Dad was sat at home checking me into the flights. Amazingly, he managed to get an exit seat. I've always walked past 'those' people with all 'that' leg room they have. Never thought that would be me. It was a luxury, and one that I would wish upon anybody close to me. It took me a while to get used to it though, I'll be honest. My mindset before any flight is simply, usually, "this is going to be uncomfortable", more often than not it is, but not as bad as one had first imagined. This time I went in thinking, "this is going to be as comfortable as sitting at home watching TV", but it wasn't, it's still a flat, straight, small, rigidly formatted chair, just with a little more leg room, one can only stretch their legs so far. But, big advantage was being able to walk forwards from my chair, when I wanted to, being able to fully stretch my legs out and up into the air, and behind my head if I could, and wanted to. Go to the bathroom, exactly, and when I wanted to, not when the person next to me shows some sign of being ‘possibly ok', and unfazed to be moved. All in all, a good flight.

Oh, Finnair have cameras around the outside of the plane, so at any stage of the flight, including take-off and landing, we could look ahead or below the aircraft. Genius idea…..

Once arrived, it was straight onto the hour long bus to central Seoul. These buses, well, all buses, subways, trains, taxis, cars, EVERYTHING in this country has heated seats in the colder months. So, I sat, and slowly started to cook my backside whilst taking in the changed surroundings. Three months away, you'd think everything would be the same. Nope! This is an upandcoming BIG Asian city, they don't sit back. Roads, buildings, junctions, areas, stretches etc that had just started to form when I left, were now fully upandrunning. Was it only three months that I was away???

Tuesday morning I took a trip down memory lane and popped into my school. The school I spent two fabulous years at, teaching, playing, messing around, singing, dancing and generally having the absolute time of my life. On a scale of 1-10, of how excited I was about going back, most would know that it was an out and out 10, no question. I had been having these very peculiar dreams in the past few weeks, leading up to my return. The same dream played itself out about 3 times. It went like this. I would walk up the stairs to the school. Go in. Say hello to all the staff and teachers. Reminisce. Then I’d start to walk around the corridor and peak into the classes to see my beloved kids working away. When I looked into the classrooms, I began to notice that they had all gone, and they’d been replaced by horrible children from my middle school, when I was a kid. A couple of old favourites would be there, and I’d ask them “where is everyone?”, and they would give me blank faces, as if to say “who and what are you talking about?”…. So, in my dream, I began to think that the last two years was all a dream. Deep filled crust of anxiety styled dreaming there.

Anyway, the dream was only a dream. Most of the kids were still there. Top three material Sarah (although her reaction to me returning puts her firmly in position 1, as all time greatest kid to have ever walked). She was playing the Melodian instrument with her classmates as I walked in. The Melodian is a piano/keyboard type thing, that you blow into to create the sound, whilst tapping the keys. So, she was sitting down in a line as I walked in. She was concentrating on playing her tune. Then she noticed me. Still blowing into her mouth piece, her eyes bulged, but she managed to keep in tune and concentrate on her teacher. True Korean hard working ethic maintained. As the tune finished, the smile came sweeping across her face, then she stood up and started to giggle and do a little Sarah-like dance, very hard to explain, but it stops her from getting too excited. So a dance to shake off her excitement I guess. Then she ran over and demanded a hug. Awesome kid. She then, along with a random rabble of old favourites continued to follow me wherever I went, pulling on my legs, arms, anything that dangled at a 5/6 year old height, for the entire morning. Lunchtime, I had to walk around with my tray, eating here there and everywhere. Each kid asked me, “Toby Teacher, today, eat lunch, where?”, so I had to do that rounds.

Sadly, Angela, who also makes the top three wasn’t there. Her mother has taken her out for a month as a precaution to the swine flu epidemic. But she’ll be back there soon, and so will I, for another visit. Decision on going back to work there still yet to be made. Time will tell.

My room is tiny. Smaller than I had hoped. But, I’m not going to complain. I have a room, I have shelter, I have running water, food, internet, a bed, clothes, money, health. This three months living in a box will finely tune and educate my future living style. I’ll go from this dog house to a royal palace and appreciate it like a dog coming across a half eaten Big Mac on the pavement.

The location is outstanding. I have everything and more on my door step.

One weekend to go before I start being a student. I’ll update after my first day, which is Tuesday.

Goodbye.

12 Hours to go........

2009-11-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

My latest blog update is brought to you from a sofa in London.

I have 12 hours to go to my flight back to Seoul.

What will I be doing in these final twelve hours? Currently watching friends, the one when Ross has a night with Janis, to get over Emily re-marrying. Then Match of the Day two will be on. Looking forward to seeing Arsenal lose 1-0 to Sunderland. Then, I will bag up my old clothes for the charity shop. Sleep will then be something I'll be very much trying to get, having missed out on a fair chunk last night, due to a large amount of Long Island Iced teas, and two bottles of James Bond's favortie champers, Bollinger. Once I have woken, I will do final cupboard and drawers checks, and then into the car it is.

See you on the East Side.

12 days to go (possibly most pointless blog do date)

2009-11-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

So, I will be flying, courtesy of Finnair, to Seoul, in just twelve days time. I thought I would bring us all up to speed on the signficance that, to life in general, the number twelve has.

There are twelve in a dozen, dozen is used as a sales unit. A dozen is most commonly known for the use of eggs. A group of twelve things is known as a Duodecad.

The 12th month is December, which is the month in which I'll be starting my Korean course.

12 x 2 = 24, which was my age when I first arrived in Korea.

This is the 12th picture on my facebook that I am in. I'm centre, arms aloft, macho style.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/ is the 12th website that is inserted into my bookmarks.

In the former British currency system, there were twelve pence in a shilling.

In the US, twelve people are appointed to sit on a jury for felony trials in all but four states.

12 face cards in a card deck.

12 inches in a foot.

12 = perfect government.

The McDonalds hamburgers' 12th birthday was last year.

This was the 12th google search, when I typed in '12', into google.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ebtj1jR7c - It's a AA-12 gun, in action.

This was the 12th google search, when I typed in 'twelve', into google.
http://www.twelvegames.com/TWELVE.htm

This was the 12th image when I typed (twelve' into google images.

If Manchester United win the English Premiership this season, it will be their 12th Premiership title.

Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane, Tottenham Hotspurs' little option, strike force, have scored 12 premiership goals between them, so far, this season. 6 each.

Birmingham FC currently have 12 points in the league. No other team has 12. BIRMINGHAM FC is a total of 12 letters. haha.

12 is the amount of points that Tottenham are currently ahead of West Ham Utd. haha.

Last football fact. There were 12 years between Pele's 1st and last goal in the a World Cup competition. He scored many more in between.

There are 12 days of Christmas.

What does the number 12 mean to you???

I'm copping off..... I mean I'm copping out...

2009-11-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

I feel the need to explain why I have copped out of going on a little adventure. Maybe, I need to jot down these thoughts, more so for me, to justify not going traveling in my break.

The plan was to load up my leather money carrier and head off on some self indulgent travel experience, somewhere uncharted and untouched by my small impressionable fingertips. I flirted immensely with the idea of a jaunt around India, I even bought the travel guide. I also dipped into the idea of a few months around Venezuela/Columbia/Ecuador. Again, I even bought a travel guide for Columbia. Plans were being made, flight prices were compared, Visa rulings were researched, climate assessments in relation to 'when to go' were also checked and noted. Some people said, 'oh my god, you must go there", or, "well, yeah, I haven't been, but have always wanted to go, I'm so jealous, you're going to have the most amazing time". Of course, I would have had an amazing time. I'm not denying those facts. I thought a lot, every night, (which is something I seem to do a lot, I limit my brain use during the day, which is probably the time when it should be most active) about what type of experience I wanted. If I was 20-23, fresh off the University boat, still sporting my baggy and wet bottomed alternative style jeans and questionable hair style, then maybe a 'life changing' exploration of another country is what the 'life' doctor would have prescribed. However, I'm growing up, turned 27 yesterday, and instead, feel like going on an adventure with a partner. With somebody who can share it all with. I don't want to get all cheesy, and sickly, by going on about why it would be good to share this with a partner, as I think it's all too obvious. But just, sitting here now, justifying, to all, as to why I have chosen to put that travel trip into the drawer labeled "To do before I'm 40", and embark on a different adventure of, studying Korean relentlessly for the next 3/4 months. No regrets...!

A delicate fog descended upon Elmfield Road the other night. It was a damp, chilly and mysterious fog that nestled itself between every nook and cranny available, except the area surronding the Post Box, very mysterious indeed......

Language Fusion

2009-11-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

This is Suna. Everybody say "Hello Suna!".

Suna is my new friend. She's Korean and has been living in London for about 8 months now. We met through a Korean Language Exchange Group that I discovered online. We have met twice now. On meeting we chat in each others language. Both parties within this meeting are rewarded with practice in their chosen, second, language. Her English is much better than my Korean, so we chatter in mostly English. My use of Korean is limited, but having now completed two meetings with Suna, I'm finding myself far more knowledgeable than originally thought. Still a long long, never ending, way to go, but this is a great method to get things moving in the right direction.

I'm currently reviewing a lot of material that I've studied so far in my short tenure as a Korean Language student. I have a level assessment on the 13th November. This will place me into either level 1 or 2. 1 would be a touch annoying as I'm pretty sure it will be a good few weeks covering a lot of stuff I'm comfortable with. Level 2, on the other hand, will all be new fresh material that will get me chomping at the bit. So, lets see what level I enter at. Either way, it'll still provide ample opportunity to get my speaking on course.

I've just polished off a large roast dinner, cooked by Mother. It was nothing short of ultimate deliciousness. The rice pudding, served as a pudding, was just too much for my stomach to handle. It's currently in recess and has warned me not to lean over and tackle the selection of chocolate and fruity chews that caress the coffee table. This leads me into my recent diet. Food has been a joy to get my lips around. I didn't think about UK foods too much while I was away, but having been in and around a few well endowed fridges over the last few months, it's easy to say that I have piled on a bit of holiday weight. This wasn't helped by a recent foot injury, which forced me to be sofa bound for about 10 days. I'm quite looking forward to getting back to my Korean diet. UK food is tasty, don't get me wrong, but, it does take a lot longer to digest and it does cause a rather uncomfortable amount of wind, which a few of my close friends will testify.

The next three weeks are going to be pretty busy. My 27th birthday is first up on Tuesday. Then Thursday sees a exciting trip to see a previewing of a Korean movie, called, Thirst. Then on Friday a small reunion in London with some old Bungay High School friends. Saturday is bonfire night. Sunday, it's off to see the Denholm side of the family, to say hello and goodbye. Then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday is currently free (hopefully it will stay that way). Then Thursday, it's get ready for level test. Friday AM, level test. Friday PM, say goodbye to another crowd of friends. ETC ETC ETC...... Final week will consist of a family reunion in Glous. A short trip to the Foreign Office in Milton Keynes to notarise some legal documents for Korea. Then it's the final countdown.

OK, I've mumbled on just about enough that 'Countryfile', on BBC1, has finished so I can get back to some TV watching. X Factor it is, to hopefully witness the downfall of those awful twins 'John and Edward'. Fingers crossed.

Laters.
Just a silly little piece of photoshop I did......

While I was away, I did this and this and that, thought about this and this and that....... Lots of stuff really, read on...... find out.

2009-10-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

Amie and I
31st July huh? Wow, please accept my dearest apologies for not updating for such a long time. Some might think that I have been plodding along doing nothing, others might think I may have gone into blog hiding, maybe given up on the whole ordeal, which to be honest it can be at times. Well, the truth is that for my last month in Korea, I was a bit of an emotional mess. Not sad to be leaving as such, but more just in a state of looseness. I had completely lost all drive for teaching, all drive for eating well, all drive for studying Korean, all drive for being social, all drive for my existence in some horror moments. I was strictly focused on getting home and seeing everybody and working my way through all those UK things that I had been dwelling on minute by minute since I'd booked my flight a few weeks back. To be brutally honest I felt a little lonely. My house became, all of a sudden, a very spacious airy hotel room. It lost its comfort and familiarity. Sleeping became a problem and I even began to see things in my room. I knew it was an accumulation of too many emotions. Sadness to be leaving, anxiety about what the next 6 months has for me, where to travel, therefore indecision, tiredness, confusion over the future, pressure on decisions, in regards to 'What job to do next?'........ Bla Bla Bla..... All sounds pretty deep, but it just boiled down to, I needed a break!!!!

Which is what I'm in now. Got back to the UK on the 1st September. Thrown into a hectic lifestyle of dinners here, coffees there, drinks here and more dinners, coffees and drinks there. Having such a wide berth of friends is great. Friends from University, friends from my first job, second job, third job, part time jobs, friends met in Korea now in the UK, ex-girlfriends, of course family and just people I love and wanted to see and be around again. Not to mention a couple of 'old school' reunions. One reunion with a small crew from Bungay High school days, last time we were all together was 8 years ago. What I'm trying to say is that I had a very busy schedule. So much so, that I had to start a diary, and actually use and live by it. I've always been cautious about starting a diary. I've always been proud to say that I can handle my 'goings on' without use of a diary and cope fine with my competent mind, but this, rapid fire, series of catch ups required careful and precise scheduling. Not at all complaining in the slightest. I ate many deliciously prepared foods and drank many delicately poured wines, along with perfectly executed catch up chats. I was living the life of a ra-ra king..... No work, lunching and dining may way through the working week. All this soon starting hitting hard on the bank balance, so I had to sit back.

Rick and I then thought that we'd would both tick a box on our 'must do' list and head to New York for a bit. We booked it, with thanks to Air France, and started our planning. 6 nights it would be. Emails from past New Yorkers got us on our way. We landed and were thrown into the deep end. Our hostel was in Harlem, ok it was East Harlem, and South South East Harlem at that. But, when we stepped out of the subway at 103rd Street, I tell you it was more of a culture shock than landing in Seoul. Can't explain what the feeling was, but just felt out of place. Soon got comfortable and started to enjoy New York for what New York is all about. The yellow taxis, the NYPD, the diverseness of everything there. The people, the architecture, the smells, the atmospheres, the attitudes, all combining to create the New York experience. On leaving New York, I decided that it wasn't all that I had cracked it up to be. Cities are cities and most tick in the same way as the next one, and the last one. I spent 5 days in Tokyo and came out with the same conclusion. To really thrive and immerse yourself into a city, and therefore get the essentials out of it, one has to live there for a healthy duration, not just a jolly 7 day tourist visit.

Whilst in New York, Rick and I went to a predominately Korean area. We both love Korean food so thought that we would hunt out some decent Korean BBQ. We found it and found ourselves enjoying it as if it was our first time. During this specific meal, something hit me. I remember the feeling as if it had just happened now, as I'm typing 'typing'. I placed my first mouthful of juicy BBQ-ed pork belly into my mouth and I decided there and then, that I need to get back to Korea, as soon as I possibly could. For the next 24 hours I racked my brain on what I could do. I then saw a video of my old kids on-line, thanks to Steph Teacher. This acted as the confirmation that I would be going back to Korea when possible. Although I didn't need confirmation, as such, as I already knew what I needed to do. I needed to go to Korea and study Korean.

On our return to London I started a little research and discovered the suitable remedy for my illness. A 150 hour Korean course at Sogang University, starting December 1st and finishing February 18th. This gives me enough time to organise my life before starting, and also fits in nicely with starting a new job from March 1st, which is the new schooling year in Korea. So, enrolling was next and enroll I did. Paid tuition fees, booked flights and off I go again. Now it's 24th October, and in four weeks I'll be off.

Sorry for the boring recap on my life, but thought that I would bring us up to speed, and use this as an opportunity to launch my blog into its next generation. On returning to Korea I will bring a new spin on the blog. Not sure exactly what it'll be yet, but maybe a makeover and some kind of format change. Stay tuned......

Some pics from the last couple months.

The London Eye.

umm, It's a New York City yellow cab. Duh!

A big green park called Central Park.

Exit door, with Statue of Liberty in the back, background.

Statue of Liberty and the sun in the back, background.

Thank you......

Broken down again (in a good way)

2009-07-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

The unthinkable has happened. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I tried hard, not very hard, but hard enough to prevent this from happening. But, they did it, they did it again. They got me. I moulded an emotional barrier around myself with all natural materials possible, but they chipped, chopped and ground away until they finally broke me down. I have put my hand up, I have thrown in the white towel, I love these kids. God Damn it.....

My new kids in Yellow and Green class have finally made an emotional impact on me. When I took them over five months ago, I knew in my mind that I would be leaving Kids Herald School. So in order to make this 'leaving' as easy as possible, I said to myself not to get too involved with the kids on an emotional level. I made a serious conscious decision to care less about my job on all aspects, with the kids being the pinnacle of this. My last kids had a tremendous impact on my contract decision making, hence staying at the school a second year, a decision I have no regrets about at all, quite the opposite. What I really craved was a peaceful departure from my tenure at Kids Herald School.

It was impossible though. It was going well. I was able to teach them well, to the best of my ability, but keeping a safe distance from them. Having a larger number of kids (9 and 8) in the classes, than before (6 and 4), made this mission possible. However, no matter how much I pushed them away, literally, they kept chipping away, looking for weaknesses, and I finally cracked. Here are some short profiles on a couple of kids that stick out. With pictures of course. You could say these are the reasons.

Eric. Currently top of the tree. Number one kid. A comedy genius. An old man in a young mans body. He has a peeing problem. He goes to the toilet about 10 times a day, in fact, maybe more. He has a fantastic sense of humor. Situation comedy. I have never seen this in a child so young before. I could learn a thing or two from this kid. He knows he's cute. He loves to pose for a picture. He always questions a question, with a question. Comedy in itself (for a 7 year old anyway). He has artistic talent, he draws creatively. Everyones wants to sit next to him at lunch. Everyone wants to be him. He is Eric.
This is Eric, posing, yet again, for the camera, styling his new hat.

And his new clothes.

Lucy. Currently top of the tree of girls. She was called Cute Lucy last year, for obvious reasons. She's cute. This year I call her Lucy Loo, I call Wendy, Wendy Woo. It sounds good, kids love it. Lucy is very cute. She's a typical cute girl. She's a 7 year old with the mind of a rich, pretty, sweet 16. Daddy looks after her. She expects to get what she wants. If she's moody at school, leave her alone, if she's happy, then keep her thay way. Sounds horrible, but, it's charming. If she's smiling, then no doubt, you'll be smiling too. That what she brings to the class. She is Lucy.
This is her, at the forefront of this image, presenting me with a green tea, tea bag.

Here she's again, showing me her new book.

and here they are together......

Hold the FRONT PAGE

2009-07-20T07:08:00.001-07:00

This may be my third blog in about 10 days, which some might say is a little bit too much, but this next update is significant. Most of you know that I am not the most motivated of readers, and my history of reading is a fairly recent and lacking in weight. In fact that's probably an understatement.

I was never a reader as a child and when I was at university a maybe read the odd book here and there, (one book over the course of a few months, maybe more). After uni, I maintained this same pattern, with the occasional burst of two books in quick succession. Things really picked up when I moved to Korea, and I started reading books back to back with the occasional break in between to rest my poor young brain.

I set a new record a few weeks back when a read a book called "The Koreans", a book about Korean people, yep, in about 3 weeks. VERY good for me. Then I beat that record by reading "The Aquariums of Pyongyang", a memoir from an North Korean Concentration Camp escapee, yep, in about 12 days. Well, yesterday I thrashed that record and probably set an unbeatable one by reading a book in under 12 hours, plus 6 of those hours, I was sleeping. The book was/is "South of the Border, West of the Sun", By Japanese author Haruki Murakami. I thought this was significant enough, and worthy enough to warrant a blog.

I now plan to take a six month break from reading. I'm going to take up watching You Tube clips of UK's Big Brother, and maybe some clips of some other mind numbing **** that can be found online. Actually no, I'm hoping to find another page turner. Recommendations please.

Oh, 6 weeks remaining.

My Home.

2009-07-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

This was taken a few days before my departure, back in August 2007. No looking back.....

I'm currently perched on top of my tree, looking down, waiting for my prey like a hungry, ravenous, blood thirsty vulture. My prey is England and my waiting time will be exactly 45 days until I can get my hands on my lunch. My lunch being the things that I miss about home, the things that have ruined the last 3 months in Korea, because they're the things that I have been whining for, the things that have distracted me from truly enjoying recent life in Korea.

What are they?

Well, some of them will be obvious choices, others are just things that people take for granted until they're away.

Talking English to my dogs:
Quite weird, but it dawned on me last week when I met my friends new puppies. The puppies were just a year old, and had been brought up by Koreans. Therefore they spoke Korean.......??!!! (you know what I mean)
I wanted to hang out with the dogs, walk with them, chat like people chat with dogs. Suddenly I felt a wave of strangeness. I thought "I don't know what to say to a Korean dog"...... It baffled me. I think another way of looking at this is that I miss Biffer and Douglas, the two big dogs in my life. Looking forward to hanging out with the fat pooches, watching TV, eating peanut butter on toast, while they watch me, eating peanut butter on toast, and drooling.

Biffer sniffing.

Picking up a multi-read Metro newspaper:
Travelling on London’s vintage Underground is always a pleasure since I've been out of the country. A memory that lives on, which is one that I miss, is the moment before the doors open. I always look into the carriage to see if there's a newspaper lying around. At certain times of the day, and on certain lines, you're guaranteed a newspaper, and sometimes even a choice. If there's only one or two copies lying on the dirt ridden floor, then it becomes a head to head with fellow passengers to be, to get that multi-read newspaper.

Options!!

Knowing 'What's On', and when:
Watching TV in Korea is fun. They're various English channels with a lot of decent programming, there is also a lot of mind numbing bulls**t that a certain ratio of the worlds population are sadly into, and learn from. I have a cable situation set-up, I get about 60 channels, mostly Korean of course. With my level of Korean understanding still below basic, I sometimes sit back and pass my own interpretation as to what is going on, on the screen. This can be fun. Some thing that does annoy me is not knowing what is on next, later, tomorrow, next week, etc etc. Having a TV guide is one of those things that I have missed on a daily basis. Sky + is really the most luxurious platforms to watch TV, and I have missed it so much. Can't wait to sit down, with peanut butter on toast, while the fat pooch drools onto my newly ironed white shorts, and check up on the TV schedule......

Big TV please.....

Eating Humus:
I have missed this sooooo much. I can't wait to slice up a yellow pepper and dip the hell out of it into some humus. Then toast up some pita bread and dip the hell out of it into the humus. I have asked many Korean people about humus, doesn't exist. I've been to many foreign food markets, doesn't exist. I sliced up a red pepper yesterday, munched down on my first slice, without anything exciting to dip into, result?, nothing, no joy, disappointment, it wasn't the same. The more I think about humus, the more I miss it. Family and friends aside, I seriously think that this is one of the things I have missed the most. Who would have thought eh?!

Definately some humus in this London shop!!!

That’ll do for now. Apologies for any typos, too tired to read over it and check. You do it for me!!

Spending a Penny? take a minute

2009-07-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

An empty bottle of water. It will make sense later.

Ever had to take stock before you walk into a bathroom? Not talking about your bathroom at home, but maybe the one you use at work, or maybe the one you use at your local, or the one in your favourite department store. I’ll be talking about the trials and tribulations of my trips to the bathroom at my Korean Kindergarten.

Going to the bathroom at work/school isn’t ever a simple procedure. It has turned into a calculated task, that isn’t as simple as ‘spending a penny’. “Can I go to the bathroom please?” is one of the very first full sentences the kids will learn at English school. The boys bathroom consists of three fully functional urinals, two child sized sit-downs, and then two adult sized sit-downs. There are also another three urinals, but they’re out of order, always have been, always will be. The urinals are probably two feet shorter than your custom urinal. This obviously means I have to immediately bend at the knees, which at first created a whole new peeing technique, now after two years I have mastered. The main problem about going to the bathroom is the kids fascination at what you have got. Every time, EVERYTIME, I’m in the bathroom peeing, and a kid walks in, you can be assured that they will stand at the urinal next to you, and they will cast an eye over. Again, at first I had to get used to this, but now I’m already well and truly shielded from any possible on-looking curiously minded Korean child, before they walk in. However, this doesn’t stop them. This didn’t happen to me, but it happened to Anthony. He was shielding, thanks to our self trained technique, but the kid wasn’t letting that deter him, he simply walked behind Anthony and then ducked down, between his legs and tried to look up. Luckily, Anthony had shaken and just put the attraction away, if not, then little Kyle may have had an early shower. Unbelievable!!!!

So kids ‘looking on’ is one thing, another is the kids very own technique of peeing. Some kids have some dignity and they lower the front of their trouser and pee, conventional style. Some kids undue their trouser and then pull them down, with pants, to the floor. Then they lift their t-shirts up to their chin, and if that wasn’t enough they stand back and fire it into the urinal. It’s like a well choreographed performance. The beauty of this is that the boys bathroom door is facing the girls bathroom door. The girls find it insanely funny, why wouldn’t they?, when they see a boy doing this. To be honest, it disturbs me quite a lot, needless to say if one of the little pee-ers is doing this when I walk in, I give them a minute, wait patiently until they have re-dressed themselves, before I take my turn.

So peeing has it troubles, how about sit-down time? If there is ever a moment that needs the ultimate care and attention at Kids Herald School, then this is it. If a kid sees you going into, or out of, the cubicle then fully expect a comment. The comment will then be taken out into the corridor where he will, definitely, tell anyone in sight that Toby Teacher is taking a shit. He will say in Korean, “Toby Teacher is pooing”. These days I never let this situation happen, I plan my cubicle usage very carefully. In the past, I have departed the bathroom to a chorus of kids pointing, giggling, basically pointing and shouting the word “POO”.

One last trial of going to the bathroom is in the afternoons. The cleaning lady washes the floors well before the day is up. Her technique is thorough. She mops, scrubs etc. then to wash everything she pulls the hose and drenches every last inch of the bathroom. The water takes a good hour to dry up and wash down the drain. During this hour, it’s a very questionable walking surface. The slippers that I wear to work, and perfect for ice skating. I have fallen down twice during this time. I have slipped and nearly fallen about 50 times. Every time my heart skips a beat. This is just another thing that crosses my mind each and every time I need to pee.

I need to pee about 10 or so times a day, I’m guessing. I drink so so so much water at work. A new hobby if you like. I drink so much, and go to the bathroom so much that one class of mine call me bathroom teacher. This seems a fitting way to end the blog.

The Marmite Debate

2009-06-02T23:30:00.001-07:00

There are a large number that fall in both categories. In fact I would like to challenge any "I hate Korea" person, to put their hand of their heart and say they completely dislike every aspect of the country. For me, this is impossible. I love this country dearly, but at the same time it can be hateable. To summarise, before I digress, I would say this country has a significant ability to keep people interested, keep them guessing, wondering, a huge amount of mysteriousness is behind peoples fascination with these lands. Nobody can truly understand exactly what the make-up of Korea is. I think this is why people stay here longer than they anticipated. I recall thinking to myself "I'm not done here, I don't know why, but I got another year in me". I wasn't driven by another years contract earning decent money or by a lady, although both of those two things were VERY VERY VERY good reasons to stay. I think the feeling was deeper. I'm still fascinated by everything this country offers. I think I'm addicted to the people, the food and the mysteriousness. I've read a few articles in The Korean Times recently, written by a Korean. He's a social critique. He's discussed some intriguing opinions of Korean people and their society. The most significant to mind is that he sees Koreans as a tribe. A tribe with a huge heart, and as within any tribe, the heart is focused on looking after their own. It's very true. This carries over into the justice system in this country. Of course there are elements of justice, but the justice is awarded by the heart rather than a rule or procedure. Our justice system is down to one word "Justice". In a car accident, for example, if a driver is drunk, then without question that person is to blame, that is the procedure of justice in regards to a drunken car accident. In Korea, recently, there was a incident where a motorcyclist, from the US, hit a drunk Korean man. The drunk man was J-walking on an area of road that, by law, should be lit up. It wasn't lit up. So we have a road that the cities council have neglected, a drunken man who is J-walking and a motorcyclist. The three of them find themselves in a court. In a court of justice, the monies owed would fall into the hands of the drunken man, for J-walking, and the councils for neglecting the law and not illuminating the road. However, in a Korean court of tribalism, the monies owed fell upon the motorcyclist. Is that justice?? No, not to the American. But is it justice to a fellow tribesmen? Yeah, sure it is.I don't have a strong opinion on this issue of justice, but it highlights a fascination that Korea offers. Koreans have a huge heart. The heart comes first. Sadly, the heart is for their own.

I'm currently planning a trip around India. I've heard from many people and publications that India has the biggest heart of all nations. The difference being, when considering the Korean heart, is that the Indian heart is open for all, where as the Korean is very much closed and only open at rare times, and of course, for their own.

Tears way before their bedtime

2009-05-21T05:54:00.001-07:00

I have around 90 days left at my current school. I have spent my FULL TIME in Korea at Kids Herald School. So you're looking at two years employment with only a total of 5 or 6 weeks vacation in those two years. So, I have spent a healthy amount of time within the four brightly decorated walls of my private institution.

Over the last few weeks, having decided to definitely leave the school, I have started to think about a few special kids. I've mentioned before that you get attached to kids on more than just a teacher-student basis. Some kids you chat to their mothers, and you get a bit of inside information on their family and relationships begin to blossom. One mother bought me a pizza the other day because she, and her two daughters, both of whom I teach and have taught, felt sorry for me being in Korea, without my family. The most of the mothers in this system of education are insane and completely irrational, but there are a few that stick out as seriously thoughtful and warm people. One mother wanted to take me to a nice restaurant, with her whole family, to thank me for teaching her son. She decided upon giving me a restaurant voucher instead because she thought it would be too uncomfortable for me to sit with her normally large Korean family, she was right.

My thinking right now is that I can't wait to get out of the school and have some down-time. But then I think of a few faces that I will dearly miss. The three kids that I know I will miss are Sarah, Angela and Bookie. There are of course a whole lot more. These three have all been brilliant. Weird and wonderful kids. Cute and crazy.

Having spent, on average, about 5 hours a day with these kiddies, it's hard to tell how it's going to feel when I finally leave them. To see a kid grow from the age 4 to 6, you do see a heart warming transformation in a child, that I was a big part of. I can predict (and probably confirm) that there will be some tears on my last day.

Here's an early picture of Sarah with a bloody snake around her neck.

Here's Angela refusing to have a bloody snake around her neck.

Bookie is the one on the left. Sara is worthy of a mention too, she'll be missed.

Rain

2009-05-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

Not particular reason as to why I haven't written a blog in a while. I guess in the same fashion as when I do write blogs, I wrote them for no reason other than I wanted to. Recently, I haven't wanted to write anything.
Today, I suddenly feel like writing a blog. As I'm writing I have no idea what I'm going to write about, how much I'm going to write, but I do know what images I'll be including. Yesterday was a typical day of rain in Seoul. One of those days when it just doesn't stop raining. On some of those days the rain will be torrential and the whole city is a wash. This Saturday was a drizzly day. One would be ok walking from their house to the station without an umbrella, if they didn't mind a light dampening on their knitwear. I decided to put my 70-300mm lens on my camera and take some shots. I had a umbrella in one hand and the camera in the other. Manual focus whilst holding the umbrella did prove challenging, but it actually made me slow down my shots and take a little more care when composing. I'm quite happy with the results. I went out knowing that I'd be mono-chroming the images once I got back to base. I played around with the levels on photoshop and have managed to create some fairly professional looking shots. Not bad for a hungover amateur photographer with a questionable umbrella above his head.

We had teachers day last week. I got some decent gifts.
In order of my likeness, worst first.
A handkerchief,
3 oranges,
3 sachets of instant coffee,
A diary with many pictures of coffee from around the world,
50,000 won restaurant voucher (about £27)
50,000 Coffee Bean coffee shop points card.

The coffee points card is an amazing present. I was so overjoyed at receiving this gift that I had to tell as many people as I possibly could (You know that feeling when something good happens). My new kids have started to call me coffee teacher. They have presented this to me as my official nickname. The chants of Toby Teacher have been replaced. Even the mothers make reference to my new nickname in their monthly student files. This was the basis for the coffee related presents. The reason they call me coffee teacher is because I drink a cup of coffee every morning. I guess that justifies.

Nothing extraordinarily exciting has happened to me in the past few weeks, months. JOKE, Rick did come to Korea, and at the same time he did enjoy his 10 day holiday here in Seoul. He loved the food, the nightlife and the general tick that Seoul has. It's pretty good place to visit it seems. Shame Korea doesn't sell itself to the world more so, but having recently read a lot in to their history it's no wonder they aren't forthcoming with open arms. Rick and I, hired a car (I got my Korean driving license a couple of months ago) so we drove to an island just off Incheon, the airport area. The weather in Seoul was high 20's, with it possibly touching 30 during the peak hours. On the island, I would estimate it was about 8 degrees. A rather large, and moist cloud had parked itself on, yes on, not above, the island. We were in a cloud for our 24 hours on the island. But we had underfloor heating in our beach-hut, which was 20 metres to the sea, which we couldn't see because of the cloud, so all was good. Happy memories.

Think I'm going to wrap this up. I did have a few more ideas for this blog, but a friend just called and they've sidetracked my thinking and I've completely forgotten what it was. Here is another rainy pic.....

See you soon.

DELAYED

2009-05-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

This blog has been delayed due to extreme weather conditions in my life. Not really extreme, just need to relax for a bit. More focus has been on going to the gym, un-winding and more recently, enjoying other pastures, away from blog writing. The forecast is good so I expect the updates to be more frequent and of significance soon.

I can say that I will return to the UK at the end of August for a break. The duration of this break is still in the balance but it will be longer than three weeks and probably shorter than three months. We'll see.

Sports

2009-04-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

One year, seven months, lots of experiences. Countless memories, some joyful, some life curving, but all significant in the wrapping of my time here in South Korea. Within this time frame I have been to two sporting events. The thought of it makes me feel sick. How can I document to myself and other people that, "I like all sports"? I have been to just two major sporting events.
In fact, when I was back home for 3 weeks I went to two football games and one day of cricket. My first sporting event in Seoul was a football game during my first week and my latest addition to sporting experiences in another country was a baseball game yesterday. It was great fun. I shared the experience with a fellow Brit, like me had never been to a baseball game, and then a Canadian, who knew a fair amount about baseball and then Jason, an American who would proudly put baseball at the top of his pecking order of sports.
Throughout the game we were all calling upon our sporting experiences, with the focus being on the atmosphere and action of the fans. It seems that in all sports, that we discussed anyway, that football (soccer for the North Americans out there) is the only sport that has negative banter between its supporters. Jason was quite surprised to hear that on occasions (every game), the fans will hurl abuse at referees, opposition players and also their own players. He found it quite amusing that a Spurs fan would enjoy chanting "Viera, whoooohooa, Viera, whooohooa, he wants to leave the scum, cause Campbell wants his bum", as an example of many that I gave. Another being, "The referees a wan*er".
After my experience yesterday, at the very clam and respectful baseball game, I felt a desire for my blood to be pumping at a Spurs game. I do miss the atmosphere at a Permiership football game, and all the abuse and negative verbal slants that one will here during the 90 minutes should not be taken too seriously. This kind of electric language is what gives our great game the edge over most when it comes to being a spectator sport. I think passion is the word.
Passion was definately evident at the baseball yesterday. During picthes there was a atmospheric bouyancy that any sporting event would be proud to present. The difference between a British football game and a Korean baseball game can be summarised by one of their songs. The theme tune to 'Inspector Gadget', was blasted out of the stands, and to the crowds delight they would tweet "dudt doooo", at the end of the sample..... awe inspiring.
Here are a couple more pics from the baseball......

The Marmite Debate

2009-04-05T04:53:00.000-07:00

My comparison, to that of the yeast spreadable Marmite, is pretty straight forward. Korea is a country that, once you have been here long enough to understand it, long enough to pass some kind of judgment, most come up with either "I love it", or"I hate it".

There are a large number that fall in both categories. In fact I would like to challenge any "I hate Korea" person, to put their hand of their heart and say they completely dislike every aspect of the country. For me, this is impossible. I love this country dearly, but at the same time it can be hateable. To summarise, before I digress, I would say this country has a significant ability to keep people interested, keep them guessing, wondering, a huge amount of mysteriousness is behind peoples fascination with these lands. Nobody can truly understand exactly what the make-up of Korea is. I think this is why people stay here longer than they anticipated. I recall thinking to myself "I'm not done here, I don't know why, but I got another year in me". I wasn't driven by another years contract earning decent money or by a lady, although both of those two things were VERY VERY VERY good reasons to stay. I think the feeling was deeper. I'm still fascinated by everything this country offers. I think I'm addicted to the people, the food and the mysteriousness. I've read a few articles in The Korean Times recently, written by a Korean. He's a social critique. He's discussed some intriguing opinions of Korean people and their society. The most significant to mind is that he sees Koreans as a tribe. A tribe with a huge heart, and as within any tribe, the heart is focused on looking after their own. It's very true. This carries over into the justice system in this country. Of course there are elements of justice, but the justice is awarded by the heart rather than a rule or procedure. Our justice system is down to one word "Justice". In a car accident, for example, if a driver is drunk, then without question that person is to blame, that is the procedure of justice in regards to a drunken car accident. In Korea, recently, there was a incident where a motorcyclist, from the US, hit a drunk Korean man. The drunk man was J-walking on an area of road that, by law, should be lit up. It wasn't lit up. So we have a road that the cities council have neglected, a drunken man who is J-walking and a motorcyclist. The three of them find themselves in a court. In a court of justice, the monies owed would fall into the hands of the drunken man, for J-walking, and the councils for neglecting the law and not illuminating the road. However, in a Korean court of tribalism, the monies owed fell upon the motorcyclist. Is that justice?? No, not to the American. But is it justice to a fellow tribesmen? Yeah, sure it is.

I don't have a strong opinion on this issue of justice, but it highlights a fascination that Korea offers. Koreans have a huge heart. The heart comes first. Sadly, the heart is for their own.

What are you doing?

2009-03-18T23:36:00.001-07:00

Stop sitting there moaning about your country being in a financial boo hoo, get up and sample something completely refreshing and insanely rewarding. Come and teach in Korea. Why aren't you here already? Is a question, I would ask you. A question you might ask yourself is "Why not?". There's no small print when it comes to Korea. Everything everyone tells you is true. Artificial temptations are; the good pay that you'll receive, the free housing you will receive and the hero status the kids and mothers will give you, most of the time. Other huge selling points to this country are; its culture and food, its big city, its smaller cities, its energy and tradition. If you're in limbo about what to do next, then come, get on that plane (which your company will pay for by the way), don't waste anymore time.

See you soon....... (maybe)

Writing Practice

2009-03-10T03:43:00.000-07:00

What you see is a diary extract. I don't usually write a diary in my own language, but thought it would be a good method of practicing newly acquired Korean vocab and grammar (in fact it wasn't my idea, but Chris Uttons, but I took it on).

I wrote this today and am using it on here to show you what kind of level I'm at and what I'm studying. I will of course translate for you soon. I wrote this in about 15 minutes, so I'm a little bit chuffed with myself, as were my Korean teachers. They seem to think that I'm smart, I have never been called smart by any teacher in my existence, and I'm not taking this too seriously as, I'm pretty sure, they're just being nice, after all, it's in their nature to be nice, in situations like this.

Translation.

Saturday, Last week, my girlfriend and I went shopping. and then we had dinner in Hongdae. We ate Samgyobsal. Yesterday morning, afternoon and evening I took a rest because I was tired. Next month my friend will come to Korea, but, I want him to come now, because I miss him so much. Tomorrow evening, I'm not busy, therefore, I want to go shopping, but, I don't have lots of money, so, I will not be going shopping. I will probably go shopping with my girlfriend next month. I think shopping is fun, but it's expensive. Next Year, I will probably go traveling, because I want to have a rest. I think that Brazil is interesting, therefore, I might go there. But, There are lots of countries that I want to see, so it's difficult to choose.

Other things that have brightened up my life are these.
Penguins make Ice Cream. I was talking about food groups with my 8 year olds. Dairy foods was our subject and the best way I could describe them was that they came from animals, which is true, isn't it?.
A little while later I said "What food group does Ice Cream go in?", I said Dairy because it's made from milk, essentially. One kid, remembering that 'Dairy products come from animals', and looking confused that I had placed it in the dairy group, questioned me "Does ice cream come from penguins, then?". My goodness it made me smile from ear to ear. What a beautiful idea!!!!!
Big Bang is a Scientist. In Korea, K-POP, is huge. Korean Pop is the only music that youngsters listen to. There are alternative genres, but if you're looking at percentages then we're talking about 90% of the country listen to and love K-POP. One of the leading artists is 'Big Bang', which I think is made up of 4/5 very female looking males, not transsexual, but just very young and cared for males. Their songs are catchy and quite good actually. Anyway, In class today, with my 7 year olds, we were talking about the Earth, Volcanoes, Lava, etc etc. One kid said, "A long time ago there was a big bang". Thomas then said, "Why is the group called 'Big Bang', do they like science?", Then his friend replied, "maybe they're scientists".

Moments like the penguin and the big bang are two concrete reasons why my job is amazing. Hard at times, but where else can you get dialogue like that?! I love it.........

Nice contrast. A slice of a Buddhist temple (old) with offices in background (new).

Something, that I think I've mentioned before, that is bothering me, is how much I'm stared at. If this happened at home you would be very proud and even start to gain some self confidence and believe that people like the way you look.
Here, it's obviously because I'm a significant minority. However, some of the looks I get are as if they have never seen a foreign sole before. This, although very unlikely, might be the case. Either way, some of the looks are of genuine disgust. Mostly coming from the elder generation and also from the female sex.
Men usually stare at you, and then look away because more often than not I will be bigger than them, and men usually look another man as an act of comparing stature, therefore when a Korean man looks at one of us, they then feel inferior, so they quickly look away. A completely fabricated and not completely honest opinion, but it reads well.
Mothers in Korea are like no others on planet Earth. They care for the sons and daughters to a level of pure insanity. It's a beautiful thing though, I'm not casting a negative judgment on them in the slightest. However, it leads me to why elder women, probably mothers, look at us foreign folk with disgust.
Firstly, considering their daughters, they think that I'm going to date them, woo them, marry them and whisk them off to my country to settle down. Secondly, considering their sons, if I date a Korean women they think that is reducing the number of beautiful women (options) for their sons. Interesting........

Nothing too important

2009-03-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

A neglected life size teddy bear, thrown out to the dogs. Shame.

Oryudong is where I live. I've lived in this old undeveloped part of Seoul since my first toddlers steps in South Korea. It is where I experienced my first Korean hangover, it is where I got out of my second Korean taxi. Oryudong is famously known for being an old part of town. It's the least developed part, well at least one of the more undeveloped parts of Seoul, but it has immense character and will always, currently still does, have a huge piece of my Korean heart. Tooting Broadway, which was my last significant home, was also a shabby part of a big city that hadn't seen much light of day (in terms of development). Tooting Broadway and specifically Himley Road, will live in my fondest memories forever, in the same way as Oryudong will, although for extremely different reasons.

One thing that has bothered me over the last 18 months is Orydong's lack of fresh coffee. Seoul is overflowing with coffee shops. Starbucks is an obvious choice but there are a good 10-15 other heavily branded coffee shops flooding the high and low streets of Seoul (not to mention all the other independent ones, that still manage to stand up). There's even a Charlie Brown franchise coffee shop. It's a uniquely created coffee shop, with a double life size Charlie Brown character (and Snoopy) floating in and around the stores, bothering customers.

Despite the epidemic of latte lounges across the city, not one has ever been opened in the history of Oryudong....... UNTIL NOW!!!!!! It's has been a bit of an ongoing joke with people close to me, as my desperation for fresh coffee in the morning has even resulted in a 30min detour to work, on occasions, to get a latte. I've been praying (not literally) for one to open nearby, and finally this little gem, Tous le Jours, opened two weeks ago. BUT, I have a small psychological problem, already. The lady that works in there clearly doesn't like to make coffee. Tous le Jours is predominately a Bakery, that houses a small coffee machine in the distant corner. I'm convinced she fears me every time I walk in. BUT, I can't let that stop me, coffee is on the menu and I'm ordering.

Something completely different but probably more of interest to the reader is my temperament. I love my job, of course, but you must remember that at times I'm teaching 10-12, 6/7/8/9/10 year olds. Right now I have just started two new classes. I have taken over Pink and Purple class from Anthony Teacher. The kids, so far, are adorable and a welcome change of pace. One thing that is testing my temperament is the abuse I'm getting. I will be bringing this up in conversations with Anthony when he returns to Korea in a couple of weeks. In a light hearted manner of course.

I'm getting beaten by the kids most of the day. I'll walk into the class and a chorus of "Good Morning Teacher", is shortly followed by surprise swings of the arms into my backside, stomach and/or thigh, from a few different directions. To them it's obviously a sign of affection, but I'm having to train them to channel their emotion in a less aggressive manner. At the same time I'm having to train myself not to retaliate. Ones usual reaction to getting hit is to retaliate and hit back, or apply some forceful restraint, but I can't and don't want to do that. Maybe I do want to, but it would comprehend my profession, I think, if I started hitting the kids. I'll stick to shouting and pointing.

The last week and week before that, and possibly some time before that, also.

2009-02-22T05:43:00.001-08:00

Kelly is asleep. She dreaming about Toby Teacher, not being her Teacher anymore. Painful!

An informative compilation blog on the last couple of weeks of my life

Jeremy (seen in pic above) - He's 5 years old. I asked him to draw his dream classroom. I suggested an ice cream machine, big pillows, lots of toys, sweet makers, milk man, lots of other things that all kids in our modern world love. I then suggested a big TV on the wall so he can watch cartoons all day long. He frowned at me, with a look of absolute disgust, then continued to draw a bookshelf full of books. Fair enough.

Sarcasm - I was getting into a taxi with my secret girlfriend, haha. We were going to a supermarket that was quite close, but too close to walk, plus we didn't know exactly how to walk there anyway, so taxi was the only option. We got in, gave our destination, and sat back. The taxi driver then started ranting about how close we were and that we should get out and walk. OK, very nice of him to point us in the right direction, as it was only a 10 min walk. BUT, he wanted to charge us for his information. We had moved about 2 car lengths whilst he gave us the information, as we were stuck in traffic. He justified his charge of £1.25, like this "If I hadn't of given you the information, and drove to the supermarket, you would have to have paid triple this amount". What an arsehole. I was enraged. Why couldn't he just give us the information.

So, on leaving the taxi and giving him his money, I did an ALMIGHTY sarcastic bow. As you know Asians bow to everything, they would probably bow to a pigeon in Trafalgar Square. So, I thought I would vent my anger by closing the door, then maneuvering myself into his eye line, then bowing enthusiastically. I was caught up in the moment, I had forgotten that behind me there were about 100 Koreans eagerly waiting for the stream of buses that come through the area. Oh well, I had the last laugh on the taxi driver.

New Look - Thursday was day one of the new semester. Kids throughout Korea all go up a grade in their respective schools. The country stands still as kids, mothers, teachers, head teachers, school directors etc etc brace themselves for a change of pace. Teachers will say goodbye to kids, kids will say goodbye to schools.

In private schools like mine, it's the same. As I've mentioned recently we were going to have some alterations to our format. Five teachers left and currently four have come in. The outstanding member, Sarah from the UK, is due to arrive in the next week. Currently we are all doing our part and covering her classes, which is unpleasant. Breaks are hard to come by, usually, so with extra substitute classes, life could and should be better.

BUT, my new kids are good. The biggest bonus about my two new Kindergarten classes is that they're at the same level. In the past 18 months, I've taught different levels. Teaching two levels requires two complete sets of curriculum and therefore two complete sets of ideas. Now, I can create one lesson plan and utilise that plan for both classes. Therefore my brain consumption has been sliced in half, literally. It's good news.

Saliva - Over the last few weeks I have found myself salivating when thinking about food. I'm not getting fat or anything, although I have been slack on my gym life of recent. I'm talking specifically about my desire to eat Korean food. I've raved on, probably a number of times, to the point of your boredom, about how good Korean food is, but it's getting silly. The craziest thing is I have probably only tried about 20% of what the country has to offer. What I have tried is just beyond my taste buds. I feel sorry for them. Imagine something being subjected to something that it likes too much, three times a day, and not getting tired of that thing, but also knowing that you aren't able to do it all the time (in my case, for fear of becoming a big fatty with a big rice belly), it's hard. I sit at work, from about 2:30, which is when my Korean lunch has fully digested, until 5:30, which is when I finish work, thinking about what I'm going to eat tonight, and even more so about, what I sadly won't be eating tonight. Luckily most dishes and cuisines are of a healthy nature, so the occasional over indulgence doesn't have too much of a negative conclusion.

I think this will do for now. A couple more pictures for you.

Jebu Do. This is ________

This is me, cooking Korean food. I'm licking those lips of mine!!

Did I mention that Roseanne is alive??!! Seriously, she came back from the dead.

Doom and Gloom

2009-02-18T04:44:00.000-08:00

Koh Lanta, Thailand.

As the 'chilly and breezy winds' of my second South Korean winter are subsiding, I'm hoping my lack-luster attitude at work is going to accompany them. I have been lazy lazy lazy in more ways than one. A few changes that confirm my slight drop in form are as follows. My bedside book is collecting dust, I've started playing scrabble on-line again, I go the gym twice a week rather than three times a week, I've been editing a lot of old photos recently, I'm eating less food, but more ice-creams, I have worn the same t-shirt two days on the bounce a couple of times over the last few weeks and finally, I paid my rent on time this month, rather than early. A slight rise in general laziness (not reading books, not washing my clothes, playing games, eating bad food, not paying rent early, wasting time by editing images that don't need editing) all act as valuable evidence that, right now, I don't give a damn. This might coincide with a few structural changes at work. I think that when one stays within a company for a long period of time, one starts to pick holes. Holes that, to the newcomer/outsider aren't holes at all, they're merely things that have always been their, regular tunnels if you like. I find myself breathing a bit more deeply at work...... elongated sighs are creeping in more and more. Anthony Teacher had an opportunity to take a change of pace and change schools, as his contract was up. He took his opportunity and is leaving in 7 days. My change of pace was confirmed today with the notification that I'll be teaching two seven year old classes from the start of March. So hopefully this will be the DW-40 that I need to kick start my life again, and also matching this will be the arrival of Spring. Happy Days. I'm looking forward to reading a new book and hitting the gym hard again. Also, with going to the gym more frequently I can enjoy that extra ice-cream without it being a burden on my waistline and conscience. And finally, I can wear clean clothes to work and not be paranoid about sweating and smelling out the teachers room.

Me, Seoul.

It isn't and hasn't been all doom and gloom recently. My Korean is booming. I have injected myself with Korean grammar to the point of explosion, and furthermore overdosing on sentence making, with my newly acquired vocab and grammical structure knowledge. My come downs are brief but distracting as I realise the mammouth size of my task. Learning a langauge is 'oh so solid', in other words, very very difficult. One will get carried away with a weeks studying and start to think 'wow, I can do this'. Then reality slaps you accross the face like a big smelly freshly caught Tuna. There isn't an end to learning a new language. No-one can call themselves fluent in any langauge, not even in their own, it's too deep an ocean, too diverse and a forever changing world, is a langauge. Marine-Scientists are still finding new species the deeper they go and learning a new langauge I think has similar attributes. I can't see a completion to my learning of Korean, which is daunting. I just have to 'roll with it' and set myself weekly/monthly goals. By the way I have bought tickets to see Oasis in Seoul.

Around you are the images that I spent time editing. Nothing drastic, I just flirted with the brightness, contrast and color of some images. Enjoy.

Tokyo.

Fish Market, Tokyo.

London, August, 08.

Jebu Do, South Korea.

Tokyo

2009-01-30T03:27:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to conjure up an interesting insight into my whip la around Tokyo. I'll start with some obvious observations.

It's big.
It has lots of people.
There are a lot of tall buildings.
People are Japanese.
I can't read there script.
They use the Yen currency

Here are some facts you might not of known.

The subway is completely insanely huge. But at the same time fantastically efficient. I would compare it to a household tap. The functioning of your tap above your kitchen sink is underestimated. When you make your journey to the tap, do you ever stop and think "hang on, this might not work"?, no you don't. Well the Tokyo Subway is the same, I knew when I got on the platform and it said the next train will be here at 11:23, It was, every single time. I quickly had complete faith in it, as one does with using your tap at home. Get me?

Here's a picture of the subway. This Japanese girl is so confident she doesn't need to check the approach of the train.

It wasn't all glory though as I did come across a very pointless escalator. So, I had just spent about 10 seconds on one of the average sized escalators and on completing the journey I turned the corner to see another set making their way upwards. At first, I was slightly relived as my legs were tired by this point, on day three. Having settled into my relief I then quickly discovered just how small the electronic stairs were, and began to chuckle inside. They totaled 5 steps. Pointless all round. It took me more energy to correct my walking pattern to enter the steps correctly, than it would have done to walk the 5 regular steps. Trivial!

Tokyo nighttime.

I couldn't help but think of Seoul as I walked around, comparing minuscule details here there and everywhere. It was a pretty stupid thing to do for a number of reasons. How can you compare two cites when you have lived in one for 18 months and the other for barely 18 hours? Also, Tokyo is in Japan and Seoul is in Korea. The three big Asian cities of China, Japan and Korea are so far apart in every department. But we all compare them, with the thinking that they are, and should be similar. Not many people go to Poland and say, "I had no idea that it was so different to England". What I mean is that I kept comparing but shouldn't have. So, what I came up with is that Seoul is a very big city with the character of a village. Whereas Tokyo is a big city with the character of a big city, which in other words means, little or no character to capture the cultural minded, which in other words means, just another big city with too much going on to digest, which in other words means, next time you go lots will have changed and there will be more and more of the same, which in other words means, it's just too big. Terribly harsh and a completely unvalidated thing to say, but first impressions do count.

However, these opinions are purely based on comparison to Seoul, which as I said, is a stupid thing to do. I would highly recommend anyone of any age to go and see Tokyo, if you haven't already. I would recommend Tokyo over Seoul for a visit, but the other way round for a lengthier stay, i.e. Exapatriate-hood.

My number one recommendation would be a MUST visit to Tsukijishijo, which is an enormous and empathic fish market. It's officially the biggest in the world. But size isn't everything right? It's what you do with it that counts. They know how to work their fish I tell you know. The tempo of the place was poetic, but intense. If you didn't have you wits about you, you will get hurt, you will get run down by one or a number of the motor carts that whistle through impossibly narrow pathways and screech to a halt when a wellied (man wearing Wellingtons) fisherman lugs a sack of throw away fish heads over his back. I spent about two hours walking around the place clicking away. Every corner offered a new challenge of stacked boxes, some empty, some full to the brim with all different sizes and shapes of fish, topped up with ice. I paused many times to take in what was happening around me. The sound of knives chopping heads and electric saws, working their way down the middle of a gigantic Tuna, See picture..... captured my attention. Then the roar of yet another cart flew infront of me and then behind me, distracted me back to my purpose.

I had planned to get to the market by 6-6:30 to catch the Tuna auction, which features in every travel guide of Tokyo. Sadly every guide, web page and person that I'd spoken to said, "Make sure you get their before 7, so you can see the auction". I got there at 6:20 and the auction had finished. Not to worry there were still plenty sofa sized Tunas lying around, see pictures.

The fish market really was somehting special. The place had such a buzz about it, it made my blood run wild. I guess, having been told that it's the biggest fish market for amounts of this and that type of fish that once I was there, I was beginning to feel this was the epicentre of the worlds fish suppers. Then I started to absorb the work ethic that was being carried out. People didn't stop, there was very little talking, very little distraction from given task. People knew what they had to do and how quickly that had to do it. Some of the work was hard labour, whilst other duties were gut wrenchingly vile, despite this smiles were wide and wholesome. As mentioned, a must see.

People in Tokyo didn't have a huge impression on me. I did take stock of their fashion styles and general persona. In Korea there are a range of styles that people follow. The range is small, but still diverse enough to maintain interest and progress with society. In Japan, it's a very different story. Fashion, youth culture, trends (fashion and technology alike) are constantly changing; accordingly to factual material here and there, that I have read. I, obviously, was only there for a few days, so I can't say if styles change frequently, but I can compare current life to Seoul, and I will.

Tokyo is vibrant with fashion and alternative styles. In fact, within Seoul, Japanese fashion would be classified as alternative, but in Japan it would be considered as the norm, or should I say, one of the acceptable, main stream styles. In other words, Japanese fashion would be frowned upon, or stared at in amazement in Seoul, as it's pushing barriers and comfort zones of the Joe Bloggs of the Korean world. Korean fashion is neat, cool, comfortable, smart, sexy, classy, sophisticated, clean cut and in general acceptable. I mean all styles are acceptable to cultural history. Japanese obviously matches this, as does any country's mainstream style, but then when you go past the watershed of fashion you begin to see the crazy, eye popping, outrageous, mish-mash of styles that the youth are divulging in. In other words, there is no pattern and there's no rule, with the exception of 'absoluetly anything goes'.

Casually walking around dressed 'casually'.

I certainly didn't find any of Japanese fashion to my immediate tastes, but I'm sure if my time there had been longer I would have soon enough found a style that my closet would have welcomed.

For now, this will do on Tokyo. More photos to follow one day soon.

Weekly

2009-01-22T04:58:00.000-08:00

N/B, Longest blog to date. Length wise, yes, word count, maybe not.

Conversation/Quote of the Day: Congratulations to Sara, aged 8.
Toby Teacher: Sara, hurry up please. Come on!!
Sara: I’m comeon-ing.

Genius. She knew right away her mistake, as did the entire class. It made for a very amusing couple of minutes as the class heckled and rolled around in laughter.

Last night I had my first one on one Korean class. I was a little nervous, but more excited than anything. Starbucks was the chosen location, and general discovery of my ability was the chosen agenda. It brings you back to reality when someone actually sits you down and nit-picks at things (pieces of language) that you have been using, somewhat casually, over the last few months. However, it was refreshing to hear some constructive and sensible criticism. Our first class didn’t really have any structure, so I’m not going to be assessing whether or not her style of teaching is compatible to my style of learning. Time will tell.

Currently, I have one class a week, which falls on a Wednesday. I’m tempted to up the tempo to two classes a week and possibly a third. If I do this then I want to do it properly. I want to put in the hours and get some reward. The, once before, hobby of mine is slowly turning into an obsession and a serious contender for the biggest achievement of my life.

Further to beginning my 1-1’s, I have also downloaded the Korean script for my laptop. I feel it will definitely help me with reading and remembering vocabulary, as typing at a painfully slow pace will force me to digest each and every sound and word on its own, again and again. This is my homework for the week. Memorise all of these.

저는 일주일 세번 운동해요
I exercise 3 times a week

저는 일주일 네번 공부해요
I study 4 times a week

오늘 요리 해요
I’ll cook today

매일 한국말 연습해요
I practice Korean everyday

저녁 식사해요
Tonight, I’m having dinner

매 토요일 쇼핑해요
Every Saturday, I shop

노래 재미 있어요
Singing is fun

내년 여행해요
Next Year, I’ll travel.

누구하고 식사해요
Who are you eating with?

어디에서 일해요
Where do you work?

The picture you can see is of Steve. His artwork will help you understand his personality. He’s unique. He came into Red class six months after they started. Jeremy, Sarah and Cherry had been rolling around Red Class, learning their ABC’s and 123’s, turning their It’s a ball’s into That is a big blue ball, etc etc. Then Steve rolls in, head first. His first 4 weeks were painful to watch. He was so nervous. He would loiter in the corners of every room he entered, occasionally cracking open a huge, but limited smile. His smiles didn’t last long. They were big and quite scary, but would fade with any slight adjustment to atmosphere. Everyone was tip toeing on broken egg shells.

As time passed by I discovered that he had a tremendous bag of vocabulary tucked into his brain. When he spoke, it was English. He never spoke Korean. His movements were slight. His trademark was to shake his head at the simplest of orders. “Steve, get your Student Book please, then come sit down”. He would start the notorious head shake, and back off into his chosen corner. This went on for a long time, and even now, six months later, the shake comes back accompanied with a shattering of uncontrollable tears. His confidence has grown greatly. But every now and then, he will burst into a fit of tears over something very trivial.

To summarise so far, you’re probably thinking he’s a little delicate and probably a Mummy’s boy. Far from it. This kid is a hard-nut. He has two older brothers that obviously use him as some kind of toy. An incident occurred about a month ago. We were playing football in Red Class. Simple football, “pass the ball”, “kick the ball”, “goal”, “miss”. He started to get a bit confident and attempted to tackle another kid. He slipped and tripped and fell. He smashed his forehead into the corner of a sharp bookshelf. The sound was revolting. The bump on his head was instant and slowly rose to the size of a couple of Cadbury’s mini-eggs. A small crack appeared and the blood started to trickle. He got up and stood there. Not one shed of a tear. Not even a quiver in his upper lip. He was whisked away to the teachers office for a clean up. Two minutes later, he came running in and demanded me to give him the ball. Solid, solid kid.

It’s Thursday, on Saturday I go to Tokyo. Can’t wait.

Recession

2009-01-15T01:43:00.000-08:00

This image has no relevance to the blog. Just thought it was/is fun.

Having picked up, which I think will be my final installment from Guardian Weekly, it dawned on me, as I flicked page after page, that every story was somehow, or in some way, linked to the recession in the UK. It was quite amusing, not the recession I must add. I would turn a page, and there would be yet another story on the financial crunchy. 95% of the news stories were genuine, factual, informative, and a little depressing, articles about real life situations, as a result of the meltdown. Some other stories were just neatly linked into it all, and did carry a certain degree a relevance. One story had absolutely no connection with recession, money, finance, credit, crunches, shares or anything else. The story was about birth rate. However, they still managed to open the short article, by saying “At last, a story without any recession content”. Was there really any need for this opener?

I carried on turning the pages expecting to see headlines neatly linking everyday happenings to recession talk.

Man gives birth to baby, whilst counting his pennies, to pay for gas bill. Not a genuine headline of course, but an example of how absorbed the newspapers are into this recession.

I guess I’m too far away from the heat of the headlines to really appreciate the severity of the situation. To be honest, I haven’t read too much into it and again, to be honest, I wont be doing so, anytime soon. Giovanna and I, whilst cupping our warm winter coffees, discussed the recession for about 15 minutes and our conclusion was, after much amateur deliberation, “It’s because people don’t buy anything anymore”. We are experts on not knowing what exactly causes all this money jazz and I think it’s probably best that we’re far away from it all right now.

Whilst, in the UK, you’re experiencing a reduction of your GDP, here in Korea, and more specifically, at Kids Herald School, we’re seeing a reduction in familiar faces. Very soon, end of February to be precise, will see the departures of two foreign teachers.

First up is Chris. He has been at the school for 5 years. He has seen and heard it all in the four walls of Kids Herald. He has decided that 5 years is enough. The place won’t be the same without him. Imagine your fridge without milk, or your CD Collection with Radiohead, it just doesn’t quite make sense right? Secondly, we will be losing Anthony Teacher. I’ve gotten quite close to Anthony Teacher over the last 15 months. We’ve worked out at the gym together, we’ve shared many Shabu Shabu meals together and of course, countless stories about our kids. It’s the day to day banter at work that will be most deprived of his presence. Fortunately, he’s not leaving Korea all together, just yet. March sees the new schooling year start. We find out, next week, what age kids we will be blessed with. I’m hoping to teach the four year olds again. They’re that little bit cuter, but more importantly their parents aren’t so Hitler-ish about their kids English ability. Once they reach aged 5-6, that’s when the temperature rises and the gloves are off.

Fingers crossed for the 4 year olds.

Father Christmas (Ricky Teacher) Came To Town

2009-01-12T05:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day at Kids Herald School fell on the 23rd December. We had a festive morning with a very peculiar, non-Christmas related puppet show. After, it was the moment that all the little ones had been waiting for. Santa was coming! Ricky Teacher, who is one of the foreign teachers, was given the role of Santa because he doesn't teach Kids Herald Kids, he teaches downstairs, therefore alluding the kids reminiscence. He did a sterling job. The narrative of his fine work is documented below. Once Ricky, sorry Father Christmas, had completed his present and wisdom deliverance, the kids had a very brief "you can open your presents now" time, before they were bullied back into their home classrooms to carry on studying.

It was a low point of my teaching career. I couldn't quite digest why they weren't able to simply enjoy their gifts and have a little play time. Instead, orders were sanctioned and student books were dressed onto the tables, as normality was resumed, as if nothing had just happened. Some of these kids are aged 4. They believe in Santa, as you will see from the pictures below. Surely at aged 4, one might think "you know what, they're four years of age, it's Christmas, lets give them a break!". In my own country I would have spoken up and addressed the situation, but I'm not. I have no power and no right of way, so to speak, so I quickly opened 'my' student book and taught the kids.

So here are some pictures of Santa's visit.

"OK kids, he's coming, please close your eyes"

Angela, takes an opportunity to have a sneaky peek.

Jinny, back right, is clearly not impressed, as they take a look at Santa.

Kelly seems content, if a little wary.

Steve is happy.

Sophia isn't.

Toiletries of Thailand

2009-01-06T23:33:00.000-08:00

I was very much looking forward to a 10 day jolly in Thailand. I hadn't been able to stretch my legs in any warm beach side sand since Chris and I headed to Italy back in June 2007, and before that, it was a good 2 years since I'd felt the sun blistering my shoulders. So, the excitement of cracking open a new bottle of factor 8 and donning my size 10 flip flops, mixed in with a family reunion and Himley Towers reunion, was rife. You have to take into the equation the freezing temperatures of my current residential climate, here in Korea. To summarise, I was very much 'up for' a little trip to Thailand. Finishing work a little early before flying from Seoul to Bangkok allowed me to maximise my time away.

I landed and headed straight to meet Chris (Manski), a small hiccup with international phone calls and the stupidity of my Korean phone delayed the reunion with him by about an hour. I was sitting outside the hostel, eagerly awaiting his arrival. He had been sipping beers in a bar 10 minutes away waiting for me to land. Finally, he came roaring around the corner in a tuk-tuk. Our eyes met and the shouts of 'Wii' 'Wii' 'Oi, Oi' could have been heard from the 20th floor of the adjacent hospital. No time for rest bite, I was whisked off to a local club to drink some whiskey and mix in with the locals. Christmas Day passed, along with Boxing Day morning, in similar fashion. Then trouble began. Taxis.

I hope I never have to set foot, or arse, in a colourful Bangkok taxi ever again. We spent about 4/5 hours in taxis on the 26th December 2008. An exaggeration some might think, I promise you not. MBK to KohSan Road, one hour, too much traffic. KohSan Road to MBK, one hour and 30 minutes. No traffic this time, just a cheeky robbing taxi driver. Two hours and 20 minutes to go from our hostel to the Bus Terminal. Distance traveled = 22K...... Oh my god, this wasn't too far from torture. We were stationary, at a set of traffic lights, for about 25 minutes. Can you imagine? Two hungover men, cramped up in the back of a taxi, with somewhere to go, with a deadline to meet, stuck rigid for 25 mins. I say no more, I'm getting worked up just thinking about it. We had a 12 hour night bus trip to drain away the recent memories of hell taxis, so all was relaxed and we were embracing ourselves for some sunning.

Bus journey was moderate. Slept a fair chunk of the trip. We awoke to some generous sunshine and beach optimism, piercing through the 60's pink bus curtains. Seconds later, the realisation that Manski had had his I-pod stolen from beneath his seat, sunk in. Moving on, we booked ourselves onto the 11:00am ferry to Koh Lanta. Full reunion with Father and Step-Mother followed by a bright two hour ferry ride South, to our island destination.
Found hotel. Undressed for a refreshing shower, found biggest Cockroach we'd ever seen. Booked out of hotel. Found new hotel. Booked for 6 nights. Found mopeds. Booked for 5 days. Ate nice meal. Went to bed. Very happy.

Woke up to the sound of Manski being sick in the toilet. Woke up again to the sound of Manski sitting on the toilet. Woke myself up needing to go to the toilet, in a hurry. Woke up again, very soon after waking up the last time, needing to go to the toilet. Morning of day two, on the island, was spent sitting on or very near to the toilet. Afternoon, finally built up courage to leave the comfort zone of 5 paces from the sitter. Went to change Manski's moped due to acceleration situation. Going down hill. Manski, and bike, tumble. Result - a number of cuts and harsh toe bruises. So far so good huh?

Day three. continues in some shocking toilet action. I won't describe to you, because nobody needs to know. But I will help explain by saying that there was a whole lot of action from the back and none from the front. (I was urinating from my bottom). From this point on all the days sadly rolled into one. Not sure what day I started to pass fluids and solids a little more normally, but in the midst of all this, my dear friend Manski, had another unfortunate accident on his moped. This resulted in some pretty raw looking wounds.

Please don't get me wrong. Although this sounds pretty horrific so far. The company of Manski, my Dad, Wizzo and close friends David and Jane was amazing. It was great to hang out for meals, even though the meals didn't hang around for me, and have some quality catch up time. News from home was great, and news from Manski's new life in KL, was informative and very interesting at all times. I regret that I didn't have time to get some much wanted sun in. It's a shame that I couldn't get some scuba diving in. It's a shame that the hottest part of my body was too far south for comfort. But it was a great 10 days of rest and more rest.

I must add that it was interesting to see the vast alterations that have transformed Koh Lanta. I've now been there three times in the past six years. Each time has shown some significant changes. This time even more so. Our end of the island boasts two new, high end, flash resorts, that sadly take a little edge away from the once before peaceful corner of Koh Lanta. The prices have risen enough to warn of the backpacker crowd and welcome a more family orientated clientèle. Which isn't a bad thing, nor good. The once barren, jungle dressed mountain sides are now draped in brightly lite 5 star family bungalows. The beach has about 20% more sporting activities and sun seekers. The ocean water that laps into the bay has doubled its amount of people carriers (boats). But with all this expansion means the amount of smiley, happy, loving and warmly hospitable Thai people has also risen, which is definitely a good thing. Thai people on the island really are a joy to be around. Most are enthusiastic about meeting you. They want to know where you're from and where you're going. I must have been asked about 10 times a day "Where are you going?", I sadly must have answered about 10 times a day "I'm looking for the nearest bathroom". Thailand is a great place, but I sadly feel that it used to be a much greater place. I've been three times now and I think I'm ready to move on to new ventures. Therefore, on returning to Seoul, I promptly booked myself and four day trip to Tokyo for the end of January.

Happy New Year friends and family and any random blog readers. I'm excited about 2009. I feel this could be a very big year. I have no idea what is around the corner, but something tells me it's positive. A new years resolution of mine, that I wish to divulge, is to remain (try and remain) positive at times, when before, maybe I wouldn't have.

My first FULL Korean conversation. Photos: WINTER is here)

2008-12-23T04:15:00.000-08:00

A train whistles and roars through Oryudong Station (without stopping)

I had my first Korean conversation today. I have, of course, had many short, pre-planned conversations with work colleagues and Korean friends, in the aid of practicing the Korean that I’ve been studying. But today was my first experience in real life, on the road, out in the field, so to speak. I was in the hairdressers, umm, getting my hair cut. It’s the middle of winter here right now. It’s snowing outside, the temperatures are below freezing, but I’m going to Thailand tomorrow, so I need to get my haircut. (because it isn’t snowing in Thailand, it’s very hot, long hair, hot weather = nuisance)….

Anyway, back to my point. I had my first impromptu Korean conversation, in the hairdressers, today.

This is the conversation in English. I had this with the hairdresser (her name is yoo bin) ALL in Korean, yes, all of it. When I left the hairdressers I was VERY happy. My hard-work had paid off.

Yoo Bin: Can you speak Korean.

Toby: I can speak a little bit of Korea, sorry.

Yoo Bin: How long have you been in Korea?

Toby: (long pause, digesting the question), One year and 4 months.

Yoo Bin: Do you like Korea?

Toby: Yes, I like.

Yoo Bin: Why?

Toby: Umm, I like teacher. Sorry, I mean, I like my job. I like the food. I like people.

Yoo Bin: Good.

She carries on cutting my hair.

Toby: I’m British.

Yoo Bin: Oh, really? Wow. Very good. I like the British.

Toby: Notting Hill??

Yoo Bin: Yes (haha) (every Korean loves Notting Hill film)

She carries on cutting my hair.

Yoo Bin: Do you have any Korean friends?

Toby: Yes, I have lots of Korean friends.

Toby: I have about 10 Korean friends. Do you have any foreign friends?

Yoo Bin: No, I don’t have any foreign friends.

She carries on cutting my hair.

Yoo Bin: Where do you live?

Toby: I live in Oryudong. From here, to Oryudong, it takes 15 minutes by bus. (she was very impressed with this sentence – so was I)

Yoo Bin: I understand.

Toby: Where do you live?

Yoo Bin: I live in Bucheon. It’s two stops away. Do you know?

Toby: Yes, I know.

Toby: Tomorrow, I’m going to go to Thailand?

Yoo Bin: I don’t understand.

Toby: Thailand. Country. Tomorrow, I go. I don’t know.

Yoo Bin: I don’t know.

She carries on cutting my hair. She shows me my hair in the mirror.

Toby: Cut a little bit more please.

Yoo Bin: Little bit here?

Toby: Yes, please.

Yoo Bin: Do you like it?

Toby: Yes, I like. Thank you very much.

Toby: Goodbye.

Yoo Bin: Goodbye, have a good day.

Toby/Yoo Bin both nod, bow and smile. Haircut, first Korean conversation completed. Happy days…… Next stop, the madness of Bangkok and none other than Christopher Manski pants, one more stop will lead me to the golden beaches of Koh Lanta and none other than my father and step mother. Happy happy days……

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone….. Love to all……..xxxxx

A chestnut cooker delicately exhausts some warmly smelling smoke into the crisp air.

Took the opportunity to get the camera out despite the below freezing temps.

Cold outside. Lets play with my camera indoors.

Confusion within seat heat

2008-12-15T06:19:00.000-08:00

Have you ever visited the lavatory, opted to sit down and discovered that the seat is very warm? This obviously implies that some other man, or woman, but for the sake of this blog, I have to imagine that it’s man, has very recently been sitting there. Of course! This has happened to everyone. How does it make you feel? It makes me feel a little bit quirky. I don’t like it. Why would anyone want to feel the warmth of another mans behind, especially in the circumstance of him saying goodbye to his lunch.

I apologise if this blog, so far, isn’t particularly pleasant, but I do promise, with the deepest of warmth (warmth from the heart, not from, well, you know where), that there’s a happier, more tasteful ending.

Today, I experienced a new kind of toilet seat warmth. It was hot. If I had taken the seat outside, it would’ve steamed like a coal train whistling through the British countryside. I was at my private class’s house; just before the class started I took a trip to the toilet and sat down. The shock, to the intensity of the seat warmth, was significant. My face would’ve resembled shock, confusion, curiosity and disbelief, all in a split second. I felt my eyes penetrating the limitations of their sockets. I couldn’t quite work out what the hell had happened. Why on earth is this toilet seat so god darn hot? With a flash of wonder I then remembered that their toilet had an electronic self cleaning device, I then realised that it must be heated for the winter months. I carried on with my duties.

I had been thinking about writing a blog today, but I was stuck for ideas. I had resigned to the fact that I’d have to wait another day. It’s funny that simply going to the bathroom to pee, or whatever you may be doing in there, can inspire you to write a blog. Maybe I should have just kept all this to myself.

The image at the top of this blog, is a flashback to my blog about Korean taxis. I forgot to mention, I think, that getting a taxi between the hours of 11:30pm and 3:00am is very difficult, and on some occasions, impossible. It isn’t because there aren’t any, it isn’t because there are too many people getting taxis, it’s because the taxi will not take you unless you’re going on a healthy, money spinning distance. One night, I was so fed up with rejection after rejection that I lunged into the depths of my pocket, took out my camera and took a picture of the number plate and then asked my Korean friend to threaten the driver with the image, saying we would report him to his boss, or whoever we could. It’s an illegal offence to deny anyone a journey in a taxi. He replied with a shake of the head and a mumble. We walked onto the next taxi. So if you find yourself in Seoul, do not take this taxi, he doesn’t deserve your cash.

I regret to tell you that.........................................

2008-12-11T02:21:00.000-08:00

I have some rather sad news...... Umm, it's very hard to even type the following message. I hope this doesn't affect you all as badly as it has affected me. It has been a big part of my life for the last few months. A relationship that sparked off with instant love. The admiration I had was something I haven't experienced before, and probably won't ever again. I thought it would be something that would last forever, but I guess all good things come to an end, I'm just so sad it has happened now, so soon, just as things were getting, well you know, comfortable.
My fridge has died. The beautiful second hand fridge has passed away. No longer will she keep my apples cool. No longer will she serve me well and freeze my varieties of ice creams. She had died last week, but I managed to resuscitate her.... I brought her back from the dead, once again she was cold. It was a miracle. However, I feel this is the end, I feel she can longer function. She will sadly be replaced with a newer, more advanced and more efficient model of refrigerator. I have fond memories. The 4am Ice Cream is a memory that will stay close to my heart and will help me through these troubled waters. Please take this opportunity to hold your hands together, close your eyes and make a wishful wish to your own refrigerator, this kind of thing can happen to any fridge at any moment, of any day. My wish is for your fridge to remain happy, and keep your groceries cool.

R.I.P. Roseanne (The Fridge)

Chapter One

2008-12-09T06:20:00.001-08:00

Something has been happening over the last year and four months that I neglected to tell you. I have always modeled myself on independence and seem to keep some things to myself for a while, and most things I keep locked away in a safe-box with no key to hand. It’s easier that way.

My next little secret is something that I can’t and wouldn’t be able to keep a secret for much longer, even if I really wanted to. I would have to put myself into the safe-box; that would be the only way to keep it from you all.

The ability of my eyes has been deteriorating. On Sunday, 7th December, 2008, I went to the opticians. I’ve been before, but only as a routine check at the tender age of ??teen. Now, I’m 26, and getting on, some might say, my eyes aren’t what they used to be. The proof is that, I’m now the proud owner of an additional pair of eyes. I believe the technical term is, Spectacles.

After deliberating for around 20 minutes and 20 different styles, colours and fits of glasses I chose these ones. I thought they sat nicely in-between non geeky and non fashion-y, they’re also comfortable and I think, kinda, ‘ok’. A new chapter begins. I blame this all down to reading too much. This is the first time that I have read books back to back and the first time that I have taken studying seriously, The Korean Language. Studying before was mostly practical and didn’t include too many mountains of reading material. I’m of course joking. Playing online Scrabble is clearly to blame for my new blurry disposition.

What do you think? I have chosen a series of pictures, to show you, with a series of emotions.

I wore them for the first time today. When I put them on I couldn’t believe that I had been walking around for the past two months (that’s the time span of my blurry realization) without them. I don’t need to wear them 24/7, although they said I should, but they certainly offer a clearer outlook on books, TV screens and umm, people. My kids found it very entertaining. They’re used to my pranks. Sometimes I wear their jackets, or put on some kind of comedy accessory as a form of entertainment. They thought this was another joke, so a couple of them carried on as usual. One kid, who goes by the name of Jeremy, did a double take and they said “Booya”, which vaguely translates to “WHAT?”. My afternoon kids pretty much all said the same thing. “Teacher! You is ugly”. I don’t take them seriously. People close to me have referred to me as “A Harvard student”, “even more handsome” and “Intellectual”, oh sorry, I mean “even more intellectual”. (haha, I couldn’t spell interlectual (luckily automatic spell checker is here to save me)

Regardless, and at the end of the day, they’re just a pair of spectacles right.

Updating

2008-11-28T02:04:00.000-08:00

Firstly, I would like to update you the state of my Korean language. I thought that I would quote from a book that I'm reading to help convey my current thinking. The book is titled "Shantaram", and is written by Gregory David Roberts. Gregory Roberts would suffice for me, but who am I to judge as to why he uses all three.
The quote is "We can't really know what a pleasure it is to run in our own language until we're forced to stumble in someone else's".
Stumbling is definitely the impression that a Korean would have, if I they were to see me in the street, whilst executing my latest phrase. The Korean script is written into their phonic sounds. So my name would read 'to-be', rather than Toby. When I learn new words, phrases etc, I learn by writing it over and over, mixed in with a few listening exercises and verbal practices. But the most efficient way for me to learn is repetition of writing and then reading. So I am used to most words broken down. My results consist of well pronounced but excruciatingly slow spoken words. Example; if you were to hear a foreigner asking you for help, and they had learned their language "Toby Style", it might sound like this
hel-low, ker-an, you, huh-elp me pur-lee-sur. I aa-mer, In-tur-re-sur-tae-dur in see-ing a fur-il-mer....... Translated into fluent speaking English.
Hello, can you help me please? I am interested in seeing a film.
I require a lot of patience from my close Korean friends and work colleagues.

I'm currently in a little storm of studying Korean. It's the first bout of form that I have hit since being back in the country. You might say I have wasted three months of valuable study time. To a certain degree, I agree, but I have no one to answer to but myself, therefore I think I'm doing great. It's hard to digress the state of my Korean language. I think I know more than I think, if you know what I'm thinking. What I can say is that if someone was to ask, "Do you speak any other languages?", I would say yes. I wouldn't step out of my shoe size and say I have two languages!! actually, I would, I would lie. After all, how many people in the world can test me on my level of Korean. It may be a globally useless language to learn (exception being in Korea and inside Korean restaurants across the world), but to me it's something I enjoy, and something that one day will serve me well. I hope, that one day, my stumbling can become an adolescent waddle, or better still, a steady, Sunday stroll.

It's now only three weeks till I depart for Thailand. I'm hoping, with every ounce of hope, that the political troubles will have been swept away before my flight departs Seoul, 8:05pm, 24th Dec, 2008 (Seoul Time). Admittedly, it would be quite nice for the protests to flare up again whilst I'm on the islands. Whose going to complain at a few extra days in the sunshine eh?
So Christmas, this year, will be spent in Bangkok. Last year it was Seoul. This year I will be parading around Bangkok with Chris, one of my old mucker's from Himley Road. Chris came to Seoul for Christmas last year. He loved the Asian way so much that he took himself out of the comfort zone and flew his life to Malaysia. So, with Thailand sitting comfortably within both of our grasps, what a fine excuse to spend a second, on the bounce, Christmas together.

The weekend has passed and I spent a fun fun day at the horse races. Seoul Race Course was the chosen location, midday was the chosen meeting time, and Chris's 25th Birthday was the cause for celebration. Five British, Four Americans and Two Koreans made up our party of eleven. I didn't know what to expect, apart from the obvious running horses, small bets, slightly bigger bets, some wins, some loses and most likely a chilly afternoon in the crisp winter air. Unexpected extras that unpacked themselves throughout the day were; most clientèle were middle aged heavy smoking men, there was a distinct lack of females (not a huge surprise), we had the comfort of a foreign lounge (leather seats, warmth, non-smoking, English speaking guide), a sand track rather than grass and non-alcoholic larger. The days betting couldn't have got off to a better start. I threw myself into a BIG first race bet. I put down a thumping 4,000 Korean won bet on a horse to finish in the top three. 4,000 won is about £1.80. Not much!. My horse came in third. I had put the bet down, not knowing the odds. The system was fairly complex and I didn't have time to digest all the different numbers and fractions. Anyway, my horse came in a position and I knew, I had won something. It turned out I had gathered, with a huge almighty slice of beginners luck, a whopping 48,800 won. So my cute little £1.80 had transformed into a juicy £24.00, roughly. Still small time money, but I nice way to start the day. My pot luck continued, in the 12 races that I placed money on, I won in 10 of them. So, I went home the only person with a +figure in their wallet. I was up by about £15.00 after 6 hours of hustle and bustle. Fair Play!

Here are a few things you might not of known about Korea, and Korean people.

People remove shoes inside ALL houses and a lot of other offices, restaurants etc.

Kids go to school, two Saturdays a month.

Most people live with their parents until they get married, regardless of age.

Being busy and achieving (bettering yourself) is more important than leisure time.

Koreans don't sell ANY kind of medicine in supermarkets or convenience stores, everything, including aspirin, is sold in pharmacies.

Transferring money from bank to bank, or bank to retail company, bank to anywhere in the world is instant, no 1,2,3,4,5 or 6 day interest snatching time laps.

Age is very significant in all walks of Korean life.

Baseball is, by far, the most watched, played and enjoyed sport in the country.

Young singers, pop stars if you like, men and women, have a lot of plastic surgery to look even younger than they already are. Most popular being, creating a small bag under the eyes, to enhance roundness, softness and all round cuteness. Apparently.

Koreans, in general, don't like the Chinese. In a non discriminating way they refer to them as dirty. But this is a huge stereotypical view. Apparently. Also, their relationship with the Japanese isn't too hot either. However, Japan is preferred to then that of the "dirty" Chinese.

The beer, larger, isn't good. At all.

Men take huge pride in their workmanship.

Dried squid is, probably, the most popular snack. I personally want to turn my stomach inside out a thousand times just looking at it. The smell?!!! I wouldn't wish it upon anyone, not even the Arsenal first team.

Certain people refer to each other as Brother and Sister, rather than their name. Example, Anthony Teacher is older than me, so I would have to call him Brother, not friend, not Anthony. Something like that anyway.

If you have a sore throat, slight ear infection, stomachache or any other small irritant sickness, the Korean doctor will supply with a ludicrous amount of pills. The pills, which come in packs of five, a range of colours and sizes, are a lethal mixture of 'I have no idea'. You must take the pack of 5, 4 times a day for a ransom number of days. Luckily enough, touching wood, I haven't had any kind of reason to visit the doctor. Hopefully, touching more wood, I won't have to.

I will post more Korean insights as they come to mind. As for the pictures below. I will let the image itself tell you.

The Last Week..........., the next week.

2008-11-22T21:24:00.000-08:00

The last week has been a pretty busy one. My mind has been occupied with one special event, that was completed yesterday. It was our annual Kids Herald School, winter performance. Red and Blue class have been under tight scrutiny other the past 4/5/6 weeks. They have been memorising individual speeches, song lyrics, dance movements, more song lyrics and a twenty minute musical thrown on top. The pressure that has been mounting for these 4/5/6 year olds finally came flowing down on Saturday. The event, which was MC'd by myself, again, and a co-teacher under the name of Sarah, was a raging success. There were, of course, a few hiccups along the way. Sound quality from the microphones, pressure of on-stage performing, emotional kids, slight memory loss etc, but if one was to absorb the whole situation as a whole event, then one would say it was more than satisfactory. Job done. After, we were treated to a celebratory meal with all teachers of both the schools in our building. We had a private suite at Gimpo International airport. Once we had consumed our buffet dinner and a few semi chilled beers, it was time for singing. They had hired a karaoke man. He came with PA system, computer monitors and a bass guitar. Every song that was sung was accompanied by him plucking away at his bass. It was amusing and distracting. The evening was yet another good opportunity to bond with co-teachers. Teachers come and go quickly at the school, it seems. So every meal/dinner/drinks occasion usually results in tighter, more homely, relationships with the people we spend a days with. Job done.

BREAKING NEWS..................
Utichi Steps into the Spotlight.....
My British compatriot, Giovanna Utichi, has finally come out of the woodwork. She has put her typing shoes firmly back on both of her feet. No longer does she hide in the shadows of lexical shyness. Her worldly confidence is currently being exercised, in the form of writing a blog. The last entry was the middle of August. A staggering three months has passed without any update on mood or experience, she has left hr loved ones in the dark. But the light has been turned on. Will her newly acquired motivation last? Will she embrace this new turn of a leaf with continued optimism? Or will she fade, like your new pair of jeans and freshly tanned body? Time will tell. I am, for one, screamingly excited about her blog update. Tune in very soon to http://giovannautichi.blogspot.com/ to find out WHAT has been happening....

The following week will probably contain some post-'big Kids Herald School event' depression. Going back to a normal schedule will be strange but refreshing. The weekend ahead promises to be fun. Chris Utton will be turning 25. We are going horse racing in Seoul. We aren't racing the horses ourselves, we will be merely putting money on some other people racing horses. Can't wait. First time for me.

No photos today. I will post some very soooooon.

Creamed Ice

2008-11-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Winter, Autumn, somewhere in between. 5pm, sun falling down, residing onto the side of the apartment block for a few seconds, slashing a glare across Han River........

Give me strength. Thriving, and living with an abundance of comfort-ness, in this country is easy. However, I have come across a new, impossibly difficult, and daily challenging, ‘decision making moment’. You may remember that my last, blogged, tough decision making dilemma was ‘what to listen to on my way to work’, well my new dilemma is, Ice-Creams! Which one shall I eat today??

The choice is extraordinary. The options that I have delved into, to date, our nothing short of delicious. So delicious, that, about 9/10 times I end up eating two.

I might research into the exact number of varieties they have here, in Korea. In England, I can remember it being a straight choice between a Cornetto, Magnum, Solero, Feast and Callipo (and mini-milk). That was hard enough. I could roll off a list of about 15 I’ve already tried and would consider as a premium taste of ice-cream. The ice cream freezer at my local convenient store is (inconveniently) large enough to house a small Asian family and their pet dog (depending on breed). I’ve stood at the summit of the menu-less freezer for about 10 minutes before, going through the motions of taste and after taste satisfaction, before finally, comfortably, relying on one of my top three choices, most of the time. The decision irritates me so much at times, that I end up purchasing 3/4 different options, taking them home, placing them in the freezer, relaxing, contemplating, deliberating, assessing and then plunging in with the instinct of my head, or heart.

To cement this, new, phenomenon in my life, the price is no more, and sometimes less, then 25p, a pop. Just today, I bought my entire class an ice cream, total price was about £1.75. That’s one Deluxe Magnum in some corner shops in London.

Something, within this state of ice cream satisfaction, does baffle me. One of my favourite choices of creamed ice is in the shape of a fish (fin, scales and pout included). I do eat some of the seas little swimmers, but in general I would declare myself as an extreme part time eater of fish. The process of fish, from the sea, to the rod, to the fish boat, to the port, sea-weed cleaning, sea-dirt removing, head chopping, eye-popping, gutting, hand slipping etc, disgusts me. Fish smell foul when fresh, fish stink when being cooked, fish, most of the time repulse me. My stomach has turned over, flipped, twisted, stretched and cleared out countless times just at the smell of most fish. (n.b. I love you Tuna)

My old house, the rather sexy offictel across the road from my, new, old school humble abode, was pivotal to a number of shops. One of the shops was a fish restaurant. Not a huge problem, but my walk, from the bus stop to the front door was a wind tunnel. At the end of the wind tunnel stood the fish restaurant. Every minute of every hour, of every day I would be walking home to the repulsive intake of smouldering fish eyes, and brains.

With all this taken into the equation, you would have thought I would pass on the fish shaped ice-cream. I tried to, but it’s far too delicious and scrumptious to ignore. The ice cream in question is a sandwich style ice cream. A sensationally soft outer curtain, that once opened exhibits a succulently mouth watering filling of vanilla ice cream and then a generous layer of sweet red bean paste. If served at the right temperature you can safely melt away from lives worries and stresses, and seduce yourself into ice cream heaven.

It was 430am, I set my alarm to watch the Carling Cup tie between Spurs vs. Liverpool (COYS). Mid way through the first half (0-0), hunger struck me hard. As it was an unsociable hour, and I was unsociably attired, I thought thrice about heading out to the store. I did, however, venture into my kitchen and started a very brief exploration of my cupboards. I stalled upon the freezer. My fishy friend was there. I’m, confidently, sure that this was the sole inspiration for Tottenham’s goal fest towards the end of the second half (half-time 3-0).

Happy Days!

Word-Search....... Taxis........Korean Study (Lack of)

2008-11-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

My most desirable past time, at work, is giving the kids a word-search. The words I give are usually of relevance to the unit they’re studying. It has become a kind of ‘in’ joke between myself and the other foreign teachers (Anthony and Chris), we seem to teach the same level books around 3/4 times a year, and we come across the same vocabulary often. Example, Anthony and I have both taught ‘Herald Leaders, B2’, on numerous occasions. Vocab – Tall, short, fat, thin, pretty and ugly makes up unit 2 of the book. We could create a whole workbook/workpack for B2 with our eyes closed and our brains set to low.

Within the 15-20 minutes it takes the kids to find everything, as their eyes go into overdrive, and their mindsets frantically and competitively search for that elusive word, I am able to sit back and enjoy a well deserved, and more often than not, essential rest bite. ‘Everyone wins’ during word-search time. The kids enjoy the challenge of finding the words (I add an extra incentive of, “Whoever finds ‘November’ first, gets 20 stickers….. GO, GO, GO!!”), I, as I just mentioned, get a well deserved break, and finally my boss has been convinced that doing a word-search is beneficial to their vocabulary and spelling. Some days I prepare a bumper word-search (I might consist of around 15-10 words, and even some of the words might be backwards), knowing that it will take them the entire class to complete. It’s also common practice to prepare a word-search for each and every afternoon class. So, from 2:30 to 5:30, I do nothing but sit back and say the odd sentence (to reassure my boss that all is ok), and enjoy my afternoon.

You can create your own word-searches, very easily, online. The day I discovered the website was like inventing the wheel. An over zealous remark maybe!! But I’m in the teaching game, I’m not a philosopher, or a geeky scientific genius sitting in my lab mixing chemicals, components, compounds and shapes (wheels are round right???), I’m looking to enhance the education of the kids and ease my work load. So!! discovering the word-search creator, levels with the invention of the wheel, for me.

Moving away from the collation of random letters into a square shape and mysteriously hiding words within, I want to talk about Korean taxis.

‘The Korean Taxi’, is a pretty interesting subject. Like in most cities they are all the same. New York you have your infamous Yellow Cab, distinctive in colour, foremost, and then distinctive in shape. The London Taxi’s shape is worldly recognised, as is its colour. In Korea, it’s the same, kind of. They’re all grey in colour. Not as outstanding as yellow, so you would have thought they would back up the dull colour but implementing an outstanding, or unique, shape. Nope! The Korean Taxi, is the same model, and colour, as about 90% of cars on the road. The single thing, that alienates them from other road users, is that they stop to pick you up, where as Kim and Lee, don’t, they drive past (rightly so). Koreans, in general, along with most Asian cultures, seem to be ‘streets’ (nice) ahead, of the rest of the world, when it comes to inventions of gadgets, convenient lifestyle living, and more importantly, being able to have a hugely populated city ticking along nicely. They’re basically 10-20 years head of us lazy lot. But when it comes to cars, they suck!! At times, I walk down any street and I am amazed at how many cars are the same colour, shape and if they had personalities, then they would match too. If ‘Herbie goes Bananas, part 8’ is set in Korea. Don’t watch it. If Pixar, do Cars 2, Streets of Seoul’, don’t watch it. I get excited when I see a bus coming down the high street. Buses are either Green, Blue, Red, White and Turquoise or another variation of the colours mentioned. They also come in many different sizes, shapes and personalities. My boss is obsessed with me getting a car. Anthony teacher bought one and is now my bosses best friend. I won’t be buying a car just yet, but never say never.

The exterior to a taxi is, as I’ve mentioned, horrific. Once you get inside, all is well. The language barrier, is pure genius once you get in the taxi. As long as you can say where you want to go, which I can, then you can sit back and enjoy the ride, knowing that he won’t be asking you any small talk questions. I don’t miss taxis from back home. Overpriced!! and to compensate for the over pricing, they seem to want to befriend you, maybe to make them feel better about charging you obscene amounts of money for short distances. I have had a number of conversations with Koreans, but they’re short lived and very rare. One conversation, which I shared with a couple of friends in the taxi, was centred around the drivers ability to cheat on his three girlfriends and wife at the same time. We found it rather amusing, so did he. We had labelled him an ‘odd ball’ on first entering the taxi. He was wearing a Kangol cap. Do you remember Samuel L Jackson’s fashion disaster??? Same!!!!

I have sadly been sick, out of the window, in a Korean taxi, maybe 2/3 times. But, this was in my first 6 months in Korea, so I make no excuses. I just did. Oh well.

To summarise, Korean taxis are disgusting to look at, but generously cheap and all round an efficient mode of transportation.

I have been very slack with my Korean studying. Since I got back from UK, I have focused my intentions on being able to stay in the country (Visa issues). Once that was sorted, I managed to pick up some extra classes. One of my kids needed some extra help, so I obliged. This is taking up my downtime, which was usually set aside for blog writing and Korean study. With new schedules and new routines comes a period of familiarisation. I’m there now and to celebrate I bought myself a new notebook, as a motivational incentive, so hopefully my self teaching of Korean can and will continue, next week, I need to have a relaxing weekend first, then I will continue, I promise, I can feel the urge, it’s there, I think…………..

I have created a word-search for you. Please find, Tobyteacher, Koreantaxis and wordsearch. Also, the image above proves that all cars are grey. OK, ok, the image is in black and white, but you will have to just trust me.

S E S I R S R N S Q L R E K C G
T R R V C U U N R I R F L O L T
L C X T S M R P A H Y E O D J S
S R E K J W I C H Z C R K C Z E
E G X P T P S L F X E T F E I I
D O L H T T G Q O H X O V D S E
L L S W O R D S E A R C H Z E S
A R V P B Q N G O N S S R T N P
K A P K Y N X A R G P T S G E G
T X X N T O S R X Y G S B H G G
F I O P E O X K E H L T C E U I
S G X Q A L V W S R Y C N M O T
E G G E C C H H D C A R O A E E
S E Q S H S L N F N O E Q G A G
E N R S E P E C N M I E X S L I
P G K O R E A N T A X I S I K N

------------is---------------

2008-10-26T04:26:00.000-07:00

The image you see is of a street side Baseball hitting net thingy. They're all over the place. You pay (500 won) 20p (about) and then stand patiently as a tempremental machine hursl down 15 or so baseballs. As you can see from the second image, I seem to be treating it like a game of cricket. Getting my front foot to the pitch of the ball, with a huge stride, and then top edging it into the air for 'myself' to catch.

I thought it would only be fair to finally shed a little truth on some things about my new life. I have always heaped praise on my kids and my new profession. Teaching the little ones is more often than not, a breeze. The kids enjoy the challenge of a second language and I certainly enjoy delivering it to them, so both parties sit nicely when the class starts, motivation is buoyant. I have been guilty of divulging to you, just, the positives, the geniuses, the prodigy's, the talents, the spectacles, to summarise, the kids that are good!!!!

This blog is going to be dedicated to all those kids that struggle with English. The kids that are below average. The kids that would rather draw than (most kids that struggle with English seem to be excellent artists, which gives me comfort that they will succeed in life, with or without my help) say "Hello" and "Goodbye". The kids that somehow manage to forget just about everything that they shouldn't and remember pretty much everything they shouldn't. These are the kids that give me a headache during the day and the kids that have parents that are living in some unknown universe where common sense and understanding do not prevail, anywhere, at anytime, at all..... PERIOD!!!

One kid, who I dearly like, but who I really didn't like, at all, not one iota, is Richard. I used to teach him (which is why I didn't like him but do now) in the afternoon classes. He is aged 8 and has been studying English (apparently) for two years. If you absorb the fact that he has been studying the language for two years then you would say that his level, now, is somewhere between outstanding and remarkable. I must confer that when I say outstanding, I mean outstandingly poor and therefore remarkably low, considering his situation. Kids at the same age and with the same opportunities and material infiltrated to them over the past two years are light years ahead of him. Bless him, you may be thinking and that is exactly what I think now. But when I taught him it was just plain frustration, but at times so hilariously funny that I couldn't help but pat him on the back and say thank you.

His reading was diabolical, but it was his improvised sentence making that has brought us all together on this blog page. is, is, is, is and is. I will explain. OK, so all the kids open their books and we read a story, that lasts about 15 pages and about 10 minutes. After, we have around 15 minutes of open discussion about the story. A great opportunity for the kids to make some sentences about the story and accompanying imagery. I ask a few questions and they give a few answers. Example:
Toby Teacher: What is the boy doing on page 45?
Glen: He's walking to the house.
Toby Teacher: Good job. What is the boy wearing?
Daniel: He's wearing a blue t-shirt and black pants
(Trousers, where I'm from mate)
Toby Teacher: Good job. What is the girl doing?

OK, cue man of the hour, Richard.

Richard: Girl is, house is, walk to the, is happy.

I could reel off a host of impressive sentences, all flooding with use after use of ???is ???is ???is. He has some how picked up the tradition of using 'is' before and after pretty much every other word. It's now so contagious that Anthony Teacher and I, jokingly speak to each other in Richardish (I just named it). This is an example of Anthony and I asking about each others plans.

Anthony: Is, tonight, house, is, doing, is what? (Translates, What are you doing tonight?)
Toby: I, is, house, stay, is, food, then, is, eat, is, sleep, is, watching TV, umm, is.

Just a little harmless fun at the expense of Richard, one of the less fortunate kids at our school.

Attention: BOW

2008-10-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

It’s been too long. I have neglected my duties as a blog writer. I have no excuses apart from I’m working a lot harder these days and I’m doing a lot of extra hours. Anyway, I promised a blog about bowing.

Koreans, and other Asian cultures, like to bow. It is a tradition that goes back way before I was born and you and your mates and their mates. I’m not a historian, neither am I that interested in dates, so I won’t give you a specific date, I will just let you know that it started a long time ago.

The point of my message to you is that I, too, like to bow. I have moulded it into my new persona. I do it to my friends, my co-workers, even to the kids for a laugh. I obviously do it to shop workers, restaurant waiters, general service providers and doo-gooders. One time that I did it and I thought to myself “That was bloody stupid”, was when I was lifting weights in the gym. One of the trainers was doing his routine stroll around the gym, whilst correcting peoples grabs, pulls, strains, stretches, pushes, lifts etc etc etc. As he passed me I quickly remembered my newly acquired persona and bowed. Mid-bow I realised I was in mid lift of about 40Kg of weights with the aid of my back muscles. I quickly amended my all round multi-technique and resumed normality, in the relaxed position. I felt like a bit of a fool. Since then I have noticed many people doing the same. The politeness of the bow is so essential and expected and custom that no matter what situation you are in, you bow. I’ve seen people carrying countless bags of shopping and still mastering a bow to a fellow heavy bagged up bower. Despite this, people happily do it and they do it with passion and grace. I once saw a couple having a bowing competition on the pavement. It was so funny. They were competing to see who could get their forehead closest to their feet. He won. I want bowing to become common place in my life. When I eventually return to the non-bowing lands of the UK, I will be introducing some sporting bow techniques to my friends and family. So if you’re listening folks, get working on those back muscles, because I will be expecting a bow from you every time I see you, or give you something, or even think about you.

Thank you. (I’m bowing now, as I type – seriously)

(THE PICTURE - I am not bowing, but this is the kind of angle one would expect to see, and execute)

Coming Soon.

2008-10-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

Coming soon to a web page near you, a blog update. Apologies for the late arrival of this release. I would shoulder the blame but my companion Giovanna is shite at writing blogs, frequently, and I seem to have caught her 'slow finger' disease. I will not promise that the latest addition to my blog will arrive soon, but I will tease you and say it will happen soon, and that it will be about the over zealous-ness of Koreans and their polite stooping (Stooping is more commonly known as Bowing, which is the act of lowering the torso and head as a social gesture in direction to another person or symbol.
Meanwhile, this is a picture of me wasting some time with my camera and it's new assitant Captain Tripodia.

23rd September, I got my Visa

2008-09-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

6 weeks after returning to Korea. Many troubles, stresses, worries, concerns, frowns, disbeliefs, frantic calls, frantic emails, what if's, but what if's, lots of that's not fair's and why does it take so long's and I have finally be given my second year visa. It's such a relief and such a change in emotions that yesterday I had a short period of mild depression. I have spent most minutes of the day worrying about all of this. Now I have nothing to worry about. It's strange how the brain likes to be troubled sometimes, or it at leats gets used to the idea of stress and then chokes when it doesn't have any.

I'm happy, thank you to all those who participated in the process - NO THANKS to the UK Metropolitan system and their friends at the NCI..... Sort your system out, ummm, umm, NOW

Alice

2008-09-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

Please focus on the girl looking at you..... Her name is Alice.

I thought it was about time that I wrote a piece about one of my babies. I have taught a number of kids in the past 13 months, but my current BLUE class kids are the ones that have segmented a bigger percentage of my heart. Alice is today's case study. Before I proceed, I will however, not be referring to her as a case study. She's one of my babies.

The term 'babies' is obviously a play on words. I didn't impregnate a Korean women, or many for that matter, all those years ago. I like to use 'babies' a number of times throughout the day. It can be implicated to ridicule an infant. If they're behaving below their accumulated years then I will ask them "Are you a baby?". This results in an uproar of laughter from the endearing classmates, therefore striking a message to, from now on, act your age. On the flip-side I use 'Baby' and 'babies' in order to deliver my affection to them. At lunchtime, a number of the kids, decide that they will take a long time to eat their food and in the process of this, they play with it, or in Alice's case, secretly deposit it onto the floor. Cunning. So, as an incentive to a quickly eaten meal I reward them with 'baby time'. I think I have mentioned this before. It simply means I cradle them like a newly born and swing gentle from side to side, for about 30 seconds, then we both get bored and move onto the next adventure.

Anyway, I'm drifting away from Alice. I have taught Alice from day one. When I first graced the wooden floors of Kids Herald back in August 2008, Alice was one of the 5 VERY small babies that was looking up at me I was escorted into RED class. I was petrified and I'm sure she was as well. Alice is properly one of more substantial cute kids of the entire school, past and present and optimistically, the future. To explain. There are an abundance of cute kids throughout. But their cuteness waivers as they grow or as they are molded into perm-babies by their mothers. (Perms - some kids get given perms by their mother's - disgusting behavior, but deeply amusing when they walk into school styling their new wave)

Alice has maintained her cuteness since day one. It's the kind of cuteness that gets her out of so many situations. Arguments flare up on a daily basis and Alice, with a slice of pure genius, tilts the head to one side, frowns (whilst holding the infamous cute rounded eyes), and squeaks out a little "Teacher". Every teacher in the school knows what she's doing, but none of us have the ability to conquer it. Her biggest sin is depositing food onto the floor at lunchtime (as mentioned above). Most kids swallow all their culinary delights. Alice is the solitary exception. Every day, once the masses have digested and departed the class, there is a scattering of un-chewed foods splattered around her vacated seat. Christine Teacher and I both know it's her and have even seen her doing it. But! Why shout at her? If she doesn't want to eat a bit of spicy, boiled and fermented cabbage, then so be it. She's young, she'll learn.

Another thing I love about Alice is that I also teach her sister Wendy. Wendy is two years older than Alice. Their sisterly love is very strong and warming. I regularly use ask them how their sibling is doing. With Alice being the younger, she's is frequently mentioning Wendy's name. One day I asked Alice to write "I Love Wendy". Just a time filler before next class. She wrote "I love Wenby". Alice has always struggled with the d-b, b-d concept. I pounced on this error like a newly born would do to it's food source (nipple). Immediately, and from then on, I would always ask "How's WenBBBBy?"..... It sends her potty. As predicted Wendy isn't too keen on the purposeful error either.

Alice is currently doing very well and is progressing exceptionally. I have at least 5 months left of teaching with Alice. Then she will promote to her third and final year of kindergarten. Hopefully I will be lucky enough to teach her in her final year. We'll see........

Here are some snaps......

This is Alice in my first few weeks..........

Frowning and cute round eyes. I told you......

Taking a nap.

Taking a fall on sports day......

And finally, a more grown up Alice. Taken last week.

Stuff

2008-09-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

Quick update. I have been able to work since the expiratory of my visa. On going to the immigration office, on the 4^th September (my last legal day of work), we took all the required documents minus the elusive criminal check. They gave me around 14 days to hand in the final piece, then I would be granted my visa renewal. They also kindly let me work in this limbo period. However, if the elusive document doesn’t arrive on or before the 22^nd of September, then I will have to reapply for a new visa number. A process that takes around two weeks and entails leaving the country. I won’t be able to work at all during this period. So two weeks of lost payment.

Anyway, I’m remaining positive and eagerly awaiting that pivotal email or phone call from my father, divulging the news that he has the gold dust in his hands.

Since I have been back in teaching mode life has been great. I’m finally settling into my humble abode. I have even started drawing up plans for moderations here and there. But I’m patient enough to wait until the dust has settled over the visa malarkey. a slight change from my first year, besides the new home, is a new gym. Another teacher in the neighbourhood works out at a gym around the corner from the one I have been sweating at for the pat 8 months, I thought I’d try out the new set of weights and cardio machines. The freshness of the new gym has given me a timely boost to my new keep fit regime. You may recall a few months ago I declared that I wasn’t drinking as much. Well I have taken it to levels of, some might say stupidity – others might say intelligence, either way, I get a warm feeling inside after just a glass of red or a big bottle of beer. My tolerance is somewhat less. So this along with my new enthusiasm for working out, I have maintain my slimmer waist line. Confirmation in this was witnessed today as I, for the first time in my life, bought a pair of trousers with a 32” waist. I almost kissed the, may I add male shop assistant, as he bagged up my 32’s…….

I had a request to divulge my morning routine yesterday. Here it is.

Bearing in mind that I start teaching at 9:30. I set my alarm for around 8:15. I then put a 5 minute snooze on, but about 20 seconds later, I get the anticipated “miss the snooze alarm” paranoia and jump up from my cosy pillow. I turn on my laptop and check for GOOD NEWS about my criminal record check. I then gulp down a glass of vitamin C tablet laced water and start cutting up a huge pear. Koreans have massive pears. Very juicy and always refreshing. I then iron a shirt of some sort. I have a selection of maybe 8. I tend to rotate about 4 of them, as the other 4 post some kind of frustration during the day. I’m thinking of just throwing them out to be honest with you. I’ll let you know. Then I pack my bag, plug in my headphones, debate with myself and my i-pod on what I will listen to and then set about my 20 minute walk to work. “No Shower?” you ask. I have a shower the night before. I’ve discovered that, significant to the summer months only, that having a shower before bed considerably and effectively reduces my body temperature enough for me to fall asleep without the aid of air conditioning.

That’s the gist of my routine.

This weekend sees the second instalment of a Cheosuk holiday for me, in Korea. Monday off and Tuesday morning off. No major plans. Might head to the beach for some quiet time. Might not. Decisions will be made based on weather, and instinct. I thought it would be nice to throw a few pictures up here of life at school. I won’t label them or divulge any details. Just enjoy the smiles and faces. Apologies for any typos or grammar errors, I can not be bother to red over thiss. I just wan’’t to pist it and got to bid and sloep.

My New House - INSIDE!!!

2008-09-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

The pictures tell the story. One kitchen, one bedroom, one bathroom, one living room and then little bits here and there that connect all the above.

I'm in the process of buying a rug for the living room, enlarging some of my self-taken photographs of Korea, then framing them, then drilling them to the wall and finally decorating open and bland spaces with a collection of cheap and nasty bargains and those delicate and spontaneous finds that you discover in the quietest of moments.

Therefore, another, updated collection of pictures to follow.

I'm still waiting for a piece of paper.

Spurs start badly and so do I..............

2008-08-31T03:27:00.000-07:00

The picture will be the happiest thing you see or hear in the next few paragraphs, so savour it now........ Red and Blue class during Speech Contest 2008.

Not sure where to begin. How about this? Right now I feel stressed, frustrated, run-down, lethargic, confused, betrayed and redundant. Why? Quite simply I haven’t got a working visa in Korea from the 4^th September. Why? Quite simply, I need a police check from the UK. Why? Because the new law in Korea asks so. So! Why is that such a problem? just get one! Easier said than done. In my beloved home country, the UK, it takes anything up to forty days to receive it, not including postage times they say. Why? I have no idea. In Korea you can order you police check and have it signed off and presented to you within 24 hours. Why? Because that’s how things can work. In fact you can have your entire workforce checked off within 24 hours. Our country, the United Kingdom, is obsessed with application forms. We love paperwork. We love small print. We seem to love filing systems. We’ve even created job roles specific to filing.

Isn’t it time we started relying on computers more? We are 8 years into the 21^st century now and we’re still applying for things through paper applications. A process that has so many negative and destructive aspects. “Lost in post”, “Postage back an forth ads on a week to the process”, “mislaying legal documents”, “if any errors then whole process has to start again, i.e. fill out application form again, this time use BLACK CAPITALS – Why?? Why?? Why??” I pray for the day that our country sits down and relaxes a little. Stop being so damn anal and break away from the paper past.

One aspect of this particular process that I’m currently three days into was false information given on the application form. It clearly says, in slightly bolder and blacker text, that you should enclose x2 copies of identification. I did so, then on receiving the copies they then say that it’s new policy to have original copies and not ‘copies’. But they haven’t updated this on their TRUSTY application form. Finally, just to reiterate the pathetic-ness of our anal and vintage system in the UK, when my father went into the police station to hand in the forms etc the policeman kindly sympathised with my fathers matching concerns and the policeman actually said “I could look up your criminal record here and now and print it here and now”……… do I need to say anymore??????!!!!! Really???

OK, so maybe you’re thinking why didn’t I start this process two months ago. Then there wouldn’t be this rush to get it tied up now, before the 4^th September. Well, I did my duties. I asked my boss if I needed a police check in order to renew my contract and get a second year visa. He said no and the rest will soon be history. Hopefully. I won’t go into any further details on conversations with my boss, as I’m not into kiss and tell, but lets just say that I now face 2/3 weeks of unemployment and non-payment, due to OTHER peoples misuse of accessible information. So I’m now set for budget eating, budget entertaining, no fun and frolics and finally a whole lot of time to get even more frustrated at the turn of events.

Welcome to my second year!!!!!!!!!!

More to follow………….

ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!

Landed

2008-08-18T06:05:00.000-07:00

I didn't fly Quantas

OK. I’m back in the land of teaching and much much more. I have just finished my first day of teaching, I was a bit rusty at first and think I will be for a few more jet lagged days. But the future is bright and that is all I can think of right now. I’ll give you all a brief, or detailed, insight into my last three weeks in the UK.

Here is a list:

Ate bread.
Ate lots of bread.
Threw big stones into the sea, at Walberswick, for Biffer to try and find.
Sunbathed in my mothers garden.
Got sunburnt, sunbathing in my mothers garden.
Bought some shorts in Topman.
Ate numerous English fry-ups.
Watched Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks, Sky Sports News 24, Re-runs of Friends, Channel 4 news, Come dine with me, The Charlotte Church show, all on TV.
Ate a roast dinner.
Slept on 4 sofas.
Woke up with a view of Highbury and then walked alongside the Emirates Stadium. Huge apologies Yids.
Had a delicious BBQ at Fran and Rich’s yard.
Rummaged through my old clothes and picked out some treats.
Overheard a pathetic argument in Sainsbury’s.
Took 2 hours to get from Acton to Balham.
Updated my Oyster Card a few too many times.
Watched Spurs destroy Norwich 5-0 at Carrow Road.
Witnessed Spurs humiliate Roma 5-0 at White Hart Lane.
Roasted some Sausages, accompanied them with some Flageolet beans and mixed veg.
Bought a new extra strong Dyna-Band.
Been to two house parties, not knowing the host.
Taken two trips in London black cabs.
Witnessed Michael Vaughan retire and Kevin Peiterson step in.
Bought something online at Harrods.com
Questioned peoples rudeness in public places.
Learnt how to say, Optimistic, Peaceful, Beautiful, Interesting, Funny, Romantic, Awkward, Strange, Cool Collected, Sincere, Fat, Thin, Big, Small, Long and Wide in Korean.
Read no books.
Bought a bigger and more practical suitcase.
Bought a bigger and more practical hand luggage suitcase.
Witnessed what a butchers should look and smell like.
Saw my Mother, Father, Step-mother, Step-father, Sister and nephew. And Grandmother and aunties. Rufus has transformed from a big baby to a small boy.
Watched England Vs South Africa at the Oval.
Not gone to the gym.
Wanted to go to the gym.
Missed eating Bi-Bim-Bap.
Discovered Lorna is having a baby.
Got served a baked potato with NO Beans (good idea though Rick)
Packed my bags.
Ate my last breakfast.
Went to airport………..

p.s. had a great time.

I’m sure there is more, but a little dazed still……… more to come, maybe.

Free Tasting Session......... Sign up now.

2008-08-15T01:18:00.000-07:00

I have been in the UK for nearly three weeks now. I know, for a fact, that you have all been sitting on the edge of your seats, like a dog waiting for its dry breakfast, eagerly wanting to know what I have been doing here. Well, I'm going to give you a little taste right now. Once I have returned to my adopted home I will divulge all the details.
For now, some imagery to get those taste buds flowing and to relieve the stress formed on the edge of your seat.

Biffer the Dog........

Alistar Cook defending the South African attack. Man, I was close huh??? (Sigma Lens, 70-300mm - RRP £99.99)

A street in W1.

My Dad's van, on location. A days work??? surely you didn't go home and work.... did you??

Before I start again

2008-08-13T11:28:00.001-07:00

I'm a few days away from returning to my adopted home, South Korea. My kind mother dug out some old snaps of me as a child, it provoked me to think of my kids in Korea, and therefore get back on the blog-band-wagon.

This first image is of Myself and my sister Eleanor. If you can pull your focus away from the £3 sized gap in Eleanor's teeth, you can see my eye for style started at a tender age. The predominately white t-shirt is scattered with multi-sized black dots. Rockin!

'Hey there Mr. Sweet Tooth' is the title for this second image. This is the moment my mother found me nestled in the cupboards with hands, fingers and face all residing within the jar of the strawberries finest, jam.

The final picture speaks for itself in terms of style. Although I have to thank my mother for this one. It was, if my memory serves me well, a street fair in the local village and I was dressed up to join a specific parade.

"Teacher, I have finished"

2008-07-26T05:50:00.000-07:00

One year on. One year gone. How has it been? What’s it like living/working/playing in a vibrant, metropolitan Asian city? What are the positives? The negatives? What have I learnt? Or more importantly, what have I taught? The past year has seen me give a lot more than take. I’ve discovered a new pasture in my life.

I’ve really, to put it simply, got stuck right into the art of teaching English, as a second language. Some teachers come, get their free passport to Asia, do their year and march on with little care. I guess this was kind of my plan, although no cement was mixed. I didn’t really expect to warm to my new job in the fashion that I have. I did have doubts about my capabilities, and also my patience for the adolescent ages. What has happened has surprised me. Not life changing, just an adventure, forming a new chapter of my life.

I can’t help but compare a few things from ‘Now and Then’. The one comparison that sticks and acts as the sticking point for me is the job satisfaction.

The Then:

Working at Bellwood Media was a great job. Reading big movie scripts months before you street kids get your public eyes on them, was kind of cool and rewarding. Securing that BIG placement deal was a rush I not had in the workplace before.

The Now:

Hands down. Flawless. No question. No doubt. Seeing a 5/6 year old grow, not only in personality and character but, of course, their English speaking ability is the single most satisfying reward I’ve ever come across.

That’s my sticking point. And that’s why I’m sat on an airplane, writing this, thinking about my 3-week vacation to the UK. And it being, just, a vacation and not a homecoming. No just yet anyway, “Teacher! I haven’t finished”.

Something else:::::

It was a monsooning Monday. I had finished work, eaten my dinner consisting of a kimbap roll and a bottle of soya milk and had juts left my (old) apartment and was heading to my (new) apartment to check on a few things with my substitute teacher. She’s residing at my new gaff during her month long stay in Seoul.

The rain was teaming down. The kind of rain that reduces visibility down to a metre or two. I ceremonially opened my umbrella and a wave of adulthood flew through me. It suddenly dawned on me that I had an umbrella. An umbrella of my own, that I had purchased for myself a few weeks ago in a very wise and grown-up state of mind.

I realised that an umbrella, a self owned umbrella, is a significant accessory to that of a grown up person. A person who has, over the years, acquired a mature level of practical convenience. In the past, I had willingly accepted getting wet and even felt kind of macho about the whole thing. “Umbrellas are for pussys”. “A little bit of rain never hurt anyone”.

Well, I’m 25 now and feel it’s warmly acceptable for me to carry one around.

Still with umbrellas in our thoughts. A few days ago, I witnessed an umbrella collision, pile-up and resulting traffic jam. Yet again, as it does in monsoon season, the rain was violently pouring. A wide berth of pavement narrowed to become a generous single file. Around ten people, all carrying golf sized umbrellas, all come to locker heads. It was beautiful to watch. I stood back as they organised themselves like a heard of cattle packing into its truck. Normality soon resumed.

Two Places of interest

2008-07-14T02:19:00.000-07:00

The first picture is of BLUE class. This is my classroom. I teach, eat lunch, rest, plan and most of all, do my day job in this room. I share this room with my co-teacher Christine. As you know, we share RED and BLUE classes. When I teach in blue, she teaches in red, Visa Versa, it isn't rocket science. I've become attached to my room. I decorated it, Christine and I furnished it. The chairs are very small but surprisingly comfortable at times. I do have my own swivel recliner, but it's good to be at the same height as the kids.

The second picture is of a side street in Bucheon. This is where Giovanna and I spend most Thursday evenings. We sip on our coffees from Starbucks and share stories from the week. The chats range from the usual "How was you day?", "What did you do last night?" type questions, to the more exciting "You'll never guess what I did last night?" or "Has your sexy Doctor called you yet, Giovanna?"..... Other topics tend to be discussed, for example; future travel plans, dating, drinking adventures, emotions, love stories, funny kids and their crazy mothers, Korean cultural experiences. ETC. This weekly installment has become quite therapeutic for the both of us I feel. Not that much bad does happen in Korea (I mean the mood, in general, is that of a positive and progressive nature - no slouching and moaning here, thank you very much), but when it does it's great to have a close friend to off-load onto. I think Giovanna will agree.

Oh, by the way. In the winter time, I have Coffee Latte, two brown sugars, Grande! She has Chai-Tea Latte, as it comes, Tall size. Summer Time. I'll have the Iced-Latte, two brown sugars, Grande! She'll have the Mocha Frappachino, as it comes, Tall size (Grande if its been a hard day).

Fridge and Confusion

2008-07-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

I have purchased a new fridge. Check it out. How funky and cool is this piece of genius kitchen electronics? I have been searching for a second hand fridge for a couple of weeks. I went to a few second hand places only to be out-priced and shunted in the face due to my location. I had then resorted to buying a new one online. However, I thought I’d make use of a free, lazy and extremely humid Sunday to give the second hand option one last shot. I suppose you could liken it to England throwing on the lanky piece of leg-ware Peter Crouch in the last ten minutes, a last ditch desperate attempt to salvage something from a bleak situation. Ok, maybe not the same, but you catch my drift.

Anyway, I subway-ed myself to Bucheon (4 stops from Oyrudong) and started popping in and out of shops. My eyes lit up at the sight of this little beauty. It ticked all my boxes of criteria. Medium sized? CHECK. Small freezer compartment? CHECK? Price range? CHECK. Added bonus of bringing some kind of comedic value to my new retro style kitchen? Umm, CHECK!!!!!

So I hereby welcome you to my new best friend. I’m going to call it Rosey. Not particularly original or creative, but sometimes simplicity offers enough. I have also decided that it’s going to be a canvas for people’s creative flow. So, feel free to contribute in any way your creative desire wishes. Send pictures, Polaroid’s, sketches, illustrations, or better still come over and free-hand your inspiration. I declare ‘Rosey’; public property.

Also, a quick flashback to last week. A very brief but comedic conversation I had with a 7-year old kid in my class. His name is Glen. He has been studying English for two years. His level is still very low though. Sentences are short, grammatically incorrect and simple at best. His personality is rather disgusting. His fingers are constantly rooted up his nose and I once caught him licking sugar off the floor. Anyway, he had me crying the other day.

I had the class doing a short writing exercise. Glen seemed distracted. He stood up and his chair fell back onto the floor, due to the weight of his backpack on the chair. He hadn’t noticed this and went to sit down. He fell to the ground. I got annoyed at him and shouted.

Toby Teacher: Glen!! Have you finished your writing?????
Glen: No.
Toby Teacher: Then why are you sitting on the floor?
Glen: because my chair is confused.

Literally, couldn’t stop laughing.

Parenthood and Childcare. Includes Video

2008-07-02T07:29:00.001-07:00

I now know what it’s like to be a parent, (sorry, am starting to understand what it might feel like). I have been nursing my brigade of babies for nearly a year now. I have started to notice their individual personalities and habits in relation to my behaviour.

Case Study: Sarah.

You may recall that I have raved on about this angel a few times. The cutest girl. The cutest laugh. The cutest expressions when happy, sad, confused and embarrassed, basically any emotion she finds herself in, she manages to make it rub off with a cute, cat eyed expression.

She was sadly absent when my Dad and Step-mother visited the school back in May. I was hoping for some external evidence to her level of cuteness. Things recently have taken a turn. Christine Teacher and I have noticed a lot of differences. She has physically grown, quite substantially. Slightly taller, and thinner in the face, she now swaggers with slenderness rather then an adolescent waddle. But it’s her attitude that concerns us. The abundance of addictive gaggles and head tilting has stopped and a more frequent frown and head dropping has substituted.

It has made me look at how I have changed. What have I been doing differently since the start?

I realised that my attitude towards her has changed, I have given her less and less attention as time went on. It’s natural to recline in your giving to someone over a period of time. In a grown up relationship this is, in a way, acceptable (to a certain degree) because you’re both grown up and have a mutual level of understanding. In this case, Sarah is only four years old. I need to maintain a constant level of love for her and every other child for that matter. I created my own situation by giving her SO much love and attention from the start. If I begin to drop that level of ‘love giving’ then she will notice and wonder why I don’t love her anymore and her mood will change, which has happened.

So I need to revert to the early days of daily ‘Baby Time’, over the top praise and constant funny loving faces. ‘Baby Time’ was created very early on as it was apparent that she liked to be picked up, cradled in my arms and swung gently from side to side, in the same fashion as a mother would do to its newly born.

Fascinating insight into the world of childcare. Something that is particularly interesting to me at the moment – who’d of thought!!??!!

Sarah on top form........

The Korean Cafe

2008-06-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Korean Café.

This is my new favourite place. I eat here maybe 3 times a week. That’s being shy; I would say it’s more like 4 times a week. The menu is longer than the Calais to Dover crossing and is as plentiful as the tabloids lies surrounding the close season transfer window. It’s reminiscent to that of an English Café. It has the cheap and ever so basic interior furniture. Its chairs are brown plastic and its tables are the cheapest form of artificial style wood (not sure of the technological term for shite, fake wood). It has cheap laminated photos of its meals, with deals of the day, soup of the day etc etc.

It has a small TV hoisted up centre stage, and it plays the daily soaps/dramas and new flashes. The cliental range from lonely middle age businessmen, to entire families. With of course your standard old men and bustling students swinging by for a cheap and cheerful feed. Having pretty much devoured every style of food in the area, and over-indulged in most of them at the same time, this has become a good, decent and trustworthy source of nourishment.

The picture you see below is what I ate about 45 minutes ago. The big bowl is called Bi-Bim-Bap. It’s assorted vegetables and rice with a fried egg slapped on top. The red sauce bottle is a delicious spicy number. With this, you flood the Bi-Bim-Bap and then tuck in. Supporting the main dish are complimentary sides. Some Kimichi, a garlic fried mushroom dish, some scented bean-sprouts, a small vege omelette and a roast nut and cabbage soup. Tantalisingly good from start to finish.

Cost: £1.50 all in.
Waiting Time: 2 Minutes max.
Customer Service: 10/10

So, as mentioned, I recently realised that this is the equivalent to the English Café. It’s the quickest and most standard form of Korean food. There are a few differences. I’m not saying one is better than the other, but will list a few simple differences.

Freshness – Korean Café doesn’t have any tins or packages in sight.

Smell – an obvious difference, but there isn’t much oil in these places, therefore no stench of greasy fat.

Cleanliness – Again with oil absent from this set-up it tends to feel a lot cleaner. No slippery greased up floors.

Tea – It doesn’t have tea. Need I say anymore. Points lost here.

Trashy Newspaper – The third aspect of an English Café (First being the fry up, second being the over-sized mug of tea) is the grease covered tabloid that is floating its way from table to table. Korean Café doesn’t have tabloid!

This time in four weeks I will have been in Balham, South West London, for a couple of hours. To be honest I’ll probably be sat on the couch watching Sky Sports News 24. I’ll probably be feeling a little strange and wondering what to do next. I’ll probably ask Dad to cook me some rice and let me hold some chopsticks or something. It’s going to be strange, very strange. But, I’m currently marinating myself in excitement about my three week vacation to my homelands. I can hardly wait……

Below is a sneak preview at my new apartment. 2nd Floor, window facing the blue van side.

ENGLAND

2008-06-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

I must apologise for the slight delay in proceedings. I’m sure you have been waiting with baited breath at my next lexical instalment on life in Korea. The excuse is that so much has happened and that I’ve had some many cunning, enthusiastic ideas, that I have struggled to conjure up the courage to begin the unwinding of it all, onto the keyboard. I cleaned my keyboard last week in pure disgust at the state that it had become, but once I had done so, I then decided that I would let it breath and thrive in its new found happiness for a few days, in the same fashion as one does with an old favourite album. Therefore delaying my latest blog even further.

I’m here now though. So, I have been counting down to my three week adventure back to the UK. I’m currently 37 days away from the 13-15 hour flight. I have been trying to work out what to do, when, where and with whom. I’ve been hesitant to make actual concrete plans, but I soon realised that life would be that little easier if I did. I had flirted outrageously with the idea of a couple of days away in Europe. I first thought that a beach style resort might be what I needed/fancied. I then thought that a bit of European city life might float my boat. After too-ing and throw-ing with a number of options I’ve decided that staying in and around my creature comforts is EXACTLY what I want, need and am REALLY looking forward to.

Other things that have been occupying my mind are finding a new apartment and finding a substitute teacher for my three week vacation. My journey of the new apartment for year two was relatively quick and painless. I had acquired the help of a local Korean friend. She guided me into a local Estate Agency, gave them my wish list and off they went, making phone calls, sending emails and doing things in order to help me with my cause. Two days later I viewed my new home. It comes in the style of an old Korean house. I have no idea how to describe it to you, because I was only in there for around 45 seconds, as the Korean couple in there seemed to be busy doing eating type activities. However, I can say that I have TWO rooms, a kitchen, bathroom, small laundry-esc balcony and a very quiet entourage of tight alleys and walkways surrounding my front door. It’s perched nicely on a small hill and sits about 60 metres back from the 8-lane high street that makes Oryudong tick, pretty much 24/7. Photos will follow, shortly after the 16^th July. This is the moving date.

Finding a substitute teacher wasn’t easy in the slightest. I had begun to panic. I HAD to find someone – I needn’t say anymore. So, off I went, making phone calls, sending emails and doing things in order to help me with my cause. It was painful. SO, many people saying “Would love to, but not for that money” – “I have already found my summer job” – “I’m not a native speaker, is that a problem?” (Yes, it is)…..

Then, Cometh the hour, cometh the (wo)man. Her name is Cindy Wilkins and she is joining the Kids Herald Team in replace of yours truly. She’s my new best friend.

I have taken up a couple of hobbies in Korea. One is learning the language. It’s a slow, but thoroughly exciting, challenge. I picked up the alphabet whilst in China for 5 days. I have now taken up learning all sorts of essential, day to day, phrases. It’s hugely satisfying when you can read words, sentences etc and know what it means. I NEVER thought I would ever be capable of reading, understanding, practicing and above all, executing the Korean language. I’m not counting any chickens yet, my level is still stupidly and pathetically low, but I know the kind of person I am, and I’m doing VERY well…. Haha. See you soon!!!!!!!!!!

Conversation Time

2008-06-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

I had a couple of great conversations on Thursday. One of them was with a 12 year old called Cindy, who I've taught since I arrived here, and the other was with a random Korean man on the streets of Hongdae.

Two conversations in chronological order................

Thursday afternoon. Kids Herald School, Green Class.

Toby Teacher: Do you know Lee Hyori?
(she is a very gorgeous and famous Korean lady that appears in numerous advertisements)
All: (they corrected my pronunciation and said yes)
Toby Teacher: Well, I'm seeing her on Friday night. She called me and asked me!!
All: REALLY??? REALLY??
Leena: No, He's joking!
Toby Teacher: Yes, I'm joking. But she did call me and I said I was too busy! (I laughed, they didn't)
Cindy: She is good girl, but..
Toby Teacher: But what?
Cindy: She is good girl, she is gooood girl. But your face, your face is....
Toby Teacher: My face is what?
Cindy: Your face is very good, but your face is (she extends her eyes, rubs her chin) very scary!!

Thursday night. Hongdae. On the street.

Korean Man: Hello. Hi. Nice to meet you.
Toby: Hi, how are you?
Korean Man: I'm student. Where are you from?
Toby and Giovanna: From London.
Korean Man: You, Couple?? (Giovanna and I get this a lot)
Toby and Giovanna: No! Just friends, we went to University together.
Korean man and girlfriend: We looking for English friends.
Toby: We're busy tonight, but what's your name?
Korean Man: Pete.
Toby: Pete?? as in P.E.T.E.
Korean Man: No, Pete. As in P.I.T.T. Do you know Brad Pitt??
Toby: Ahhhh!!! Pitt. Very good name. Giovanna! His name is Pitt, as in Brad Pitt.
Giovanna: hahahahaha.....

We exchanged numbers and walked away. How can anyone take this guy seriously with a name like that?? I mean come on man..... PITT!!??? seriously??

My Weekend

2008-06-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

The weekend has passed by. Quite a busy one. Friday night I took myself over to a Korean friend’s house, I won’t mention their name, to save them the embarrassment that this may/will/would cause. We shared food, drink and much more drink. I found a nice little bottle of Chianti, a few weeks back, in my local shop. It costs around £9.00 and it even has the Italian Export stamp on it. It tastes like it should do. So a bottle of that was drunk with our meal. Then we moved onto a Korean drink called Bekseju. It’s a Soju Wine if you like. Soju for the lady. A few bottles of it was drunk at a pace that an ‘Old Irishman’ would be proud to associate himself with. Anyway, we decided it was time to head to a club for some dancing. This was always our plan. Ten minutes into our cab journey it was time to turn around and head home. The unnamed persons comfort zone had been taken over by double (possibly triple) vision and a wave of stomach clenches that ultimately resulted in…….. you know!!!

Saturday arrived and I headed out of my neighbourhood and into Yongsan Electronics market. I recently purchased a BIGGER lens for my camera. I therefore, now, needed to purchase a BIGGER camera bag to fit my new lens, old lens and existing accessories in. I got one, job done.

I walked out of the market and heard the floor tremble. Nothing to worry about though, it was the commencement of the ‘Dance Festival’ just around the corner. I sat for a couple of hours and took some snaps.

NO to US beef...........................

Later, at around 6:31pm, I met Yoori, a newly acquired friend. We met at City Hall, Exit 2. We planned to attend the ‘US Beef’ protest. It was quite over whelming. Thousands upon thousands soon swamped the area, as the streets coming and going from City Hall closed down to traffic, 10, 20, 30 thousand people all sat and chanted, danced, light candles, sung, waved and ceremonially supported the same cause from start to finish. We departed to have some Thai food. I had Chicken and Yoori had seafood.

Sunday arrived and I headed to Yeouido for some cycling and a cold beer. I was meeting fellow teacher/Englishman/Norwich-ite friend Chris and his girlfriend Hyojoo. I arrived early. I again heard the floor tremble. Nothing to worry about though, it was some traditional Korean drums being played by some traditionally dressed Koreans. I sat for 30 minutes, abused the use of my newly acquired zoooooooooooom lens and waited patiently for the arrival of said people. They arrived and we cycled along the impressively wide ‘Han River’. The sun was slowly setting as we made up way up, down and around the rivers banks. I arrived home a short time ago. That was my weekend.

Heat. Speech Contest. Sports Day.

2008-05-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

The last 7 days has seen a rapid increase in the humidity levels. It dawned on me when I was peddling into my second 10 minute stint on the exercise bike. I had already worked my way through one towel, and was in need of another. It caught me off guard. The next day, I stupidly wore jeans to work. I had just turned the corner of Oryudong High Street, on my way to work, when I realised I was going to be seeping sweat for the next 20 minutes.

Saturday arrived and the hottest day of the year arrived at the same time. It was 28 Degrees and not a 'little white fluffy cloud' anywhere in sight. We had a sports day at school. All the parents turned up in their team colors and the games began. It was an fantastic event. One of the highlights of my time here. It was breath-taking at times to see the passion in the parents faces. The kids were having fun, but not anywhere near as much as the oldies were. Tug-of-War, relay, three legged races, sprints, 15 legged races - numerous little battles with balloon popping, kiddy pushing. Press up endurance, dance offs - so many more I struggle to conjure them all up. The MC seemed to be thriving in her active role. She was bouncing around the dusty Elementary school courtyard from the get-go. 9:00 till 4:30 saw my forehead get a little rosey and my calf muscles a little tighter, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. Great to meet some of the parents on such a day. It was ended in great fashion. All the kids and parents had written wishes on a slip of paper, attached to a helium induced balloon, the countdown began and then they were released into the cloudless blue sky.

Whilst we were all in the summer heat, Glen, a ten year old Korean chappy was carrying out his speech in a contest across town. Just 9 days before I was asked to write a 3-minute speech for him. Below is what I wrote. Anthony Teacher did the artwork. Erin Teacher supplied the vocals for the CD recording. Christine Teacher guided Glen through numerous read-offs, leading up to his performance. On Saturday, as we were packing up the sporting left-overs, his mother, who is the school receptionist, received a call to announce he had come 2nd..... GREAT result......

A year of happiness

What does the year hold for you? As every New Year turns, new challenges, new goals and new adventures are within our grasp. As the cold and frosty winds of January and February blow by and we pack away our hats and gloves, the warmer fronts of March, April and May bring joy and happiness. Cherry blossoms take their stance on the trees, around the hills, valleys and mountains. The colors of pink, purple and white inspire artists and photographers to explore the beauty.

The Kindergartens, elementary and middle schools, high schools and universities change from the winter sweater to the spring shirt in time for the rise in heat. The water cooler becomes a place of rest, a moment to cool down and refresh. Children’s day and Teachers Day pass with many smiles, gifts and joyful messages. The feeling of love and care brings everyone together at a time of giving and sharing.

June, July and August arrive. The humid weather reaches its high and bows down on the nation. As the changma season of June and July swarms across the countryside, a sea of umbrellas rise above our heads, stopping the rain from soaking us through. As we reach and pass the middle months, it’s time to prepare for the festive season of September.

Chuseok is time for families and loved ones to come together. We depart from our cities in a wave and head to our homelands. We share food, presents and stories. We laugh, we smile, we hug, and we remember our loved ones. It’s a time for happiness and joy.

As the cold winds re-enter our daily routines, our walks, our journeys, our trips to the market, it’s time to cover up and brace for the winter months. The year has been a good one. I have smiled, I have laughed, I have taught, I have learnt. I’m now one year older and one year wiser. What does the next year hold for me? More happiness and joy? I hope so.

Alice hitting the second hurdle!!

The Fathers striding!!

Smiling Angela!!

Wishes!!

Milk. Bread. Toast. Skippy. Swimming.

2008-05-21T05:57:00.001-07:00

Photo: Angela on the left. Kelly on the right. I think they're growing up way too quickly. They already know all my jokes and are clearly not impressed by my latest attempt at forcing happiness upon them.... haha.

Her name is Emily. She's 7/8 years old. Korean. Using English as her second language. The class was creative writing. I gave her 3 key words. The 1st being a person (Chris Teacher), the 2nd being a place (Candy Shop) and lastly, 3rd, was an action (Swimming in Milk). No more information or guidance was given. Just think, brainstorm and write until I say stop. This is what she did.

Once upon a time, the Chris Teacher was live in the milk world. The every where is Milk. Example, there's a swimming pool. But It's not water, it's milk. Understand? There don't has water. They only drink milk. And they take shower with a milk! So one time, Chris Teacher is swimming in milk. And he sees a candy shop. He like candys, so he out of the milk swimming pool and went to the candy shop. And buy the candys.

Genius. Even I wouldn't have come up with 'Milk World'. Her use of 'Understand?' is so cute. I was speaking with the other teachers and we think that she has just picked this usage up from us teachers as we are constantly bombarding the kids with it! to see if we're making any sense!!

Going back to the world of Milk. My new world in Korea has a big void. MILK. For those of you that know me well, i.e. Family and Himley Towers crew, you know how much I used to guzzle the cows white stuff. Well, I have given it up. You can get it here, I've tasted it, and it tastes good. I dabble in it now and then. Like an ex gambler and fruit machines, every now and then you throw in a pound or two. I've also given up toast. This one is VERY hard. It's made a little easier that your average loaf of white isn't that tasty here. But a good loaf can be found and has been found in the past.

A trip was made recently, by Anthony and I, to Costco. On walking down one of the high rising aisles I noticed 'Skippy' peanut butter (Crunchy and Smooth - another dilemma in itself). It was perched on the shelf like an over-sized lepricorn on it's pot of gold. It had a big sign above it saying 'Toby, what is wrong with?? Milk?? Bread?? surely you're not going to forget me as well!'
I picked it up, smiled, looked at Anthony, looked back at Skippy, frowned, sighed, looked back at Anthony, whose expression was 'why not?'..... I couldn't do it. The little lepricorn lives on.

Teachers Day

2008-05-17T02:19:00.000-07:00

Picture, of me, courtesy of Patrick Duce, who is sadly leaving Korea in under 10 days.

Thursday 15^th May was teachers day in South Korea. I wasn’t too sure of what the day entailed. It turned out that not much was different to the normal routine of 9-5:30 of boundless fun teaching the cutest kids on planet earth. What was different was the entourage of gifts, cakes and generosity from the kids and their enthusiastic mothers. I received the following.

· 50,000 won voucher.

· Clinique for men set. Includes large bottle of aftershave and cream.

· Aveda – bar of soap

· The Face Shop – creams

· Aromatherapy set from a Korean department store

· A mug

· A red rose

· A few roses in a gift set

· A freshly made cheese cake

· Clinque for women set. Slight mistake on behalf of the mother. Not a problem though. I wear make up and am interested in anti-wrinkle cream. Joke.

· Clarins for men – après shave lotion.

· And finally, some whitening cream. Again I believe the mother made a mistake here.

The above personal gifts were accompanied by numerous large cakes, packs of biscuits, rice cakes, candies, homemade food packages and vitamin drinks. All were scattered around Kids Herald school. Every corner you turned there was another inviting calorie laced snack reluctantly hovering its way into your mouth.

However, I've saved the best till last. Don’t get me wrong I’m very grateful and was very happy to receive all these gifts, even more so as I had run out of a decent smelling aftershave and also my Dove soap had just turned into a pea sized incompetent bar of soap in the soap dish.

Leena. You have all met her and heard her opinions on international relationships, and also seen her advice for me on matters such as dating. Her gift was a letter. Self produced, self written and given with love. Word for word I regurgitate.

Dear Toby teacher.

Hello, toby teacher!

Teacher, I’m sorry. I spoke Korean everyday!!

And thank you, teacher. Teached us, and gave only 1-2 pg of workbook H.W.

Teacher, today is teachers day in Korean. So you can do any thing whatever do you want!

I’m very sorry, and very thank you.

Thank you, teacher! Buy!

From. Leena

My favourite part is the buy/bye slip up. Thanks Leena.

I mentioned above that the parents were enthusiastic and generous in their giving of the gifts. The last week has also seen some confirmation that, some of, the mothers are also very unreasonable on some certain matters. Sean left in non-smooth circumstances. A difference in opinion between Sean’s mother and everyone else on planet earth gave her, the motivation to wrongly and unreasonably, in one way of another, blame Christine Teacher for Sean’s departure. Also, my co-teachers Anthony and Silvia face loosing one, possibly two, of their kids due to more unsavoury and tasteless thought processing by mothers. But I’m not here to pass judgements on any mother. Mothers are very special people and have their own rights when it comes to their own little ones. Mothers are biased, but they have a right to be sometimes. Doesn’t mean we have to agree, but in this case (i.e. IN KOREA) you have to say yes, I’m sorry, you’re right, I’m wrong, let’s move on.

Next on the agenda is sports day. This Saturday brings the annual sporting event of Kids Heralds calendar. Running, jumping and I’m guessing a host of other verbs will make up a sweaty day in the ever increasing Seoul heat. The finale is a choreographed masterpiece by Christine Teacher, no sarcasm Christine (genuine thoughts). It comes in the shape of the song ‘ Hey Mickey, you’re so fine, you’re so fine, you blow my mind, Hey Mickey, Hey Mickey’………………………. I say no more………….

News..... Busan, Sean, Jeremy and MADE.

2008-05-13T05:03:00.000-07:00

The longest weekend in my 25 year history came to an end last night (this morning) at around 1:00am. Usually when someone refers to something as being long, in terms of a time frame, they’re making reference to the emotion of boredom or an elongated waste of time, that could, and should of, been spent elsewhere or with more tact and planning. My long weekend was nothing like the above. It was a consistent flow of laughter, relaxation and consumerism (i.e. food, coffee, soju, beer, water, sand, etc). It was relentless in the same way that a cat paws its way into comfort on your lap. The only pause we had was the three hour train journey from B-A.

The weekend was spent between restaurants, the beach, hotel/condo rooms, noraebangs and a number of walkways, escalators and street crossings. Sleep deprivation was a problem, as was indecision, but not in a million years would it have been detrimental to the even-flow of the weekends activities. All in all a successful and thoroughly enjoyable few days away. Next stop???!!! Picture is of lots of happy teachers taking a photo with some eager Koreans.

Other news:

A small conversation worthy of a mention. This is only significant to me, therefore significant as a blog, as Giovanna and I have recently had numerous jokes to do with the amount of produce that is ‘MADE in China’. So one of my afternoon ESL classes consists of four boys whose ability is a weak as my ability would be, to handle a tarantula whilst walking a tight-rope over a 300ft drop.

This is how it played out.

Toby Teacher: (pointing at the door) What is that?
All class: Door.
Toby Teacher: What colour is it?
All class: Green.
Toby Teacher: What are doors made from? (obviously hoping for the answer ‘tree’)
Glen: Made in China.

Genius.

Also an update from Red and Blue class. In the last week Sean left. Sean was the boy that struggled to progress. I have taught him for 9 months now and he moved on last week. I wish him luck. His departure will create a hole, but it will also create more time for me to focus on those abilities that can and hopefully will progress.

I played ‘Simon Says’ with Red and Blue combined today. The little legend that is Jeremy, from Red class, only went a won the game. He has been in this ‘English as a second language’ malarkey 12 months less than ALL the others, but he cruised to victory, reminiscent to that of C. Ronaldo, scoring the most goals this season. Watch this space, Jezzer is here and he isn’t going anywhere.

Laters.

Bits and Pieces. Including an extract from Leena.

2008-05-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

Photo of Soju Man at Gyeongju Station.

Hello. How are you? I'm fine thanks and you. Good Morning Robin, Good Morning Angela. Good Morning Jinny, Good Morning Erin Teacher, Good Morning. Good Morning. Good Morning Christine Teacher. (Nod, Bow, Bow Nod). Thank Mother, thank you Father, thank you Teachers, enjoy your snack. OK, hurry up and eat. Please get out your blue books. Student book time. Teacher, Homework stickers. Teacher, Weekly Phrase. Yes Angela. Yes Robin.

This is my morning. Every morning. Monday to Friday. It has become a poetic pattern of certainty every morning. It's beautiful in the same way that two buses come along at the same time. It's melodic. It has rhythm. It has soul. Most importantly I wouldn't change it for anything. I look forward to walking through the door at 9:15 and waiting for the chorus to begin. It's like a walk in the jungle. One bird starts to sing, then they all come swinging from trees, crawling out of the woodwork, singing in perfect formation. I smile and the day begins.

I had a conversation with Leena a couple of days ago that i thought was worthy of a mention. My relationship with this class is rising to new levels. They have become my insiders to Korean culture, from the perspective of a 10-12 year old girl. I ask them advice about stuff. They advise me on how I should dress. How and exactly when I should cut my hair. They even comment on the status of my eyes, and I quote;
"Your eyes look like you bored"
"Your eyes look like they're on spring and fall out of face" (they drew image to support)
"Your eyes look sleepy"
"Your eyes are crazy"
So the conversation with Leena went exactly like this. I have started to dictate our conversations on the spot to ensure 100% clarity.

Toby Teacher: Leena, I need your help. I'm going on a date tonight.
Leena: With a Korean girl??
Toby Teacher: Yes. Do you think I should pay for dinner?
Leena: Yes, because many men always go dinner.
Toby Teacher: Why shouldn't she pay?
Leena: You like her? Maybe you like her. Because you go to dinner to her. She is very, she will like you. Many men thinks, if you pay. My father too.
Toby Teacher: Shall I buy her a present?
Leena: Yeah.
Toby Teacher: What?
Leena: Ring? Necklace? marry ring.
Toby Teacher: What should I ask her?
Leena: Do you like me?
Toby Teacher: Should I kiss her??
Leena: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!, you're only meeting first time. (shake of the head to symbolise disapproval)
Toby Teacher: Should I tell her she's beautiful?
Leena: Yes, say you're a beautiful women.
Toby Teacher: OK, Thanks Leena. Have you finished your work?
Leena: NO teacher. You talking to me.
Toby Teacher: Sorry Leena.

Last weekend it was Gyeongju with my Dad and Step Mother. This weekend it's Busan with a truck load, or should I say train load, of friendly teachers. Below are a few choice pictures from Gyeongju.

Not in Seoul

2008-05-04T01:35:00.000-07:00

Not only am I not in Seoul but this is officially my first blog, that I've written, that hasn't been produced on my laptop, in my room. I'm currently sitting in my hotel room in a small city called Gyeongju. Gyeongju sits in the South Eastern sector of the country, a mere 30K from the sea. I've spent the last 40 hours cycling around the area, taking in tombs, palaces and grass mounds. The grass mounds double up as the tombs, therefore making the tombs not as impressive as advertised. Nevertheless Gyeongju has given my first taste of life in Korea, outisde of Seoul, and it tastes good. To add to the excitment of being outside Seoul,
Im with my father and step mother. Tomorrow is a holiday, so one more day of excursions then it's back to Oryu-dong for me and back to London for the rellies. Then a cushty four day week will be rewarded with a 3 day holiday in Busan. Busan is the second city in Korea. It lies on the South coast and, so I;ve heard, it has a couple of good beaches and plenty to do and see. This time I feel there won't be much cycling and tourist fuelled excusrions, but more drink fuelled lunches and student-esk adventures around the unknown southern lands of Korea. Those in the know have informed me that there will be around 30-40 of us training it down to Busan next weekend. I fear that many stories and pictures will be tagging their way around numerous facebook albums. Needless to say I'm very excited and looking forward to what the immediate future holds. As for right here and right now, I need to jump in the shower and then head out for some samgabsal with the folks.

NEWS!!!!

2008-04-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

News from Seoul.

Ok so on Saturday we went to the Zoo. It was one of my four allotted Saturdays that I have to work. Not so bad though as the sun was shining and I had a clear head for a change. No late Friday night, and early Saturday morning regrets. Anthony teacher, on the contrary, was a complete mess. He decided that this particular Friday night was going to be the biggest one to date. He was nearly sick on the school bus on the way to the Zoo. He survived, just. Anyway, the Zoo was pleasant in comparison to Beijing Zoo. In fact this Zoo was like walking around a gold plated chocolate factory in comparison to the hell hole that was, and probably still is, Beijing Zoo.

The sky was blue, the sun was beaming and the kids were in high spirits, as were the teachers and animals (again in comparison to Beijing’s depressed cattle). I’m not going to praise the Zoo too much though. In fact, lets be honest, it was a little pathetic and miniature. It was more like a tour of Pets World pet shop. The biggest animal they had was a donkey, whose attitude to the kids feeding them dried carrots was similar to that of Anthony’s attitude to the whole day “Is that much point to all of this?”

As the day drew on the kids got more and more tired. We had a photographer working with us. He was working on commission. So basically he would only get paid for the shots that the school bought after Zoo day. Therefore, he made it his mission to take as many photos as possible. Imagine, it’s 27 Celsius, we have around 50 kids, aged between 3-7, all pacing around a crowded Zoo, and our photographer wants to pair them off every five minutes for a shot in front of the monkey’s, crocodiles, fake wooden monkey’s, fake stone crocodiles and then at a busy intersection in the Zoo….. needless to say come 3 ‘o’ clock we were all ready to go home, including the kids.

A few choice pictures for you here.

Other news.

I have decided to stay on in Korea for another year. Why not? I’ll be coming home in July/August for three weeks. Then it’s back to Korea to start another year at my same school. I love the kids, I love the country, I love the food, I love my life right now….. so why should I stop now? Stop when I’m ready to stop…. I’m not ready…

Other news.

ESL class. I asked them to right a short few sentences on what they were like as a baby. This was Emily’s response. She’s 8 years old. That’s 7 in UK/US years.

“When I was a baby, all people said, “That baby looks like a pretty boy!” But I am a girl. I eat wines.

I have no idea what the wines thing is, but how great is the boy/girl confusion. Her picture do accompany the text was hilarious. It has a picture of her mother shouting “it’s a girl”. Amazing. Another girl drew a picture of herself drinking milk from her mothers breast. And then wrote.

“When I was a baby, I drink milk from my mother”.

All for now.

Time

2008-04-15T05:27:00.000-07:00

I was reading ‘The Guardian Weekly’, whilst peddling on the exercise bike, as I usually do. I came across a headline that triggered some kind of wave through my mind, the result in that wave was that I should write a blog about it. The headline read “Five Years On”. It was in reference to the invasion of Iraq. It just made me think of other time frames. I then thought of when Diana died, when was that? I thought of the mobile phone, how long have we been dependant on an SMS reply or a returned missed call? When did Macdonald's first start trading?

It has been 7, nearly 8 years since 9.11. It has been 9 years since the Beckham’s got married. It’s nearly 30 years since Margaret Thatcher first took up the hot seat as the UK’s number one. How many years has it been since you passed your driving test? When was the last time you said ‘I love you?’ Can you remember when you last cried? Did you know that it has been 63 years since the first computer was invented? (and it was the size of a living room?). Did you also know that the English Premiership has been running for 16 years? The game of cricket was first played over 400 years ago, and that I have now been in Korea for 241 days.

Blog completed 21:25, 15.04.2008