Blogs from Daejeon, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, Asia

David here... The first bus journey from Gyeongju to Daegu took 50 minutes and was very comfortable. Arrivals was on the 2nd floor. Ticket sales and departures were on the 3rd floor. We made our way up and found the ticket counters. While looking at the boards, which did have English on, we were approached by a gentleman in uniform who asked us if we required any assistance. We asked about onward tickets to Daejeon and he promptly led us over to the ticket counter, ordered the tickets for us, translated the sellers information and then led us to the platform gate we required. We were astounded and very appreciative of the assistance. We would've been able to figure it all out given time I'm sure, but to have some official assistance made it really easy. ... read more

Anneyung haseyo!! So the first week of my new life in Korea was spent in the KT Human Resource Centre in the city of Daejeon. EPIK organises a week long orientation for new in-coming teachers, to introduce us to life in Korea as well as work on teaching ideas. About 300 of us, from all walks of life, descended upon Daejeon, bound for cities and provinces all over Korea. It was a very strange and intense week. We were woken up at half 7 every morning with the exact same intercom announcement: "Good morning EPIK teachers, this is the announcment from the head office, breakfast will be served..." (More annoying for the fact that we had our alarms set for 8am, no need people!!) We also had a nighttime anouncement telling us to be back in ... read more

Just as well I did not have Internet yesterday 16 June at the Motel If - otherwise I would have wasted my time having a grizzle when I was really tired after a very bad day of travel . However today 17 June, now at the Motel Coconuts a mere 10 minute walk from the aforementioned, I do have WiFi and am in a much better mood -- possibly helped by a few glasses of the rather nice Spanish red I bought in Seoul, but also a damned nice grilled shellfish dinner (more on that later of course). 16 June - well why did I have such a bad travel day yesterday? Well how does 3 1/2 fruitless hours sitting around the bus terminal waiting for a bus that despite schedule never seemed to arrive (twice)?? ... read more

It's absolutely astounding to me how much the passing of time can change us as people. I've been in Korea for a year and a half, which in the grand scheme of things is a drop in the water, and yet when I look at pictures from when I arrived here or read my old blogs and personal scribblings, it's like peering at a stranger. I had an out of body experience today where I saw myself teaching my class and was pretty proud of how well I commanded the classroom. It was not so long ago that I nervously stood before a class, unsure of how to teach my students English. I didn't have the faintest clue how to connect with them or what to do when they got out of hand and tried to ... read more

There are some images that never leave you. For me, seeing someone pull the neck out of a turkey carcass is one of them. Thanksgiving abroad has never included turkey for me. Instead we've settled for chicken or meatballs, but this year it was decided that a turkey would be made and the fowl torture would be going down in my kitchen. On Tuesday, we bought the beast at Costco and threw it in my fridge to defrost. Friday evening rolled around and I worried about when to take it out. I weighed it on my scale. 6 pounds. A small bird that wouldn't need to be taken out until Amy and Kristy arrived on Saturday morning. I went to bed without worries. I called Amy Saturday morning. "Hey, so I haven't taken the bird out ... read more