My life is so difficult....... NOT!

This week was another 4 day week because it is Chusok, basically the Korean thanksgiving.

I went for coffee with Victoria last night and she gave me a pear and an apple as a Chusok present. KM today gave me a gift set containing 6 tubes of toothpaste, moisturiser, shampoo and conditioner.

(The Koreans loooove their toothpaste and always brush their teeth after every meal, so I am assuming why there were 5 tubes in the gift set.)

One of my adult students made me some biscuits, as she handed them to me she told me 'they are not delicious'. Actually they were pretty good.

Also speaking of pears, Korean pears are HUGE. Jo brought me three over and they are MASSIVE!!!

I tried to make a pear cake to use some of the pears, but the oven is not really working out. It burnt the outside, and the inside was uncooked. :(

However the bonus is that is it a diet oven, so obviously everything that comes out of it has no calories!

Tonight I went out for dinner to Green Sky, Jo and I were there on Saturday as well. It is also the place I went for my Birthday. Turns out the staff remember me, especially the Chef. He actually speaks really good English and loves Manchester (yay for Park Ji-Sung, alll Koreans know Manchester now). He actually came over to our table and gave me coupon for a 30% discount!

I was also given a bonus this week, handed to me in cash... in a blank envelope... Jo said this is the way Koreans do it, but still seems a little dodgy!

So life is pretty good at the moment, I really have nothing to complain about! :)

China!

I have been toying with the idea of going to China during my next week off and doing a Cross-Cultural Solutions Insight program. I have been receiving fare alerts from Kayak to keep an eye on the flights. They had been about £350-400. Yesterday I got an email saying flights had dropped to £143!!! Needless to say I got VERY excited. After searching a bit more, the flights were coming out around £300, Kayak lied. I then tried Expedia which had shown up in the Kayak search and low and behold a flight for £143. So I pretty much booked it straight away!!

Unfortunately I cannot enrol in the CCS program until 60 days beforehand, and they may or may not even be space for me but the flight was too cheap to miss!

So either way in November I will be spending a week in Xian!

Seonyudo Island

So we finally made it to Seonyudo Island after the taxi driver tried to take us to the bus station instead of the ferry terminal!
We got on the ferry about 11.30 and the grabbed some seats on the deck upstairs. Next to us was a big group of Koreans who cracked open the soju and offered me some, as soon as we set off. There was also a big hiking group decked out in all their hiking gear. We later saw them having a picnic on the beach and also then having dinner. Not really doing much hiking!


The island was pretty small but very tranquil and beautiful. To be fair we didn't see that much. We found a restaurant and settled there by the the sea, ate some crab and other random stuff and had a few beers.


On the ferry home, I was sitting down when I was suddenly surround by Koreans. Two women plonked themselves next to me, put their arms around me and the photo shoot began. I was asked if I wanted to be a mans third wife, had my boob grabbed by a very drunk Korean, had a discussion about Hangul, was invited to another island and arm wrestled. All things you would expect on a ferry ride!!


Headed out in the Goon for a few drinks in the evening which of course lead to noreabang. I think I pretty much lost my voice by the end of the night!


Pictures of the weekend here!

Well, this past week and weekend has been pretty eventful and busy.

Last Friday, a newbie arrived, who I had been in touch with prior to her arriving. Unfortunately her apartment wasn't ready, so she spent the weekend at mine.

On the Friday night Louise and I had planned a couple a girl make up evening, then out in 'The Goon'. This managed to turn into an impromptu gathering of teachers and a few guys from Base in my little studio! The most people I have had in here yet.

I also webcamed with come of my colleagues from Cross-Cultural Solutions. It was soooooo good to see them all and made me cry! I love travelling, going to new places and meeting new people. But it also means you leave lots of good friends behind!

We decided to head out (by this time Joanna's jetlag had hit and she had passed out on mu bed!) We went out for a few drinks, then headed to Noreabang. I cannot express my love for noreabang in words. I am an awful singer but it is just sooooooo much fun!

This is an action shot of us being hit by a fabulous wave of noreabang while singing Bohemian Rhapsody!

The next day I was feeling pretty tender but as it was Joanna's first proper day, we went for a trundle around the Goon. We went to the fabulous Music cafe for a few hours and chatted to the owner through his 8 year old son, went for a wander around Eunpa Park and then went for some dinner.

We then met up with some other teachers for what was going to be one drink, then we met up with some other teachers. Then a car drove past, shouting my name and it was the guys from Base from the night before, so they joined us. Before I knew it, there was a huge crowd of us and it was 3am!!

On the Sunday we pretty much chilled for most of the day and then headed to Lotte Mart. For .... FOUR HOURS!!!! Joanna wanted to look at everything and I wanted to shoot myself!!

The nit was back to work. I think work is a little worried about me leaving because of the 'personality conflicts' between my co-workers.

They have said I can do flexi-time and come in at 1 most days instead of 11 and are also giving me a small bonus. To be honest it is not that bad. I have dealt with much worse but it is a little childish and unprofessional with games of 'He said/she said'. I am just keeping my head down, working hard and trying to not get involved.

I was also asked if I was going to renew my contract..... I am happy here, I am really enjoying the teaching, love have my studio etc. But I am just not feeling South Korea. When I was in Brazil and Ghana, I LOVED it. I just don't have that same passion for South Korea. If this job and situation were in Brazil I would re-sign immediately! I am definitely thinking teaching/teaching English is the route I want to take but I just need to decide where!!!

Victoria brought me round an oven last week so with all this spare time, I decided to bake a cake.

First of all it is mainly a rotisserie oven. Second the instructions are in Korean. Third there is no temperature adjustment. I also have no scales, so measuring out the ingredients was a guessing came also.

So I had finally made the mixture put in the oven on the rack, thinking it would be best near the top. Turned the oven on and the rotisserie think kicked in. The cake turned upside and spilt most of the mixture. Cleaned it up sorted it out and put it back in. The smoke started to come from the oven. I had not got all of the mixture off the oven.

Then I burnt one side of it, then the top. But still not a bad effort for my first try. I think I have an idea of how to control it all now!

Not too bad for my first attempt and not understanding how to use the oven!!

This weekend I am heading to Seonyu Island to see it before it starts to get cold. The weather has really started to cool down and is really lovely at the moment. It is sunny and nice but I am not sweating profusely like previous months!!

Photos!

Speech contest photos here!

Birthday photos here!

Well, I keep trying to post photos as I realised I have not even posted photos of the speech contest and also my birthday. But the Internet is not being very cooperative!

My first week back at work was hectic, with new students, new schedule and new textbooks. I am still adjusting now.

I have some new adult students. Some of my older ones left as they were too busy popping out babies. The new ones have come in the hope of getting pregnant, as most of my class has been pregnant, they are hoping they will too!

I can see the slogan now 'Learn English and get preggers too'!!!

My birthday was a lovely affair, no other way to describe it. I had a lovely dinner with a few friends and ended up with 2 cakes, being sung to in Korean once and English twice. We had a few drinks at a nice roof top bar afterwards. I was thinking about how I spent my last birthday. It was at a kids party with Cass and Laura in a park in Brooklyn with NYC and UK friends - how things change! This one was celebrated with Koreans, Irish, New Zealand, American and South African people!!

Last weekend, I went to a house party on the Friday night and got involved in lots of drinking games.

Friday was also my 4 month anniversary!! 4 months I have been here! The time has gone so fast, yet it feels like I have been here a loong time. I do feel settled and like this is home. albeit a temporary home but I feel settled.

I spent Saturday cooking veggie burgers and other veggie delights. I am getting a bit fed up with the limited options. Especially, as when I come home I usually run in, get changed and go the gym, so things have to be quick!

Sunday I went on a bike ride and then went over to a friends to watch American college football and drink beer!

Then it was back to school for another week, which is already half way over.

Tonight, I am cooking dinner tonight for 2 veggie friends, we are rotating around each others houses, eating veggie food and gossiping!

Just thought I would do a quick update. I will try and sort out the photos soon!