Monday, December 1, 2008
Too lazy to type!
Hope you can hear the song at the start of the video
Korea lads!?!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
"Snow is fallin'...all around me...children playin'...havin' fun..."
Monday, November 17, 2008
Heil Buddha!
Someones back yard! ^^Some view!
I have loads more photos, but these one's give you the general gist of the place!
On the way down I came across some temples and a giant golden statue of a Buddha... it was unreal! Alot of Koreans ( alot of Asians in fact) are of the Buddhist faith. To be honest I don't know much about Buddhism so I'm not one to comment on it! One thing I did find both amazing and terrifying at the same time was this:
Yes, I know, that is a Swastika! The Swastika in Buddhism represents good fortune and the heart of Buddha, not what us in the West would associate it with! If you notice, there is a difference between the Buddha Swastika and the Nazi Swastika... the Nazi one is backwards. The Swastika has been a Buddhist symbol for thousands of years, and then for some unknown reason the Nazi's adopted it, flipped it over and used it as their own! It's a shame that what is considered a beautiful symbol of hope and joy in Asia is considered a symbol of anger and hate by those in the West! It's so weird to see it on the side of a temple and on signs pointed towards Buddhist places of worship! I was speechless when I saw it, I had to get closer to make sure I was actually seeing a Swastika... oh, and before people get ratty about the way I am calling it a "Swastika" all the time... it's actually called a "Swastika" (well, at least in India anyway where it is most widely seen, here in Korea it is called the Manji), the Nazi's did not come up with the name!
So, I wandered in after taking the picture of the Swastika and had a look a round! It was so peaceful that I didn't know if I was even allowed be there! I spotted a Buddhist monk sitting on the ground by one of the temples, I think he was planting rice but I can't be certain! I managed to get a sneaky photo of him!
I then went up some steps to see a massive statue of a Buddha!
Some Temples:
They were class! It was an enjoyable day trekking around my area, but it was tiring! Home for a few hours kip and then out again that night! I know... out on a school night, disgraceful! I was fairly hungover this mornin' in school! It was worth it though-our pub quiz team: "The Cunning Linguists" came second and we won a bottle of wine...we then drank the wine!
Later!
Monday, November 10, 2008
M'ney, m'ney, m'ney......MONEY!
For those of you who may be interested, the lad that works with me is the drummer!
After the gig, we went on to another bar called "Orgy Bar"... well thats not actually the name, but it's known as that amongst the "Western" population here! I don't have any pictures of the place, but next time I go there I will get some! It's a sight to behold! I eventually got home at half 4ish!?!
Sunday was hangover day, and what a hangover it was! I didn't do much else but download "The Dark Knight" and watch it with some Doritos and Coke! What an awesome film by the way! It's unreal! Definitely recommend it to anyone reading this who has not seen it! Fantastic!
Back to school today (Monday)! It was a grand day, nothing majorly exciting happened, but I did learn that one of my students plays the Ocarina!!! As in, "The Legend of Zelda", "Ocarina of Time" and all that! I know... I couldn't believe it either! I didn't even know it was a real instrument to be honest! She said she would bring it to school someday for me to see it! I'll take pictures!
The classroom names in my school are quite inspiring! They dont have names like: Room 1, 2, 3, etc. but instead have names like: Truth, Wisdom, Peace... it's class, and a great idea too! Felt I should mention that for some unknown reason!
I got a pleasant surprise today when I arrived at my desk to find some chocolates and a thank you note! You see, it's policy that when a teacher is off sick for a day or 2 that the rest of us have to cover their classes whenever we have a free slot in our timetable! I don't mind doing it at all! I mean, if you can't be there, you can't be there, don't worry about it! But ya, so the teacher that I subbed for bought everyone that covered for her a small box of chocolates! A fantastic gesture in my books! Thank you T.T!
I'm leaving the talk of the U.S election 'til last for 2 reasons; 1)I dunno why, and 2) Because the video below relates to the election of Barrack Obama and my views on it!
So, enjoy the video, and I will talk to you all soon! God Bless...
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
One week in!
Tuesday... same as Monday really! taught some classes, planned some lessons, got dinner for €1... the usual!
This is Kimbab/Kimbap- traditional Korean food!
Random street near where i live!
Above is a picture of the building that my school is in! Its on the 5th floor!
This photo is one of my favourites! Am.... its so wierd to come to a place as far away as Korea and see a place called Bally! If you look through my Paris photos on Bebo, there is also a Bally there! Insane!
Traditional Korean restaurant near where I live!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
My first post!
First off, I would like to apologise for the poor quality of the video... hopefully I will get it right the next time!
Second off, let me explain where I am staying for the week... It is known as a "Love Motel". These Love Motels are very popular throughout Korea, basically if a couple are feeling a bit frisky they can come in to one of these hotels at any time of the day or night for 10 minutes or 1o days depending on their desires, and how much they're willing to pay! The vending machine sells those "gadgets" at about €8 for one! It's just many of those cultural features that amaze me and all the westerners i've talked to! I wonder how these "Love Motels" would go down in Ireland...