Festive Update

Hello,
First of all in the true style of any 'publication' I would like to wish all my 'readers' a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It was lovely to receive some cards and packages from some of you, anything waiting in the postbox when I return from school is always great.

I am writing this on New Year's Day, sitting on the couch in my apartment. I bought a wireless keyboard/mouse last month which means I can basically sit on the couch and control everything from there. So lazy, but so good too! I have now got my apartment pretty much the way I want it, it is still messy and cluttered in a typical Neil Jardine style but I like it, and I have everything I need.

So, since the last time I blogged, December and all associated with it has been and gone. It is a good deal colder out here now, the gloves and hat are utilised most days, and we had a reasonable snowfall a couple of weeks ago. Here's a couple of photos from that day/night. Beautiful in a funny sort of way I think.






What else in the last month? Well, as we all know and love (yes........) it was St. Andrews day on 30th Nov so I went to huge lenghts to celebrate and hungoverly (word?) hung a Scotland flag out my window. I doubt many people noticed, and even if they did, maybe they wouldn't know why, but any excuse to be proud of Scotland is an opportunity I take, and I actually think it looks quite cool in the picture.



I have been playing a little bit of football, just 5 or 6 aside mess-abouts, but unfortunately in mid-December that was put on hold as I went over on my ankle quite badly. I stupidly kept playing on it, but by the end of the day i could hardly walk. A visit to the doctor and some x-rays the next day revealed that thankfully there was no break, just ligament damage, so i was fixed up in a splint and went for a couple of physio sessions involving ultrasound and various other devices that I have no idea what they were and whether they were doing anything useful. One in particular involved various suction cups that were placed on my foot and then sort of pulsated. I can only imagine it must be a similar feeling to have several small puppies constantly nibbling your foot. Very strange.
Just before Christmas it was my brothers 21st back in London which I was sad to miss. I spoke to him on the day and passed on my birthday wishes, but I would have much preferred to have been there in person. I guess that is one of the downsides of working abroad, events and celebrations back home are missed, and I do feel bad when it happens. All the video calls and fibre-optics in the world cannot replace being able to give someone a hug in person. Hopefully in Stewartie's case I will get to do that later this year if he comes to visit.

And so onto Christmas. It had been decided quite a while back that we would return to the Seoul Hilton on Christmas Day, so I set about creating a Facebook 'event' and invited a few folk. A few folk ended up being a few more, and then a few more, until I found myself frantically calling the Hilton about a week before to see if they could get us a table for 24! All credit to the staff, they were brilliant, and, on the day, we arrived to find one huge table to accommodate us all. Here are some photos from the day. Those of you who read the blog from last year's Christmas may find some of the backgrounds in the pictures familiar!





We tucked into a delicious buffet, then had a couple of drinks downstairs in the Oak Room (I had a wee Glenmorangie...only 6 quid!) and then briefly visited the adjoining casino to waste some money. I then caught the subway (yes, the public transport operates as normal out here on Christmas Day) back to Incheon and had a reasonable early night, as we had to work on Boxing Day. All in all, another very nice Christmas in Korea.

Of course, Christmas is only one half of the festive period, and last night it was back to Seoul again for New year. I didn't take Hogmanay off work like I did last year, so after finishing at 8pm it was a dash back to the flat to get the kilt on, and then into Seoul. We got there about 11, and made our way down to Bosin-Gak, where we went last year to watch them ring the big bell with all the crowds. It was another amazing spectacle, with lots of fireworks, music, Thai lanterns and some peaceful protesters unhappy with Korea's president Lee Myung Bak. I read today his approval rating is 34%. I wonder how much longer he'll be around for......
After the bells we caught a taxi over to Hongdae and saw out the rest of the night there. Here are some pictures from the night.

Greg and I. Greg doesn't have a kilt, but he does have a kilt towel. So, with a few safety pins and a belt, this was the result. I think it looks brilliant.








By throwing a few baseballs at some wood I managed to win this delightful 'Hello Kitty' stuffed toy. Here is said toy, myself and Kebab man striking a happy pose.



Unfortunately, Hello Kitty was bad company, always ridiculing Greg and I for our outfits, ordering expensive drinks and generally misbehaving. So....by the end of the night, she had taken a bit of abuse. There really is no excuse.....and I was full of guilt when i awoke this morning. Sorry Kitty, wherever you are.



And so into 2009 I go. I have no idea as of yet where I will be this time next year, and right now that doesn't worry me. In the short-term, myself and Greg have booked our tickets to go Japan at the end of this month, hopefully Neil will join too, he has just returned from a week in Thailand with his girlfriend but hopefully we can all head to the land of the rising sun together. Other plans include a possible ski-trip and going to see Tom Cruise when he makes an appearance in Seoul later this month. In the meantime, i will spend my days trying to keep warm and continuing to educate Koren children the difference between 'coffee' (the hot beverage) 'copy' (replicating something from one original) and 'ko-pee' (the Korean for nose-bleed)

All the best for 2009.