Rakhi: The heaven's have well and truly opened this last week in Korea. As you lucky people in the UK are in the midst of a heatwave and experiencing 'the hottest day ever,' Joel and I have been wading through rivers to get to school! I think I need to swap that oriental fan I bought in Insadong last week, for a rain mac!

The Han river in Seoul has over flowed and literally turned into a massive mud bath

Above is a picture from a province in the east of the country where Joel and I are going on holiday this weekend.

I'm hoping the rain dies down before our trip starts but i'm not holding my breath! Aaah, it's like the good old days of living in Manchester!

Something interesting and as we're told, inevitable happened this evening. Joel was out getting some things from the supermarket when our doorbell rang. It was a young boy called Steve who we had met near the recycling bins last week. He is a young Korean boy who has been living in New Zealand for the last 6 years and returned to Korea a few months ago to be reunited with his mother and father. So, there he was with his mother and younger brother at our front door. Joel returned in time to hear his mother explain (in pretty good English) that Steve had told her about meeting us and she would really like us to do some private English tuition with her younger son. Joel and I have been aware from the start that this sort of request was very likely to happen during our time here as people are absolutely desperate to learn English. We told her that we would think about it and get back to her tomorrow. Now we have to break it to them that it we don't want to take on the extra work and more importantly that it is a breach of our contract with the Office of Education. I feel really bad though, as I would really like to help, they seem like a lovely family.

There's now only two days left of school before the summer holidays start. Working in a school is really taking me back to my days at Manchester High. At the moment, the kids are so excited about the up coming holidays that it's hard to control them and settle them down to study. I can really remember what it was like to be coming to the end of school before the long summer break and how the last thing I wanted to do was learn. I can also empathise as i'm looking forward to having a break too! Joel and I are off this Saturday to Cheonan (in the same province as the picture above) in the east. We're going to travel from there to Mount Seoraksan on the east coast near Sokcho, then to a little island called Ulleungdo, a province called Gyeongju which is steeped with Korean tradition and culture and finally to the the second biggest city in S. Korea - Busan. Check out the map below for our route;

We bought rucksacks and sleeping bags today so we're all set. Of course, we'll only be camping if the weather clears up...

Only two days to go. Actually, one, I think i'm finishing early on Friday as the rest of the teacher's are going on a trip. Luckily i'm excused, not that it won't be fun but we're leaving for the east coast early Saturday morning and the teacher's won't be returning from their trip until Saturday evening. Naturally, I was only given all the information regarding the trip yesterday. There are two things that are very different about England and Korea; the first is NO personal space, people walk, sit, stand really close to you. Just the other day, I nearly fell over an old lady that had sneaked up right behind me at the subway station. Also, if someone bangs into you or stands on you, there's no apology. People jump queues here all the time too. I really need to learn to be less British and cut all the politeness! The second thing is the last minuteness. Arrangements are made at the last second and Koreans are obligated to do them. There is no 'Are you free next Thursday? OK, shall we go for dinner?' It's more like 'Oh, the teachers are all going out for dinner tonight- you have to come.' Thankfully, regarding the obligated dinners and trips, us foreigners are excused somewhat.

So, we're off on Saturday, keep your fingers crossed that the weather is nice and do a sundance for us please!