We have a new homely home

Hi Everyone,

Hello to all of you busy people! Some of you are now on holiday and others are still working madly. As for me – well I am working hard and my lessons by and large are generally improving. The students seem to have adjusted to having me in the class room, and finally seem to understand my accent. What’s more they seem to be responding to my lessons better and Iam left feeling positive and upbeat at the end of lessons on a more regular basis.

The big news in my life is that Jess and I moved apartments on Friday .The whole process was not very easy. First we wrote a letter of request, then we had it translated, I then delayed the matter by trying to find the right time to hand over the letter and finally we had to choose a new apartment, pack and move. None of this was easy, very little in Korea is ever easy but we are happy.

The apartment is well laid out and feels spacious, it has a decent view and an awesome bathroom. On top this it comes with some furniture and we are the first tenants. It is close to the old one which means we will continue to shop at Homeever, which is above the bus stop, and socialise with James and Barbara.

I’m so happy that we will no longer have to cook, socialise and eat in the same space. One last bonus – our apartment was furnished with a small fridge which we did not want as we already had one, but we were not remove allowed to remove it: so Julian now has his own beer fridge. :) Going to give it a test run this coming Friday when we have our formal house warming with our friendly friends.

Loving the other English speakers in town, we are forming a nice little social circle.

I’m working hard on improving my blog. For the moment the changes will seem minor, but as I familiarise myself with HTML script / programming my blog should become more exciting.

Our new home

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.

The Witch and the Wardrobe

On our first night in Korea we were asked if were satisfied with our apartment, we said we were. The truth be told I think we would have agreed to just about anything after thirty hours of travelling.

During the initial couple of days we felt that our apartment was small, but tolerable. After all we had been fore warned that apartments in South Korea are tiny. But then we met James and Barbara, James and Barbara who live next door enjoy a much bigger apartment on only one salary.

Understandably we were not happy, Jessica especially. We complained and were told it would be ‘difficult’ (to move), as far as my co-teacher was concerned this was the end of the discussion – but we remained unhappy. Then we found out that while only my school is paying for the apartment Jess will receive her monthly apartment allowance in cash. “Brilliant”, I said, “we get paid to live in a small apartment.” By this stage our apartment was not feeling so small to me, especially since I had just completed three months of varying degrees of squatting. Jess remained unhappy, my argument that receiving extra money was ‘cool’ fell on deaf ears.

In stepped James and Barbara, how I love them – my saviours. In one night of talking about their fantastic travels they may just have convinced Jess that accepting the dosh and putting it towards a holiday is adequate compensation.

South Koreans

“There are many wonderful things about South Korea, the people are not one of them”, this is the conclusion of a westerner, who has been here for three years, that I met on Friday evening.

I have only been here three weeks, and my experience of South Korean people is limited, but I strongly disagree with this sentiment. I have met kindness and generosity in this country to a degree that I have not experienced in any other. Jess and I are regularly invited to peoples homes and even absolute strangers go out their way to ensure that we feel comfortable. I can list numerous examples of the kindness and generosity of ordinary people, and only a few less tasteful encounters which are easily outweighed and forgotten.

Yesterday is a good example of the generosity I have encountered. I have always wanted a scooter, as a prelude to something with a bit more oomph, and decided to buy one yesterday. Buying a scooter without the help of a Korean who speaks good English would however be a difficult if not impossible task, so I enlisted the help of ‘Hans’. Hans dragged himself out of bed and met us at Homeever at 11:00am, despite the fact that he clearly had a hangover but which did not damper his enthusiasm and willingness to help.

Hans took us to one scooter shop, but rather than encourage us to settle on the first available scooter suggested that we shop around. We (Jess and I) found one that fits our needs at the second shop, and after buying it suggested that we take Hans out for lunch as a token of our appreciation. He would hear nothing of it and insisted on inviting us over to his house where he plied us with food – it got to the point where we could not eat any more, and then he and his mom offered to send us home with any food that we showed even a vague interest in.

On Saturday afternoon we took the Dawn Treader, as my scooter is known, out on it’s maiden voyage. On a stop a little way out of Sangju Jess managed to bend the ignition key in the keyhole to the small store away space underneath the seat. Admittedly I was a little peeved, but in Jess’s defence the key was of very poor quality. Jess set out for home to get the spare key while I settled down to wait for her return.

Being November the Autumn harvest is underway, but interestingly rice is also being planted. Fortunately for me Jess’s oopsie took place at convenient location. To my left I could observe the farmers planting new rice, while to my right farmers were hanging Persimmon to dry. It was later afternoon and although I did not want to ride home in the dark, sunset was still some time away and if Jess returned by bicycle or taxi we would be home well before sunset.

So I sat down to wait and observe the goings on around me. People passed by but no one paid much attention to me, actually I was surprised that no body stared at me. After some time a young man walked over to me from a nearby packing shed with a cup of coffee that was clearly intended for me. I thanked him, he asked where I was from and then left me be. The incident reminded me of our trip to Gumi last weekend when a shop owner gave us little bottles of juice as we waited for Barbara to purchase something. Another incident that stands is the lift I received last week as I waited to catch the bus into Sangju. I was waiting at the bus stop when a farmer pulled over and insisted I accept a lift into Sangju with him. I wasn't trying to hitch lift and he didn't ask for money.

I can only conclude that there are many wonderful things about South Korea, and that the people are one of them.

I hope that I remember their generosity in future years and demonstrate the same generosity to others.

On being an alien

I jokingly spoke of being an alien in my first post, little did I realise how alien I do appear to many people.

Not many people stare at me as I make my to and from school, or when Jess and I shop in the area around our home – but once we venture slightly further a field the staring starts. When I say ‘staring’, I do not mean a quick glance or staring that ends when the person is caught out – I’m talking about open-jawed-unblinking-staring. Although we usually shop at the Homeever, large supermarket near our home, we occasionally venture further a field to Emart. Emart is much the same as Homever, but their wine is cheaper and it usually has a couple of bottles of decent South African wine – even Nederburg.

Normally we walk to Emart in the early evening along a busy road that becomes congested during this period of the day as everyone makes their way home. Construction is taking place on a bride that we have to cross and here the congested traffic comes to a stand still. Perhaps it’s that people have nothing better to do, or that they feel safe to stare from within their cars, but it is on this bridge that we encounter the worst staring. Eyes stare out of every car. Initially we found this irritating, but now it has turned into a game and point of amusement: we wave, smile and shout hello to the ‘starers’. Sometimes they wave back, at other times the staring stops and occassionally the unblinking gaze continues.

In one amusing incident two women cycling in the opposite direction to us were staring, Jess waved and said hello as they were about to pass. One of the 'starers' lifted her arm to wave and almost fell off her bike. She weaved madly across the road but managed to regain her balance. We had a good laugh, as did the second woman.