Since I’ve been losing weight at a steady rate since I’ve been here, I decided now was the time to take up some form of regular exercise. I haven’t been actively trying to slim down, but it’s been slowly starting to happen anyway thanks to a combination of (a) my new Korean-style diet (boiled rice, [...]
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It’s been a while since I blogged about food. Expect it to be a recurring theme. I’m slowly but surely getting the hang of what things are in the supermarket. The only way that I have been able to do this is by just taking a guess at what something is based on its packaging [...]
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I blogged before about how some things that would be considered rude in our culture are not considered to be so in Korean culture. Asking personal questions, being just a little too honest, eating with your mouth open… But while I’ve quickly adapted to this and am no longer startled by such behaviour, one thing [...]
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I still haven’t worked out whether it’s the language barrier or just a completely different style of communication, but I now have more misunderstandings in one day than I used to have in a month. Even when you think you’ve been completely clear, and that there’s no way you’re taking the other person up wrong, [...]
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I’ve finally gotten around to making a serious effort to learn Korean. What with one thing and another (Swine Flu, parties, all-day meals, difficulties with the air here that make my nose bleed and cause me to feel generally urgh), I still haven’t made it to a lesson. But having talked to a few people [...]
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I was going to write a post all about Korea’s noraebangs, but last night I discovered something even better. Noraebangs (literally meaning “song rooms”) are ubiquitous in Korea, and a truly wonderful concept for anyone who’s ever been kicked out of a bar for refusing to heed staff requests to stop singing. Yes, they are [...]
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The other day, I was waiting in the media room at school for my movie class to start. I say class, but what it involves is sitting with a dozen children and watching half an hour of a Disney movie. Every week. Twice in one day. Love My Job. Anyway, my class hadn’t turned up [...]
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I was walking down the street last night after a post-work detour to the market, and taking in all the sights and sounds that are still very much an exciting new experience for me. The street vendors yelling loudly about their cakes and fast food; the restaurants with their huge tanks of fish outside; the [...]
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I have managed to end up with a learning difficulties class. I think that’s the PC term. We’re not very PC here (hooray!), so mostly we tend to refer to them as “the slow class” (me) or “the stupid class” (their Korean English teacher). From what I can tell, they are simply being passed around [...]
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It seems like there are a lot of rules here. Not the sort of rules we have in the UK, however. Traffic rules are few (and it shows!), you can’t get arrested for taking photographs of public buildings, and it’s perfectly legal to light up a cigarette after your restaurant dinner or in the bar [...]
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You Say Goodbye, I Say… Historical Snapshots It Just Makes Me Happy
