Writing Practice

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........