"Snow is fallin'...all around me...children playin'...havin' fun..."

Woke up this mornin' to extreme cold! A big change from yesterday! It was warm and sunny yesterday...today was cold and sunny, very strange! Arrived at school and the main topic of discussion in the teacher's lounge was the fact that it MIGHT snow! The day was passing by quickly, as usual, when all of a sudden I looked out the window of my classroom at about 8pm and saw a blanket of snow covering the ground, cars, small children... everything! It was unreal! So I decided to go for a stroll around the place and take some pictures of the snow, why? 'Cause snow is class, and I haven't seen all that much of it in 23 years! So here are some pictures! I'm off to watch a DVD and pretend I have an open fire in my apt.

Later...

Heil Buddha!

So, this past week has been fairly quick in going by, so much so, that I can't remember much between Monday morning and Friday evening... either the alzheimer's is kickin' in or school is going well and i'm not noticing! Hopefully the latter of the two! Oh, I do remember one thing... I was sittin' at my desk the other day, readin' a book for school with Guns 'n' Roses blastin' in my ear, when "Mike" came over to me and just stood there... right behind me, casting his shadow over the page as I was reading. He tipped me on the shoulder and said: "Brother, can you write your email address and telephone number please?" I didn't ask why he wanted my contact details but I gave him my email address anyway! I "couldn't remember" my phone number at the time!

So that was the highlight of my working week!

Friday arrived and everyone was in good form, and rightly so...the weekend was here, WOOO! After work, myself and another lad I work with headed to our local pub for a few pints... that was 9:30pm! At 5am there were about 8 of us in a Noerebang... locked! Eventually headed home at about 6, but not before four of headed to Mickie D's for breakfast! Yum!

Saturday I was hungover!

Sunday, I got up at around 1pm and decided to go on an adventure! I had heard about this mountain that was near my apt. and that it was possible to hike up it! So, at around 2pm I set off in search of the Mountain! I eventually found it after hiking through woodland, someones back yard and a neverending amount of autumn leaves! I was wrecked by the time I got to the top, but it was worth it! The view was unreal! Check out the photo's!

Random apt. building on my way there:

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!

M'ney, m'ney, m'ney......MONEY!

Woo! I got paid today! Today, is my first pay-day here in Korea...and it feels great! It's not that I got paid alot or anything like that, but just to finally see the results of a hectic 2 weeks work is fantastic!

Last week was pretty cool, it was my first actual week of teaching and everything went well...except for the girl in my Kindergarten class who started cutting off her own hair, instead of the picture of Winnie the Pooh that she was supposed to cut out! Oh well, these things happen I guess! The main topic of discussion in the teachers lounge all week (amongst us foreign teachers) was the U.S Presidential election and the upcoming debut performance of one of my co-workers band! The Presidential Election later, but first... The name of the band is "Great Success" they have a group on Facebook if you want to know more about them! Friday came and everyone was excited for the weekend and of course the debut performance on Saturday night...but before I tell you about Saturday night let me go back to Friday night...

I was excited about it being the weekend but I wanted to take it handy on Friday night so as to be well thirsty for Saturday, so on my way home I stopped by a shop, picked up a few cans and was plannin' to chill out with some cans and a dvd for the night! My plans were goin' great until about mid-night when I get a call from one of my co-workers! The conversation went a little something like this:

Me: hello!

Caller: (lots of giggles and screaming something incoherent about spiders)

Me: hello??

Caller: Hey, do you want to come and drink some soju with us?

Me: ah, ya... sure why not! I wont stay long though!

Caller: cool, cause we are outside your apartment building waiting for you!

Me: ok, be there in 2 minutes!

So, out I go only to be met by 3 of my co-workers who had clearly been on the booze, haha! Lets just say one of them was wearing their pj's! So off we head to pick up some more soju and then back to one of my other co-workers apt. Then the drinking games start, before I know it, it's 4 a.m and i'm stumbling in the door of my place! It was a brilliantly random night, and one that i'm glad happened! If my fellow co-workers are reading this (you know who you are), let it be known that we should do it again sometime soon, haha!

Saturday... I was quite hungover! I had to go do some shopping before the gig that night so I got up at about 2! I was gettin' strange looks from people, but not because I was a "foreigner" but because I looked like somethin' the cat dragged in, then out, then back in again, and then took a number 1 and/or 2 on! It was awful!

Saturday evening was fast approaching and I had to get my ass into gear! Had a quick shower and a shave and then out the door for some dinner with the rest of us who were goin' to the concert! It was an awesome meal, but sadly I couldn't stomach much of it! After dinner, we went for some drinks at a local bar and then headed downtown to the gig!

The band were awesome! It truly was a "Great Success"! Congratulations on a great first show and hopefully, it won't be the last! Instead of trying to describe the gig, the venue, and the crowd, I will just ask you to check out the photos below!

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...

One week in!

So, thats a lie! It's actually been 8 days... and a quick 8 days too might I add! I guess the first few days/weeks always fly by when you first get to a new country and have no idea whats goin' on! Since the last time I blogged alot has happened, and I have no idea where to begin...

Ok, lets start with my welcome party... WOW! It was last Friday, after work at around 9pm all of the staff at school piled onto some buses waiting out side and the night of madness began! Since i've been here I usually find myself goin' up to the other western teachers in the school and havin' a chat with them, and we usually all hang out together etc. which I guess is normal for anyone!?! Everyone finds "one of their own" to gain some comfort in the peculiararity of any situation... be it, goin' to the pub on a Friday night on your own, or flyin' across the world to a place that couldn't be more different from what you know as the norm! Anyways, (sorry I got side tracked) so I get on the bus with my fellow western teachers expecting to sit beside one of them, however, this was not to be the case! As I stepped onto the bus a hand blocked my path to the back of the bus... it was "Mike's" hand! "Mike" is a Korean teacher who LOVES European people... my first day he approached me and told me of his years spent in Europe and his many visits to Ireland and how he "speaks english with a british accent"!?! How he would love to go back there etc. So, I was told by "Mike" that I was to sit beside him for the duration of the bus journey, I didn't mind, he's a nice guy with a good heart, behind all the infatuation with Europe! So after 15mins of talking to "Mike" about the plus' of being from Europe and how much he misses his family(who are still in England) we eventually arrived at this traditional Korean restaurant somewhere in Cheonan. So, in we go to the restaurant... but not before we take off our shoes! So, shoes off and we head to our own private room that the boss had booked for us... there were no seats! Thats right, everyone was sitting on the floor around long tables about 1 foot off the ground... the pins and needles were awful! Then, like pretty much straight away we get plates and plates of vegetables and soup and some wierd spicy dip thing, within a minute of that, our meat arrives! Plates and plates or raw pork! The traditional Korean restaurants have built in barbeque's in each table in the restaurant so, you cook your own food then and there! These were long slabs of pork so I thought; "surely, we'll get a knife and fork with this"...no! We get chop sticks and... a sissors! You pick up the meat with the chopsticks and then cut the meat into managable pieces, it was hard but, I eventually got the hang of it! So, there we are, the meat is cooking, we're drinkin' our soup and then the Soju starts to arrive... OH GOD! Firstly, I didn't know what soju tasted like, secondly that didn't matter as I was to find out soon enough, thirdly the Korean's can't hold their booze WHATSOEVER!! "Mike" came over to me and insisted as I was new and his new "European Friend" that I must drink shots of Soju with him, so, me being me, I refused the booze....ya right! Haha, the shots just kept comin', me and "Mike", then me and some more of the Koreans, then me and the western teachers.... before long I was rat arsed! But I wasn't the only one on the flame train....the Koreans were all over the shop! "Mike" was stumbling around the place with no socks on, with a spoon in an empty Soju bottle (it's kinda seen as some kind of microphine here) calling on people to get up and sing/dance/talk... anything! So the time came where I had to get up and sing a song... I sang "The Galway Shawl" (all 1 verse and chorus that I know) but it seemed to go down well! Then another few of the westerners got up and started singin, then the koreans got up and started dancing and singin' and before long it was like I was at home at a weddin' or somethin'.... it was so out of control you just had to laugh! Oh, and all this in the space of about 2 hours! So at 11pm the Koreans started to head home (cause they were fairly well oiled at this stage) and the rest of us Westerners headed to a "Noerebang" (Kareoke room) they love Noerebangs in this country! You cant walk down a street without meetin' like 10 of them! Anyways we party it up there 'til the early hours and then head to another bar... this is where the story of my Welcome party ends as, the next thing i knew I woke up in my Love Motel the following afternoon! But i'll tell you this much... the Koreans can throw some party!

Oh, and by the way "Mike's" name has been changed for the purpose of this blog!

On Saturday I was fairly hungover, and a person I work with came to collect me and bring me to my new apt. I got there that afternoon at around 2/3!?! I tried to get settled in and just unpack but my hangover refused to let that happen! That night I was invited to a Halloween party in some bar in Cheonan. I was iffy about goin' at the start cause I was THAT hungover, but I went along anyways! What a night! We had some laugh... lot's of booze, a cocktail show that involved fire being sprayed onto the ceiling and out onto the ceiling of the dancefloor! It was unreal! Several "mekju's" (pints) later a lad I work with and myself get home at 7 in the mornin'! I'm glad I went, it was a great laugh, and I met loads and loads more western people! I even met 2 Irish people, one guy that has been here for 7 years!!!

Sunday I was hungover!

Monday was my first day of teaching! I start on M.T.W. & F. at 1:20, and on Thursday it's 4pm! I teach four kindergarden classes a week, which is just put on a movie, help them colour in pictures and let them pull the hair from your arms (their facinated with it, Koreans dont have any hair on their arms)! The rest of my classes range in age from 8-15! For the most part they are all well behaved kids! In a few posts I will get some photo's of them and throw them up here for you to see!

Tuesday... same as Monday really! taught some classes, planned some lessons, got dinner for €1... the usual!

This coming weekend, one of the lads I work with plays drums in a band, with some more westerners, and their first official gig is on Saturday night in the downtown area of Cheonan. Should be a good night! Other than that, i'm writing a list of things that are wierd in Korea and I will post them at a later date!

Also, please find below some photos of the neighbourhood I live in, my appartment and some traditional Korean food! There's also a video! Later...

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!

Below is one half of my apt. and the view from my balcony in both directions! Also, at the very bottom of my page is the video.