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Published: November 2nd 2006
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Alexa and Linzi..
The pose is oh so familiar but the people and place is so different! Yo.
So I'm sitting at the work PC desperately trying to plan classes in preparation for the new classes I will be taking as of tomorrow. The students I have known and loved for the past two months will be replaced by new students who I haven't known and loved at all. Plus they are nearly all free talking classes which means I have to have a steady stream of articles up my sleeve ideally with accompanying vocab lists and thought provoking questions. Thank God for the BBC website is all I can say.
Things are going ok. Still moaning daily about the early morning start as it totally limits socialising. However last weekend was an absolute blinder, probably the best I've had since I've been here. About 4 weeks ago when Will and I were clubbing we met a couple of English guys Dave and Julian. They were both pretty merry- Dave was trying to convince a group of Americans that he had a broken finger and had anybody got a lollipop stick to splint it with while Julian was sitting extolling the virtues of broccoli (according to him broccolli is a King among vegetables). I'm not sure whether
Otis Dave n Lex
My face has 'I know you're taking a picture but I'm trying to pretend you're not' all over it. Ntice new sweater. Five squid. it was the vegetable talk reminding me of the vegetable game or the sheer bizzareness of the supposed broken finger but it really felt like I could have been in the company of the lads in Durham. Hence a connection was made and we went and danced like loonies in the club.
Last weekend I got a dinner invite from Dave. He'd met a couple of other people he thought I should meet. So I showed up and Julian was there along with a guy called Otis and a really fab Scottish couple Linzi and Richard. We ate food, drank red wine (courtesy of the Scots, always knew I loved our Northern neighbours- one Glasweigan you'll be pleased to know Brian) and generally had a tip top time. Then we went to the club, went to the beach and I eventually rolled in at 8am. Jobs a good 'un.
It was so fantastic to be around people I really get on with. I adore Will and Suzanna, they're totally awesome, but I'm used to having a wide circle of friends and when I only feel like I have two in Korea it's just pants.
I've attached a
photo of my apartment block. Sometimes I don't mind it and sometimes I hate it.
Things I hate.
There is a total absence of any natural light. Yes there is a window but there is a building only one foot away so I feel a little like I'm living in a box ('I'm living in a box, I'm living in a cardboard box......ahem sorry). And I used to moan about the Armley view of red brick terraces and wheelie bins....which swiftly brings me on to my next point..
The garbage sysytem. In England when you have food rubbish that is inevitably going to stink you put it in the wheelie bin outside (or try to, students seem to have difficulty grasping this). In my apartment block there are no outside bins. 70% of Korea is mountainous so they don't have any room for landfill sights so they try to recycle their garbage. This is very commendable but aargh it drives me crazy. My apartment is one room but somehow I have to manage sorting and storing my garbage into plastic, cans, paper and other food waste. Because the garbage is in my house and stinking I have
Oh Lord..
..please grant me safe passage until 8am...and if possible can I hang on to this hat?..sorry, that was a prayer too far, not even God can keep hats on my head... to rinse everything that could potentially smell like yoghurt pots, milk cartons etc. That's not too bad, I can cope with that.
What I really hate is the red bucket that I must use for food garbage. All garbage goes into a bucket with a sieve inside and a lid. This stays inside your home until the designated day for food garbage. For some reason for the past two times I've taken it outside an ajumma (old married woman) brings it back to my apartment and makes me put it back inside. I cannot describe to you how bad this bucket smells and the collection of flies festering in filth in there increase daily. I must be doing something wrong but I don't know what- it drives me crazy- my house stinks of garbage- aaarrgghh!
Plus my apartment is about as far as you can get from the good places in town(and my new found friends) so costs me a fortune in taxi fares. Boo.
Hmm, think somebody may be experiencing a little culture shock......
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