Norae-blogging

The cosy little street that I live on in the suburbs of the big smoke is home to a supermarket, a hair shop, several restaurants, a handful of bars, a couple of fast food outlets, and 3 noraebangs. I'd say this is a pretty standard set up for the side streets of Seoul. All of the above establishments have their own welcome signs, be they in bunting, logo-ed up vans, or the favourite: neon lights. There's always a man with a megaphone selling today's produce, and everyone is zigzagging up and down the street making their way from the mandu shop to the kimbap lady.

Lauren was due to leave Seoul on Thursday morning to set sail for our Japanese neighbours. After a never-ending course farewell meal at a traditional Korean restaurant with our co-workers she had two options: take a fleeting sleep and get up in 7 hours time, or spend a final night with her university friends (a.k.a. her fellow English teacher and boyfriend) on the beer and soju. I say she chose wisely.

Now I always thought Seoul life was 24 hours. A life of convenience if you will. I was put right when I left the PC Bang (in the days before home internet) at 1am to find no convenience store to sell me strawberry milk; another time when I wandered out at 8am in search of breakfast at the bakery but to no avail. Inconvenient. Heading out in the torrential rain at 2am on Wednesday night we were faced with a dark street. Quite the opposite to the usual buzzing daytime scene. Our options were Noraebang 1, Noraebang 2, or Noraebang 3.

Apparently it's illegal to sell alcohol in these singing rooms, but little seedy places like the ones listed above waver this rule. A couple of hours in a private room with a couple of dodgy mics, a list of dated songs to blast out and a bit of illegal beer, and Lauren was right set to board her 4.30am bus to Seoul station. I got a text at 10am to say she was on the boat. A good night had by all.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

I'm probably always going to harp on about how-fast-the-year-is-going, and today is no exception. It's just a little head spinning to think that it was a whole year ago that we finished our final exams and were planning this little sojourn to the other side of the world. It's only four weeks until our summer holidays - for which I really cannot wait - but then Lauren's off! How different it will be without her.

So, as a reminder of the beauty that is this wonderful country, instead of blogging in the past week I've been making the mother of a mix tape featuring all the wonders of K-Pop that are. With less pleasant reminders of Girls Aloud-esque girl groups, I wasn't exactly a fan of the genre when I first arrived in Korea. However with few alternatives available to me as I walk down the streets of Seoul, I am nothing less than a convert.

Remember Tell Me by the Wonder Girls? Here's their new song. Not exactly the cutesy innocent look they had six months ago. I've chosen to link you here since this version has English subtitles which I feel are a necessary commodity to fully appreciate the delicate nuances of the song. Unfortunately the user disabled embedding, but I urge you to take 3 minutes for a listen.

We had a nice birthday dinner/drinks on Thursday to celebrate Lauren's big 2-2. It was lovely having all our friends in one place, and to meet up with our old co-workers from our old school. It's become a bit of a joke that out of all the ex-teachers, we're the only ones who have continued in the profession - and we don't even necessarily want to be here! Having said that, with no concrete plans post-contract I'm starting to consider staying on...

Hanji makes me happy

Last Friday was another national holiday. Unfortunately I spent most of it watching chick flicks and popping pills as an irritating summer cold crept up on me, but nevertheless the time off was much appreciated. Come rain or shine or deathbed sickness, the Korean teachers here always make it to class, making us feel a little guilty about exercising our sick-day rights. A paid, guilt-free day in bed certainly beat slogging it out at the 유치원.

Lauren had arranged a hanji paper lamp-making session with a lady down in the traditional street of Insadong for the Saturday. This sounded like a nice relaxing way to get out of the one-roomed place I'm calling home these days. However, on discovering the lady's absence from her shop, my slowly developing Korean skills were called upon as I dialled the number to find out where she was. "Closed," she said. Most disappointing.

Sunday was Dano - a traditional Korean holiday. For the first time since our very first weekend in Korea, we went to the Namsangol Hanok Village to see what was going on. Reflecting on our memories of those first impressions we received eight months ago, revisiting the site certainly highlighted how quickly the time has passed since our arrival, but yet also how much has passed in this short space of time.

This recreation of a traditional Korean village hosted a variety of activities for its visitors this Dano day. There was a traditional food market, traditional games, 'traditional swing ride', hair washing with 'extract of changpo', a taekwondo demonstration, and Lauren even tried on hanbok. Unfortunately, given our love of a bit of craft DIY, the sign 'Traditional Craft Making' had its back sadly turned from us. Still, the weather was perfect for a wander - sunny but not too hot or muggy - and everyone seemed to be out smiling and having a good time.

Taking a final meander on our way out, what did we come across but a whole street lined with arts and crafts stalls! We were in heaven. Options included soap making, jewellery making, tie dying, Corn dolly making and more, but since our hanji experience in Jeonju the papier maché experience won hands down. While Lauren was creating a masterful paper doll, I was gluing up a traditional mask. Unfortunately the heavens opened big style, making the process doubly as sticky, but the end - if slightly rushed - finish was most exciting. If I'd not spent so much time ripping up pieces of paper to stick on it, I'd assume that it'd been painted.

Hanji is definitely up there on my favourite things to do in Korea. I hope the lamp lady comes back soon.

The Ballerina Who Loves A B-Boy

In the basement of a building in the university area of Hongdae lies a jeering audience twice a day as Korea's top B-Boys strut their stuff to the storyline of an aspiring ballerina who caves to the awesomeness that she beholds.

I, too, was enthralled. I wonder where I can pick me up one of these fine men... ;)

Video quality isn't great, and can only re-live a fraction of the magic that was, but it would be treacherous not to share what little I can offer of this totally awesome experience. (Do you reckon I liked it?!)

Cherry blossoms and Yeouido Park

According to the Tour2Korea website, the Yeouido cherry blossom festival was supposed to start this week.

The weather today was pretty gorgeous - if a little hazy - but it hasn't been like this every day lately so I'll admit I was dubious whether the flowers would actually have blossomed just yet. It turned out some of them have done, but certainly not all, and there wasn't any sign of a festival going on. Someone told me that the festival will happen, but maybe not for another week or two. Shame these things are so weather dependent.

Still, there were tonnes of people about hiring bikes (or tandems for the couples, and there were certainly many of them about) or inline skates for their own cruise along the river. I do fear the summer somewhat - it was verging on muggy today and spring is only just beginning. Humidity is certainly not my (nor many people's) favoured weather condition. Anyway, must make the most of the blue skies and shirt-sleeve breezes while they're about...

This was the queue for bike rental:

I have no idea what these guys were up to, but they had funny wigs.

Hanging out in Hyehwa

On the bus over there in search of coffee and a movie, I leaned over to Lauren and commented in an audible whisper, "The guy next to me is reading the Bible". The elderly man promptly made a large gesture of placing the yellow ribbon on his marked page before embarking on a lengthy conversation with me. Perhaps this was in order to prove to me that he spoke near-perfect English - at least for someone who has never studied in an English-speaking country - or less cynically, perhaps he was genuinely after a chance to practice his language skills.

Either way, somehow or other he swiftly managed to steer from the usual small talk to deep political discussion regarding the North/South Korean divide (rather apt since we only just visited the DMZ the other day). He replied negative when I asked whether he had any relatives in North Korea, but proceeded to tell me about his sister who had fled there 57 years ago to save her communist husband.

With the new possibilities of reuniting families that were separated during the Korean war under controlled circumstances, his sister was able to ask him whether Korea had electricity - back in the days of the war outside of the capital the luxury was apparently scarce - and he was able to learn that the North Korean government feed up those going to meet their Southern counterparts a few months in advance to give them the appearance of being well-fed.

Being only an hour from the border it is somewhat food for thought the lack of knowledge that passes over that 155 miles of demilitarized zone.

Despite drooping eyes, we headed for the Hyehwa cinema. It seems like it's a pretty cool area with many bars, coffee shops and street sellers, though I am yet to explore in the daytime. Opting for an English film, we went for The Other Boleyn Girl. Whether it was totally historically accurate or not, it certainly made for a gripping film. It was also good to hear some good British accents filling the room for a couple of hours, despite the leads originating from America.

Princess Cafe

After another hectic day at work, unsuccessful and frustrating complaints to the boss and no doubt plenty more to come, Lauren and I decided to meet up for a quick recoup before heading home for the evening.

Wanting to venture outside our usual haunts, Lauren noticed Cafe Princess up on the 6th floor of one of the many neon flashing streets. Why not? we thought. Just after a simple cuppa, we were somewhat bewildered by what we encountered.

Private curtained rooms adorned with pink wallpaper, flowers and kitsch cushions and accessories? It seemed a little OTT, even for Korea.

However, we embraced these minor details once we realised the man won price per room (that's like a fiver) offering free refills of tea/juice/coffee/cookies/icecream. With deals like that going, we weren't sure why we weren't already frequenting the place.

Seoul Land

With the rest of my immediate family over for a fleeting visit, I eventually managed to get a day off work last Friday to spend time with them.

Described in the guide book as "Seoul's biggest and best amusement park", we decided to hit Seoul Land. I'd been there before with my kids last month, but only got to max out on the kiddy rides. Being a weekday and clearly not the most popular theme park in Seoul, we practically had the park to ourselves so were able to ride all the scary rides twice over, if we wanted. And we did.


Not bad for a city park and the two big coasters were worth a ride (or two), but we all agreed the whole place is due a re-vamp and a lick of paint.

On Saturday we took the USO tour of the DMZ, but tiredness is prevailing so will save the post for another day. In the meantime I refer you to Lauren's blog which I understand gives a good account of our experiences ;-)

Lauren makes her debut

Last Sunday Lauren and I went to the Sejong Centre to see the The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged. It was silly, full of over-acting, and very amusing. We were especially impressed with the way they had adapted their script according to the nationality of the audience; there was an annyeonghaseyo scripted in as well as a version of Tell Me providing the background music for the Capulet's house party.

When we went to purchase our tickets we were advised towards some of the front seats, but we were more attracted to the cheaper tickets. On arriving at the theatre we were told that the circles were closed for that show and our tickets were exchanged for front row seats instead.

I always fear that front row viewers will be subjected to audience participation, but it seems that on this occasion my fear was misplaced. It was Lauren, not I, that was dragged onto stage to play Hamlet's Ophelia, got ridiculed for her acting abilities (in jest, of course), and had a spotlight on her as she performed a particularly amusing and impressive scream.

This is apparently an occurrence of every performance of this play, but if we'd been aware of it perhaps we would have fought a bigger fight for the tickets we'd bought. Still, despite this being a subject of her nightmares, I'd say Lauren gave the professionals a run for their money!

Bowling

The crazy kids that we are, Lauren and I ventured across the road from our place of employment to the rundown looking bowling alley to occupy our Friday night. We'd been meaning to check it out for a while, but this evening we bit the bullet and entered the establishment.

We were a little disappointed not to get the cool red and white striped bowling shoes we're used to, but figured that the Korean velcro versions are probably more time effective, getting more precious bowling time in.

As Lauren was about to comment at the lack of hi-tech equipment at the alley, we noticed ourselves on replay on the TV screens! Considering our lack of bowling proficiency (we turned out to be very well matched competitors) we amused ourselves by making faces at the camera instead as the other one put another ball in the gutter...

Holidays

"What's '절하다'?" I asked my mum in a moment of enthusiastic study.
"To do ceremonious bowing," she replied.
"Ah, so not something I really need to know." A hasty conclusion perhaps...

With the beginning of the Lunar New Year approaching, the whole country was released from work between Wednesday and Friday of last week to celebrate. With stories of Seoul transforming into a ghost town and a gridlocked road network as the city heads out to spend time with their families, Lauren and I - rather than spending extortionate amounts for a flight out of Korea in holiday season - followed suit and went to visit my aunt in the countryside.

We arrived on New Years day (this year was on the 7th February) to find my aunt and uncle dressed in hanbok in preparation for the New Year celebrations. Soon after we arrived, we all bundled into one of the bedrooms and watched on as my cousin and her family performed the aforementioned "ceremonious bowing" - bowing down to the floor while kneeling - to their parents and grandparents before exchanging envelopes of money. Feeling slightly voyeuristic as we witnessed this ceremony, we were taken aback and a little embarassed as we were motioned to do the same. I'm not entirely sure we did it exactly right, but we were presented with a token amount of money which was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise.

The rest of the day was filled with eating fruit and ricecakes and general pottering about. The grandma slept on the sofa while Lauren and I watched Back to the Future. Other family members turned up at various points during the day to hang out as well; the formalities were short and sweet.

On Friday another of my cousins turned up to spend time with us. We got our nails done before venturing out to a nightclub for our evening entertainment. Now, in Korea, there is apparently a subtle difference between a club and a nightclub. The former sounds like a similar setup to a Western club with music, a bar and a dance floor. A nightclub, however, predominantly holds tables and chairs and might have a stage and a small dancefloor at the front of the room. On hearing about such joints, American-style bars that pop up on TV sprang to mind - another misperception.

On arriving at the nightclub, we observed neon taken to another level as blinking palm trees welcomed us in. Inside was a band playing beyond volume where conversation was possible, and the room was totally black save the attendants' glow-in-the-dark name badges. We were shown to a table where our bags were taken away for safe keeping before being presented with beer and fruit.

"Beer and fruit: it's normal," confirmed my cousin.

My cousin had also pre-warned us that the waiters might introduce us to some men. She didn't make a big deal out of it. "In Korea, it's normal," she assured us again.

Lo and behold, within fifteen minutes of being seated, we were led by a couple of waiters out of the main room, up some stairs and into a private noraebang where we found a bunch of men sitting, singing and drinking. They offered us whisky and strawberry milk.

"Young persons place my..." I thought as we sat with them.

Lauren and I gave them an ironic rendition of It's Raining Men before bidding them farewell in favour of our own seats. They weren't our types.

Some Korean techno pop blasted out of the speakers while a scantily clad young lady girated with a couple of topless muscular men on stage. In a society where low necklines are frowned upon, this display was seemingly out of the ordinary. Little did we realise that if we'd turned up an hour earlier we would have witnessed a full strip show.

We danced until the music switched to the ballad genre and the floor emptied. Everyone went back to their seats and the match-making began. Initially the waiters attempted to split us up to send us each to different tables, but this certainly wasn't on our agenda for the evening. Regardless of what we wanted however, they were pretty forceful as they grabbed us by the wrists leading us up and down the aisles until we reached an appropriate table of men. I have read since that girls are supposed to put up some resistance so as not to appear too eager, so perhaps my arm wrestling and repeated refusals were in keeping with the ritual. Eventually my cousin came to rescue me with the excuse that I couldn't speak Korean; one I felt was valid but perhaps this not a factor to the service the attendants were providing.

Soon the music started up again so we figured if the boys wanted our company they would be forced to dance too. And so the cycle continued: dancing with raunchy stage performances followed by slow songs and match-making. Even if we didn't appreciate being dragged around for the benefit of drunken men, at least it made for a cheap night out!

Tiring of the nightclub etiquette and unenthused by the squatter toilets screened by smoke as girls rebel against the unwritten rule that they cannot smoke in public, we left the building to find our valet parking guy. It's almost as though they were encouraging drink-driving...

Seoul Land

In celebration of the approaching end-of-school year, my seven year old kindy classes were taken - with their new favourite Mary Teacher - to Seoul Land.

This is another of Korea's amusement parks, though being accompanied by the under-100metered, the more thrilling rides were only to be enjoyed by mock awe and gasps. Instead we all struggled up the fake snow slopes hauling little red sleds behind us, anticipating the crowds of half sized people eagerly pushing their way for an opportunity to slide the twenty seconds to the bottom. Of course when I say we, I mean the children. I merely followed behind and waited for a chummy child to invite me on the back of their sled.

This excitement was followed by - in between toilet breaks - a "magic show". As witnessed at Lotte World, this was largely conducted by Western looking (and by that I mean an amalgamation of blonde haired and blue eyed) performers dancing in a changing series of coloured lights and stage effects. The magic itself was pretty lame, for even my inspired eyes could sense that secret compartment holding that multi-coloured scarf. Nonetheless, a bonus of not being of the intended age group audience, as a teacher I was given a free magic trick to wow the students and whoever else is willing to humour me. (Note the present tense there; free webcam demonstrations are available to those on my contacts list ;) )

Amusement parks such as this one do seem to be prime spots for attracting not only hoards of school children, but also courting young couples. You can tell these, if you are unsure of their relationship status, by their matching outfits. These venues tend to encourage matching ears as a fashion accessory, however many other items can be viewed in double across the capital. Such items might include matching phone charms (your mobile is naked without one), hats, jackets, bags, or - wait for it - underwear. With Valentine's Day approaching I considered indulging this culture, albeit as a joke, however for some reason couldn't bring myself to part with my hard earned cash over anything sufficiently unsexy that I'd allow either one of us to attire. E-card it will have to be, then :P

(Right: a couple sporting matching cat ears; one of many underwear shops getting ready for "Valentain Day")


Returning from this digression, I rode a couple of children's rides with half-real enthusiasm while one of my new (7-year-old) admirers asked permission to take a video with my camera from the top of the spinning aeroplane ride. Facebook holds the evidence.

It was a long day of jumping up and down, being pulled in multiple directions as several small people bided for my attention, and holding a fixed smile on my face. I was lucky to get the front seat of the bus home thereby relieving me from entertaining duties, however my attention was stolen, somewhat in alarm, by the number of spray-painted car outlines adorning the highway. These are apparently corners of cars marked out to indicate the location of recent crashes. Literally seeing outlines of car after car pointing in all directions, my mind was not eased as the bus driver weaved in and out of traffic at high speed coming inches within other cars and the lives of a whole bus load of children...

Happy New Year!

After a week in the UK suffering some intense jetlag, I arrived back in Korea in time to see the new year in. Since I’d not properly got over the time difference at the other end (indeed my attempts to do so were futile) alongside the fact that my flight this end got in at midday opposed to late at night as it had in England, I was able to get a good proper first nights sleep and eradicate any grumpiness that might potentially have followed.

So for those of you that are following Lauren’s blog in conjunction with this one, (if in fact you are following this blog, and haven’t chanced upon this entry as a one-off), you will be familiar with the notion of MegaTV. Not yet set up in my own apartment, I’ve been taking the opportunity of rekindling my *long lost friendship with Lauren via the means of copious numbers of films – old and new – that are on demand at the press of a button. It is most exciting. Since “live” Korean TV isn’t at the forefront of our list of needs in Korea, having menus upon menus of TV series and films (English and Korean alike) is far more convenient than having to decipher online TV guides and hoping you’ll stumble across something vaguely worth watching every time you switch on the box. *week

Now I was warned before I left to go to England for Christmas that I might not want to come back again. At the time I thought, “Nah…I’m just going home for a holiday; this is my home now,” but in reality with the intermingling feelings of extreme tiredness, festivities (or lack thereof) and the prospect of leaving the boyfriend at home for months on end, I did start to ponder some of those existential concerns that one occasionally admits oneself to.

However, after several days pottering (sub in moping) and taking mid-afternoon naps, on seriously considering getting a “real job” I realised that applications and interviews are not things that I am sprinting to get ahead with – and thus the purpose of the “gap year” became more evident again – and that Ian, my boyfriend, is still studying and thus even if I were to be living in the same country, it would be unlikely we’d see a whole lot of each other anyway.

It is so that I essentially wasted my intended holiday in the UK by partaking in the aforementioned activities, namely moping and napping, contemplating the nature of my future and getting stressed that I barely had any time to enjoy myself. Totally counter-productive, I am aware. Nevertheless, the positive side of these thoughts has meant that I have come out on top; I am now revitalised in mind and body and content with my current position in life, and of course it was lovely to see my friends and family at home. Excellent.

It is at this point that I realise I am somewhat rambling, and brings me on my next consideration: is this blog an excuse for a personal diary, where I recall my thoughts and, god forbid, feelings of my year abroad and potentially beyond – in which case perhaps I should spare the eyes of those that might read for the intended purpose of this place: to merely relay events and observations so that I might save myself from repeating the same story over and over to those genuinely interested, and those with a pretence interest. Regardless, I am indulging the former and it is this realisation that I bring myself to turn to the latter.

Last night Lauren and I had a most enjoyable evening negotiating the crowds of half the city to get to the Bosingak Bell. It was nice to be wrapped up warm in the -5ºC heat, taking in the lights that engulfed the manmade stream in a palatial manner, revelling in the multitudes of Korean couples, friends and families dressed up in matching coloured capes (with ears on the hoods, of course), avoiding the sparks of hundreds of people setting off their own fireworks openly sold on the streets New Year Celebrations Marred by Accidents, and striking up conversation with the excited policemen that had clearly been recruited just for the occasion to appease the raucous crowds.

The atmosphere was magical *gag* as the streets were littered with smiling, rosy cheeks and sounds of “Happy New Year!” that rang as clear as the Bosingak Bell itself. Or maybe that was just to us, since the majority of the crowd was probably speaking in Korean. Oblivious, we lit our heart shaped sparklers sending policemen coughing and forbidding the next round, but won over the hearts of a couple of high school girls, sparkly eyed at the beauty of our gunpowdered delights. Or maybe that was just the reflection in their eyes from the dazzling bright light.

Either way, they were pleased when we gave them our spare ones, which then brought on the cheek of some chavvy Korean girl asking if she could have one too. We didn’t have any left, and er, we weren’t free sparkler venders, *rolls eyes*. Still, she had her fun as some guys came round taking polaroids with regular, un-heart shaped sparklers, glosticks and animal hats to anyone who would give them money. On an initial 400 won asking price we too indulged their trade, but didn’t have the energy to argue when they’d accidently knocked off a nought on the end of his price. We got one of the cameramen at the televised event to take our picture, which became slightly more than a bit weird when we practically got our own photoshoot out of the asking. Still, maybe some nice pictures to follow if he ever emails me back…

And there we have it. A nice evening of dancing and fireworks as the clocks struck midnight, followed by chaos as we were shoved this way and that toward the exit of the mass of people. Luckily someone had decided it was a good idea to run the subway late that night and we got home safely and easily.

So maybe in the spirit of it being the first of the year an’ all, I should come up with some of those resolution-y things that people like to make. Hm.

1. Be good so Father Christmas might visit next year. Oh wait…

Yep, on second thoughts, that’s getting a little too personal, even for me. Maybe resolution number one should be “Deal with feelings of emotion and refrain from turning to sarcasm to bail you out”. So on that note I bid you goodnight, and a very Happy New Year!

DVD Bangs

Regarding the kinderschool, it isn't so much that nobody else wants to work for her - she does have her maximum required number of teachers at her hagwon - but it's that she realised that she could introduce English teaching into her Korean school too, and now that she has two young willing girls to help her, she's jumping on the English learning bandwagon!

It's possible that if we do work at the kindergarten then we won't start work until late January since the school takes three weeks off for Christmas. 3 weeks! They also take 3 weeks off in the summer, and since we're being given a say in the running of the new English department we've requested shorter hours (phrased as "more preparation time"), so I think we're hoping that it does go ahead since this is probably the best deal we'll get at such short notice!

Regardless of the perks, and despite the fact that we told her we're definitely on board, we've not actually signed a contract yet and there's no real guarantee that the proposal will go ahead. So we're still taking interviews from other schools and we have several recruiters on the job for us.

In other news, we've been frequenting DVD Bangs over the last two nights - small rooms equipped with projectors, easy-clean beds, tissues and bins. Oops, I didn't sell that well, did I? ^^

What I meant was that we've been going to DVD Bangs - private rooms where you rent a film and watch it at your own leisure on your own small cinema. I guess the aforementioned provisions are due to the fact that many Korean people live with their parents until they marry, so these places have become a popular place for couples to take dates -- which made Alex's friend very uncomfortable when we suggested the four of us go and watch a movie together.

Regardless of the dodgy nature of the venue, Lauren and I really like them - they're cosy, you get good sound and picture quality, and you are provided with an endless supply of free drinks. You don't need to worry about popcorn being thrown at you or people telling you to "Ssshh!" when you make a comment about the lead actress. The perfect place for a quiet night in -- as long as you keep your mind off who was in there last.

Lotte World pictures

Lotte World

Allegedly the biggest indoor theme park in Asia, or something. It was good.

Caught the Christmas Parade where we waved to the dancing white people that went by, and felt disappointed we'd not seen their jobs advertised. Rolled our eyes at the screaming Koreans as they considered the slightest dizzying experience the thrill of their lives. Hung out on Magic Island where we took in the views while we swung with the icy cold wind rushing past us on the Gyro Swing. Enjoyed the Christmas lights as we encircled the arena on the Aeronaut's Balloon Ride. Ate candyfloss. Marvelled at the Disney ripoffs with the magical castle and Lotte World logo. Etc.

Sarcasm aside, I had a really good time, but I have difficulties expressing genuine emotion sometimes. Thrill seekers probably shouldn't get too excited by the prospect of Lotte World, but fanatics of cute fantasy villages could. Luckily I wasn't feeling this cynical yesterday ^^

Went out drinking with the Korean teachers from our old school afterwards, and was irritated to get woken up to a phone call from a recruiter this morning asking if we could work part time this week. I said no.

On that note, we have a potential new job starting next week, but it's a Canadian school and the director is a bit worried that we're Brits. We shall see.

Pics to follow.

Shock! They're cutting me off!

It's currently 01:52 and I'm really sleepy, but the cable guy is coming in the morning to disconnect my TV and internet so I need to get my blogging in now!

The atmosphere at school was back to the apprehensive dejectedness as it was before. Teachers were literally bawling their eyes out when the kindergarten children were about to leave and the reality that we were never coming back to this school seemed to dawn on everyone. The free-for-all turned into a bit of a tearful goodbye as everyone cleared out their desks for the last time.

Still, we all went out for drinks after school, followed by three hours of 노래방 - hiring a small room with your friends to serenade one another via the art of karaoke. The girls taught me how to increase my 'princess syndrome' by whining at men - apparently an endearing quality in a girlfriend in Korea; I imagine every Western man's worst nightmare - and I experienced the repetition of "I miss you, I wait for you, you're all that I think about" as the bilinguals decided to translate the multitude of Korean ballads that they chose to sing.

It was a fun night, until the vice principle phoned one of the teachers, leading to a ping-pong match of "It was all my fault, I should have tried harder, etc," and two grown women sobbing down the phone at one another. Still, much beer was drunk, and much dancing took place. I was escorted home by two of the teachers, one of which was very drunk and refused to believe that I could walk home by myself, filling me with 'horror' stories of innocent men playing on pinball machines and alley cats. Numbers were exchanged and promises of keeping in touch were made.

I'd better sleep - there's the early graduation ceremony on tomorrow morning which I may or may not attend depending on what time the cable guy turns up and how bad my headache is. But probably more importantly, we have a job interview in the afternoon, that it would be recommendable to turn up reasonably coherent to...