Nothing too important

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.