Weekend in Seoul

Hello Everyone,

Jess and I went up to Seoul last weekend to visit Clint. Clint and I were friends at varsity where we got to know each other at the Rifle Club, and particular it's 'functions''.

We. left here on Saturday afternoon at at 13:30 and arrived in central Seoul at 16:00. We then travelled another hour and a half by subway through to Dongduchon (sic) which is pretty much as far as you can go by subway. We hanged out at Clint's place for a bit with a couple of other English teachers, including another two South Africans and then climbed back onto the subway and headed into Itaewon, which is an area where a lot of expats and foreigners hang out.

Our destination was a bar that was going to play the Wales v SA game live on a big screen TV. It was a very cool and quite surreal experience to meet so many westerners and especially South Africans. After the rugby we partied on for a bit, but as the rugby only started at 23:30 it ended in the early hours of Sunday morning. Jess and I were buggered and although we tried to keep partying it wasn't long before we were out on the street looking for a taxi that could take us to a motel. We left Clint still partying hard on the dance floor and it was dissapointing to fade before Clint and the rest of the gang, but then again I know Clint at least relatively well as well as his reputation for partying through the night.

The next day it was back onto the subway for about an hour to Clint's place to retrieve our belongings after which caught the first available train back into Seoul for some shopping that was a disastrous affair. Jess wanted to visit Marks and Spencers which was quite out the way, and when we finally reached the shopping centre Marks and Spencers had either moved or shut down. Our trip back to the bus station sapped us of the last of our energy and we started to get grumpy with one another.

So we spent the whole of Sunday travelling on trains and buses when we really should have been resting up for the week ahead. It was fantastic to meet up with Clint once again, but there is no ways that I am missioning out to Dongduchon again.

Our travels left both of us exhausted at the beginning of the week, and Jess has since developed a cold which she has not be able to shrug off. I've spent the better part of saturday fooling around on the internet but I finally reached my own breaking point in terms of this apartment. I shouldn't have to tip toe around because she is sick - we should have a seperate bedroom and living area. I would like the extra money that we would receive if we chose to continue living here, but extra money at the end of the month is turning out to be poor compensation for living in cramped conditions.

I suspect the next week is not going to be easy - it might cause bad feelings, but we can't stay here forever. We have basic rights and expectations, and it is time for them to be realised.