This is the first blog post that I've written from my new home. Most of you know this already, but I've moved from my little town and little schools in the mountains of Gangwon-do, to the industrial suburbs south-west of Seoul to teach at a university here.
This of course, meant saying goodbye to friends and colleagues that I've made over the past two years in my little town, which was of course a tremendously sad, and incredibly drunken experience. It all started with an overnight teacher trip down the east coast of Korean, visiting caves, fish museums, and finishing up in a crab restaurant with a lot of soju and a whole crab each.
If you're wondering, this is a rock formation in the cave.
Note the pretend microphone fashioned from two soju bottles and a pair of spoons. Classy.
Following this was a "little" party back in Jinbu, at the marvellous Bar Cello. I have to say thanks to everyone (foreign and Korean) who came and made it an unforgettable night, that is at the same time very difficult to remember. Possibly the strangest part was fancy dress gear appearing at about 2am, as evidenced below. It wound up with an 8.30am walk home, and perhaps the worst Monday I have ever experienced. Worth it though.
After I stopped alternately shivering and sweating, began to be able to eat again, and the endless looping of Take A Look Around by Limp Bizkit in my head subsided a little (this was about Wednesday) I decided to get drunk again. Well, I say I decided; in actual fact my friends decided for me my inviting me to a barbecue in a carpenter's workshop. This did afford me one of those uniquely Korean experiences though - cleaning a barbecue using meat and booze. The procedure is as follows: light the charcoal (with a blowtorch, of course), and then put the grill top on. Once it gets nice and hot, choose some fatty bits of meat, and rub them all over the top of it, until you have a nice paste of dirt and hot fat. Then, throw a bottle of the local spirit over the top to wash this paste off and sterilize the grill. If you're lucky, you'll get a nice lungful or two of boozy steam as well (nb. I'm almost certain that this is not good for you). Korea, I think you should be worried when your national beverage is cheap and strong enough to be used as barbecue cleaner. Just saying.
Cleaning in process.
After we'd cooked the meat, we then engaged in some proper man cooking - making fried rice. This involves throwing rice, any leftover meat, and pretty much anything else that's lying around on the grill and mashing it all up (using what looked suspiciously like a plastering tool). It actually turned out surprisingly well, too.
Men at work.
And then, sadly, it was time to say goodbye to my apartment, which while a little bit tatty, will be by far the biggest place I will have to myself for a while. It's also been the scene of a lot of happy memories - I'll always remember 성원APT 1동 1002호, it's name will always send shivers down my spine.
On the way out :(
Still, on to bigger and, err, smaller things. As with most jobs in Korea, my new one provides accommodation, though this time it's in the dormitory. Still, I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the size of the room. It's about 18 feet by 9 feet, and is well enough designed to squeeze in a bed, desk, dressing table, sofa, a wardrobe and large cupboard as well as a bathroom. All of my stuff fits comfortably in (although I threw a lot out before I left). I've also gone up in the world, moving from the 10th to the 18th floor.
Night view.
Day view.
View from the door.
Bathroom.
Sofa, bed, and as yet undisposed of moving boxes.
Dresser.
Desk.
Right, that's all for now. I'll write another post about teaching and work fairly soon. Until then...
A
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