Championships, Frolics and Anniversaries...

I am quite conscious that this blog is supposed to partly function as diary of our time here in Korea... but since I don't have the time to sit and write it every week, it is proving difficult to always recall what happened when, with whom and where...

I guess I will go back to the middle of May and go from there - and casually try and piece together what has transpired from there on... (if I can remember!).

The last day I wrote was during my school's Physical Testing for all grades, partly in preparation for the school's Sports Day the next day.  This meant there were no classes at all for 2 days and so I was left preparing for the coming weeks and popping outside every so often to provide support and encouragement to the students, though the hot weather limited my input there to merely taking photos.

The day started with the strangest all-grade warm up exercise - which I think was an absolute waste of the students' time as none of them did it with any shred of intent - where stretching down to touch your toes was met with arms falling down by their sides and a general look of 'yeah, like I'm going to embarrass myself by bending over'.

I think the only people that actually did try to do the whole exercise with some conviction were the staff who were resigned to the back of the classes where they could follow along without the cat calls from any of the students who might catch them in action.

One of the most comical elements of the day was the array of slogans, names and titles that the students had printed on their shirts.  With the usual football stars from across the globe, titles such as 'champion', 'the best', and 'winner'; there was also a few that don't quite have the same meaning in English as they do in Korean.
The best, and cleanest example of this, comes from one of the Grade 3 students below:

The Korean meaning is 'as strong as a horse' but the more direct translation is 'muscle of a horse' which in the Western world has a slightly more phallic innuendo to it.

It was a great day and lots of fun - though I did nearly kill myself by playing in the Student vs Staff football match during lunch... too warm and fully clothed was a sweaty experience - I've yet to learn if I can wear shorts to school yet.

The week was topped off by our male staff making it through to the finals of the Chungju Volleyball Championships - which meant school finished after the 4th class on the Friday... but that did not mean I got to go home.  Danielle's female staff team had also made it to the main event but were put out early on the Friday much to their dismay but it did mean they had added time to enjoy their BBQ and allowed her principal to get torn into the soju and beer quite early too.  My team didn't have such luck...

After making it through to the final after a tight win earlier in the week we were faced with some very close matches that ran on and on as the points remained close together.  I had figured that since I'd shown my face I  had therefore displayed some commitment to the school and could then leave but my wife had other plans as she got more and more into the game and screamed support for my school from the sidelines with my staff - though the look of despair wouldn't make you think she was enjoying herself!

The day ended at about 6pm with our team narrowly missing out on the no.1 spot to a very strong team with an ex-National Champion playing for them.  But we all enjoyed ourselves and it was a real school bonding experience despite my wanting to leave early!

Weekends have settled down for us here... we are successfully not gallivanting around the country or up and down from Seoul each weekend.  Instead we have been going to the park or a Saturday or Sunday and relaxing with friends, playing sports and generally letting the world revolve and time pass.

This does allow us to get some colour (or burnt) but we can't complain... and yes, we have now bought some sunscreen, lotion and aftersun as Danielle was so sore from sunburn after our last weekend doing nothing in the park!

Last weekend was a long weekend off, Korea was celebrating Memorial Day on the Monday, so we decided  that we should head off for a long weekend somewhere.  The plans had been to go to Busan and enjoy the beach there but despite our best efforts and hours of translating websites into English we were unable to secure any accommodation.  In the end we opted for going to Daejeon, a place we have been before, for a quiet weekend of doing not too much other than go to a couple of sites and have a look for a Hanbok dress for Danielle.

The hanbok didn't really happen - and the one site that we really thought we'd enjoy turned out to be a bit of a horror.  We had planned on spending most of Saturday in O World, a zoo, theme park and garden park in one... but after going around the zoo we had completely lost all heart.  We were annoyed and sickened by the conditions that some (most) of the animals were kept, from dirty enclosures to those without any water at all.  This also extended to their attempts at the humane enclosures that they had for their safari sections which were just too small for the number of animals enclosed there.  Maybe its too much of watching Longleat on tv but we felt dirty having been there! This place was only opened in 2002 so it should have been uptodate, cutting edge, the pinnicle of modern zoology but it was far from it.

Overall we had a lovely time with just the two of us... and also got to see X-Men: First Class at a very nice cinema after a small tour around the city.  We headed home on Sunday and settled down for a nice quiet night  of relaxing and enjoying each others company - what we do best!

Yesterday was our 1st Wedding Anniversary... it really doesn't feel like it has been a year at all - especially since we haven't really stopped anywhere long enough to get bored or for time to drag along so everything has kept moving.  I guess we had imagined that we would be in Korea but we didn't have any idea what it would really be like... or indeed that we would even definitely make it here.  We had a nice quiet evening with a couple of friends, food and ice cream which was just what we wanted... not sure whether we will be here in Korea for the next one or not yet but I'm sure we'll be happy all the same.

If married life goes by as quickly as this year did then it is definitely going to be an easy life for us...

Finally, I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has wished well or sent us their love for our anniversary - it is greatly appreciated and even if we don't respond to each of you individually then know that we mean it nonetheless.

Too tired to blog...

It has been a month since I last posted - which I put down to two things:

1. Not much had really happened beyond teaching and resting then everything happened at once; and
2. 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.

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.

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!

In sickness and in health...

Danielle has had a rough two weeks with sickness which resulted in her getting a needle in the bum and a couple of days in bed... but it didn't stop her having a lovely weekend away to Seoul and then spend most of this week taking it easy to make up for it.

We have both been surprised at how tired we constantly are all the time - getting home ready to die each evening and being shattered at weekends too.  It's hard to tell whether it is the late onset of jet-lag or the change to our diet - or both - or that we are awake at 6.45am during the week which results in our bodies wakening at around the same time on weekends too despite our best efforts to sleep in.... but we are working on it and maybe a bit of extra exercise will help!

So, what have we done since our last post - well, probably the key event was going to Seoul, for Bryannie's birthday a fortnight ago, to see Cirque du Soleil's Varekai.  It was breath taking and made me pine for the days of yore when I might have been both more physically capable and ballsy to have had a go at flying through the air, leaping around a stage and generally dressing up in some fantastical costume on a stage.  It made me think whether I could have been able to keep a toe in the performance element - but to be honest with myself I doubt I'd have been of the right calibre for a show like this one!

The weekend in Seoul was very relaxed - and we were with a few other couples too which was a nice change though we did also miss some of our other friends who we would normally have been with - but big crowds have their logistics problems too so for once we were very happy with our lot.  There was no set schedule or places we had to be (besides the show) or anyone else to pander to - which made it a really nice atmosphere!
We met up on the Friday night and went for some food - beef instead of pork - which may have been the only mistake of the weekend (or it may have been the McD's) as the chances of cross-contamination was particularly high as cooked meat was moved to the side as raw flesh was chucked on top... at some point over the weekend Danielle got sick and it was too hard to tell whether anyone else was effected by it too as two of the other girls were already ill when they arrived on the Friday too! lol!

On Saturday we all went off in different directions to do our own things - some went to the racetrack to place a few bets on the ponies and others went shopping.  We decided to do the touristy thing and see the sights of Seoul via bus - but we got waylaid on route!

We got the metro towards the pick up point for the bus and came out to a massive square with a few statues along it.  It was very clean, very pretty and also very impressive! The statue behind us is of the king Sejong the Great who was the 4th King of the Joseon Dynasty and the creator (or at least the patron) of Hangul - the written symbols of the Korean language.
Around the back of this statue is a door which leads downstairs to a exhibition all about him and the development of the language.

From here we followed the square to the end where we discovered that we were at the Royal Palaces of which there were a few - and decided to have a look around with a view to coming back if we had time either after the bus or the next day.

But once we got closer to it we ventured inside, and wanted to see more...

IT WAS MASSIVE!!! In the end we spent around 3 hours walking around it and only seen about a third of the area which had the palaces restored and kept in exquisite order.



There were men dressed in traditional costume at the main gate - guarding the entrance much as they would have done hundreds of years ago.  They had traditional weapons and even the changing of the guard too of which there was as much pomp and circumstance as you would expect at Buckingham Palace.
There was a museum, a children's museum, an arts centre, displays of old buildings from the 50s and 60s, replicas of historical statues from across Korea... and much more that we didn't even get to see! In fact, in order to show you the images I had to rearrange my Flickr sets so I could stream the photos on here.

So - this weekend we decided to stay at home in Chungju again and relax.  Saturday was a lazy but expensive day.  We walked to the shop where I bought my bike to leave it in to be repaired as the back wheel had buckled and needed fixed by someone more qualified than I.  From there we walk into the town to waltz around the shops and then headed to get some snacks for a pizza and movie night we were hosting.  This last stop resulted in us buying an oven - unfortunately all the instructions are in Korean... there is no translation available online... and it sounds like a microwave when on but we'll figure it out this week as I try making a few bits and bobs!

Sunday saw us venturing out towards Chungju Dam, with Hanna Bear, to see what all the fuss was about - as everyone was talking about seeing the Cherry Blossom Festivals here... it turns out there are two sides to the Cherry Blossom Festivals - the lovely Cherry Blossoms and the awful entertainment they provide (it was NOT entertaining!!! X-Factor NOT!!!).

The most entertaining aspect of the day was the matching clothes that couples and families sometimes wear here in Korea - especially young families will wear matching jumpers or t-shirts which looks really cute but also funny, though adults do it too.  We were also lucky to catch a couple of molested dogs decorated by their owners... no idea why though! lol!

So, I'm off back to class and will prepare myself for a week of baking and roasting (lots of accidents and errors are expected as I try to figure out what the oven is doing and how it works)... fingers crossed I'll work it out and get some good results in the end!

Where does the time go?

It has been a few weeks since I last had the chance to write on this blog... the daily schedule seems to have become:

- wake at 6.45am, get washed, get breakfast, get out by 7.45am
- get to work around 8.10am and then classes start at either 8.45 or 9am (depending on the day of the week)
- work until 4.30pm (for Colm ) or 5pm (Danielle) and then head home
- get home and collapse onto couch...
- make dinner / go out for dinner (restaurant or maybe a friend's)
- go to bed / get home and fall into bed
- sleep.

The only variation is the weekends - which are either the same morning schedule delayed by an hour as we jump on a bus to Seoul or we blow the schedule out of the water by not moving until 11am, and when we do move it is only to eat and lounge around on the couch until we can be bothered to wash and get dressed.

After another visit to Seoul a couple of weeks ago (which did result in some shopping by Danielle and Colm buying a guitar) we decided that we should remain in Chungju for the first time last weekend - and it was great! No rushing to get a bus, no stressing about dodgy accommodation, no worrying about where people have disappeared to/when they'll be back/why the bloke behind you is hacking phlem up (and is he going to spit out beside you while you try to eat your sandwich).

Staying in Chungju was lovely - the weather, the relaxing - it made for a 'nice' weekend and gave us the opportunity to get to know a little more about the city we live in.

So, on the Sunday, we decided to go for a cycle out towards the centre of Korea where a 7-story pagoda stands - but we never got there! We ended up being side tracked to a park area which was dotted with sculptures of seemingly risque nature which overlooks where two rivers join together.

Grand Auditorium - with a solo fella playing Sax to dodgy music...

The boys loved the sculptures!

So, we are heading off to Seoul again this weekend to see a show, meet up with some friends and generally have a wail of a time (or is it whale...?).  Tickets are bought, accommodation sorted - but Danielle is ill which a Doctor's visit deemed to be due to the weather, the change of diet and stress.  They were able to rule out pregnancy so no party yet! lol!

I'll try and update on here earlier next time so you can be fully informed!

Thanks for reading!