- Not much had really happened beyond teaching and resting then everything happened at once; and
- I was too tired to post most of the time.
Shortly after Danielle was beginning to recover from her sickness, my body decided it was it's turn to stop defending me from all the coughs and sneezes that float around here in Korea. I ended up with a cold, wasn't that bad - or at least at home it wouldn't have warranted taking time off school for - but here in Korea it seems I should have been at home in bed resting and popping loads of pills. After the first week, Danielle decided that she would get me something to take while visiting the doctors with her co-teacher (who was feeling under the weather) and I was given these brilliant tablets that made users drowsy... not really the ideal when you have to take them 3 times a day AND TEACH. I caught myself a few times falling asleep standing up in class and was going to bed as soon as I got home!
Anyways... my worst week of sickness was broken up by holidays making for shorter weeks. The first was Children's Day (Thursday 5th May) which, rather than stay in bed and rest, Danielle and I joined some friends and headed to visit a town, Danyang, about 90mins away which apparently had lots to see and do. When we got there we decided to visit some caves - much like the Marble Arch caves back home though without the no-touching etiquette. The bus journey there was quite nice too - very scenic, glorious sunshine and the silence of hangovers.
When we arrived at the caves we decided to get some lunch (or breakfast for most of the group) before heading into the hillside. It was interesting to say the least - it was only midday yet we got to watch men in their 60's being ushered out of the restaurant drunk, though we were unsure was to whether they had already gone for their walk or were about to go.
The caves were quite cheap to get in to - and it was a long and winding pathway through with a mild temperature, cooler than outside but still humid.
Afterwards we began to head to the site of a waterfall - which we hoped would be a spectacular sight... but when we got there it was pants - so after taking a break and playing by the river's edge we headed home.
At the Japanese place the night turned into a drinkfest - since we were all off work the next day due to Buddha's Birthday (Tuesday 10th May). Danielle even started a drinking game which she ended up regretting when she lost and had to drink a concoction of Soju and Mokoli - rancid!
Our first stop was Busan - a place I really had looked forward to seeing - but with the weather being so bad with non-stop rain and extremely low cloud, it made sight-seeing or seeing the views a major problem.
Once again I've decided to resorted to adding a Flickr slideshow of the photographs from the trip rather than posting too many on here. You can either view them below or if you click on the slideshow it should bring you to my page on Flickr.com where you can see them more clearly or view my other photos.
We were all really surprised at the length of the walk inside the caves and also the constructions of stairways which rambled through, leading us ever deeper and then higher into the hills. The only issue that Danielle and I had was that everyone had to keep moving due to the crowd that was inside. This made taking photographs really difficult and probably meant that we missed quite a bit too.
Afterwards we began to head to the site of a waterfall - which we hoped would be a spectacular sight... but when we got there it was pants - so after taking a break and playing by the river's edge we headed home.
We then headed out last Monday with some of the teachers from my school who are part of the staff English Club. They kindly invited Danielle to join us for dinner and then we headed out to a Japanese restaurant/bar afterwards for some drinks and more food for the Koreans... (I'm glad to know that I am not the only one who doesn't feel full after Korean BBQ).
At the Japanese place the night turned into a drinkfest - since we were all off work the next day due to Buddha's Birthday (Tuesday 10th May). Danielle even started a drinking game which she ended up regretting when she lost and had to drink a concoction of Soju and Mokoli - rancid!
It was a really good night and I think we all look forward to doing it again as soon as possible!
Wednesday (11th May) seen me leaving Danielle (for the first time since we got married) for 3 days to go on a school trip further south. I had been invited by the Vice-Principal and the Head of Grade 2 so I could not say no. Unfortunately the weather was not as it should have been for this time of year and on the morning we set off there was a deluge of rain that lasted the whole day and resulted in everyone (pupils and staff) being soaked.
Our first stop was Busan - a place I really had looked forward to seeing - but with the weather being so bad with non-stop rain and extremely low cloud, it made sight-seeing or seeing the views a major problem.
Our first stop was Haeundae Beach, Korea's No. 1 beach apparently... but today it was a drab and miserable place to be. The staff and students were supposed to walk around the edge of a peninsula on a boardwalk - but with the rain teeming down a few of us teachers decided it just wasn't happening for us and we retreated back to the buses.
We then went to have lunch before visiting the Busan Aquarium.
The Aquarium was nice - I know some people hate that word but there isn't any other way to really describe it.... other than saying its the same as most other aquariums around this part of the world. Maybe I've just been spoilt but between Exploris in Portaferry and the Aquarium in Sydney I didn't really see anything new or overly impressive.
We then went to have lunch before visiting the Busan Aquarium.
The Aquarium was nice - I know some people hate that word but there isn't any other way to really describe it.... other than saying its the same as most other aquariums around this part of the world. Maybe I've just been spoilt but between Exploris in Portaferry and the Aquarium in Sydney I didn't really see anything new or overly impressive.
Once again I've decided to resorted to adding a Flickr slideshow of the photographs from the trip rather than posting too many on here. You can either view them below or if you click on the slideshow it should bring you to my page on Flickr.com where you can see them more clearly or view my other photos.
And last but not least, Danielle and I finally got the OK from both of our schools and paid for the flights to pop home for my brother's birthday in July. So, in just 6 weeks we'll both be enduring the jetlag again for 5 days at home! Really looking forward to seeing everyone there - especially the nieces and nephew!
