I love this cartoon.

Jacob doesn't even realise he has shoes to fill, he's simply to pre-occupied with his political rivals.

Or perhaps it suggests that he simply has no idea what is expected of him. and how to manage state affairs.

Consider this; Jacob Zuma slept with an HIV positive woman without a condom. This is absolutely shocking. Especially since he has several wives who he has at the very least a moral obligation not to put at risk of contracting HIV.

Still more shocking, and less well known, is the fact that while deputy president he headed SANAC (South African National AIDS Council) the highest government body on AIDS [and probably HIV as well - I'm a little hazy on this point.]

How can a person who was responsible for chairing discussions on one of South Africa's greatest tragedies, and most significant problems, go on to sleep with an HIV positive person without a condom?

Voting

I wrote this up over a couple of days, it's more a collection of random thoughts than a coherent argument.

______________________________

With just under a week to go until the April 22 elections political parties are gearing up for the final days of campaigning. Jacob Zuma who has been criss crossing the country in a private helicopter, while Helen Zille has just announced that she will have the use of a private jet for the final week of her campaign.

Among the places that Zille will visit is Butterworth. I wonder what the folk of this poor rural Eastern Cape town will make of the, botoxed faced, white madam who steps out the private jet wearing yet another pristine business suit. She’ll tell them that Jacob Zuma is no good for them, or for the country, but who is going to pay serious attention to Zille when she jets in, tells them what is good for them and then jets out again?

It’s sad to see that yet again the DA has chosen to take the ugly route. We had the ‘fight back’ campaign under Tony Leon, and now we must endure the ‘stop Zuma’ campaign under Zille. Does the DA really think that it can endear itself to millions of South Africans by continually shouting wolf and scare mongering? Sure this approach might go down well with disaffected white South Africans, but what of the millions of other South Africans that remember that the ANC fought for their liberation? How does a party grow when all it offers is the same tired diatribe?

People in townships across South Africa are angry and upset at the lack of service delivery. Surely it doesn’t take a genius to work out that these people are more likely to warm to an alternate, and moreover empathetic, message than the constant ANC and Zuma bashing? What resident of Butterworth is going to believe that Zille, who steps into their world, berates the leadership of the ANC and then jets off, not to be seen again for at least another four years, has their interests at heart?

On a personal note I voted yesterday. I must admit I was unsure whether I should vote or not as it entailed a two hour bus journey to Seoul. In the end I did and I’m glad I did. I discovered my reason for voting at the end of a piece by Simon Jenkins: “If the opposition can deprive Zuma of his two-thirds majority, South Africa could entrench just enough liberty to defy the pessimists.” The first person Jessica and I spoke to outside the embassy after voting told us that it was important that we voted as the ANC has to be deprived of a two-thirds majority.

[And the latest, I read this just a moment ago, Zuma: "If I sit here and I look at the chief justice of the Constitutional Court, that is the ultimate authority. I think we need to look at it, because I don't think we should have people who are almost like God in a democracy. Why? Are they not human beings?"

The M&G:
A senior Cape Town advocate, asking to remain anonymous, said Zuma's utterances are "unforgivable". "He is clearly, constitutionally speaking, illiterate and it's dangerous because it's subversive. This is our future leader, who will have to appoint the judges of the Constitutional Court. Will he take us to the American model where judges are overt political appointments?" the advocate asked.]

Incidentally I came to read Jenkins article as it is the subject of a defamation case in Britain brought by Jacob Zuma. Would it be too much to say that Jacob ensured that I went to the polls? Thanks JZ.

Jacob Zuma, who is to be our next president, cannot tolerate dissent. Not even by papers published in another country. So much for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The already spineless SABC executives are going to be reduced to quivering wretches under Zuma. The SABC is already kicking for touch on just about any topic that may offend our latest Big Man. In this last week it pulled a documentary that discusses satire in SA and interviews Jonathan Shapiro. If this isn’t shocking enough it’s absolutely galling that the SABC won’t even acknowledge that it pulled the documentary; instead it claims that it pulled the documentary as it was waiting for advice from its lawyers.

Apart from dropping the Special Assignment segment the SABC continues to mothball the pilot to the political satire ‘Znews’, that it commissioned for a million Rand, which prominently features JZ. Shapiro claims that the SABC’s stated reason for not showing the pilot is that JZ would sue the SABC should the show be aired. As Shapiro rightly says, “it's a matter of spinelessness on the part of the top SABC execs.”

Perhaps, in dropping the documentary, the SABC took its cue from Mpshe who pins the blame for dropping Zuma’s charges on Leonard McCarthy and Bulelani Ngucka. Mpshe is of course another sniveling weasel, looking to ingrate himself with the latest powers that be, that has to go.

How can we be expected to believe the decision to drop the case was ‘one of the hardest decisions of (Mpshe’s) life’ when it turns out he plagiarised significant parts of the speech that outlined his reasoning?

People that struggle over difficult decisions have a lot to say.

This is of course stating the obvious though, we know this as these people go on to write books and address audiences on their decisions and how they reached them -- they have certainly have no cause to plagiarise others writing. Nor should we forget that plagiarism amounts to intellectual dishonesty, and in academic circles is so detested that it is regarded as tantamount to theft.

Perhaps Mpshe was simply to lazy to set out his reasoning, in which case how can we ever accept that he applied his mind to his decision in the first place? Students that are too lazy to properly reference, or even do the work, end up plagiarizing. Is this to say that Mpshe is a lay about? Lay abouts don’t reach the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. So what does Mpshes plagiarism suggest? It strongly suggests that Mpshe did not properly apply his mind to all the competing interests.

Plagiarism is an act of avoidance, and strongly suggests abdication from responsibility at an earlier stage. If the student cannot arrive at independent conclusions, how can we believe that they applied their mind in the first place? The hours that should have been spent in the library were probably spent elsewhere. Ian Davidson, Chief Whip of the DA, was entirely correct when he said, “[the plagiarism implies that] the NPA never bothered to apply its mind to the evidence before it.”

Since Mpshe plagiarised, and was caught out in an act of deceit, we cannot accept his claim that he struggled with the decision at face value. And we are left wonder what pressures would dissuade a person in his position from earnestly applying themselves to the competing arguments.

Once again Zuma comes to mind, and one has to wonder what pressure was brought to bear on Mpshe in his name. I’m reminded of the initial period following Mbeki’s dethroning from the Presidency. Outwardly Zuma praised Mbeki’s contribution to the ANC, but he made no move to curb the likes of Malema from mounting visceral attacks on the former president. One can only wonder how many of Zuma’s allies exerted extreme pressure on Mpshe while Zuma looked on. In the end the pressure brought to bear on Mpshe proved too much and, in Wim Trengrove’s words, Mpshe “seemed only too relieved to find an escape from unbearable pressure.”

The whole arms deal saga has been both disappointing and very ugly. South Africa’s international reputation has been damaged. With still greater embarrassment we must also acknowledge the effect of Mpshe’s decision. The principles of equality before the law and the separation of the state’s powers have been severely undermined. Convicting Zuma as state president would also be embarrassing, but it would be a fantastic message to send to the world. It would be a message of hope and a clear affirmation that the South African state strives to realise the highest ideals.

Living so far away from South Africa, and feeling removed from South African society, I can only hope that my vote contributes to a very vocal opposition member taking a seat in the National Assembly. I hope that this person treats Zuma’s blunders with the disdain they deserve, and him with the indignation he deserves. Someone is going to need to remind Zuma that although he may be the president he is far from presidential.

I should be careful about what I ask for in my own anger and indignation though; lest I dream up my own Julius Malema. Jacob Zuma is an embarrassment, and a person that should never ascend to the presidency, but he will and it will be necessary to work with him and his acolytes. So my dream politician must dance to a two step tune: treat Jacob with indignation when his actions fall short of our expectations, but otherwise work with the man and try to build a constructive relationship with the ANC. It’s a big ask, and not one which many opposition members are capable of.

Submitting my first written piece to a newspaper

A couple of weeks ago I took the took the plunge and submitted a piece of writing to the M&G online. Sadly I didn't hear back from the editor. I suspect my one inaccuracy - the bit about the the Constitutional Court handing down judgment on the 4th of March put the editor off. It was a silly mistake to make, I should have checked my facts more carefully. I'm not sure how I got such a simple fact wrong. Oh well, lesson learned.

It was dissapointing not to hear back from the M&G, but nevertheless feel good about writing the piece and submitting it. It was my first step towards having a piece published, I'll get there in the end. I feel like the experience had a lesson to teach me - sometimes it's worth while starting at the bottom. Obviously it would have been fantastic to have the M&G publish my article, but there is also something to being published by the Grocott's. Had I already had an established body of published work, the M&G editor would have been far more likely to get back to me or read on past my one factual inaccuracy.

So I'll start at the bottom and work my way up. I'm onto a good thing and one day I'll celebrate having my first piece published by the M&G.

Here is the piece that I submitted:

The right to vote and the IEC’s ‘unofficial’ actions: cause for concern?

On the 4^th of March the Constitutional Court will finally either confirm or put paid to the hopes of many South Africans living abroad that we be allowed to vote in the upcoming elections.

As an English teacher in South Korea, I had resigned myself to observing the build-up to the April elections as an outsider, unable to exert my vote’s influence on events within my home country. That changed with Judge Piet Ebersohn’s February 9^th ruling that South Africans living abroad be allowed to vote.

In the wake of this judgment, and in anticipation that the Constitutional Court will confirm Judge Ebersohn’s ruling, the Democratic Alliance has been encouraging South Africans living abroad to apply to the Independent Electoral Commission to take part in the Special Vote. If permission is granted the individual will be excused from voting at their regular polling station. For those of us that wish to vote this would give us the option of making a journey to London, Cairo, Seoul, or another South African foreign mission to vote.

Physically applying for the Special Vote is as simple as filling out a basic one page form and faxing it through to the IEC. Unfortunately the broader issue is not as clear.

While the DA claims that the IEC had been ‘unofficially’ accepting applications, but will not process them until the 4^th of March – the date that the Constitutional Court hands down it’s judgment – the IEC’s own website clearly states that South Africans living and working abroad cannot vote. For many of us living outside of South Africa the internet remains the most convenient way to access information from home, and given that South Africans living and working outside the country are not yet allowed to vote, there is little reason to further investigate the possibility of voting beyond periodically checking the IEC’s website.

This gives rise to a number of difficulties.

Firstly, the IEC cannot process applications for the Special Vote from people living and working abroad until the Constitutional Court hands down judgment, but applications for the Special Vote closed on the 27^th of February. Should the Constitutional Court confirm Ebersohn’s ruling the IEC will then have to reopen applications for the Special Vote if it is to avoid unfairly discriminating against all those who were unaware that applications were being ‘unofficially’ accepted.

If the IEC has indeed ‘unofficially’ been accepting applications, it may well have done so in anticipation that the Constitutional Court will confirm Judge Ebersohn’s ruling; which may well force it to make hasty provision to accommodate the many South Africans scattered across the globe that wish to vote.

Failure to do so will result in absurdity. The majority of South Africans living and working abroad will not have applied for the Special Vote; and with the application deadline having passed we will remain unable to vote.

Perhaps the IEC, in ‘unofficially’ accepting applications prior to the finalisation of legal proceedings, simply wanted to avoid being swamped by a rush of applications in the event of a positive ruling that would force it to reopen applications. Although this would contribute to a smooth run up to the election, ‘unofficially’ accepting applications nevertheless remains inappropriate.

Unfortunately, as a public institution dedicated to ensuring free and fair elections, that produce credible results, the IEC cannot have the luxury of acting ‘unofficially’ – its policies, reasoning and actions must be clear and understandable to all if it is to maintain it’s own credibility and remain immune to questions and accusations.

Finally in acting ‘unofficially’, and in leaving it up to political parties to publicise this, the IEC is effectively delegating an aspect of it’s voter education to political parties. While parties undeniably play a role in voter education the IEC cannot divest itself of this responsibility. Voters are entitled to know the ground rules from the IEC itself. Publicity by political parties is in addition to, not instead of, the IEC meeting its responsibilities.

If acting ‘unofficially’ results in the IEC being too coy to make its practices known, and if political parties are the only means of communicating important information to the public, the IEC has failed to fulfil its mandate.

It is possible that the Constitutional Court will not extend the right to vote in the elections to those of us living and working abroad. In which case the IEC will discard the applications that it received up to the 27^th of February, and one may argue that no harm came of the IEC’s decision to ‘unofficially’ accept applications.

As one of South Africa’s premier public institutions though, it remains critical that we continue to hold the IEC to the highest of standards, and in doing so not tolerate ‘unofficial’ decisions – irrespective of the intent.

Quest for ratings

Look at my blog. It’s all writing, writing, writing. Where’s the appeal in that? There’s no bang for your buck or instant gratification, no wonder Jessica’s blog is pulling ahead in the number of hits – her’s is all ‘ooo what a pretty picture’ and how can I compete with that?

But things are about to change, you see now when people search for Paris Hilton on the internet they are going to open up my blog – I can just see my little hit counter ticking over tick , tick , tick. Ha ha, Pow! Take that Jessica, how can you ever expect your cheap Power Point tricks to compete with the likes of Paris Hilton??? – that ubiquitous blonde that represents, represents … ah therein lies the problem. What does Paris Hilton represent? Why the fascination, and why is she sporting that oh so unfashionable bunion?

The problem is that you simply cannot escape the tart – she’s even found her way onto my blog. I’ll be honest, I’m feeling grumpy. I spent last weekend skiing and each time I completed one of the major runs I was greeted at the bottom by a large billboard of Paris sporting the latest Fila fashion. So my weekend played out like this – do the ski run, see Paris, wonder what she represents as I took the lift back up, do the ski run, see Paris, wonder what she represents as I took the lift back up…

It really irked me that I had to come across Paris Hilton every couple of hours. What does Paris represent? Why is it that even in the middle of no where, after hours on the bumble bus, I must contend with her image?

To me her wide spread image is symptomatic of something far larger than simply another unintelligent ill thought Fila advert. When I go skiing in the middle of no where I want to see something new and different, and so I was disappointed to see large bill boards and especially that large bill board bearing Paris’ grinning mug. I’m sure you can picture that smile of her’s – I cannot imagine much going on behind those eyes – she’s a walking talking doll – a zombie - and exactly what Fila wants of you and me.

Sometimes I get the feeling that much of advertising is based on the premise that if you bombard someone enough they will go out and buy the product. Maybe this is why even in the mountains you cannot escape the likes of Paris Hilton.

Well, I’m sick and tired of Paris Hilton and everything she represents- or doesn’t represent. I’m insulted that Fila has the arrogance to think that by bombarding me with images that my brain is going to turn to malleable mush.

Sod the both of them.

Back to school

Hi all

First of all thanks so much to everyone who replied to my last email. It was great to hear from you, it was especially nice that so many of the replies were so prompt.

It’s back to school proper next week. Right now I am feeling relaxed and happy, and a little apprehensive. I wonder whether I will feel quite as happy this time next week?

I’m really hoping this school year will go a little bit better. I really hope that I have learned from the mistakes that I made last year, and that I have also taken something away from the positive lessons. My main aims for this school year are to provide relaxed and fun lessons.

I really want to help the student’s improve their English, and I believe that the best way to accomplish this it to try and establish a relaxed and informal class setting – I want the kids to relax, have fun and make mistakes. Aiming to get the children to make mistakes may sound strange but there is a certain logic to it- many Korean students fear making mistaking and it can be difficult to get the kids to open up and express themselves at all, even in strictly controlled exercises. I want the students to make mistakes, and grdually get used to making mistakes - and I want them to understand that mistakes rarely bothers me, just so long as I can understand them. I understand their fear though. I myself am nervous about making mistakes when learning Korean and I am aware that this nervousness inhibits my own progress. (My Korean learning fell by the way side for a long time and has only just picked up once again.)

I often wonder how much I achieve through my lessons. I see the classes that I teach on an either once or twice weekly rotation, which is not enough to achieve everything that I would like to – but I must admit that I will never achieve everything that I would like to. I constantly have to remind myself that just as important as providing good lessons is planting, and nurturing, a positive attitude towards the English language. If I can stimulate an interest in the English language, and foreign cultures, my influence will be magnified over years to come. I am constantly aware that I for many of the Koreans that I meet I represent more than just myself – I’m an ambassador for South Africa and western traditions in general. Sometimes this can be a bit much, it’s difficult to put on a friendly face when I am feeling grumpy and a curious stranger approaches me.

Here's to a good year.

Philippines (Post1)

Hello All

Jess and I arrived back in Korea and Sunday morning, it already feels as if we never left. I’m finally back at school, after more than a month, and am slowly getting into the swing of things once again. Everyone around me seems very busy, and here I sit wistfully thinking of my ten days in the Philippines while making very little progress on lesson plans.

I enjoyed the Philippines very much, but was disturbed by the very open sex tourism.

Although I intend writing a more general piece on my experience I felt the need to first explore my thoughts on one of the more sinister sides to what could otherwise be paradise.

Sex Tourism

The first thing that struck me about the Philippines, apart from the dramatic change in temperature after only four hours of flight, was that it is clearly a third world country. I’m not sure why this surprised me, I already knew something of the poverty that afflicts the Philippines, having read a little and watched a few documentaries on it’s sweatshops that produce all manner of fashionable goods for export, but still I was taken aback. Cebu City, where we landed and spent our first night – we landed after 1:00am, is an ugly sprawling city but it is also the gateway to a group of spectacular tropical islands known as the Visayas.

Cebu City is hardly worth mentioning, and I would gladly not mention it were it not for the fact that it was where I was first introduced to one of the uglier features of tourism in the Philippines: sex tourism. Having already met one westerner in Korea with a far younger Filipino wife I was aware that it is a popular destination for western men to meet, and marry, (young) Asian women. I was under the impression however that it was a discreet matter, and I had no idea that it is as wide spread as it is. I was therefore in for a shock when I entered the dining room of our hotel for my first breakfast in the Philippines. Far from secreting themselves away from the public view, we were surrounded by men who had clearly picked up far younger Filipino women for their holiday.

The atmosphere was stagnant and the very little chatter at the tables around us was forced. I felt very uncomfortable eating a meal in the contrived setting, and could not help but feel that by quietly eating my breakfast beside these 'couples' that I was somehow giving credit to the farce.

The reality is that sex tourism, judging by the numbers of these couples that I encountered, must account for a significant portion of tourist revenues in the Philippines. The ever authoritative Lonely Planet suggests that sex tourism is quietly ignored by paid off police, but the pervasiveness of the industry, and it’s widespread tolerance, suggest that far from being ignored that this industry is counted upon – perhaps, although unacknowledged, even welcomed – in tourist visited areas. Here’s the line of logic: Estimates suggest that tourist revenues accounted for roughly $5 Billion of a $144 Billion economy in 2007. $5 Billion as a percentage of the whole economy is a paltry 3.5%, but these revenues are concentrated in the small touristed patches of the Philippines; and must surely account for far higher percentages of these local GDPs. Tourist money likely carries a lot of clout in these areas, and I suspect that far from merely tolerating sex tourism, communities and local officials support the industry. Accepting obvious sex tourists into a hotel is itself an act of blurring the lines between tolerance and encouragement, accepting a sex tourist once is encouraging them to return a second time.

Despite the strong revenues and tacit, or even overt, support that the industry receives, Filipino women that engage in the trade must find themselves in a precarious position. In a country where Christian imagery is unavoidable, and Catholicism dominates public life, women plying the sex trade must occupy a position akin to lepers in biblical times – except in making this comparison I obviously look over the fact that these women bring in money – which of course supports the community.

As for the men, it’s easy to write this group of usually well heeled travellers off as ‘total losers unable to attract women or maintain relationships at home’ – but there’s more at play. These men pay a woman to go on holiday with them, they buy a week of somebody’s life – which in effect means taking control of a person’s life for a week. Doing so is intended to bring pleasure, but it also speaks of insecurity, vulnerability and fragile egos. Taking control over another person’s life is an act of power, or an attempt to gain power, which begs the question “What happens when the bought illusion of dominance fails?”. If a women refuses some act behind closed doors does the insecure and very much egotistical man accept the refusal, or does he assert his dominance through less subtle means? In which case who, if anyone, does the sex worker turn to?

My new years resolution

I’ve been thinking about my new years resolutions. A few days ago I had them firmly set in my head, but I’m no longer entirely sure what they were. The question that I have been wondering about is how does one arrive at new years resolutions? If one wants to set firm and achievable goals for the year, surely it’s not merely process of plucking random ideas out the great beyond.

I guess some people set their goals according to what they aspire to. Your classic blonde may set her goals after flipping through her collection of December fashion mags. Other people may set their goals after a process of introspection. The failing student may decide that long nights in the Rat may be the key to understanding his or her poor academic record, and therefore abstain from certain behaviour – ie the second drink of the evening which always leads to the third. For others the process of setting new years goals may be a far more positive process, I can imagine that Conrad has decided to redouble his efforts in the gym as he is pleased with his gradual transformation into the incredible Hulk.

As for me, well I think my new years resolutions have been affected by those around me. I recognise behaviour in some that pleases me, and that I wish to emulate, and behaviour amongst others that really bothers me. I’m not sure about all the factors that shape one’s identity, and the process could well differ between people, but I have a strong sense that my identity is shaped by what I see in others.

My years resolutions for 2009 have therefore been shaped by my reactions to other, and two people in particular; neither of whom seem to be absorbing anything from their Korean experience.

Sometimes when I’m feeling bitter and upset I wonder how close I am to viewing Korea in the same light as them. After which I redouble my efforts to accept Korea for what it is: a very different country with different smells, tastes and experiences; not all of which can simply be judged against our bank of memories from home.

I strongly believe that tastes smells and experiences, where ever one may be, exist in their own right – that is to say: we cannot simply judge Korean food, for example, against Western food and then simply discard Korean food as unlikable simply because it does not match one’s established tastes.

I’m unsure whether I am managing to express myself clearly. What I am trying to convey is more a feeling than clearly formulated idea, but I’m convinced I’m onto something. The people I like most are rarely loud and brash, they are normally slightly reserved and generally do not act with haste. These people recognise Korea as being very different, but rarely complain and when we discuss our experiences they appear more intent on understanding Korea, and their experiences, than complaining. These people strike me as both intelligent and mature, and perhaps I like them as much as I do because I feel that I can learn something from them. Perhaps if I hang around enough I might be able to sap some of their intelligence, or maybe I can leech a bit of maturity off them.

In contrast when speaking to the two individuals that I mentioned earlier, I often feel that I am dealing with dealing with two people that almost have the same maturity of children. A typical conversation with them is littered with “me’s, my’s, I’s, I don’t like this, I don’t like that”, they really rub me up the wrong way and I get nothing out of our conversations. I’m left unstimulated and I have a strong suspicion that if I spent enough time around either of the two my brain would turn to mush.

So after much thought here is my primary new years resolution, it has been strongly influenced by a number of people.

Korea is Korea: I need to accept, deal with and respect Korean culture; and I need to make a concerted effort to not merely define Korea in relation to my experiences at home.

My new years resolution will not be easy. Gaining an understanding, and coming to appreciate a foreign culture is a difficult prospect. The pay off, if I manage, though will be a happier and more mature Julian.

A new year roles around.

It seems hard to believe that 2008 has come and gone. I’ve been thinking about it over the past few days and trying to make sense of it. Was it a good year? Was it a bad year? Would I go about the year differently if I had the chance?

The jury remains out on these questions, but I certainly had some memorable experiences. I enjoyed meeting Andrew Feinstein, even if I was nervous, and would like to think that thanks to our breakfast meeting, and all the emails that we exchanged, that he will be amenable to meeting me again; or that at he will at the very least be willing to put me in contact with some people of interest. At the top of this list of people must be John Pilger who Feinstein seems to know quite well. I was privately amused to hear him tell me how he disagreed with ‘John’ about some of his ideas and that he had told him so.

Meeting Feinstein was important to me, in the end he did not offer me the research position that I had hoped he would but it was invigorating to meet one of SA’s leading intellectuals. Living in Grahamstown and attending Rhodes provided me with many invaluable opportunities to attend lectures by leading South African’s, but my meeting with Feinstein was my first opportunity to sit down and discuss topics of interest with somebody of clear intelligence and passion beyond the lecturers and professors that I had access to while at Rhodes.

So meeting Feinstein was clearly a highlight for me and, perhaps more importantly for me, doing my ‘homework’ prior to our meeting helped me get on back on track in terms of my search for a masters topic. If I think back it was almost exactly a year ago that Proffesor Maylam gave me some very encouraging feedback on long essay of about 16 000 words.

I always hated learning for exams. It always seemed like such a pointless exercise, consequently studying for exams was always both boring and frustrating and as could be expected my marks took a dip come exam time. With Prof Maylam’s encouragement and my meeting with Feinstein behind me I am looking forwards to at some point writing a masters thesis and doing well.

If meeting Feinstein was a highlight of my year then I have certainly I also had low moments. I hate the fact that I got into such a vicious fight with a friend, and that one night of ugly accusation and counter accusation ended a friendship.

I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about friends and friendship over the past year. All in all I have some amazing, supportive and inspiring friends. Almost all people would describe their friends as ‘amazing’ and ‘supportive’, to the point where the words just about lose their meaning, but how many people can claim to be ‘inspired’ by their friends? I really am lucky – and I think of all of you, all the time.

What of Korea? My home for the next nine months. It’s hard to say. I spend much of my time living on the edge of being overwhelmed. School is never easy and I only rarely feel that I fully understand what is going on around me. I felt like the bottom of my world was about to fall out from underneath me when I first realised the huge communicative difficulties that I would face with some of my co-teachers. I tried to arrive in Korea with as few assumptions as possible, but I must admit I was taken by surprise by some of the English teachers rudimentary grasp of the English language.

Still life is not all bad. I also have a couple of fantastic, motivated and supportive co-teachers with whom I can communicate easily. The kids seem to like me, and I like the kids which is important. I just feel that it is a real pity that I am unable to see the classes that I teach more often. Unfortunately I see the kids too seldomly to have a real impact. I don’t like admitting this, but it is true.

If 2009 is anything like 2008 it is going to pass by in a flash. It will be confusing and at times stressful, but at least this time I am going to earn a packet. ;)

As for new years resolutions, I don’t have any yet. I’m in no rush, 2009 has just begun.

Keep well.

Julian.