Here’s the deal: I’ve
had a blog post half-finished for over two weeks now. In fact, this is the
third week I think. So if I go into detail about every little thing, this is
going to be one very, very long post.
Instead, allow me to give you the short version:
·
I had my first weekend outing after finally recovering from my cold (I
honestly think my co-workers were starting to believe that I’m just the kind of
person who blows his nose 50 times a day, regardless of the season or
location). We went on a hike to Taejongdae
which was just spectacular.
·
We headed to Gwangalli beach to enjoy
some drinks near the water. The waves here are unbelievably pathetic compared
to back home, I seriously don’t even know how there are (apparently) Korean
surfers. But it was lovely all the same and it was actually nice to see a
different kind of ocean to what I’m used to! Of course, despite being some of
the best weather since I arrived, it was still way too cold to even consider dipping my feet in the water. I think
I’ll wait until summer...
 |
| Gwangalli Beach |
·
We went to a foreigners bar for St.
Patrick’s Day celebrations. There was green beer just like there is back home
(which apparently doesn’t happen in Ireland according to some Irish friends)
and the bar was full of waygooks. It was awesome but I was quite thankful the
subway stops running at 12 so I had an excuse to leave early! I then made
myself some coffee and watched the Sharks game and for once I wasn’t
disappointed I stayed up (I think this was when we played the Cheetahs)!
·
The school lunches are very...
interesting. I’ve eaten squid (which actually isn’t all that bad – a bit chewy
and flavourless though), seaweed, tofu (which I hate), cold fish (not raw...
just cold) and of course kimchi and rice with every... single... meal. I’m
slowly getting used to it all though and lately I’ve been cleaning my plate –
what a shocker!
·
My principal has decided that he
absolutely loves me now. I got lost on my way to school the one day (yes, even
after all this time I can’t understand the announcements on the bus!) and ended
up running late. I ran into the school entrance at 08:35 completely out of
breath and was then terrified to see the principal walking towards me. So as
confidently as I could, I bowed low and greeted him with “Annyeong hashimnikka,
gyojang-seonsaengnim” which is the most respectful form of “hello” in Korean
followed by his title of “principal” (i.e. “Good morning, principal”). He just
laughed and gave me a pat on the back as I ran off to class. Later, at the
lunch table, I was looking back and forth between teachers and principal as
they had a discussion about me which I, of course, could not understand. Later,
my co-teacher told me that I had made the principal very, very happy as he had
never had someone greet him by his title before and he liked it very much. So
now he apparently wants to buy some special Korean alcohol for me and do some
shots... could be an interesting experience!
·
The next weekend we headed to Seomyeon
to celebrate Simon’s birthday – he’s another South African. The pub was fun but
all the action really happened at the noraebang. Noraebangs can be found around
every corner in Korea as they’re hugely popular places to visit during a night
out. Basically it’s just karaoke but you hire out individual rooms for you and
your friends so other people don’t have to be tormented by your terrible
singing. I must say, I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy it but it was amazing after
the few drinks we’d enjoyed at the pub! Everyone sang and everyone sang really
badly - we greatly enjoyed this communal experience.
 |
| It was getting out of control by the end... |
·
On Saturday I was joined by my new
friend Lindsey and we headed to Busan Tower where I was determined to take a
replica photo of the one I posted before coming to Korea (and that serves as
the background to this blog). I succeeded... almost. Since that picture was
taken, a massive Lotte Mall has been
built in front of the beautiful orange bridge that you can see in the original.
Ah, well. Close enough – I’m here and now I have proof of it!
 |
| Let's see how my replica holds up against the blog background... |
·
Afterwards we went to Gwangalli Beach to
a foreigners’ market where I bought banana bread and chicken curry to last me a
week! The most interesting part of the day, however, were the wonderful Korean
people we met. There are many bad stories online about Koreans’ hostility
towards foreigners but (at least in my area) I have never experienced this.
Some of them will refuse to sit near me on the subway or bus or whatever but
hey, more space for me! Other than that, everyone has been so, so, so friendly
and helpful – more than people in South Africa even and I consider us to be
pretty nice people in general! Firstly, we were helped with directions by a
couple of university students. They didn’t just tell us where to go but
actually took us all the way there, which was about a 20-25 minute walk! Along
the way they spoke to us in English and told us about themselves. They were
lovely. Later on in the day we bumped into them again and offered to buy them a
beer to thank them for their help. So we sat and enjoyed a drink with them
which was great. Then in the evening, Lindsey and I decided to check out this
foreigners meeting in the area. Turned out it was a little more formal than
we’d thought – we had to pay a fee to get in and then we were given name tags
and assigned seating. Luckily for me, I ended up near this really lovely girl
who had lived in South Africa for a year. She’s Korean but lived in China for
many years and also spent some time in the USA too. Not only could she speak
Korean, Chinese, English and Spanish but she’s also a talented artist and quite
possibly the single nicest human being I have ever met. Like unbelievably nice. I’m pretty sure she’s
an angel.
 |
| That chicken curry with some instant rice, beer, bread and sweets |
·
Last weekend we hiked up Jangsan
mountain which was incredibly tough (people say we took the easy route; I call
bullshit) but ultimately very rewarding.
The view from the top was spectacular, even better than the view from Busan
Tower if I’m honest. Everyone agreed that it would be awesome to see it at
night so a potentially dangerous night hike could happen at some stage – I’d better
get a bright lumo outfit before that happens!
 |
| Amazing view from the top of Jangsan Mountain (which, I might add, is in my area of Busan; 10 minutes away minus the climb) |
·
My teacher’s dinners took place last
week too. All I’ll say is that Koreans really
know how to drink... and eat! Alcohol is apparently never consumed without food
(short anecdote: when I was buying a pack of beers from the supermarket my
co-teacher disbelievingly asked me: “But how will you drink it without
peanuts!?!”) but the saying of “eating is cheating” clearly doesn’t apply here.
In fact, there are some special foods Koreans eat during a night out to
actually help them drink even more alcohol. So, in short, the teacher’s dinners
(one official and one unofficial one with just the subject teachers) were very
new experiences for me. They have these insane drinking customs:
o
Rule #1: you never, ever pour your own drink. Never never never. Soju and beer is
placed in the middle of the table and it’s your job to take care of the people
around you. I got gently scolded once or twice for not keeping my co-workers’
glasses full.
o
Rule #2: it’s incredibly rude,
disrespectful even, to refuse alcohol from an elder. Which is basically a short
way of saying that at every teacher’s dinner, I have no choice but to get
monumentally wasted.
o
Rule #3: always hold your glass (or the
bottle if you’re pouring) with two hands. This is a general rule in Korea that
also applies to handshakes and passing objects to an older person or person of
higher authority.
o
Rule #4: look away when taking a shot.
This is the craziest one for me. You have to turn your entire body away from
the elders when taking a shot so that they cannot see you downing it. The look
my co-teacher gave me when I forgot to do it the first time is a look I won’t
forget, which is why I haven’t forgotten since!
·
In short, I find drinking to be a rather
stressful experience here but it’s pretty great once you get used to it. It’s
customary for the oldest or person of highest authority to pay for meals and
drinks so I got all of this completely free of charge. My co-workers couldn’t
believe it when I told them that in South Africa we pay for our own drinks and
meals and pour our own drinks! They were shocked.
 |
| The first stop on the teacher's dinner part 2 was this wonderful Chinese restaurant - the food was great! |
That’s it for now. Bullet point format
was necessary for this behemoth. More news on the way soon enough...
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