Snow

We had our first proper snowfall here on Friday, and given the fact that there was never very much snow on Iona (apart from the winter of 95'.....what a couple of weeks....Rocky and Smooth anyone?) I made sure I got out to throw a few snowballs and mess about like a big kid. I had a bit of break at school in the afternoon so me, Paris and Yogi (their English names) went down to the elementary school opposite the academy to see some of the kids. Here are the ladies setting off.

As soon as I arrived I was duly pelted with snowballs. Fair enough, I am a teacher, and I am Western. I tried to fight back but it was me against 20 kids so snow ended up getting pretty much everywhere! Here are a couple of pictures of the fun.

Poor Jerry on the right was on the recieving end of a snowball to the nether regions in this one. Nasty!

Probably my favourite photo in Korea so far. Sean had stuffed some snow behind his glasses, so I thought I'd get a funny photo. Meanwhile, someone in the background saw the opportunity and hurled a snowball our way. I love the mid-throw pose, and the snowball coming towards us. It's amazing what a battered up old Nokia cameraphone can get!

We then made what could be the world's worst snowman. Here he is:

I put my hat on to keep his head "warm", used two 100 Won coins for eyes, a 10 Won coin for the nose, and my gym membership card for the mouth. We also got a couple of twigs for arms but as you can see they were a bit long.............. Immediately after this photo was taken the poor guy was set upon by several children and reduced to a pile of handy sized snowballs.

After a bit more snowfighting and an attempt at a game of football (I only managed to hit the post) we headed back to the academy to warm up. Here is us crossing the road:

It was a brilliant afternoon. I am so glad I got to enjoy a bit of the snow and also spend a bit of time with some of the kids outside of the classroom. We had a quiet weekend, and today I was back at work. I am now doing Monday and Wednesday at In-Dong (10am-6pm), Tuesday and Thursday at Nam Dong (2pm-9pm) and on Fridays I am moving to a new school that my director has just opened (2pm-9pm). It will be good because the school is brand new and there is another Western teacher there, but it means I finish later on a Friday and I don't get to be at In-Dong as often. I like the staff there, we get on really well, so I hope that continues even though I won't be seeing them as often.

Some other news of note, myself and Neil have booked flights to Osaka in Japan. We fly out with Asiana on the 2nd of February and are there for 6 nights, coming back on the 8th. We havn't sorted any accomodation yet, but i'm keen to spend at least 1 night in a capsule hotel. So until then, I'm going to take it easy spending wise so I can enjoy myself there, as Japan is a bit more expensive than Korea.

Right, I'm away to watch Deadliest Catch. Big fan these days!

Love, Neil

New Year

Hello,

As promised (although somewhat delayed) here is an account of how I spent New Year over here.

So I had managed to get Hogmanay off, although everyone else ended up taking it off in my school too, which was nice, although I feel I may have sacrificed one of my coveted 5 "winter" days of holiday for nothing. I started the day late, probably rising around 2 in my apartment, and spoke to Canadian Colin and Neil about our plans for the night. We decided to start things off at mine with a few beers so the boys headed around at 6ish and we got stuck into a few OB's (my favourite local lager). Here's a pic of the lads.

I got the kilt on the go and we headed out into the night. I had made the journey into Seoul once before in my kilt for the Scotland game in November, so I was ready for the inevitable stares on the subway. And stare they did. When we got off at City Hall in Seoul, I was left on my own for 5 mins while the boys went for a pee, and the interest reached fever pitch. Lots of folk started taking photos......which is O.K. a couple of times but I felt a bit like Britney Spears, and I didn't want to end up in the same state as her so I started taking photos of the people who were taking photos of me. That soon scared them off. Here is a video I took whilst in the subway station.........

Once the boys had finished spending pennies we headed down towards Bosin-Gak, which is the focal point of the New Year celebrations in Seoul. It is basically a massive bell that dates from the 15th century, and nowadays is only struck once a year, at New Year. It was only around 10pm at this point, so we ducked into a bar for a few beers until around 11:30 and then headed out into the crowds. There were a lot of folk, not quite on the same scale as the Edinburgh Street Party but still pretty impressive. There were police EVERYWHERE, although they didn't really seem to be bothered. I asked one if i could take my (plastic) bottle of beer in with me, he said "No" but then I walked on anyway and nobody said anything about it for the rest of the night. That would not happen back home. Another thing that would not happen is the amount of fireworks being let off. You could buy these long tubes for 50p which then let off about 6 or 7 fireworks (i suppose they are like Roman Candles, although i'm not up on my firework types). I bought one after the Bells, it was quite fun to let off but if you aimed it at someone it could do some serious damage. Health and safety back home would have a fit!

We squeezed our way to reasonably close to the front of the crowd and got chatting to some Koreans (one of whom's birthday it was....they had brought a cake into the crowd.....madness) and waited...........

At midnight itself everybody went mental (but kind of just within their own groups, there was no communal hugging/kissing etc). Here is a video from just after the bells (or during it......you can hear the bell being rung) I must apologise for my use of the phrase "Jesus Christ" , but it was pretty amazing!

All the flashes you can see are the fireworks being let off. And I believe the person shouting "Booze, booze, booze " in the background is Neil.

Here are also a couple of photos from just after midnight, I love the policemen's faces!

Everybody dispersed quite quickly after midnight, so we managed to find a taxi and headed over to Itaweon to finish the night off. I managed to find a girl who wasn't scared of my kilt for a New Year's kiss, so that was nice. And during the course of the night myself, Colin and Neil all became seperated so that by the time the subway opened I was all alone :( ...... but I wasn't bothered I'd had a great night. Then began what is becoming a ritual if ever a night out in Seoul occurs......the subway journey home. Only this time it was being done still half-cut, and with me wearing a kilt. What a sight.

Here are three videos documenting my journey home.

After a day recovering (much aided by a bottle of Irn-Bru- cheers Stewartie!) it was back to work on the 2nd.
I have moved onto a different timetable at In-Dong for January which means I now work 10-6 Mon/Wed/Fri, which I quite enjoy, it means I finish earlier so have more time for the gym and I can eat at a reasonable time. It looks like I will be going to my directors new school one day a week starting a week on Friday. I have mixed feelings, but the school itself is really nice so it should be good I think.
Finally, it was Scott's birthday on Saturday so we had another wee night out in Seoul. Scott is not actually an English teacher as most of us are, instead he makes his Won by selling socks and fake sunglasses in Itaweon. Here he was wheeling his mobile stall down the pavement......it's a hard life!

And so ends the first blog of 2008 (according to Blogspot, who operate on Pacific time). I hope you are enjoying them, I am certainly enjoying finding things to write about..........

Love to all, Neil

tours and turkey

Hello everyone,

First things first, a very Happy New Year to you! I'll put my pics and videos from last night up soon, but today here is a bit about some things I did last year around the Christmas period. It was different, but not quite as different as I had thought it was going to be.

I'll start back in mid December, the weekend before Christmas. I took at trip to the World Cup Stadium in Seoul, in an attempt to find a present for somebody (?), and although I didn't find what I was looking for, I still had a good look around. I took the stadium tour (50p) and got to see the dressing rooms, VIP box, and got to walk down to pitch level, although I wasn't allowed to walk on the pitch, which had a big silver blanket on it to protect the grass from the cold. Here are some pictures....I'm very keen to go back later this year when there's a game on, I think the atmosphere would be amazing.

Me up in the VIP box.

outside, looking along the upper level.

Here is a video of my potential debut for South Korea, but it wasn't to be. shame.......I was pumped up.

That weekend was also Gordie's last night in Korea, so we had a good night with him in Hongdae. It was a shame to see him go, but maybe he'll be back later this year. Go on Gordie, you know you want to!!!

It was school as normal on Christmas Eve, and as soon as I had finished that night, I packed a bag and met Neil for a mammoth subway trip into Seoul to stay at the Ramada in the Gangnam area. We had booked an "Executive Twin" which was supposed to be better than a "Superior Twin" (what is it with hotels and fancy sounding room types?) but I thought the room was pretty average. Still, there was a nice view from the window.

We ended up going for a night out in Itaweon that night as the area the hotel was in was pretty quiet. In the morning, I took full advantage of the free breakfast buffet and also used the spa/sauna......a very nice way to start Christmas Day!

Once we had recovered a bit we headed over to the City Hall area of Seoul for a bit of a wander about. Here are a couple of videos, one in a subway station somewhere and one at City Hall itself.

After a couple of hours at City Hall we headed down to the Hilton for our Christmas dinner. The Hilton was very well decorated, with a giant (revolving) christmas tree, massive festive mdel train set and a collection of different Santa dolls from all over the world. As a result, the place was mobbed with families, mostly Korean but quite a few western folk too. We met Scott and the three of us got stuck into some good food. And what good food it was. Not exactly like christmas dinner back home, but good all the same. I had some turkey with gravy and roast potatoes, sadly there was not stuffing or pigs in blankets, but I substituted with lots of smoked salmon, prawns and even a little bit of crab. Here is my plate....the turkey is on there somewhere!

After dinner we headed downstairs to the "Oak Room" to digest and relax. We ordered a couple of malts, and relaxed by the open fire (something I thought I would never see in Korea) while a pretty lady in a red dress sang Christmas songs.

It felt right.

At this point I have nicked some photos from Scott (thanks Scott), here they are:

Fire!!!!

After relaxing for a while longer and spending too much money we headed back out into the real world and caught the subway home, but not before I had got my bag stuck in the subway doors. As a westerner you usually get stared at on the subway anyway, but this time was exceptional. The worst thing was nobody laughed or even said anything, everybody just looked as I frantically wrestled with the bag trying to drag it onto the train. Eventually the doors re-opened and I was able to salvage my bag and some of my dignity.

It was back to work on Boxing Day, but only for a few days. On Thursday I helped open a new school (no ceremonial oversized scissors though) that my director is running, I was feeling pretty under the weather though so it was a long day. And then, a quiet weekend, and onto Hogmanay/New Year. It seems slightly wrong that I am writing the christmas blog on New Year's day, but that's what happens when you are disorganised like myself. I shall update about New Year on.........Easter? no....in a few days.

cooking at home with Neil

Tough times call for tough measures, and as I am towards the end of my month here, and have very little money to spend until Friday, tonight I decided to do some home cooking, Korean style. I will now introduce you to one of my favourite dishes that I have invented out here. I call it "Chamchi Kerbap" ( chamchi is Korean for Tuna, Ker is egg and Bap is rice).

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 tub microwaveable rice

1 can plain tuna

black pepper

tomato sauce/red pepper paste

1 slice processed cheese (optional)

Method:

Gently fry egg in a frying pan until cooked, but make sure yolk is still runny. Meanwhile, microwave rice for 3 minutes at high power, or according to manufacturers directions. Drain tuna and put in the bottom of a large plastic bowl. Add rice and egg, and mix thoroughly.

Sprinkle with pepper and tomato sauce to taste. If used, break up cheese slice into several pieces and use as garnish.

Eat immediately. I recommend using Pepsi Max or just water as an accompanying drink.

And in true Blue Peter style.....here's one I made earlier (tonight). Mmmmmmmmmmm!

I would just like to point out to anyone (mum) that may be worried that this is all I eat here, this is not true. I eat a varied diet, maybe I don't always get my 5 a day but I do alright!

If anyone would like any more information on exactly how to make this scrumptious dish, or has any tips/ideas on how to improve it, please leave a comment or e-mail me. Love, Neil

Christmas?

Time for a blog update I think:

So we are now in the run in to Christmas here, we have one full week of teaching left after this one and then the "holiday" season begins. I have put holiday in inverted commas because Christmas over here is not really as much of a big deal as it is back home. The big department stores and some of the smaller shops have got Xmas decorations, and the centre of Seoul is looking very festive (see below) but overall it's quite refreshing......I sometimes find the constant ads back home a bit too much!

Last weekend I went into Seoul on Saturday to an area called Insadong, which has many antique shops and art galleries, but also plenty of souvenirs as well. I picked up a few bits and pieces, but it was also nice just to wander around and see another bit of Seoul.

After being in Insadong for an hour or so, I caught the subway to Dongdaemeun, another area of Seoul that has one of the biggest markets in the city. I really didn't estimate how big either. It's not like a standard market, like a farmers market with a few stalls or anything, it is literally a massive complex of hundreds of different buildings, with different areas selling different articles. I wandered about for a while, and ended up in one big building whose ground floor sold two things exclusively;

Buttons, and Ties. It was the most amount of buttons and ties i have ever seen, and if I ever need a button, or a tie, I now know where to go.

Here is a picture, but it doesn't really show you the scale of it all.

I also went to a big department store in Dongdaemeun called Dooti where I bought some deodorant (very difficuilt to find in Korea) and a hat, as it's starting to get awful chilly out here!

Then it was back to Incheon, but not before a lovely dusk walk back up to City Hall (the centre of Seoul I suppose) from Dongdaemeun up the Chungguchun (the stream that flows through central of the city, a classic example of good urban regeneration in my opinion).

This is a view looking up towards City Hall. It's easy to forget you are in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world with scenes like this. The stream is really clean, I saw a few fish and there is no litter whatsoever.

Seoul's government is in the process of erecting the Xmas lights around the main square at City Hall, it looks like once they're up and on it will be a pretty impressive sight. There is also a big outdoor ice rink and a giant (fake) tree. And here are some decorations that are already up and running, on the front of the Seoul Plaza hotel.

I really enjoyed having a good walk around some different bits of Seoul, and do a wee bit of shopping at the same time!

The main purpose of this post however, is to give you a bit of an update on plans for the next few months. Starting with Christmas, myself, Neil and a couple of others are planning on heading into Seoul, getting a couple of nice hotel rooms, and putting our feet up, enjoying a good xmas dinner, maybe sipping a few whiskeys and generally having a relaxing time. Unfortunatley, I only have Xmas day off but we'll probably head in on Christmas Eve and come back on Boxing Day morning.

I think we're also going to go to Seoul for New Year. I have managed to get Hogmanay off so I think I will don the kilt, and get to City Hall where the crowds gather and the atmosphere is supposed to be amazing.

Then, I have managed to get a couple of days holiday at the end of January so I think i'm going to book a trip with Adventure Korea ( a company that specialises in taking western groups on trips in Korea) to one of the ski/snowboard parks near Seoul. I think I will give snowboarding a go but I am a complete beginner so will no doubt spend most of the time on my bum!

And then, the week after, which is Lunar New Year (3 day holiday), Neil and I plan to go to Osaka in Japan for a few days. We are going to book the flights in the New Year and will probably stay in a "capsule" hotel (cosy!). We have spoken to a few people who have been to Japan and they all raved about Osaka, but said that Tokyo was "so-so". Given that, and the fact it is cheaper to go to Osaka, that's where we're headed.

So, that's the plan for the next wee while. Right now, I'm just looking forward to a wee bit of time off over Christmas and tucking into some roast potatoes!

I will aim to update between Xmas and New Year, so, until then, much love and:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two photos

I'm just back from a good night out in Seoul with the boys, and on my way home I took several photos, but these two are my favourite.

A Macdonalds Home Delivery scooter. I know many of you back home are not fans of the golden arches, but they are everywhere in Korea and sometimes.....just sometimes you need to indulge! This is a first though, I have never seen them actually delivering to your house before.

Today is also World AIDS day, and there were people in Bupyeong subway station handing out free condoms and such. I am developing a keen eye for a photo opportunity, so when these two characters appeared I had to do it!

They are so happy. And so am I.

elfs

Hello,

Seeing as its getting towards Christmas, I thought I would get the blog in festive mode by sharing this link with you.
L-R: Me, Neil Munro, Gordon Roberts.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9621755900

thanks to Liz for doing it.