What am I up to right now?

So it's been a little while since I actually wrote anything about what I'm doing, as opposed to what I've done. Life's been pretty exciting of late, with lots of travelling and visitors, and so school life hasn't seemed very noteworthy, especially as the semester was winding down, classes were being cancelled and both my students and I were flagging a little, especially in the sweltering Korean summer.

Anyway, right now I'm sat on my bed relaxing and writing this, with half an eye on The Hills Have Eyes 2 (You take what you can get in English on Korean TV). It's been a productive day, in a productive week. I spent the morning lesson planning at school, had lunch out with the teachers, did some more planning before going home and studying Korean for an hour. Then I popped out for a two hour bike ride, and found perhaps the greatest cycling road in Korea, a beautiful tight twisting descent down which one can do a passable impression of Valentino Rossi. It's a bit of a pain that you have to cycle up it first, but it's well worth the effort. I came back past Jinbu's new coffee shop and then cooked myself a pretty tasty bibimbap in my new dolsot, then did another hour of Korean study before winding up where I am now, and still managing to be vaguely productive.

At the moment the school is on summer break, which in Korea is not exactly what you might expect. I'd say at least a third of the students come in every day for supplementary classes, and study for pretty much the entire day. As for the teachers, the ones who don't have to come in are all off on residential training courses for the summer. Part of being a native-speaker English teacher here is "desk-warming" (as it's referred to by the pond-life that frequents the forums at Dave's ESL cafe), being obliged to come to school even though you don't have classes. Personally I don't see what the problem is - it's pretty much the same in any job in the UK or the US (except, ironically, teaching) and if you put it to use you can make your life a lot easier. It helps that my school is pretty great and let's me go home after lunch, but that still leaves plenty of time in the mornings to get set up for the next semester. Compared to my poor Korean colleagues, I have it pretty easy.

I find working in this kind of environment quite inspiring, and I'm feeling pretty good about teaching at the moment (perhaps as I'm not actually doing it). Having some time off has given me a chance to review what I did last semester, and I've come to the conclusion that while I did OK last semester, I can do a lot better this one. Motivating the students is never easy here (my class is worth nothing in terms of grades or exam preparation, which is the only currency for a Korean high school student) so it has to be 제미 ("jaemi" - the Korean word which means fun and interesting at the same time). I surveyed my students to find out what they wanted to learn, and they overwhelmingly said music and movies, so next semester is going to kick off with music week which will hopefully leave my students able to understand the second conditional with Beyonce's help, rap like Will Smith and tell the difference between rock and alternative music (I'm not sure I can do this myself, but ho hum). I'm also starting to think about ESL teaching long term, and investigating weekend CELTA courses and maybe even a masters. I've also joined the ranks of KOTESOL, the association for English teachers here in the hope of learning a little more about teaching English, and maybe making a few useful contacts while I'm at it.

So really, life is pretty good in Korea at the moment. Aside from a bruised big toe which has kept me out of football this week, everything's going really well. Let's hope it continues that way. For anyone who's wondering, I'm almost certainly staying here for two years now, but if this semester goes as fast as the last one did, I'll be back for my winter break in England in no time.

Anyway, bedtime I think. Please excuse the slightly self-indulgent post, but we'll be back to the holiday snaps pretty soon.

Until then,

A

What's drinking in Korea like?

This weekend I finally spent my first night away from my little safe haven of a town, where I now know pretty much every shop on every street, and headed for the bright lights of the big city. I went to visit an ex-student of mine from Guatemala, who has been awarded a scholarship to study for his masters here. This was a friend who I thought I may never see again, so it was nice to be reunited after just a few months. Such a reunion, combined with a couple of birthdays, inevitably led to drink being taken, and led me to today's topic.

On Sunday morning, around 5am, I woke up fully clothed on top of my bed in a "love-motel" in Suwon. This perhaps is not as bad as it sounds. I had chosen to stay there, as they are cheaper than normal hotels, and this one was less seedy and more smart. There was even a guy staying there with his kids; at least I sincerely, sincerely hope they were his kids. Anyway, the reason for my unbecoming state is named soju (소주).

Soju is almost the only Korean spirit. At least it is all I see drunk out here in the country. Just as almost every meal that you eat is served with kimchi in some form or another, so no group of Koreans in a bar or restaurant is without a, or more usually several, bottles of soju. It is a strong rice wine, usually about 20% alcohol by volume and sold by the half litre.

The price is the first indicator that what you're getting into may not be the best for you. A half litre bottle in a grocery store retails for just less than a dollar, which means you're buying more or less a bottle of wine in terms of units for around 60 pence. Go to your nearest store and try to buy a bottle of wine for that. You can't, of course, so buy the cheapest one you can find. Taste it and you'll begin to see what we're dealing with here, and you're drinking wine which costs about four times the price.

In terms of taste, soju is not really too bad. The closest thing I can relate it to is when in one of my much, much younger days I mixed vodka with water. It's not unpleasant, but it is entirely unremarkable. Where it really kicks, or at least it really kicks me, is the following morning. I have hardly drunk the stuff since I have been here, but each time I have it has left me with a disproportionately large hangover. The Sunday morning in question was no different. It left with me with a bastard behind the eyes and a general sense of confusion. Almost exactly what you don't want faced with a four hour bus journey in a country where you lack the ability to construct all but the most basic sentences. I blame soju for the fact that I read my seat number as the platform number at Suwon bus station, thus missing my bus and adding another hour on to an already near unbearable journey.

So, as you may have guessed, I am not the biggest soju fan. I am definitely in the minority here. Soju is everywhere you go. There is even a bottle in the fridge in the teachers' room at my school. Korean socialising simply would not happen without soju. Koreans can be a little awkward (hence the reason I feel fairly at home here) and so it seems to help them a lot if they get drunk. Binge drinking is definitely acceptable here. At the beginning of work dinners that I have been to a huge amount of bottles will be placed on the table and the men start furiously gulping down shots. People are drunk within half an hour, but seemingly having a wonderful time. I get more English spoken to me at teacher dinners than I ever do at the school, so I guess in this way it's a positive thing that everyone's hammered. Anyway, it's quite an interesting cultural difference between here and the UK. Most of the professional events I have been to at least try to seem as if it's not just an excuse for everyone to get shitfaced.

At a personal level I haven't really done that much drinking in Korea. Being out in a quiet town and surrounded by people who don't drink has mostly killed my desire to drink anything. Hence there's been a bottle of wine in my cupboard for almost a month and a bottle of soju in the door of the fridge for just about the whole time I have been here. Previously, this would have been unheard of in one of my residences. Still, I think it does me good - once again weight seems to be dropping off me quite nicely and I feel pretty energetic all week for not boozing the whole time. Could it be I'm growing up? Not if last Saturday is anything to go by.

I think that's about it from me for now. I'll leave you with a few photos courtesy of Quique's Facebook, as my camera is out of action. Until next time...

A