Sammy's Southern Sojourn

Winter Holidays

2009-02-09T13:58:00.004+09:00

He he, i'm running out of excuses why i'm not maintaining this blog. I checked it out again after leaving it for a long time and I was surprised to realise that the last time I posted anything was the Summer holidays! It's now winter, or more correctly spring, if you follow the Chinese lunar calendar which i'm tempted to do because the last few days havent been as biterly cold as the winter here and the sunshine actually has some warmth to it when it makes an appearance.

Its now well and truly 2009 which is a bit scary because the years seem to be going by so quickly recently. Anyway, here is a bit of an update. Sarika is off the scene and i'm now living with a girl called Lisa, who is not my girlfriend by the way, just a good friend and life at home is very happy and peaceful at the moment. Work at school is still fun and although not perfect on a daily basis, i've signed up for another year there and that begins again on the 25th of this month. It will be the first time in a long time that i've worked at a place for more than a year and definitely the first time that i've ever taught the same grade and subject for two years in a row so i'm really looking forward to this year. Actually knowing what is ahead is a real novelty.

It's now almost a year to the day since I made the decision to come over here and I don't have plans to take off any time soon. My apartment is nice and i've got some good money coming in. I'm even starting to study a bit of the language which is very liberating as none of the locals speak English. I even had my first real holiday in a long time. After experiencing the bitter cold in Beijing last winter I definitely wanted to go south this year to escape the cold. However since i'm in China I also wanted to stay in China and have a look about here since this is where I live. Next time i'm going to go to Thailand or Vietnam, but this time I went to the southern cities of Guilin, Yangshou, Chengdu and also Sanya which is on Hainan Island. Reportedly, China's very own Hawaii.

I had a fun filled two and a half weeks and I now have a better understanding of the diversity of this big country and I've also seen and experienced some iconic Chinese things.

Here's a few links to the pictures in my album. I hope you enjoy! :)

FREE BEER

2008-07-13T19:55:00.003+09:00

Today is Sunday and I'm just composing myself to the fact that I don't have to go to school tomorrow. Something that I've been looking forward to for a long time, however due to the excitement of the past few months it has come around rather quickly. Yes, indeed I'm officially on summer holidays and am looking forward to getting out and about a bit more and soaking up the atmosphere, that is China, 2008, year of the dog, earthquake, green seas, tibet trouble, train crashes, winter freezes and the Olympic games.

I've got 6 weeks off and since during the last few years my past short breaks have had a full itinerary of travel, job-searching or both I've decided to plan little and aim to enjoy a lot. Coming to China has been a fantastic opportunity and the school has been fun, very stressful and busy at times, frustrating at other times but overall a good decision on all accounts.

Summer here has hit with all its force with days around 30 degrees and nights around 25. Humidity is thick at times. However, Qingdao, being a coastal city, the light sea breeze does make it really pleasant. The morning fog that hangs over the mountain behind my school is one example of a picture not dissimilar to any tropical island with the lush green trees in the foreground. Anyway, I digress. Free beer is the headline and I should let you know what that's all about.

During my year on Jeju-do I really didn't party it up too much. Because, well. There's just so much more to do and see there out-of-doors and the folks I mixed with... We had a few good parties but It just wasn't the place for regular night's out compared to the time before that I spent in Seoul.
This suited me very well at the time, as I've written about before. But Qingdao is different, the atmosphere is more festive and my friends here, well they love a party too.

Having said that, I've found it very difficult nye-on impossible lately to pay for a single drop! I've played soccer regularly on Thursday nights with a bunch of teachers at school and the owner of the school has joined in and has insisted that many of us head to the bar with him afterwards for much needed refreshments. So regular, in fact that the owner of the local bar we frequent after soccer has saw fit to furnish us with boxes of water during the game. I'm sure this is a savvy move to ensure we all visit his bar continuously, well hydrated and fit to drink copious amounts of the amber stuff. After which time the owner of our school in true Korean form insists on paying for everything.

The bar I mention is not the only one near the vicinity of our school but it is a recently opened one that my friend and I discovered prior to it's official opening. He shares the same desk block as me in the office and is a top bloke. He's; Mid fifties, super experienced teacher with no baggage and he's enthusiastic at school and at anything else he chooses to undertake. This includes sniffing out local haunts for a beer or three.

The place I mentioned before that we go to after soccer we both discovered, being drawn in no small part to the fabulous large poster inside the door of a silhouette of a naked lady with another hand reaching out to pinch her breast. Cartoon style. Surrounded by a red circle and a diagonal cross similar to a no smoking sign. But in this case we thought it may be a "gentleman's club" of sorts, the sign being a deterrent to those ungentlemanly acts that may occur in such places.

Alas, no such luck however the staff and owners who are Korean-Chinese, an ethnic minority here, gave us such a warm welcome that it has become the spot of choice for after school drinks with Koreans and our western teachers alike. Anyway, with regular such sessions there with My mate. He has recently got a promotion to academic director of the school, a position that didn't exist previously and since many of us have been totally dismayed at the fact that the school had no academic direction we are all excited that he has got this job which will in turn give teachers good direction rather than nothing. Which the existing management have been forced to acknowledge did not exist in this area previously.

Getting back to the subject of free beer he's also been kind enough on a number of occasions recently to pick up the tab after extended hydration sessions. We have a great working relationship and we have shared many ideas so this has been a bit of a thank-you I guess for the support I've given him. He's also supported me immensely and together we have made some really positive changes. So I'm equally thankful to him however I'll have to be cunning in the future to ensure I pay my way!

There is another bar a few hundred meters from the school in another direction which is a dingy cave of a place but frequently a good spot to meet on a Friday night. Not totally free, but very cheap, at approximately $1 a stubbie. This generally means that upon entering said establishment you are quickly bought or buy a cheap round for/by the teachers there and can get happily refreshed for the night for around $10. Couple this to the fact that the bar is co-joined to a beauty salon next door, whose employees, not gainfully employed at the time often come in and say hello too.

About three weeks ago they threw a party there for all the foreign guests who have been coming there and the invitation read something like this:
"Welcome foreign friends. You are invited to a party with free beer, bbq and about 50 university girls."
Kid you not! That was what was on the invitation. Needless to say a fun filled night was had by all that attended. Finally, on Friday night just gone we had two barrels and a bbq put on at school for all the teachers and staff. This was lots of fun and my overall impression of the school and those that work there has improved considerably since the first couple of months which were diabolical.

So, first semester has finished and there has been some interesting bits and pieces going on at school since I last wrote. But mainly its just been busy, busy, busy butting heads at times but overall things are improving steadily. One major thing that I was immune to on Jeju was the office politics that goes on and since the teachers here in China, both Korean and western ones are a different breed to the general rule. Some of course being fantastic, however others seem to have come over here with their baggage full of spanners ready and willing to throw them in the works at any opportunity. Enough said really, however I have commented before about what a freak show the foreign teacher community can be.

Onwards and upwards. 6 weeks. What to do..? I have a few little jobs to do for myself but other than that not much other than what I said before. That being to get out and about a bit more and see a bit more about what this city and China has to offer. The Olympics are coming soon and Qingdao like all other host cities has undergone an amazing face lift. Other than the obvious "Green Algae Bloom" problem which you have no doubt heard about the city looks fantastic and the people are ready to welcome the games. The torch comes through here on the 25th of July and I'm looking forward to seeing the fanfare. Also I'm off to Tanjin to watch the Olympic soccer which was the only sport I could get tickets for. I may still go to Beijing to try my luck at the gate but as yet I have no concrete plans to do so.

Tomorrow, with luck I'm going to enroll in some Chinese language classes with another mate that I've been playing tennis with so that will hopefully give me something to do each day to get me out and about, plus I plan to visit the gym again as that is something I've dropped in recent weeks.

Overall things are great and I'm really looking forward to getting on top of a few things at home that i've neglected lately. Just been tooo busy.. This blog also is my first in a while and I regret not keeping it updated more regularly. I know I've said that for nearly all the posts for the last six months however It has been quite a ride and now it's time to cool my jets for a while.

All the best to you wherever you are reading from especially those friends and family back in Australia. I miss you all and hope the winter is as enjoyable as the summer here.. But I doubt it :) :)

2008-06-01T00:24:00.003+09:00

It's amazing how time flies and much has happened since May 13 which was the last time I hastily posted a blog.

Around the world there seems to be chaos and mayhem and especially here in China. The Sichuan earthquakes were massive and although the relief response has been and continues to be equally massive the trouble is not yet over. It seems now likely that several quake lakes that have swollen may burst and flood some big cities. The government are now set to evacuate over 1 million people downstream, so there is more drama to unfold yet.

On the school front I'm happy to say that after much wrangling I managed to get a relief appeal going at the school and together we raised nearly 10 thousand in five days which was pretty good and also I started a clothing drive which was well supported. Sadly the Korean management at the school haven't really got behind this and although many students and families gave generously many Koreans view their Chinese neighbors as second class citizens both covertly and overtly. From a sociological perspective it is interesting to witness first hand that even now in the year 2008 some races genuinely feel they are superior to another race. From a personal perspective it makes me feel sick and helpless to be surrounded by such ignorant prejudice.

Opportunities to hopefully "educate" the Koreans about this issue happen regularly and I have no qualms in pointing out quite colorfully to some of the bigots the error in their ways. The western teachers who I work with are all of a similar mind so there is always an issue or two simmering away. Other than that and also the management of the school, which are collectively the most useless bunch I've ever seen, continuing to find new and improved ways to annoy people, disrupt, mislead and generally fuck everything up. Apart from that school is going really well. I've got a fantastic rapport with all my kids and genuinely look forward to seeing them each day which is great.

After school I've been playing soccer every Thursday plus tennis twice a week. I haven't been to the gym for a few weeks but on average I get there once or twice a week too so overall I'm feeling fit and fresh.

Socially there has been a bit going on with a couple of bar nights and day trips in the past month or so, but mostly life in general is entertaining enough with a new sight, sound or experience occurring daily. Teachers day back on the 15th of May was pretty special though. It was just a half day at school in the morning and the afternoon off which is good enough. All classes were canceled however and the students of each class with the help of some mothers prepared special treats for all the teachers. Our job was to roam from classroom to classroom sampling food and just hanging out with the kids which was fun.

My homeroom class were fantastic and they all made me a card with a heartwarming letter inside plus an amazing array of chocolates, flowers, health drinks and also a stuffed toy puppy dog which is very cute. The parents too also gave me a nice card and a gift voucher from a local department store which kept Sarika happy the following day. All in all it was very touching and very gratifying to be honored and thanked for just doing my job. We also had a nice trip to the beach last week with the kids which was hell to organise but fun on the day. Here are some photos of my Teachers day flowers and apartment on the first slideshow and the second is the little darlings at the beach :)

Last weekend was cherry picking week out in the countryside. So Sarika, her classmates and myself spent a few hours picking and eating cherries at a local farm. It was good fun and together we all had lots of laughs.

The week before was entertaining, exhilarating and exciting too, as I attended my first (of hopefully many more!) international car show. Amazing, girls everywhere and more than one or two were genuinely pleased to be getting their photo taken by the tall, balding Australian with the slight limp. The cars however were still the star attraction and there were all the big names on display.

Thats about it really for a recap of the past few weeks. The weather's warming up and I'm going to check out the beaches in the next week or two so stay tuned.

Here's a couple more slideshows. The first is a teacher from school's birthday party and the second is Sarika and my trip to the park during the short and a little underwhelming (coming from Jeju-do) spring cherry blossom season.
Enjoy :)

May we live in interesting times...

2008-05-13T22:02:00.001+09:00

I've been meaning to post a blog for a while as I'm going well over here and I've plenty of stories to share from the past few weeks. However, recent events in China. Namely the devastating earthquake in the Sichuan province measuring a massive 7.8 on the Richter scale have sped things up and although i'm too busy to write in detail I just wanted to let all and sundry know that i'm fine and nowhere near any of the trouble. It's a sad situation but the China government here have mobilized a massive relief effort which should provide some help to those affected.

All the best,
Sammy

A taste of things to come

2008-03-22T22:49:00.005+09:00

Hi there,

Getting settled into the swing of things now. Whats the date... March 22... that means I have been here now for almost a month. Wow.

Finally, I have some time to catch my breath and summarise a few observations and experiences. Might as well start in the present and backtrack a bit.

Today was a strange day with a number of "1st" experiences which is usual. Sarika is starting a traditional Chinese medical treatment to detox herself from a couple of niggling ailments and as my body could do with a bit of a fresh start i've decided to join her in the process. This means first getting a blood test to ascertain my needs then a trip to the local traditional doctor for a look into my eyes etc after which he will issue me prescription of herbs, roots and spices that need to be boiled with water until the liquid has reduced down to a cupful or so- tastes really bad.

Anyway, this morning I found myself in a sparsely decorated hospital that had been recommended to Sarika, i'm sure not for any other reason than that it was a cost saver. Turns out it was a military hospital and to be honest, after seeing the facilities, I hope I don't get sick over here. It's probably then, a good idea that we are both doing this bit of maintenance and I must say that when she mentioned the whole idea to me I was interested for both health and curiosity reasons.

That done and feeling a little sluggish from the experience we were picked up by Sarika's new school friend Zin Zin, who was in the area and she happily deposited us to a massage room she knew. Zin Zin is really nice and I'm really happy Sarika has befriended her and is also beginning to mix socially with her other school friends as this has been a big move for her, probably more so than me. Breaking away from her home city, family and friends for the first time is difficult.

The massage places in China vary in quality, appearance, price and services more than I'd anticipated. I guess as It is a regular activity for many regardless of their wealth there are places for all budgets. From lavish salons that cater for 'all' tastes to beauty centers to retreat and relaxation centers where the massage is only part of the service. There are also many more economic services at street side shops equipped with only a couple of well worn armchairs and a foot stool. One such place just down the road employs only blind masseurs and they are quite a famous franchise of sorts throughout China. I'll visit them one day however today we went into a shabby but cleanish (nothing is clean here) shop with a floorspace big enough for two armchairs side by side plus three thinish massage tables similar in comfort level to those found in country league footy change rooms.

We were met by three well worn old blokes smoking cigarettes and wearing the uniform of the enlightened, equally well worn and cleanish, or should I say off-white dust coats. An hour later and feeling remarkably revived I paid the princely sum of $12 USD for both Sarika and me!
It turns out they aren't far from our home so I forked out the equivalent of $60 USD which will entitle us to ten more massages between us. The one today being gifted as service!

The next thing I did may (or may not) surprise you but I went into the skin care shop on our apartment complex for a facial. That's right... a facial and I feel much better for the experience. I feel compelled to justify this by saying that during my time in Korea its fairly standard to get a face massage and moisture and cleaning treatment as part of the service at many massage places. To be honest its probably my favourite part now.

I also found a nice coffee shop that serves real and varied coffee's, got a haircut and saw a street side brawl that involved about ten assailants before being dispersed by security. So as I said before a normal day, but full of '1st's'.

This week just gone was crazy. It started off normal enough however a week prior to this week just gone. In their infinite wisdom the school decided that they should have an overnight camp for 200 kids. They didn't know where or what they would do. But it was decreed from on high that in a weeks time the camp would take place. A weeks time, being Thursday and Friday just gone. It sounded like a failure from the get-go and armed with the knowledge of how everything else has been organised lately I avoided getting embroiled in it as much as possible.

Without going into to much detail ( i'm trying not to be too negative on this blog). 200 kids and about 15 teachers went to two rooms and a carpark at the foot of a mountain for two days and a night. It was terrible and I'm glad to get it over with. The only good thing to come out of it is that my kids were great and I feel really close to them now, although they hate getting their photo's taken. Must be the age I think.

I guess thats the reason for my desire to spring clean myself today with a massage, a facial, a haircut, a coffee and a streetfight!

As I mentioned in a previous post the Chinese new year celebration was spectacular. I edited a bit of the footage that I shot near the hotel on the 15th.

The link should be just below, but if not you can see it on my youtube page. Also my photo album has some new China photos of the camp as well as Qingdao and our apartment complex. enjoy!

I've got the net now Yaaay!!!

2008-03-09T23:08:00.005+09:00

Finally... It's Sunday night and i'm online.

Since arriving back in Qingdao last Thursday I haven't had the internet till now. I've got a wireless router connected and its very comfortable to lob on the couch with my note book and write so i'm very pleased with it.

Getting the connection was a bit of an ordeal but it's sorted now and i'm off and away. Just got my fix of local news and sport from the online tv and now I know I should write something profound in order to enlighten you all on my wellbeing etc etc.

In a nutshell physically fine but mentally dazed, confused and sometimes frazzled. Qingdao is great and in time I think i'll really enjoy the city as it offers a wide variety of everything and most things seem easily accessible. Language is a real barrier here as the locals don't really know any English and I don't know any Mandarin at all.

On the school front things are a mix of really good and problematic. Hot & cold really. The good part is that there are some nice and friendly teachers there and its been a real pleasure to mix socially with a few of them and speak English naturally. There's a couple of other Aussies who i've become quite close with as they too were new arrivals. Also there is one woman who has been here for years who is from Tasmania too. So we both have had a good laugh about that on a couple of occasions.

On the negative side the organisation of the school is very difficult to understand on its best days, and I feel like i've aged 100 years this week getting thrown into all kinds of temporary schedules and classes, completely unwarned and unprepared with nothing but a white board marker and my wits to go by.

The main frustration is that I'm experienced enough now in schools and teaching in general to know whats reasonable and whats not and it frustrates me a little bit when I see these strange situations that myself and the other teachers are placed in and I know deep down that it doesn't have to be this way and it takes the fun out of what should be a very enjoyable and stimulating experience as the kids are on the whole a great bunch.

On the homefront the apartment is great and Sarika has taken to provisioning our home with all possible accouterments. She starts school tomorrow so I hope she attacks that with the same level of zeal and enthusiasm. Hopefully this week will be less aging on all accounts.

Ah.. I nearly forgot. The school bus picks me up in the morning about 200 m from my apartment which is great. In fact I only discovered this per chance as I was down on the road about to hail a taxi when I saw the school bus pull up in order to pick up some students and on I got. A very lucky break which is convenient in the mornings.

A quick postcard from China

2008-02-17T23:03:00.005+09:00

Hello all and happy new year to you all. Apparently the year of the Rat is full of promise for us all and promises a happy and prosperous 2009 for anybody who wants to take a few risks or make significant changes in their life. So, it augers well for my new chapter in the far east.

I arrived here safely last Tuesday and together with Sarika we have managed to find a nice apartment, check out the school a couple of times and see a few more sights and sounds around Qingdao, our new home.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Sammyspics/QingdaoBitsNPieces

Here's a couple of photos from the past few days. It's still very cold but as the weather warms up it should be much nicer. Tomorrow is my first day at school and it's a fairly relaxed start with two days of training/orientation. Which I hope answers a few nagging questions.

I feel much more comfortable about things, mentally I suppose, now that I'm finally here and signed up for both my school and apartment. Sarika has been brilliant and she's managed to deal with the many and varied small details and dilemmas that occur repeatedly for me in a foreign country and also in general when finding a new place to live.

So, on the whole things are looking pretty good. All I need to do now is sign-off so I can get a good sleep in tonight.

Schae Chen :)

Death of an icon

2008-02-12T00:34:00.000+09:00

Anyone who visits Seoul no doubt has a similar photo. Here is one of me last year in front of Koreas No.1 Traditional Treasure- Namdaemun, East Gate. Built in the late 1300's

Sadly, last night a Soju fueled Ajoshi thought it would be better served as a campfire as he was feeling a little chilly.

Bad idea.

If you ever visit Seoul, you won't get the chance to repeat my performance. It's almost totally destroyed. No doubt it will be rebuilt, again, however it won't be the same.

Maybe the Koreans may question their "Drinking Culture...."

I hope so. In the sober light of day the '50 y/o taxi driver' who initially claimed he witnessed the arson actually admitted he himself started the fire in a drunken rage.

Silly boy and very, very sad for Koreans and all the rest of us.

tic toc tic toc...

2008-02-10T22:47:00.000+09:00

I'm waiting, I'm waiting this is irritating....

Seems to be the story of my life the past month or so. Not feeling down or anything these days but compared to the excitement of previous months and the anticipation of moving to China fairly soon to start another chapter, but having to bide my time through a cold Jeju winter is...to be honest very boring.

I have always maintained that only boring people get bored. Therefore, I know that my present melancholy is my own doing, but it still doesn't change the fact that I'm presently just marking days off the calendar with no real purpose. But that will soon change.

On in two days time I head off to China for another two week trip. Why just a trip? Well thats where the slowly moving cogs of Korean bureaucracy become complicit in my current mood and stagnation. You may also note that I'm using as many big words as I can in order to succinctly annunciate my current quagmire and additionally it may also help me pass the time and give me some moderate titillation...

The Korean bureaucracy is unlike any western organisation. To the untrained eye all seems fairly straight forward and similar. However, that would be where you are wrong. Once you crack the surface of any organisation, especially a government institution, the one in question being my local education department you would soon realise your naive mistake and consequently wonder how they ever get anything done?

I certainly have no broad criticisms of the education department perse now on reflection. However, there have been times where Kissinger himself would have needed more than a few prozac's in order to smile, nod and patiently take his leave, as I have done on more than a few occasions within the last month. Having said that, my exit circumstances are certainly better than I had hoped for and definitely superior to my last escape from Seoul, which was a pitiful experience, I'm sure for all parties concerned.

As with most teacup storms the catalyst for my issue (mistake in cross-cultural competence expectation) with the education department was that I wanted a straight answer to one simple question. That question being: Since I finish working, actual teaching on the 31st of January, but my contract expires on the 29th of February. Can I leave Korea in early February and still fulfill my contractual obligations and therefore receive my final months pay and severance bonus?

Put another way. Do I have to sit at home during February or can I be elsewhere? Simple question. Straight answer would be lovely, thank you and I'll be on my way. To be honest I figured it would be an each way bet. I just wanted to know one way or the other so I could either plan a quick exit and a new start in China or hang around here for the month. Either way I'm happy, I just want to know. Nooo nooo Sammy.... Silly boy.....

This may sound ridiculous but my education department is moderately progressive compared to other provinces. Their standing arrangement is for foreign teachers to report daily to empty schools and play solitaire for eight hours each day. If the school was a private organisation or slightly entrepreneurial students would be found from somewhere to fill my schedule. They ended up saying No. Which is completely their prerogative. Thats not what caused me to question their ability to do anything in this country. What did give me headaches was the time it took for them to give me an answer.

Sure, I understand that its not life or death or a priority and in hindsight, now I have my answer its hardly a blip on the radar. The reason for the long awaited answer was the layers and layers of approval required for this simple question to be addressed. Coupled to that was the fact that became steadily apparent that the lady supervisor was absolutely traumatised by the idea that she would need to seek approval from her older male superiors! To her relief after I realised this, I went around and sought approval from every man and their dog. Explaining the question and the circumstances in my best mix of pidgin English and broken Korean. Everyone said it was fine however after that she read the contract again and said: But Sam.. Your contract expires on the 29th of February. You need to stay until then.

Here lies another example of the woes of living in a heavily Confucian society combined with having to chase a wild goose at the behest of an incompetent dickhead. Confucian society, the bedrock of Korean culture and values is a complicated system thousands of years old. It is a uniting force for the Koreans and a part of their cultural identity. However, it can be difficult to navigate if you have a sole purpose or destination in mind. Impossible to navigate if you are being guided by an idiot.

So' I've had a leisurely lifestyle since the 31st of January and peace of mind since the 7th about my future. My attendance has also become very irregular at the breakfast table and I've been seen on more than a few occasions sheepishly and sleepily having lunch/breakfast with Emo at the crack of noon. My increased tardiness only fuels her paternal instincts and I can't help but love her more when she berates me.

Jeju is still in winters firm grip and getting out and about isn't much fun. I've had a few dinners and farewells to friends. Plus the Chinese new year was a highlight as I participated in the traditional family rituals and visits to other family members to pay respects etc. I find experiences like these a truly humbling and I'm constantly appreciative of the selfless generosity and genuine acceptance by my 2nd family. I will miss the very much, but I do think I'll come back to visit as time goes by.

Tomorrow I send of some of my belongings to China in advance plus some other odd jobs. Then Tuesday I go for two weeks. Return for three days at the end of the month, sign off on my contract. Then back to China for good. I can't wait. Especially to see Sarika again...

You know it makes sense... and...umm. yes. feeling a bit patriotic so enjoy the videos. HAPPY OZ DAY January 26th.

2008-01-27T21:38:00.000+09:00

Happy Oz day,
Ummm. yes I realised it as Oz day yesterday and I watched a bit of the cricket and It seems like punters puppies are making a meal out of squaring the series, let alone winning the series. Funny game cricket.

Ponting must have one of the toughest jobs and one of the thickest skins to match. No sooner did he inherit the team after waugh's winning run did his top four retire, and then with gilly on the way out, shame he had to drop that sitter in what seems to be the last game of the greatest wicket keeper/batsman the game has ever seen. hayden with his gammy leg and others are sure to follow soon.

Sure there is player's to fill the gaps but they must perform and win from day one otherwise the soothsayers promise all kinds of doom and gloom. Even when he does string the occasional win together (16) + wc he gets bollocked for the style or the dismal 20/20 tour de Tasman tour he missed for "family committments ...ugh.. hand me a violin. All the while he's averaging...god know's what! plus the same average strike rate as gilly, symons and hayden combined plus he led the fielding revolution with the likes of rhodes, richards et. al. Moreover if it wasn't for feckin mcgrath, warne, gilespie and lee hogging the ball and taking wickets at regular intervals his bowling figures would be akin to the likes of his predecessor or any other nude ball, pie chucker peddling their swill into the breeze up the hill when the game is set for a draw.

So, I say, yes.
He does believe 5"5" is plenty tall for a man. And yes, If I saw him in a Delhi night club I would probably finish my vb and throw the can at him before offering him my lamb chop via the same route and then I'd have no qualms at all about humming the first few bars of "god bless New Zealand" and immediately exchange all the 'i's in my vocabulary with 'e's while doing my best to impress my cousins mother.

But, if I had long hard public unfashionable thankless job with no chance of credibility and an infinite chance of failure no matter how well it was done. And the country depended upon it getting done i'd have no hesitation giving it to him! or 'scruple-less waugh' or 'skill-less shaw' or 'no-mates bradman' or 'if you say I have a girls voice I'll fuckin av ya' mathews or simpson (and no. I don't mean 'bowling ball head' Bob) of the 1st Turkey-i'm ashamed of the empire/draft dodging accused ambulance service, along with the simple advice of don't fuck it up!

The last time the job was given to a decent bloke who you'd have no problem inviting to your place for a cold beer and a lamb chop on Oz day (called Kim-and no. I don't mean that oac sportin, im an alpha-male but I have no/slo-mo right hook so I'll give you a squirrel grip, I wanna be maurie fields's lovechild on a bad hair day -smith) you would want to make sure you doubled your shares in Pfizzer and Kleenex well before lunch on the first day and had the super sopper and the channel 9 chopper ready to go.

The best place for him is at least 60 metres away from the nearest unprotected Australian armed with a stick of dubious size and substance. If he wins- we win. If he loses we relish in his humiliation and apportion equal measure of blame to the selectors, the prime minister, England, the umpires and anyone who still believes their text message actually makes a difference to who stays or goes this weekend on Australian Idol or Big brother. It's the Australian way.

So.. your soap avoiding, pot smoking, hippie, vegetarians may disagree with me. But they can get stuffed! They know the way to the airport and if they dont. I'll show them! So he message is clear Eat Lamb Chops on Australia Day

YouKnowItMakesSense!

I'm Sam Byrne.

Have been to China again and will be going back soon...

2008-01-17T22:25:00.000+09:00

But first.

I should fill you all in on the month that was December.
I thought it would be a relaxing time as winter cooled things off and school wound down, but due mainly to my need to find a decent job in China and a couple of trips away I was kept fairly and squarely on my toes.

On the home front things are still going great and Mongshidi proudly gave birth to six beautiful puppies. As you know I love puppies to bits so Uri house has been filled with plenty of puppy chatter and adventures lately. Much to the delight of Emo who has lost the company of Nana, as she recently moved to Seoul to take a job there.

So, I returned from Australia on the 4th and for the next week or so I emailed as many Chinese schools as I could. Mostly international schools as they are the only ones who pay anywhere near a reasonable wage. Not that you cant live comfortably in China on less than $1000 bucks a month + an apartment, which is the usual gig. But, i'm a qualified teacher, with experience and by now I should have the nouse to be able to find a relatively comparable contract to the one I've got now. After all, China's pretty bloody big and I keep hearing about their economy etc. etc.

Well, as each day dawned a new list of replies came back via email offering various forms of shite packaged in all sorts of glossy window dressing. But, I had cast a very big net. I reckon in the first 10 days back from Australia I had emailed, maybe 20 or 30 different schools each day, plus if you want a good laugh my resume and details are on any and all Chinese job boards I could find. Gotta love the internet and a fast connection!!

The trouble is that many don't give you salary information in the preliminary stages, or if they are recruiters, they often post a good job then offer you all sorts of other glossy packages of shite. The good-ol bait & switch technique perfected of course by our good mate, 'honest-John the car salesman's friend.'

Separating the wheat from the chaff is delicate but I can now spot a shyster at fifty paces so culling a few quickly is easy, however I did have to play the game with a few, just to see what they were willing to put on the table. Most international schools follow the American school year which put my search in the middle of their calendar. But, being reputable, forward thinking institutions they were recruiting for August/September starts. Also a little problematic was the fact that most didn't state this initially and therefore the game had to be played with them also to see what was what. I gradually refined my search using the options on offer plus other less scientific means.

I ended up with a good interview/formative offer from a Korean international school in Qingdao. Firstly, it's an international school catering to students who come from Korea, want to study Korean school curriculum and eventually want to get into Korean universities. Basically the same job as I'm doing now but in China with Korean students.

I knew I'd have the first two weeks of January off in the new year followed by two weeks of winter camp till the 31st then all of February off. Time was on my side so I wanted to interview by phone and visit the school, interview again then make a decision if a contract was offered. Also, as you have probably guessed I was very keen to see Sarika again as the time we have been separated has been torturous.

So, I had settled on a city and an interview. I then set about canvassing the other international schools in Qingdao. I got an instant reply from three of them. One turned out to be a dud offering the usual swill but two others showed promise and agreed readily to interview me in Qingdao while I was there.

By this stage it's mid December, I'm still teaching until the 28th and as for Koreans, Christmas day is only a one day public holiday. I have to get to Seoul for a weekend of merriment on the 21st, buy my tickets, sort my visa and generally get things sorted.

The Seoul weekend comes quickly and I get picked up at the airport by Hyunmok and she takes me to Jungeun's house. These are two ex students of mine who are sensational and they very kindly took me under their wings for the weekend. I was really heading to Seoul to catch up with Sunbong and check out his daughters wedding. I went there on the Saturday. Had a good look, got included in a couple of big group photo's said hello to him and his family, had some lunch and moved on.

Such is the style of Korean weddings. Lots of colour, family and fanfare, great food but far too quick for my liking but I made the best of the opportunity to catch up with Sunbong which was good. Seoul is very cold right now. Down to -13 overnight and while I was there it was just starting to turn from cold to very cold. I had a few hours to kill so I simply headed up the road and hired a dvd room for a few hours. Watched a couple of movies, killed some time and generally warmed myself up for a night out with the girls.

It was a good thing I did as the night out was one of the best nights out that I've ever had. By nights out I mean dinner drinks and then hitting the clubs till late. I anticipated doing dinner, drinks then an hour maybe two, tops at a night club. Then lobbing into a random hotel for the remainder.

How wrong I was! Jungeun was in fine spirits and also she had arranged to meet six of her other equally...um..talented friends either for dinner or at the club that they had booked a cool booth for us to drink, eat and generally lounge about during spells from the dance floor. Hugh Heffner would have been proud of me and I couldn't wipe the smile of my face all night. Although I did play a straight bat all night. It was the same club that Paris Hilton herself had partied at just a few days before!!

As usual I did pike a bit earlier than the others but for me 5am is pretty good and also they were beginning to separate and doze off randomly so I headed out into the world again. Finding a hotel in my area was too much for my gray matter to handle at this hour and in my condition. So, as this was Korea. The land of the ubiquitous use of the word ubiquitous and also 24hr saunas. I took myself off to one and quickly put myself to sleep in the corner of one or their big communal warm rooms.

10 am, awake, hot tub, shower, Macdonald's. I caught up with the girls eventually and Hyunmok and Jungeun kindly drove me to the airport for my afternoon flight. As it happened Nana was on my plane back to Jeju too, as she had been interviewing for jobs in Seoul at that time too. Picked up by Emo at the Jeju airport, driven home fed and into bed. What a great weekend!! I bought the usual coming home gifts for everybody. Something useful and hillarious for Emo, a pair of ridiculous looking large panda bear slippers for those cold nights. Something equally useful for Sumtune, an Olympics cap and Perudi got a "carton" of Chinese cigarettes that set me back $5 at duty free on the way home. Sorry Nana.. you miss out this time!! (The little kid in the photos is Ji Soo, Jungeuns second boy and he and his older brother are still very cute)

I didn't realise before but I must have really needed a night out, away from Jeju and let my hair down after the past year of self control and constant concentration. It was great fun and I hope to go that way again before I go to China, just to have dinner and share a few laughs again with those girls as they were awesome.

Christmas comes and goes in Korea with little fanfare. It does warrant a public holiday but very few celebrate it as we do. This is kind of good as you don't get homesick or envious of others as you might if you were in another western country.

Now to China. I arrive on new years day in Beijing and Sarika met me at the airport. We had four sensational, full days exploring Beijing. We had some great food and visited many different places such as Tianamen Square, the forbidden city and the great wall. We then caught a train to Qingdao and I had my interviews. All successful and I had three solid offers to consider. After reading the fine print it became fairly obvious where I should go and I eventually accepted the offer from KISQ The Korean International School of Qingdao.

Qingdao is a city of 1.6 million on the mid north east coast of China. Its about halfway between Beijing and Shanghai and its a famous port city. It has six very decent beaches and it has a fairly large mountain range in the background. Famous fresh air, nice multicultural atmosphere with plenty of westerners, Japanese and Koreans everywhere, great old German architecture from the days of occupation and finally like all great cities.. Chinas most popular brewery Tsingdao Brewery. So it has it all. Plus it will host the sailing events for the Olympics so I'm all set to support the Aussie tilt!

Now, once again I'm still playing the waiting game although the main pieces are solidly in place. I need to find out when I can actually leave Korea and start in Qingdao. My contract is up on the 29th of February but I finish all my teaching on the 31st of January. February is not technically holidays its just that there are no kids to teach as they are away. I'm in a bit of limbo but all will be revealed to me next Monday as I have a meeting scheduled with the education department to finalize my exit details. I have a couple of bonuses at stake. About $3500 in completion bonuses and an international flight to collect. So I can't just take off just yet...

The waiting saga continues. But 2008 has got off to a very, very good start and I'm happy Sarika and I will soon be together again. Stay tuned!!

Ooops I've missed a month.

2007-12-06T20:33:00.000+09:00

Where does the time go? I always say to myself that if I don't post here for a wile it's because I've been busy. But if I cant manage to post each month it's probably a warning sign that I've been trying to do too much and I need to sit back and smell the roses. Thats probably something I need to do this month.

I just got back from a quick trip to Australia for Alice's wedding and although it was fantastic for many reasons. Today I'm completely spent and need to recharge. The main priority in my life right now is trying to get a job in China for next year. Sarika and I want to give things a go seriously so that means setting up shop together somewhere.

The easiest way appears to be for me to go to China. That shouldn't be a problem in principle but I don't want to go there and earn $500 bucks a month. It does concern me that I'm weighing up true love and a pay packet but I have for the first time in my life began to get ahead financially and it would be a pain to start going backward again.

Things would be different if she could come here but Korean immigration is so strict on Chinese it's not funny. Suffice it to say I've been busy trying to swing things at immigration over here but for every possibility there is a small but inescapable stumbling block. Age, nationality, money, sponsorship etc etc. So I'm just getting myself mentally prepared for the Chinese challenge ahead. Time ticks by quickly so I need to clear my schedule for a while and get down to business. It's very do-able but it wont just do itself or I'll end up in a shitty gig which as you know I've done once before.

So December is going to be quiet. All I'll be doing is pestering the hell out of schools to give me a job. Simple ehh.
That's enough for my to-do-list. Get a job and move to China in March.

October and November have been great. School has really wound down now and I have a reduced load as the third year students have left. They had their College Entrance Exam on the 15th of November and a few day trips since then. I went one one to Songaksan which was nice and if you want a surprise download the video I shot of the kids going to the exam... It has to be seen to be believed.

On the home front things are great still, the family here are just beautiful. There is a naive charm with Koreans and Emo, Sumtune and co are no exception. I've learned a lot from living so near to them this year and I will be very sad to leave them. We went up Mt Halla a few weeks ago which was quite a trek and quite pretty as it's Autumn and the leaves had changed colour. Also the sky lately has been spectacular, be it clouds, sunrises or sunsets every day it produces something special.

Mongshdi (the dog) has been tarting around again and the day after I left for Australia she gave birth to 5 beautiful babies. There eyes are still closed at the moment but as you can imagine they are very very cute. I'm sure they will feature in my photo's soon.

So... Australia. I left Jeju on Thursday morning and went to Sydney via Incheon and Tokyo where I had the worst massage in my life. The flight was perfect however, all the way in "claytons" first class-on an exit row with tons of leg room. Its the best kept secret for long distance travel. Also on the way over the JAL hostesses sang me a very cute Japanese happy birthday and gave me a small present.

Into Sydney and I had 7 hours to kill until my flight to Hobart. I've never been to Sydney before so I had in my head that if I had the energy I'd slip into town for a while and check out the place. I took the train straight from the airport to Circular Quay and saw the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge which are truly impressive. I felt very Australian there as I sipped a coffee and chowed down on my $38 dollar a shot salmon bruchetta at Doyles restaurant, watching boats of all shapes and sizes cruise past. It was also nice to be in 27 degrees and escape the Korean winter for a while.

Into Tasmania and everything went like clockwork. I had dinner and breakfast with mum and dad, said g'day to Alice and Rich and also met my beautiful niece and nephew. Natalia and Marcel. Natalia is super cute and quite a character and Marcel is only about 2 weeks old so he is very small, cute and still smells of soap. I love baby smell, you know the soapy smell...
So that was a highlight early on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon the real fun and games began with Alice and Rich tying the knot in the gardens adjacent to the Cascade factory. It was a great day and night and I managed to catch up with all the family in the one place.

Then it was Sunday and I had to pack my kit up and head home. Most people were the same too but has less distance to travel than me. Mum was off to Melbourne and her and my auntie ended up on the same flight. Alice and Rich are presently in Singapore... I think but will be all over the world soon. Sunday afternoon mum and I took a drive up Mt Wellington to have a look down on Hobart. Then it was over. And now I'm back in chilly Jeju. The welcome back was very warm though, with Emo picking me up from the airport and having dinner and playing santa with the family. I bought them all a nick-nack which was pretty nice and they love surprises. I have a reputation for buying good, not necessarily expensive but appropriately useful/humourous presents and these were no exception.

I even bout the principal at school a bottle of plonk from Japan as if it wasn't for him I would have been unable to go. He was very surprised and grateful. Also the politician in me knows how to grease the wheels for a good reference when the time comes to move on which it seems will be quite soon.

Thats about it for now and i'll keep you posted on the job front. Cheers!!

Autumn is here

2007-10-27T23:10:00.000+09:00

Yes, it's started to cool off a little which is a pleasant change from the hot and humid summer. It is currently getting down to about 12 degrees overnight and up to 20 during the day which is pretty comfortable all round.

September was a hard month to follow and so far October has been pretty uneventful which is fine. These days I'm constantly thinking about a certain "miss china" and trying to concoct a plan where she can come over here or me go over to china into a decent job. Going to china is easy but finding a decent job over there is almost impossible. Getting her over here is a bit difficult because of Korea's immigration laws. Anyway, I'm sure things will sort themselves out in time.

On the school front things have been cruising along nicely. The newspaper people have been in my classroom again and last week i had speaking tests with all my students so things have been pretty busy.

Outside school theres been a foreign teachers festival which I had to attend on behalf of the school and last weekend was the 'Hwabuk Village Festival' which I gladly attended with the Ooudi family.

Basically it was a glorified sports carnival for adults. I used to live for sports days when I went to school so it was nice to participate in this one as a local representative of my little village. I've since learned that 'Hwabuk', my suburb is broken up into six smaller villages and each village has its own clubhouse similar to the clubrooms of a small country town bowls club.

Anyway I was drafted into the soccer team and what I thought would be a motley rag tag outfit of players turned out to be a fairly serious team with great skills and a very competitive attitude. As I have consistently said in previous posts, Koreans never do anything by half and this was no exception. Our team had their game face on but so did the other teams. It was a knockout tournament with each game played with 25 minute halves.

We lasted three games before being relegated to the stands. The first game kicking off at 8am. All the time the soccer games were taking place other games were being played by various teams for points for their village. The oldies played 'yout norli' something simmilar to 'two-up' but played with four small sticks thrown into the air. The older ladies including Emo, were all occupied in each village tent area cooking up an endless supply of fine food for all the players and an endless supply of soju and mekju to other village gents who were less interested in physical exertions.

I also was recruited into the mens volleyball team and now realising we were playing for the Korean equivalent of a sheep station, I decided to bring my "A"game. This went down very well with my team and the supporting locals who followed every bit of play with interest. We ended up winning the volleyball tournament and I was thanked profusely by all and sundry for my contribution.

This was doubly pleasant, as I failed to trouble the scorers during our soccer matches and to be honest, I felt a little out of my depth with the standard of play going on around me on the soccer field. So, I finished the day on a winning note albeit very sore from a tumble or two on the gravel soccer field and my forearms will never be the same after the tug'o'war. There was also a three legged race where participants were unceremoniously splashed with flour on completion of the run.

Overall it was a great day and it was lots of fun playing soccer with Sumtune and Perudi, letting Emo fuss over me and introduce me to her lady friends who she no doubt has told many stories about me and finally it was great to meet some more of the locals and get the invite back to next years event. Which, if I'm here, which I doubt, but if I am I'll definitely do it again.

My camera ran out of batteries early in the day so I only have a couple of pictures to share. But I'll definitely have a scar on my knee from where I hit the gravel going for a wonder strike deep into extra time.

On a somber note Sandy, the other Sehwa HS teacher from 1st semester was involved in a big traffic accident yesterday. She was travelling on the Songsan HS bus when they were hit at full pace in the side at an intersection by a truck. "somebody" didn't stop for the red light....(but this is normal here) and both weren't looking to see what was coming(also normal). The bus was hit in the side and both the bus and truck crashed into oncoming cars coming the other way.

two other cars were hit and 3 people died. The bus was full of students going to school. The same bus I used to catch for the first month I was here on Jeju. No students were hurt badly, however the bus driver fled the scene but was picked up shortly after and the word is that he was charged with DUI, although at the moment he's saying he fled the scene and then got drunk. Whatever, its a sad and sorry tale, but inevitable on Korean roads because all Korean drivers that I have traveled with are are complete nutters behind the wheel. I guess driving taps into their deeply ingrained competitiveness and coupled to their overall inexperience and ignorance. These kinds of accidents happen far too frequently over here. Here's some photos from the local paper
http://www.jemin.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=186090

Sandy's fine but she was coming to terms with what happened today and we went out to visit the site as she couldn't put the matter behind her until she had an idea what happened and why. She's fine today but us foreigners stick together in troubled times and I was happy to help out.

By the way last night was PK's birthday and he and a few others invited me out. We drank heaps and today I'm still wondering if I've done permanent damage... Not really, just hung over. But I don't drink much these days so I notice it if i'm not 100%.

Could also be the half a dozen cigarettes I had. I don't know if I've mentioned it before or not but since I've come back from China I've stopped smoking. Which so far has been quite easy. Although I know from the past experience I can pick it up very easily if i'm not careful...

I knew September was going to be a good month... but I didn't expect it to be this good!!!

2007-10-01T22:58:00.000+09:00

I'm on cloud nine!

Since last post I've been in a TV show. Which screens nationally on KBS1, the most popular Korean station at 7pm this Saturday night-prime time!!!

I only had a small cameo but I'm very excited to debut nationally on the small screen.

On the 17th of September Jeju got hit by the mother of all typhoons. Typhoon Nari dumped 590mm on my little island in about 4 hours!! Winds were up to 190km/h. Very exciting!!!

And.... wait for it!!!
best of all...
i went to Guangzhou,China (third largest city behind Beijing & Shanghai, 6 million pop. Near the border with Hong Kong) from the 22nd to the 29th.

I had the most fantastic time.

I stayed with a very shy, elegant and conservative Chinese lady I met a couple of months ago in Jeju. Her name is Sarika and I want to go back and stay with her forever!!!

big news ehh :)!!!

by the way I nearly forgot... i did another bungee jump.

bye:)

Little Alice has been on my little island

2007-09-14T22:57:00.000+09:00

Two weeks ago Alice came over to South Korea to meet her natural korean mum and dad. The experience for her was a fantastic one and also an unexpected chance for us to meet up in Jeju.
Her stay was short and sweet, in on Friday and out again on Sunday but during that time she got the chance to experience a thing or two on my little island.

On the Friday night they arrived and were given the red carpet treatment by the Ooudi family and both Richie and Alice quickly learned why I feel so at home here and how a good sense of humor and an open mind can dissolve any possible cultural differences.

On the Saturday we decided to take a little tour. First stop was Humdok beach for a dip, then... as I had promised some students earlier in the week we dropped in on the teachers and a class of girls at Sehwa, all busy studying. But not for long.....

They gave Alice and Richie the rock star treatment and for a moment, I thought we might need a police escort outside, after word spread down the corridors about the new visitors. All the students came out to say goodbye much to the dismay of the head teacher who no doubt had to extricate himself from his chair for a torturous minute or two to restore some order. He he... he'll get over it I thought... and thankfully he has.

I'd like to say Alice was the star of the show, because it was my intention really, to give her a glimpse of the Korean high school life she missed out on. But the main attraction was Richie, at nearly 6ft 4" the boys were impressed and the girls more so. I think Alice was happy she did her schooling in Australia after her visit.

After Sehwa we went up the road to Seongsan. In particular Ilchulbong or the English version Sunrise Peak. The photos tell the story really. It was a beautiful day, we had a bit of lunch before we went up. It probably took us two hours total, up and down and well worth it.

Its called sunrise peak due to being the first viewing point on the island to see the sunrise and also I guess pretty spectacular to watch the sunrise from behind with its peak in the foreground.
I'd never been there before and the view was spectacular.

From there we continued onto Jeongbang Waterfall. Once again, fairly impressive and also my first visit. It wasn't as "pretty" as other waterfalls on the island, but easily the biggest and it drops directly into the ocean (at high tide I presume), the only place in Asia to do so.

We also saw some Henyong women divers, plying their trade and all sorts of other people were out and about soaking up the sights. Some... were wearing slightly inappropriate, however very attractive footwear for the journey to the waterfall. You will have to see the photo's to understand and boy's, you won't be disappointed.

On our way back from the waterfall which was near Seogipo, on the Southern part of the island we traveled over Halla Mountain through some spectacular tree lined roads.

From this point on we were only interested in food, drink and festivities and after a couple of false starts had a great night out in Jeju city.

The next day sadly was just goodbyes, but i'm still feeling so happy that Alice met her korean parents, visited me and experienced a snapshot of my life over here. I have a bundle of photos to share and a video so click away, make a coffee and enjoy.

The Charmed life Continues

2007-09-01T20:26:00.000+09:00

Well its September already and how time flies. The last few weeks have been quite memorable for a number of reasons but the month ahead promises to be even more memorable for reasons I'll tell you about soon.

Firstly a bit of a recap.
The last time I wrote the heat was beginning to sap my energy to the core no matter how much I wanted to put a positive spin on it. First it was hot and rainy, then it was just hot, with no reprieve in sight as Ooudi house doesn't have air con and the ones at school don't really make much of an impact with them getting switched off and on all the time to save power and the doors and windows are all open along the corridors etc etc, so theres more than the usual amount of hot air in my classrooms and about the school.

The good news came the night of the lunar eclipse which happened three or four days ago. I'm pretty sure you guys saw it in Australia too. Well, along with the bit of lunar activity it also brought the cool change that Sumtune promised we'd get 13 days ago. He was out by about 24 hours! Which I think is quite a good long-range forecast for a guy who makes his living driving a taxi. But also he is Korean and as I have said in the past they all have an uncanny weather forecasting ability

Since then the temp overnight has got down to about 26 degrees which is blissful and during the day its only been 28, which I've now decided is my favourite temperature. So with my energy levels recharged things have been a bit more comfortable here lately.

On a different topic, I've started and finished my beginners scuba diving license. Something I've never really considered, nor had the desire to do previously. However the summer vacation, which consisted of a grand total of five working days-off was upon me and I really had no idea how to spend the time. So it seemed a good idea at the time and looking back now I'm very pleased with my decision as it has opened up a new leisure opportunity here on Jeju and other places, as well as meeting some really good, friendly folks both native and foreign.

The culmination of my course was a trip to the southern side of the island to a city called Seogipo and a boat ride to a nearby island called Bumsum-do which literally means Tiger Island. It's the diving spot that many divers here talk about and my two trips down in the depths were very spectacular with schools of tropical fish and other colourful tropical sea-life to look at. We went down to a depth of 24 meters which to this date is my deepest dive. The max I can safely do is 30 meters with my current license, however I don't really have any desire to go any deeper so I'm fine with what I've got for what I want to do. Most, if not all dive points here are accessible at that depth.

The water temp on the surface was a balmy 29 degrees, and at 24 meters it had only dropped a couple of degrees, so other than for my protection from the heavy diving gear, the rocks and poisonous stuff there was no need for a wetsuit. It was a great day last Sunday and I had the chance to take a few pictures which was good for the memory banks. This weekend was stormy but I went out again with a couple of other experienced divers but the visibility was so poor at 10 meters that we had to navigate by compass only, which was a new experience for me but after 25 minutes down below we decided to pack it in for the day.

Anyway heres a little video compilation of my diving trip for you to soak up while you wrestle with the winter chills you all are no doubt enjoying. Bon appetit!

If you just want to have a squiz at the photos here they are. Double click on the slide show and you will be taken to my online album.

On the school front, second semester is in full swing and as per usual its dished up more than its fair share of surprises and I'm only two weeks in.

On my return from vacation I was informed that a new English teacher would be starting on September the 3rd which is tomorrow. And he, a Canadian, late 40's, married to a Korean and Jeju resident for the past 9 years, named Michael is replacing Sandy who had had enough of Sehwa for various reasons and has moved on to 3 different schools further up the island. In addition to Sandy leaving another long-serving Korean English teacher got a promotion and switched to another school during the break so we had an English faculty meeting/pissup on the Wednesday of the first week and a formal farewell meeting/larger pissup on the Friday of the first week.

Both were good events and I stayed out of harms way on the first night but had a very messy one on the Friday night which took some recovering from. What I haven't mentioned yet was that another thing I was informed of on my return on the first Monday was that in four days time on the Thursday I would have MBC television cameras, a Seoul government station i think, in my class for a whole hour! 'Sometime in the afternoon...'

As it turned out the students I had during the filming were one of my favourites and they performed admirably, joined in at all the appropriate moments and laughed at almost all of my lame jokes. To make matters worse I had a full schedule of 7 classes each day Thursday and Friday for reasons I'm yet to fathom. Hence by Friday night, dinner and a few drinks with the other teachers I was ready to party and myself P.k. and a couple of his visiting friends from Seoul did our best job we could at the various watering holes we occupied.

Last week was relatively normal by comparison, however they are doing a bit of creative accounting with my hours which I'm keeping tabs on closely, but I'm hesitant to say anything yet, until they approve my holiday leave for Alice's wedding in December ( only 4 days..) and an extra two days I've requested to tack on to the Chusok (Korean thanksgiving) break which will occur at the end of this month. That will give me six days off at the end of September which I've decided to use to get to Beijing for a look, I have my fingers crossed at the moment that I can get a visa and flights to suit me at such short notice.

Speaking of Alice, as I'm writing she should have just arrived in Seoul for a short stay to meet her biological family for the first time. It's a very exciting and emotional experience for her and although I can't be with her in Seoul to share it with her, I'm only a phone call and an hour's flight away if she needs me and she knows this. On Friday her and Rich will come to Jeju for the weekend before heading back to oz on Sunday.

So, number one it's amazing to be over here while she is, doing what she is doing, and two I'm very much looking forward to seeing her and Rich and hopefully if she has the energy after her experience in Seoul, show her a peep into my world over here and of course introduce her to her second Korean family at Ooudi house who, against all my protests are most probably going to lay the red carpet out for her, which makes me feel all warm and giggly inside!! But, from experience I know Koreans don't do anything by halves so the welcome will be intoxicating and they both will have trouble leaving.

Now two more things before I wrap things up for another edition. A KBS quiz game show called 'Golden Bell' is coming to Sehwa next week and I have been roped into a cameo role of some description. Information is sketchy but I think I'll be called upon to ask some questions in English... Stay tuned.

Secondly, today was a memorable occasion as I joined the men of the family for their annual pilgrimage to the family grave site which has many large burial mounds belonging to their ancestors. Each year the grass is allowed free reign and each year the men bust their guts for one day cleaning it up. Today was that day for the Ooudi men and as they have been so kind to welcome me into the fold I felt happy and honoured to participate in this work. It also was a unique cultural experience to witness and participate in, first hand.

It was an early start, 6am and not being the worlds best morning person it took me a while to rise to the occasion. But after a few minutes we all settled into an easy rhythm with our jobs and gradually the place was changed from a grassy jungle to a respectable family memorial site. Once the cleanup was complete, a small ceremony was conducted at each grave and although I felt a bit awkward during this time and also I felt I was imposing a little by simply being there for this, I was actually encouraged by the grandfather and Sumtune's older brother to participate.

Not possessing a religious bone in my body I instantly thought that if I did this I would be disrespecting their beliefs and be a bit f a phony, but, I almost always do anything once and joined in with the ceremony at a respectful distance. Although not religious, I did find the experience quite calming and I used the whole opportunity to thank whoever, whatever or how ever I ended up here on Jeju, befriending this wonderful, kind family and everything else that has gone my way since my arrival here.

All I need now is for that good luck to continue by way of Alice having a good time in Seoul and a safe trip to and from Jeju, My vacation days to get approved and finally no funniest home video moments during my appearance on the golden bell.

Sunday August the 12th, How Time Flies!!

2007-08-12T19:13:00.000+09:00

Well its a lovely Sunday night here in paradise. The rain has taken a break for a minute or two to recharge and I have nothing on the cards tonight so its a good reason to put pen to paper, so to speak and resume my random ramblings about life here in Jeju. Also known as paradise.

Recently I have come to the realisation that I am leading a charmed existence over here. Everything seems to be going well and usually I wouldn't tempt fate by mentioning it but at the moment i'm on clover. I guess looking forward I should feel good too, because I have a short break, 9 days total away from work. for the summer vacation.

Having said all that the past month or so hasn't been without it's challenges but overall the mix has been well and truly on the positive side. What's happened then? I guess you might say. And I say, where to start?

The beginning is always good I suppose. I'll give that a try.
Shortly after I arrived in Jeju I decided to visit the dentist to get my teeth fixed. I had one on either side that had been neglected for as long as I remember and they both resembled fairly large volcanoes and although not painful. They probably were beyond that...and after 30 years of faithful service it was time for some t.l.c. for them both. My last vis it to the dentist was when I was 18!!!

So along with Nana, I went to the "Chiqua"and now probably about 8 visits later they are finished, all cleaned within an inch of their life and after the idea was put in my head by the lovely dentist, best of all... guess what????

I've got a new smile!!!! Thats right, no more gaps! And I love it!

The idea took me completely by surprise. Ive never liked my gaps, but being a boy I suppose and also a bit lazy where my teeth were concerned never really thought about getting them fixed. I always thought about getting them fixed but always imagined the process to be long painful and expensive.

It was neither, It took an hour and a half to get my four front teeth remodeled and at only 5o bucks a tooth not expensive at all! Ive got a bad case of hat-hair and sleepy eyes at the moment so i'm not taking a photo yet to show you but let me tell you it's a remarkable improvement and as you probably noticed reading this so far i'm feeling a little bit pleased with myself:)))

So thats one story. The next one too is on the health front, so to speak. Not nearly as glamorous but equally as fulfilling. Since I was about 16 I've always suffered from horrible heat rashes in summer. And all the gp's and specialists in Tas had no idea. They tried various remedies with no effect. So, lately, true to form, the weathers begun to heat up a bit and combined with 90% humidity at times it once again came out in full force.

This was quite predictable for me however i'd recently noticed a flash looking skin clinic opposite the cinema in town and I thought to myself i'd give it another try to fix myself up. Well one 5 minute visit and $3 for the consultation and $7 for some pills & paste and 1week later i'm as clear as a bell. I can't believe the change. I don't feel uncomfortable at all in the heat or feel like a leper when it flares up. Its fantastic, i'm a new man!!

On the downside, Emo's delicious cooking is beginning to take effect on my waistline, a subject i'll have to remedy soon by a bit more exercise. And also my attempts to quit or at least reduce my recently taken up habit of smoking is being severely tested by the evening chat sessions with Sumtune and Perudi that occurs most nights outside after dinner on the patio over cups of iced coffee.

Very relaxing and very civilized indeed but no good at all for my current non existent training regimen. Of course it could be worse on the body. Anywhere else in Korea the booze would be flowing thick and fast and in the current heatwave theres not much else to do. So I am lucky Sumtune rarely drinks, which is very much against the grain for Korean men. It suits me, its nice not to have another bad habit to deal with, I collect enough of them myself without any help.

I should mention the weather. It's the middle of summer and I won't complain about the heat because those of you reading this back home are probably fighting off coughs and colds due to cold weather.

So the facts are:
Ooudi house doesn't have air conditioning, but its by the sea and has many big open windows. Sehwa high school has air conditioning in each classroom but this is rationed by the school and the other areas, corridors, lunchrooms etc only have fans and/or windows.
So, since I last posted it started raining....and raining. I won't exaggerate theres probably been about 10 fine days this past month. By that I mean no rain and the rest has been a deluge. Jeju being all molten lava from Halla mountain is very porous and acts like a giant sponge. Theres rarely a puddle a few hours after a big rain. So in a nut shell the temp has fluctuated between 30-32 during the day and according to the forecasters it drops down to 28 overnight. So i've had my fair share of cold showers lately. As I said before I wont complain because its really not that bad its just with no respite in the evenings it eventually saps away at your energy and i've constantly got a lather up at rest and when I do exert myself even minimally I find i'm quickly soaked.
So... welcome to the tropics ehh...

On a brighter note Sumtune made the bold statement last night that the heat would last another 13 days. I took this information very seriously because in the past I have been amazed at the accuracy of all Koreans where the weather is concerned. I remember my first experiences last year with the psychic ability of everyday Koreans to predict the weather changes, longrange and with complete accuracy. So 13 days it is. Not a bit over a week or 10 days or two weeks. But 13 days. We'll see...

On the home front, things are going like clockwork too. I've changed rooms and this time I have a large private balcony, park and uninterrupted sea views. Right now I can look out and see about 20 shrimp boats in the distance all brightly lit up. It's like a magical fairyland. I wonder what the mozzies are like out there... Other than that it's been pretty tame here at home. Plenty of random giggles but nothing major happening.

At school things have been hectic. I think last post i'd been busy testing all the students and finishing up their first semester results. When the semester finished and the "phony" summer vacation started I went on a trip to the mainland with all the teachers. Well most of them anyway, there was about 50 of us. We left on a Saturday and came back on the Tuesday. It was a really good trip. Fun mostly, strange at other times but most of all enjoyable and a good chance for me to get to know some other teachers i'd not really met before.

Our first stop was to visit another high school and tour their facilities. I thought strange at first but although nobody mentioned it and I didn't ask I suspect it was some kind of justification for the trip if or when the school got audited as I paid a total of $100 bucks for the trip and the school picked up the rest which I think was about an extra $250 per person which combined is a lot of do-re-mi to scrounge off petty cash.

So we looked at the school for an hour or so after our arrival and from then we were off to a restaurant for lunch a museum, park and a temple for a bit of a look. That night there was a festival of sorts in town and we went there for a while and then returned back to where we were staying for the night. To my surprise it was a jimjilbung or sauna house. Very different but i got into my birthday suit and joined my fellow romans whilst in rome!!

I went to sleep quite refreshed afterwards and slept soundly in the knowledge that my fishing equipment was capable of reeling in the big fish. Either that or the Korean men had disconnected their rods prior to entering the sauna and sowed theirs safely in their lockers, ready for reattachment after. Regardless, my Korean experience still on track now that i've tried the national pass time of getting drunk then nuding up in a sauna.

The next day was mountain climbing day and it didn't disappoint.
Most of the teachers chose an easy route but myself and a few hardier types tackled the peaks. Three in total. The climb was quite steep and the heat was relentless. I was completely soaked but the views were spectacular and on the way up and down the track winded alongside mountain streams and waterfalls which I must admit are one of my very favourite things in nature.

I have many pictures to show you and they will tell the story. On the downside, i'm probably getting old... but i'll say it any way...
The latest "fad" in Korea is to turn your tiny little mobile phone into a ghetto blaster. Minus,minus, minus the sound quality of your average garden variety ghetto blaster. I've no problem with others listening to music on their headphones, in fact I often do it myself. But... I draw the line at playing the latest mobile-stream K-pop songs at high volume on tinny sounding mobile phones strapped to my hip!! Phew... I feel much better now i've got that off my chest...

I can tolerate the freakin whiny sound down the street or even on the bus. But at 2000m and a spectacular panoramic view complete with fresh air and the fragrance of nature. Pleeeese turn that shit off. Or I just might push you off the edge!!!

I feel good now anyways after a return trip lasting 7 hours I felt exhausted but exhilirated it was the highlight of the journey for me.
The highlight however for the many "Ajoshi's"( middle-aged Korean men) on the trip was the constant stream of alcohol and late nights playing card games for very high stakes. Most men had a float of at least $500 for the trip and some men finished walking a lot taller than they started as "the ajoshi" in the wild amongst his peers is a highly competitive creature and lacks the fortitude to recognise a losing streak until it is completely signed and sealed. For this reason one or two Ajoshis did very well and the remainders were left to lick their wounds.

Ajoshi's, They are the patriarch of this society which is based on a heirachy system composed by the great sage himself, Confucius. However, with age doesn't always come maturity and wisdom and everyday I see this in evidence. On a very positive note though, there is a hint of meritocracy evident too, and most of the school leaders at Sehwa, I'm pleased to say are good men indeed. Albeit not equipped for big game fishing....

So, that was about two weeks ago and since then I went back, teaching at school on the Thursday.
This time I was teaching a summer vacation program. 15 students for four hours every day for two weeks and two days. No Saturday or Sunday of course. The bad news was I had no idea what to do with this crew each day and no guidance from the bloke in charge. The good news though was that the kids were absolute charmers and we had a great time from start to finish. It was exhausting but fun.

So this weekend just gone with the rain falling I just hung out at home. I'm not sure what to do during my weeks break... There's a scuba course happening in Seogipo I might join. I need to get wet and the exercise will be good.

Long time no speak!!

2007-07-14T21:19:00.000+09:00

I'm happy to report all's well here in the land of matching pink tracksuits, Hyaundais and high pants.

Mongshidi said goodbye to her babies yesterday and here's a little vid to show you.

I'm sure they will all end up in good homes as there are no stray dogs at all in Korea. The Koreans are famous for their love for four legged canine's and I find this thought nourishing.

Personally, I've been fishing a little bit and have had a couple of dates with two eligible eligible young bachelorettes. So far so good there. As I said before at Ooudi House the puppies have gone to market so things are a little quieter about the place. A couple of weeks ago Emo's younger sister and her family came over from Las Vegas and stayed for a while. They hadn't visited for nearly fifteen years so the reunion for the family prompted many impromptu celebrations and outings while they stayed. Many of which I was included.

By the end of their trip Emo and Nana nearly collapsed from exhaustion. True to Korean custom the wives and daughters have to assume the role of a hostess and with many more mouths to feed and extended friends and family dropping in unannounced they had to be constantly and somewhat thanklessly on their toes ready to serve. That being said all the rest of the family pitched in from time to time and It was fun having them around.

On the school front things are currently a bit different from the regular routine. This week just gone the students underwent their end of semester tests. Duration Four days... Prior to that for the preceding three weeks or so I have been conducting individual speaking tests with students. Some were interesting but with 600 for me to complete they quickly became tedious. I'm glad they are done and now I have a more accurate understanding of the students actual communication abilities. Most are very low and struggle to understand or contribute anything more than basic rote-learnt sound bites. This is after, on average two-three hours a week for the last 7,8 or 9 years...

After the tests were finished I had to prepare some questions and supervise during the four days of testing. Sounds easy but Government policy dictates there must be two teachers present in each class who must stand up on patrol for the duration.
Very boring and with the muggy summer weather beginning to kick in and silent corridors and staff rooms the time dragged on and on.

On the health front the body's been pretty stable lately although with the rain and the heat lately i've not been exercising at all other than the short stroll to the bus stop, which I know is not enough but after a long day teaching and a commute of over two hours I just can't be bothered.

So, to the future. Next week on Thursday the schools summer vacation officially starts. But amazingly enough this creates little difference for the students at school. This is due to strictly enforced summer school programs. In reality the only difference for the high school students in Korea during Summer Vacation is they get to arrive home at six o'clock at night rather than ten o'clock at night which is the regular routine. Yaay!!

I'm part of this torture test and have been assigned the post of chief English basher. I have been given a good list of students to take under my wing for four hours a day for eighteen days. After this time there is a few days still remaining from the official vacation period which I might get off for free or I will be seconded to head office for reassignment to another school to help out the detainees/students for the remainder of their vacation.

So, the next month or so might be a little different on the school front which is not that bad. but also not that good either as my co-teachers language ability is not good enough to help out at all and the speaking tests revealed that 90% of the students really don't understand much of what is said at all.

Change is usually good but the difficulty is that it comes with new explanations, new information, new expectations, new requests and organisation etc, etc. Which is fine in a English speaking country but when you have to understand or do all of the before-mentioned by osmosis, sixth sense or just plain guessing it is somewhat more of a difficult challenge. So be it- life will go on and i'm sure i'll pull it together when the time comes.

On the family front, some very good news. Alice is coming over in early September and I can't wait to see her here. That will also be an exciting and busy time for both her and me so the next month or so will probably fly by albeit a very hot and sweaty next month.

Mongshidi's Agi's

2007-06-12T21:37:00.000+09:00

It's been business as usual the past few days with one major exception - Mongshidi has had puppies and they are absolutely beautiful.

I have forgotten how nice puppies are I love them soo much they are very cute and very small. A day or two ago they started moving about a bit and they opened their eyes. Have I mentioned I love them!!!

Here's some photos and a vid - enjoy. There is also some interesting banter from Emo to listen to. She clucks away like this all the time, its very endearing.

Summer Soccer

2007-06-09T07:34:00.000+09:00

Yes, thats right summer has finally hit and I am suffering through 28 deg days and cool nights, a sea breeze and sunshine.

Last weekend I played in a soccer tournament which was fun albeit a bit of a shock to my rapidly aging body. In true Korean form we had a crash course of training administered two days before the comp. This took place by way of a "friendly" game against a team of second years in a pair of slightly small borrowed boots on a gravel track.

I finished the game a little worse for wear suffering a light groin strain and general shock to the system after running around for the best part of two hours on hard packed gravel that the Queenstown Crows would salivate over.

So Saturday dawned and being the second day after the game my body had well and truly tightened up. I suffered through some stretches and a long hot shower but I couldn't escape the thought that as soon as I put any extra effort on my body it would start to break.

Anyway, Mr Moon picked me up and we went to Cheju Tourism College, the venue for this auspicious clash of the minnows. We arrived to see our team already striped and ready to go. We hastily joined them and the fun and games commenced. The whole soccer set up was thoroughly professional with uniforms for all teams, registered umpires and the pomp and ceremony of bowing to each team and the "royal box" before and after each game. The royal box housed various Jeju education officials and leaders, mostly ajoshis who were doing a good job taking on a self-set soju challenge.

Well I must say that I was very impressed with the display of teamwork, commitment and skill that was displayed by all of our team. We scored twice in the first game. Once from a free kick taken outside the box and the other a direct strike from a corner kick that David Beckham would be proud of. The other team scored once so we were through to the second round.
Personally, I did raise the odd eyebrow or two being the only waygook at the competition. I should also say that it was a knock-out tournament with ten other high-school teacher teams. And yes being a tall whitey I did create quite a stir.

I've never played soccer before and now I do realise why so many people around the world are in love with the game. The second game was won one nil, with PK also known as Uruguayan striker "Recoba" got onto the end of a pass and slotted home the finishing touch to a top piece of team play that started from midfield.

So, we won the first two games and drew the third and after an elaborate, culturally rich and swift game of "rock, scissors, paper" to decide who would go through to the semi final we were dispatched unceremoniously to the showers.

This was a piece of good fortune for us as we were dropping like flies all over the park from various ailments. Myself, I had aggravated Thursdays groin strain and had a little hammy pull on my right which scared me a little, as continuing to play would be folly, also by this stage we didn't have any sub's.

In the wash-up, three games were fun and a fourth, in the fading light, wouldn't be. I was happy to become a spectator for the remainder of the day. In another part of the college, female teams of teachers were assembling to take part in yet another jump rope challenge. Some of the teams were good, uniformed and coached and had to be told to stop after some time. Others such as our motley crew didn't trouble the leaders.

There was also a singing contest and a raffle with many prizes. I won an exercise stepper machine which was ironic as my hammy and groin tightened up again as I made my way down stairs to applause to receive my prize. We soon all adjourned to a restaurant downtown for a feed and a few of us continued on until the wee hours. I woke the next day... but didn't do too much more.

The week just gone was uneventful although we had a public holiday on Wednesday for Memorial Day, their version of Rememberence Day. I was still too sore to do too much.

It's now 8;30 on Saturday morning and I'm starting to finally feel a little more energetic. I'm well rested after crashing out at 8:00 last night and Emo served up the regular fare at seven this morning so I've plenty of fuel in the tank but I'm not sure what to do.

The scarcity of other English speakers is starting to impact on my social life. The few I've met are pretty random sorts but next week there is a function on the Saturday for all foreign teachers (apparently there is about forty) on the island to attend. So with luck I may meet some good sorts. The Korean friends I have here are excellent but mentally they can be hard work for various reasons. I'm sure this is true for them with me too.
So, nothing exciting today on the agenda, I've probably been a bit spoilt lately anyway.
Cheers

Buddha's Birthday with Emo & Donam Halmony.

2007-06-01T22:08:00.000+09:00

This finely tuned group of athletes are taking a well deserved spell at half time...

The student team we practiced against having their spell at half time.
Result: Students 3 Def. Teachers 0
Reports: Nil, although the teachers were warned several times for deliberate slow play.
Injuries: To be advised.

The four day weekend was good last weekend and although I didn't get up to too much I did go and check out the Buddha's day celebrations at Cheonwangsa Temple. www.cheonwangsa.co.kr
It was quite good but the constant rain put a damper on things. I went with Emo and her mother who I call Donam Halmony. Literally, Grandmother from Donam. Not to be confused with the halmony on Sumtunes side of the family who Emo still has skirmishes with, apparently they are usually over Emo's cooking and food that she sends around to her. My guess is that Emo and the other halmony love a good ol bicker now and again.

So, I spent the day 'driving Miss Daisy' x2. Donam Halmony loves me and wants me to get married to Nana. She calls me 'Ham' and just like Emo, if she says something to me in Korean and I don't understand it she repeats it at increased volume and frequency to me until I understand. Usually I don't but if I said I didn't understand they would keep on until I did,or think I was a simpleton. Bless their hearts!

Both ladies are super sort's and I felt privileged to be able to spend the day with them both at the temple. Most of my time was spent holding an umbrella for Donam Halmony and I enjoyed every minute of it, listening to them cluck away like a couple of old hens.

I didn't do too much else of note for the rest of the weekend other than go to the pictures to see; I'm sure, the Korean version of "Pirates of the Caribbean" as it went for 2 hour and 48 minutes. I also took sick pleasure in listening to the Koreans in the audience struggle with the translation into Hangul, nice to have them walk a mile in my shoes! On Sunday I had a well deserved massage and everything was put back into position for the week ahead.

This week was back to normal other than a soccer game on Thursday night from which I still have a few aches and pains as it was played on gravel and I had only a pair of slightly small, borrowed, soccer boots to play in. I paid the price today, and tomorrow, Saturday, I'm in a teachers team which is taking on some other teams of teachers, in some form of a tournament. Strangely, I'm actually getting paid to play, free lunch and complementary full uniform. As I've said before, these folks don't do anything by halves and tomorrow I'm sure to find out why the lunch is free!

Phew, I've finally caught up on this blog. Hopefully tomorrow is dull, boring and I have no photo's so I don't have to write. Just kidding this blog was one of the best spur of the moment decisions I have made and I'm quite proud looking back that I have managed to continue and improve upon it. I only hope that the dial-up connections back home can cope with the slideshows and video's. Also, very soon I will celebrate my 1000th visitor to sammyssouthernsojourn bye bye.

Sehwa School Festival Day 3

2007-06-01T20:59:00.000+09:00

Well by day three the horse was well and truly beaten and thankfully the sports day began, but not without a few twists.

The games included:
The soccer and basketball finals for the boys.
Dodge ball and Soccer style baseball for the girls.
The boys competed in traditional wrestling
and both the girls and boys competed in the blue ribbon event-"Chicken Fighting".
Truly this has to be seen to be believed.

The basketball was played at a high standard but the highlight for me was the way the students in the crowd sang and cheered all day long in support of their team.

At three in the afternoon things wound up in the gymnasium and we ventured out to the athletic field. Three o'clock's always a good time to start a school athletic carnival...

The Athletics was mostly in the form of relays with most teachers stepping up to assist each team. I ran in a relay and I'm happy to report I showed glimpses of past glory days as I strode past a couple of other runners.

Finally the day and festival was over and I'm not afraid to admit I was festival-ed out. The good news was I had a four day weekend to look forward to. Thursday being Buddha's birthday which is a national holiday and Friday designated for some reason by the school to be a day off. No complaints here I was stuffed.

Sehwa Festival Day 2 and Jeju University Concert

2007-06-01T20:10:00.000+09:00

A new day dawned at school however to my surprise the revelry continued in the same vein as the previous day. I thought day two would be a sports day as I had been seconded to a third year soccer team. The school rules stating that all athletic pursuits competed by the students must have a teacher on each team. After initial confusion as to what the students were up to I realised the first game was actually underway. I t was a game show style competition in which the whole student population was culled, question and answer style until a single winner was found. Just when it was getting interesting the skipping ropes came out and the teachers formed teams to see how many jumps we could complete together. We managed two complete revolutions and the winning team managed about fifteen. After this time and no clear winner in sight for the quiz game I made a stealthy exit back to my office. I came down intermittently to check on things but it was time for the students to endure some more long winded speeches which seemed to be getting shouted "at" them at increasing volume. Many of the kids were asleep where they sat, but on and on the speakers went , beating that dead horse...

At a little after three in the afternoon the soccer teams finally played and the result in my game was decided on penalties after we finished two all after full time. Soccer is their national passion and most of the boys can really play well. I was very surprised at the skill and power the young bucks had. We ended up losing the penalty shootout but it was a good game and lots of fun was had by all.

I headed home to Oodi house and joined Emo and Nana who were going to a concert being held at the university. It was quite entertaining in parts however we had to endure another two hours of speeches, shouted at us before the warm up act, a b-boy style dance group started to perform. They were really good but during the course of the next hour and a half they only performed to about five songs! Making speeches all the other time. What is it with some people and their love affair with the sound of their own voices?

Finally the main event came on and they were brilliant for about half an hour. Then things came to an abrupt halt and I learned afterwards that this was due to someone in the crowd getting trampled, bit harsh. Any way It had been a good day and I was ready for bed. Lets not forget that the festival at school still has another day to run and the next one must be a sports day. They couldn't have more speeches.. could they???

Sehwa School Festival Day 1

2007-05-31T22:46:00.000+09:00

Last week Sehwa had its school festival. It was very long, very interesting and at times lots of fun. Koreans don't do anything by halves and this was no exception. Monday from nine to six was taken up with long speeches and musical performances. Including a tearful/painful rendition of Proud Mary by yours truly.

Sehwa's proud of its strong tradition in training pole dancers!

These 15y/olds really know how to ROCK!!!

The pick of the day. The singer was very cool and the lead guitarist would have made Slash proud.

Somebody get this guy off the stage...

I'm not going to give you a blow by blow description of every thing however some of the highlights were; the students all letting go helium balloons into the sky, The musical performances by many different rock groups and solo singers. The different games and stalls each class set up. Soju with the principal at morning tea time and Makoli (fizzy rice wine) at lunchtime with all the staff. On top of that the whole event was covered by a local Jeju television variety show and of course the two foreign teachers were interviewed. It screens 4 times tomorrow so hopefully I catch it.

On a different note, with so many photos to show, the easiest way seems to be embedding a slide show (above) here rather than individual photos. I think it is the way to go but I have a very fast internet connection here and I'm not sure how the Tassie dial-up is going to cope with it so if you have dramas heres the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Sammyspics/SehwaFestivalDay1

Sunday at Seogipo

2007-05-30T22:09:00.000+09:00

Not last Sunday but the one before (20/5) was a beautiful day and too good to waste. I have been to many places so far on the island but not yet had I visited the southern coastal city of Seogipo. A city which according to the tourist books is reasonably popular as a summer destination due to its proximity to a number of good beaches and various other attractive places.

So after fortifying myself with some of Emo's well-being nosh for breakfast I headed for the main bus terminal in the hope that I could just get on one straight away and head off. This plan was changed when a friendly taxi driver told me he could drive me for $20. Seogipo is about a 45 minute car ride away from where I am so this seemed like a reasonable deal, plus a 45 minute car ride can quickly turn into a 2 hour bus ride if it decides to stop in every nook and cranny along the way as they often do.

I was deposited at Jungmun beach by the taxi which is just west of Seogipo city. Jungmun was a very nice first stop. It was very pretty with lush green forests and lava cliffs stopping just short of a small pearly white beach and very blue sea. I went for a walk along the beach and much to my surprise it was virtually empty. It was a Sunday and a balmy 23 deg... Maybe because the beach isn't officially open (complete with lifeguard) till summer the locals stay away. Law abiding citizens they are!

I hung about there for a little while and then set off for the next place on my way to Seogipo, Cheonjeyeon waterfall. It turned out to be three waterfalls but there was only enough water for one to be splashing down.

It was very spectacular and tropical and I had to restrain myself from jumping in(prohibited) to cool off from the rising heat. I also felt like I had the place to myself there too until I spied all the locals together in the shade taking photo's of each other, some distance from the actual falls! The lengths they go to to avoid the sun's warm embrace...I hung about again for a while and continued on my way.

Next stop was lunch followed by a visit to Jeju's world cup 2002 soccer stadium.

It too was pretty impressive but most notable and I must add most memorable was a complete section of the second floor devoted to none other than The World Sex Museum or aptly named Eros Museum! There were more dicks there than a Wesly Vale farmers convention and all shapes and sizes. Ranging from ancient statues to the battery operated variety complete with "training videos" being screened on the cctv's and big screen projectors about the place. The whole experience left me with strange feelings of surprise, a bit giggly and rather anxious to visit my local hairdresser who has been a bit flirty lately.....

Overall I was completely bewildered that I could be innocently visiting a sports ground and stumble across a place like this in Korea!!! A conservative country that prohibits pornography, seems culturally quite sexually repressed and at an international venue!

I did stumble upon another museum on my way out however by comparison "it was nothing to write home about" (note the savvy use of irony). It was a paper doll museum which also joined up with more exhibits of old cameras, tape recorders, 80's record covers including The N.K.O.T Block, Wham, Michael Bolton and Wacko Jacko before he was white and freaky.

At the far end of one hallway was a mockup of an old classroom. The first thing that struck me was how similar, minus the computer and tv it was to the ones in Korea today. Until I saw one thing that we don't have anymore and that is a gun racked on the side of the wall. The inscription read that it was on hand in case the Japanese invaded post WW2. Prior to the end of WW2 the Japanese had occupied Korea from about 1905.

The Koreans don't have much time for the Japanese as it's only a generation or two ago that they suffered under their rule. Unlike Germany who seem to have acknowledged and attempted to reconcile their past actions, Japan still celebrates its WW2 achievements today and also fails to apologise or even acknowledge any past wrongdoings which is still an open wound for most Koreans. They even deny many atrocities in the history books used in schools.

I took the long way home on the bus, going right round the eastern side of the island which took in the impressive sight of Sunrise Peak, which is kind of like the nut at Stanley however this one is formed by lava flow.
2 hours later I was home very satisfied with a day out looking about and ready for an exciting week ahead at Sehwa with the schools 3 day festival and birthday celebrations on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday Buddha's birthday public holiday and Friday a no-school day for a reason I still don't know but am happy to have off.