Blogs from Seoul, South Korea, Asia - page 123

I have a gym membership now. That was a big thing to get out of the way. And it has been the success I wanted it to be. It has pulled me out of my physical slump. Mornings are easier now. But a cough has been going around. Actually, it is a brutal Asian cold (not to be confused with Asian flu, I hope) that lingers in the form of a dry, irritating, nagging, painful in that itchy sort of way, cough. This, in and of itself, is not the end of the world. However, Dreaded Class 14 has created a situation in which the cough has become a very big obstacle I have had to tackle. "Teacher Black Monkey!!!" William comes tearing towards me as I enter the room, tea and box of white board ... read more

Sorry to keep doing this to you all... but we really must share our doings or we'll go insane with the company of only ourselves :P. I know it's been a while since we spat our vile doings your direction, and for that we apologise, but this will be a really big hock for you all... one of those real throat clearers... anyways... enough of that. We've been all around the place seeing and doing various things. In short, I also went to the DMZ, it was pretty cool. We had to sign a piece of paper saying we agreed that the Korean goverment wasn't responisible for our lives... not too shabby. We've been out and sang songs and stuff as usual... there's been a few class parties and games of pool to be had. We've ... read more

Somewhere I heard it described in this way: the desire to fall deeply in love with something is that the world becomes much more manageable. Passion for something, one individual focus for that passion, allows one to center their attention, to keep from spilling all over the place (I think it was the movie "Adaptation"- I'll have to search for the actual quote- certainly its eloquance will exceed my awkward paraphrase). Being a person of passion, this makes absolute sense. This may be the actual reason I have a love affair with being in love- the intensity is focused, cleaner, less erratic, contained. However, travel awakens passions the heart has forgotten or has not yet been introduced to. It splits us open and lets our obsessions come oozing out, chaotically bouncing off foreign terrain and dodging ... read more

Hello! A couple weeks ago we had the year end Kindergarten concert at school. These concerts are taken very seriously with the private Kindergartens. This is a chance for the school staff to affirm that the parents’ decision to pay big bucks for that school was a good one. (These “hagwons”, or private schools, are a dime a dozen around here.) As teachers, we started being told about the importance of this event back in November. We had to pick our class costumes in December (yes, two official costumes changes per class) and confirm songs, skits, and dances. Weekly, and sometimes daily, rehearsals were enforced from the big wigs because it was important that the “kids don’t make mistakes”. Obviously we wanted to do everything possible so that the students had success on the big night, ... read more

The prison wasn't what I thought it would be. I think that is probably what the majority of tourists think as they walk slowly through the halls, and cells, and torture chambers of what was once, not so very long ago, the Japanese prison used during the occupation. Many Korean suffered and died in these halls. So to walk though it all, to be right there, right in the middle of such place, is rather unsettling. However, it is not the idea of what once was that really shakes you to the bone. Oh no, it is what is happening right in front of your eyes that really throws you. It is the bordering on ridiculous voice overs to the tour that makes you feel so uncomfortable. Apparently it isn't enough for you to move quietly ... read more