Rakhi: It’s certainly has been a very eventful few weeks, I think Luke’s ‘guest blog’ summed it up pretty well. We really appreciate him coming to visit us; we had a lot of fun.
For the day after Luke arrived, I had reserved us a place on a Buddhist temple tour but as it began really early and Luke needed a decent kip, we didn’t go. To make up for it, Joel and I took Luke to one of the huge temples in the city where they had lots of beautiful lanterns up and a statue of a pig as a homage to the Chinese character for 2007 (in fact this year is the year of the ‘Golden Pig’ which only comes around every 600 years and is believed to bring with it wealth and prosperity). We also went to one of our favourite restaurants, ‘Sanchon,’ where they serve up thirty courses of delicious temple food whilst you relax and watch a traditional Korean dance and drum performance. We were all thoroughly impressed, or perhaps it was the gallons of soju and bekseju which also went on to fuel our norebang adventure later that evening! Speaking of which, we could hardly tear Luke away! After nearly four hours of singing our little hearts out, Luke still hadn’t had enough so we didn’t end up crawling into bed until the sun was rising on the following day!
The dead dog in a bin was one of Luke’s personal highlights but for me, I’d have to say the skiing. Luke aka ‘The Silver Bullet’ was an absolute star. After the initial worry off seeing him hurtling down the slopes before ending in a huge pile with his skis twenty metres apart in opposite directions, it was hilariously, gut wrenchingly funny! On the first such occasion, I was slowly traversing this steep slope when out of nowhere somebody went darting head on, straight down the mountain, as fast as lightning. This person was going at such incredible speeds I thought it must be a professional with outstanding control; until the individual crashed into a painful heap. On closer inspection, I realised it was Luke! This happened many more times but each time he gracefully and sportingly got up and queued for the ski lift only to repeat the anguish again! Joel and Luke were both utterly disappointed that I hadn’t fallen over once and there was even talk of tripping me up on the way home. Luckily for them, I did suffer slightly sledding at the Ice Festival in Hwacheon, where I developed a sore eondoggi (bottom) and hip from bashing about on the icy sled run.
The lack of animal rights in Korea became apparent when watching the bare handed fishing contest at the ice fest. It truly was one of the oddest things I have ever seen, it was like something straight out of one of those cruel Japanese game shows. Groups of shivering people dressed in shorts, t-shirt and flip flops, awaited the moment they were let into a small, icy pool to grab at salmon with their bare hands. First off was the kids and teen competition. People were grabbing fish and viciously bashing them either around the head or on the side of the pool only to be met with rapturous cheers and applause from the crowd. The fish carcasses were then placed in pockets or down t-shirts before fishing for more. However cruel though, it wasn’t a dead dog in a bin.
As part of Joel’s Christmas present from me and to cap of an excellent couple of weeks, last night Joel and I went to the glitzy, glamorous ‘Top Cloud’ restaurant from where there are amazing views across the city. However, now that holiday time is nearly over, Joel and I have to curb our over indulgent eating habits and prepare for the encroaching marathon that we’ll be running. We also need to start planning our winter camps which begin this Wednesday and run for two and half weeks. A couple of films and difficult word searches should keep the kiddies busy until 12pm when we finish for the day!
So, now it’s the middle of January and we have such a small amount of time before our contracts end in May. Our main post-Korea idea is to go to Thailand. We’ve been in touch with an agency that places teachers in government schools around the north of the country. We’ve applied for a short four month contract which, if all goes well, we’d be starting as soon as we finish here and completing in September of this year after which we hope to spend a couple of months travelling. Fingers crossed.
For the day after Luke arrived, I had reserved us a place on a Buddhist temple tour but as it began really early and Luke needed a decent kip, we didn’t go. To make up for it, Joel and I took Luke to one of the huge temples in the city where they had lots of beautiful lanterns up and a statue of a pig as a homage to the Chinese character for 2007 (in fact this year is the year of the ‘Golden Pig’ which only comes around every 600 years and is believed to bring with it wealth and prosperity). We also went to one of our favourite restaurants, ‘Sanchon,’ where they serve up thirty courses of delicious temple food whilst you relax and watch a traditional Korean dance and drum performance. We were all thoroughly impressed, or perhaps it was the gallons of soju and bekseju which also went on to fuel our norebang adventure later that evening! Speaking of which, we could hardly tear Luke away! After nearly four hours of singing our little hearts out, Luke still hadn’t had enough so we didn’t end up crawling into bed until the sun was rising on the following day!
The dead dog in a bin was one of Luke’s personal highlights but for me, I’d have to say the skiing. Luke aka ‘The Silver Bullet’ was an absolute star. After the initial worry off seeing him hurtling down the slopes before ending in a huge pile with his skis twenty metres apart in opposite directions, it was hilariously, gut wrenchingly funny! On the first such occasion, I was slowly traversing this steep slope when out of nowhere somebody went darting head on, straight down the mountain, as fast as lightning. This person was going at such incredible speeds I thought it must be a professional with outstanding control; until the individual crashed into a painful heap. On closer inspection, I realised it was Luke! This happened many more times but each time he gracefully and sportingly got up and queued for the ski lift only to repeat the anguish again! Joel and Luke were both utterly disappointed that I hadn’t fallen over once and there was even talk of tripping me up on the way home. Luckily for them, I did suffer slightly sledding at the Ice Festival in Hwacheon, where I developed a sore eondoggi (bottom) and hip from bashing about on the icy sled run.
The lack of animal rights in Korea became apparent when watching the bare handed fishing contest at the ice fest. It truly was one of the oddest things I have ever seen, it was like something straight out of one of those cruel Japanese game shows. Groups of shivering people dressed in shorts, t-shirt and flip flops, awaited the moment they were let into a small, icy pool to grab at salmon with their bare hands. First off was the kids and teen competition. People were grabbing fish and viciously bashing them either around the head or on the side of the pool only to be met with rapturous cheers and applause from the crowd. The fish carcasses were then placed in pockets or down t-shirts before fishing for more. However cruel though, it wasn’t a dead dog in a bin.
As part of Joel’s Christmas present from me and to cap of an excellent couple of weeks, last night Joel and I went to the glitzy, glamorous ‘Top Cloud’ restaurant from where there are amazing views across the city. However, now that holiday time is nearly over, Joel and I have to curb our over indulgent eating habits and prepare for the encroaching marathon that we’ll be running. We also need to start planning our winter camps which begin this Wednesday and run for two and half weeks. A couple of films and difficult word searches should keep the kiddies busy until 12pm when we finish for the day!
So, now it’s the middle of January and we have such a small amount of time before our contracts end in May. Our main post-Korea idea is to go to Thailand. We’ve been in touch with an agency that places teachers in government schools around the north of the country. We’ve applied for a short four month contract which, if all goes well, we’d be starting as soon as we finish here and completing in September of this year after which we hope to spend a couple of months travelling. Fingers crossed.
I'll be posting some pics on the photo site so keep your eyes peeled! And no, the dead dog won't be there.
posted by Rakhi and Joel @ 4:29 PM
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