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Published: January 15th 2012
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Busan at Night
View from my roof one evening. Time for an update I think. As all the weird things that happen are starting to become normal, it seems I have less things to report, but here's the top news from the last couple of weeks.
School is the same old same old really. Kids are still crying and fighting all the time, but it's amazing how much they can cheer you up if you're having a bad day! The latest addition to my baby class is Jerome. He is the youngest yet, only 2! But he isn't phased by me at all, he just finds everything really funny. I asked him how he was the other day and he started hitting himself in the face while roaring with laughter. I guess that means he's OK. I left him to it anyway.
It was phone testing again this week, which took up most of my evenings, right pain. It was slightly better than last time though, I've now realised the trick is to at least hint at the answers in class beforehand. Matt has improved since last month, he now apparently sits on doughnuts instead of chopsticks. Still not ideal but nice to know he took my advice
into consideration!
Some of the things the kids come out with never cease to amaze me. I was teaching the food chain to my class of 4 year olds, and asked them what fish ate, to which one of them shouted out 'plankton'. What the...how did he know that! I was just going to say smaller fish, but he trumped me on that one. I'm sure there's a fair few adults back in England that don't know the answer to that!
I have been putting off getting my hair cut here for so long - I've been dreading ending up with some kind of traditional Korean cut - but the mullet got so bad I finally had to brave it. I chose the most expensive looking place in the hope that if they did do a Korean cut it would at least be a cool Korean cut (maybe?). The hairdresser did exactly what I asked him, short on the sides, long on top. Literally. I was staring at my pudding bowl cut wondering whether this was a look I might be able to pull off, and decided it was worth the extra stress and effort to try and
Gangjeong Making
Our little helper. explain that it wasn't exactly what I had in mind. So you'll be pleased to hear it doesn't look too bad now (I'm sure you've all been concerned about what my hair looks like?!).
I came across my first car crash this week. It must have just happened a couple of minutes before I turned up - a motorcyclist had hit the side of a car. I thought the guy was up and ok, but when I looked closer I saw him moving around a bit on the floor - the police had got there by this time though. It was a bit shocking to see how badly they treated the guy though - he's lying in the middle of the road and they didn't even try and protect him one bit from the cars driving about a foot away from his head. Worse than that, they drew a chalk outline round him! He definitely wasn't dead yet, I could see him still moving! Nobody there was really looking after the poor bloke. Anyway, I guess he was OK, I'm sure there would've been more fuss if it had been really bad. The outline of his body is still
Chef Parker
Pinch that nose, you know you want to. in the middle of the road on the way to school which is a bit weird though...
My Korean friend invited me out for dinner and drinks with his mates on Saturday night, which is always an experience. We headed out for
jokbal (that's pig trotters to you and me). I think foreigners were a rare sight in this place so it caused a bit of a stir, all the women that worked there surrounded me and stared at my face really close up, smiling and giggling. Then they started pinching my nose. I wasn't exactly sure how to react to this so I just laughed nervously along with them. My Korean friends said they were saying I was very handsome, but I knew they were just saying I had a big old conk. I'll just put that down to getting a boot in the face at rugby training earlier?
Today I headed over to one of the temples in Busan called Hongbeopsa, to make a traditional Korean snack - gangjeong. It is a mixture of puffed rice, syrup, and then various different things to add colour and flavour such as green tea powder or pumpkin seeds. It
Gangjeong
The finished product! was good fun, nice to experience a bit of traditional Korean culture. One of the monks that was helping out there was amazing. Everything he said was hilarious. And he was the king of advice. In fact he asked if I could relay some advice to all you guys at home so here it is...
Howard the monk is into his futurology (may have made that word up, but you know what I mean), and he has seen what the future has in store - there's some startling things to say the least. There are going to be some big earthquakes he says, which will result in the west and east coasts of America sinking, a third of Japan will be going underwater, and all of low-lying Europe will disappear into the sea. So he gave the following three pieces of advice:
• Don't live by the sea, it's dangerous.
• Don't live in a high rise apartment, it's also dangerous.
• Most importantly, if it happens, don't panic. He says a lot of people will die, but most will die due to heart attacks from the shock. So remember to keep calm.
One country will however
be fairly safe. Can you guess which one? Yes, you got it - Korea. The earthquake here will only measure 5 on the Richter scale, compared to 9 everywhere else. Better start packing your bags!
So you heard it here first, do what you will with that info! He was a bit of a legend though, definitely the coolest monk I've ever come across. Apparently I am tall because I never looked down on anyone or anything in my past life. I'm pretty sure that is going to change in my next life, everyone here is so short I think I will be coming back as a midget.
Recently it's been reported that they won't be using foreign teachers to teach in some of the public schools up in Seoul from next year, and that believe it or not they are going to be replacing them with robots controlled by people in the Phillipines (check out the picture). I think the obsession with technology really has gone a step too far, how a robot is even remotely close to a replacement for a real human being is beyond me! Anyway, there's a bit of food for thought for you.
Anyway, I'll leave it there, Steve has been complaining that the blogs are too long for him. This one's for you Steve.
Hope all is well back home, keep me updated with what's going on!
Love Ross x
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sophie pottle
non-member comment
thanks
Thanks for another cracking update kept me amused and made my 3hr journey home much more bearable! Great to hear your such a celebrity in Korea amd safe from all the predicted disasters even having studied geography i have to say there is a very smal chance chance your monk friend could be right lol definitly amazed a four year old new what fish ate!! Anyways until your next update have a great time x