It’s election season here in Korea. As you know, I normally take no interest in such things, but it’s proving impossible to ignore this particular election. Never mind the fact that we’ve had a little bit of a falling out with the folk upstairs in Pyongyang – all that means is that it’s one more [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
This week, I have been mostly writing progress reports for each of my 25 kindergarteners and 28 elementary students. Much as I like writing, I have to say I’ll be extremely glad to see the back of this particular task, not least because I’m heavily restricted in terms of what I can write. I remember [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Friday being a national holiday for Buddha’s birthday (cheers for that, Buddha!), we all had a long weekend, and I took the opportunity to go with a few friends on an island-hopping trip. Korea has lots of beautiful islands, from the major holiday hotspot of Jeju-do to the many small, uninhabited islands. We went to [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
One of the things I love about Korea is how safe I feel here. The crime rate is extremely low, and you’d be amazed at the number of different ways in which that can affect your daily life and sense of wellbeing. For a start, there’s hardly any vandalism. I say “hardly any” because you’ll [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
I was in Seoul the first time I experienced the air raid sirens going off. It scared the crap out of me, to be perfectly honest with you. I mean, there you are, strolling peacefully through the busy streets, minding your own business and getting used to the fact that, for the most part, you [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
Irish Friend One texted me on Saturday morning. Hey miss, want to go for lunch? I met him for salad and a glass of wine at one. At 5.30 the next morning, I got home. Some of the best nights out are unplanned, I suppose! We went to BonBon, the Italian restaurant downtown where Steve [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
On the first sunny day of Spring, I wandered outside in my shorts and t-shirt, basking in the blissful feeling that is the sun’s warmth on the bare skin after a long, cold, gray winter. There were no clouds in the sky, and the temperature was the kind that I’d describe as perfect – it [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 9 Comments »
One of the common mistakes made by nearly all Korean children learning English is a strange overuse of the verb “to be”. They will insert it several times into the same ‘sentence’, often to the exclusion of other (more suitable) verbs. I’m not sure what this is all about. It may be something to do [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
OK , two main points to make in this post, and both of them involve things being different, so I’ll lump them together. Firstly, the trivial pondering: is corn on pizza really a bizarre phenomenon to most people? In Korea, I’m used to a lot of “Wow, that’s really bizarre” moments because things are so [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 23 Comments »
This weekend, I went to Busan for the first time. Busan is the second largest city in Korea, and its location on the south coast makes it a top holiday destination – which means that it kind of feels like you’re on your summer holidays even if you’ve just come down for the weekend. Irish [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
You Say Goodbye, I Say… Historical Snapshots It Just Makes Me Happy
