I spent this weekend teaching bar staff in various Korean cities how to make a hot toddy. I have been struck down in the pribe of libe, by a nasty cold/flu-like virus that is working its way through my group of friends and knocking us down one by one. There was nothing I felt less [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Oh, urrrrrrghhhhh. You know I don’t like mornings, right? That should not be a surprise at this stage in our relationship. Mornings are bad. They are cruel and filled with unpleasant sounds like alarm clocks and neighbours’ alarm clocks and people moving around outside. They demand that you get out of your nice cosy bed [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
The Sister sent me a DVD for my birthday, which turned out to be another one of the best presents I’ve ever had. It’s been a good birthday for that! She’d filmed friends and family back home giving me a birthday message, and talking about childhood memories, growing up, random drinking stories, that sort of [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
For the first time in my life, I have something that I think I could actually call ‘my local’. My familiarity with the place has come about as a result of the rugby World Cup and the fact that there aren’t exactly a lot of places to watch the games ’round these parts. Gradually, it has [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Having made peace with the idea of turning thirty, I allowed myself to be whisked away for a mystery weekend, my only instructions being to be at the train station with an overnight bag at 9.30am on Saturday. As it turned out, my friends had planned the most Hails-perfect weekend imaginable to celebrate my 30th. [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
1001 days ago today, I was sitting on a sofa thousands of miles away from where I am today. Curled up on that sofa, on a bitterly cold winter’s day in Estonia, I was compiling a list. It was a list of things I wanted to do, achieve, or experience before I turned 30, whether [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
The instruction in French class: write a poem about any object of your choice, in the ‘calligramme‘ (words forming pictures) style of Guillaume Apollinaire. Guess what I chose?!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
OK, so I am aware that being a kindergarten teacher has turned me into a big sap, and I apologise for that. I almost posted this picture on Facebook but decided against it for fear that I was becoming like one of those parents who post every little detail of their children’s development (but seriously, [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
What is japchae? I’ll tell you what it is. It’s one of the main reasons I will never lose any weight in Korea, that’s what it is. I can eat japchae until it’s coming out of my ears and my stomach is screaming “Stop!! For the love of HUMANITY, stop!!!!”. Today at lunch time I [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
You Say Goodbye, I Say… Historical Snapshots It Just Makes Me Happy
