Seven Months Down, Five To Go

I realised today that my schedule hasn’t changed this month, and while that’s one of the things I wanted to happen while I was here, I did mean a schedule with a couple more classes and students. I have also discovered that I am far more productive when I have less down time. Essentially, aside from all the wonderful adventures I have had on the weekends and the fun stuff I get up to some evenings I have done bugger all with my weekdays.

I have spent a lot of the time “thinking” about what my next move should be, and the problem with having too much time is that it’s easy to get distracted. Like I predicted, Jo plus boredom plus shops equals a significantly dented bank balance, but also another stamp in the passport, so not all bad.

I am considering doing a PGCE when I get back home, but once I start researching my options I end finding other things that look appealing, like my bed. If I was a computer, my setting would be hibernation. But I am very aware that time is moving at a ridiculous speed, so I should get serious. Even though I have been doing the equivalent of one workday over an entire week November has sped by faster than an ajumma at a rice cake sale.

As my Mum would say, I am so laid back I am horizontal. It no longer annoys me that I have to find out information about my job through my students. I do miss my younger students though, so I have taken to annoying my former colleagues by popping down to the third floor and distracting grades 3 through to 5.

So I will spend a little bit longer wondering if I should become a history teacher, then I will decide that I should and then I will probably change my mind again. We’ll see. I will throw my blog open to you the readers though, if you have any questions for me ask away-it will give me something to do!

22 Hours in a Temple.

I will be the first to admit that I am as spiritual as a tea spoon, but I have visited so many temples now that it was only fitting that I should do a temple stay while I am here. Me, Rachel and Paul went to the Lotus Lantern International Meditation Centre this weekend just gone (22-23 November) and experienced a slice of Korean Buddhism. The stay was co-ordinated by two Russian monks, and the centre belongs to the Korean-Zen school of thought.

Our journey started in Hongseong, we took the train into Yongsan, the subway to Song-Jeong (line 5), a bus to Onsuri (a bleak looking town on Ganghwa-do, a small island just off the northwest coast of South Korea, and close to the border of North Korea) and finally a taxi to the Centre. There was only one building on the grounds that looked like the traditional wooden structures that dominate the majority of temples, but even upon arrival at 2pm it was clear this was a quiet and peaceful place. The three of us were the only people on the Temple Stay program, apparently in the summer groups of 30-50 people attend the centre, but we were glad that this was going to be a more personal experience.

Here’s what we did for 22 hours:

Saturday. 2pm-4pm-Arrival. We were assigned rooms, Paul eventually got a room to himself, and me and Rachel shared. The ondol (under-floor heating) was on the whole time we were there, which was handy as it was cold outside, and in true traditional Korean style we were sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor. If anything it was too hot (you know what I am like!). We were given some rather fetching grey uniforms to wear for the duration of our visit. There was also a group of Koreans on a retreat at the centre, they kept a constant supply of green tea going and quite possibly had elastic bladders.

4pm-Orientation-one of the Russian monks gave us a small tour of the main shrine and a talk about the history of the centre. To begin with he gave off a vibe as though he didn’t like the intrusions (“before it was peaceful and good, and we had no visitors”), but later he seemed more relaxed (“this and that,” “whatever”). He also showed us the etiquette for the prostrations (bowing) and chanting.

5pm-Dinner. All the food at the centre is donated, and the one rule is that you eat everything on your plate. As it was rice and vegetables, that was not really a problem!

6pm-Evening Chanting. During all three sessions I just kept up with the bowing and didn’t attempt the chanting. The temple provides a folder with all the chants written out in English, but it was hard enough bowing, head to the ground, let alone keeping with the chants.

6.30pm-8pm-Introduction to Buddhism and Meditation. The centre is fairly new, so the room we went to next had a nice big screen that came down from the ceiling, but a rubbish sound system. Surely if you are going to go for hi-tech gadgets, you go for the good ones! We watched a short advertisement on Korean Buddhism, which seemed to be largely highlighting the beauty of Korean temples, and the sojued up state of smiley, happy westerners at festivals. At least that’s the message I took away from it. Our friendly neighbourhood monk then demonstrated how to meditate. Essentially you sit very still and breathe normally. You have to clear your mind and try and count to 10-counting on the exhales only. It’s very difficult as your mind just works overtime and you don’t even realise you have spent 5 minutes singing songs in your head. This was one of my favourite parts of the weekend, despite the fact I couldn’t stop swallowing and felt like my throat was seizing up. Good times!

After 20 minutes of mediation we went back to our rooms and got ready for bed. Due to the Koreans on their retreat morning chants had been moved forward an hour, to 3am….eek! So me and Rachel had a 9pm feast of digestive biscuits and went to sleep.

Sunday, 2.40am-Woke up, definitely not my idea of a good time, but once we were up it wasn’t too bad.

3am: Pre-dawn (pre-pre-dawn!) chanting and 108 prostrations. We got to the shrine a little early to bag a spot by the heater-which me and Rachel regretted 20 bows in, as we over-heated! In between bows we removed layers, and we all managed to have a good early morning work out!

4am-4.30am: Meditation-in my case this was an exercise in not falling asleep!

6am: Breakfast in absolute silence-not that I had much to say at that time in the morning. We had quite a lot of free time in between each activity, Paul tried to get some more sleep, Rachel read, and I sort of dozed and wrote in my journal. Me and Rachel also waited for the sunrise-but the effect was spoiled by the trees.

7.30am-Walk to a shrine with the other Russian monk, the comedy monk! 10 minutes into the walk he had warmed up into his routine and was telling us that Korean style of meditation was too strict as a result of the Japanese occupation and bastardisation. He also told he had a nickname for his abbot-Nazi?! But he got most animated when he was talking about the British movies he liked to download-from James Bond to Hot Fuzz. It’s a hard life!

Between 8.30-9.30am we drank tea with the comedy monk, and he kept us entertained as he told us about Korean Buddhism.

9.30am-copying Sutra. This is was fun. We traced three versions of the same sutra-in Chinese, Korean and English. Bizarrely it didn’t feel like we has nearly been up for 7 hours already! Plus it meant we get a free personalised souvenir!

11am-Mid-day Chanting. I think that the sessions in the shrine were the only time I felt a bit uncomfortable, largely due to my lack of beliefs.

11.30am-Lunch, after which we packed up, got back into our civilian clothes and were given a lift back to Onsuri.

It was definitely an interesting and good experience (don’t think enlightening is the word!) It was very chilled out-you could never say waking up at 2.40 in the morning is relaxing though! It’s definitely something I only need to do once though and I am glad that I did it.

Taipei....Made in Taiwan!

Since my schedule has officially had enough changes to qualify for the Guinness Book of Records I figured I would make the most of my free time. So I booked myself on a flight to Taipei, Taiwan for a three day weekend and I am extremely glad that I did. With so much free time on my hands I have been spending my wages down town in Hongseong on stuff I don’t necessarily want or need, so it made a lot more sense to travel to a new place and spend money there instead! Like with Hong Kong I thoroughly recommend Taipei as a travel destination, it has museums, temples, delicious food, bustling night markets, beautiful gardens, a lush zoo, a fabulous transport system and the tallest completed building in the world (at the moment)! Oh, and the weather was nice and warm, oh and dry too!

Friday 14th November.
Once I arrived in Taipei I went straight to the hostel (Camels’ Oasis) and dropped my bag off, and then I got stuck in with the sightseeing! The Metro (MTR) in Taipei is very comprehensive and all of the major sights are accessible from it. I particularly liked the above ground lines, as they are a great way to sightsee and catch glimpses of Taipei 101 and general city life. Plus the EasyCard saved a lot of time, effort and money. I was most impressed by the queuing at stations, and the waiting until others have disembarked before getting on. If you have ever experienced the subway in Korea you will understand why, the chaos and death stares from impatient ajummas are a story in themselves.


My first stop was the National Palace Museum, home to lots of ancient Chinese artefacts. Bizarrely every room I went into was populated by a tour group of Koreans! Perhaps it’s because I tune into the language, but I definitely notice Koreans more readily when I am outside of South Korea now. I then moved onto the first of five temples that I visited, Bao-an Temple. Temples in Korea are extremely beautiful, but there is no denying that aesthetically they tend to look the same after the first two, so the temples in Taipei offered a nice contrast. Spirituality is very much alive in Taipei as most of temples were full of worshippers rather than tourists, and the temples house a range of Taoist, Buddhist and Chinese folk religion deities too.


Across the street from the Bao-an Temple was the Confucius Temple (see above), where I was lucky enough to get a free guided tour from ones of the helpers, who explained many of the features of the quiet, simple temple. The Greatest Master (as he is seen by many Chinese) wanted his disciples to think for themselves and study the world around them. As a teacher he sought education for more than just the elites and as a result of his work his birthday is celebrated as Teachers’ Day.



Of course I had to visit Taipei 101. Did I mention that it’s currently the tallest building in the world? 101 floors, 449 metres tall (not on a mountain likes some towers I could mention!), and lights that are colour co-ordinated depending on the day, what more could you want!? It was dark by the time I made it to the tower, but the views were still breathtaking. The outdoor deck was open on the 91st floor making me very aware of the fact I was literally as high as the clouds! I particularly like the thought behind the architecture, a mix of the modern and the traditional. It mimics the traditional pagoda shape and is split into eight sections. This is significant because eight is considered a lucky number in Chinese. The tower literally towers over the rest of Taipei, so you never really feel boxed in by skyscrapers.

Saturday 15th November.
The best thing about the Metro is you can plan your day based on where things are in relation to Metro stations and which line they are on, it makes decisions a lot easier. My first stop was the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, where I was greeted by “Johnny B. Goode” blaring out of some speakers. This immediately put me in a good mood, you all know how much I love Back to the Future! From the grounds of the Hall you get a really great view of Taipei 101 (I admit it, I am little bit obsessed). Sun Yat-sen was one of the founding fathers of modern China. I was once again lucky with my timing and caught the changing over of the guards, lots of twirling and stamping, but not a patch on Prague!

I then went to two temples in quick succession. First, possibly the most used temples in Taipei, Longshan Temple (see above). There were lots of people making offerings to their deities, and a lot of incense being burnt. It was also a good place for me to sit and people watch for a while. The next temple, Tien-ho was literally in the middle of a busy shopping district, you just walk down a busy street and there is the entrance to a small, but charming temple. I avoided the shops that surrounded this temple, though Taipei does look like a bit of a heaven for shoppers.



The Botanical Gardens were very lush and green, and they felt very tropical with all the palm trees. Again it made a nice contrast with the autumn colours of South Korea, and seemed like a nice place to get always from the stresses of city-life. Right next door was the National Museum of History, which was less about history and more about ancient Chinese art. There was a good exhibit on coffee houses though and the impact of western cultural and Japanese occupation.

A ten minute walk from the MTR Zhishan station found me in a gorgeous hill-top park with you’ve guessed it, another temple (Hueiji Temple)! The temple was striking, perhaps more enticing than the view of Taipei from the top of the hill, which again demonstrated the sheer scale of Taipei 101. My next stop, as the sun went down, was the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. The monument is surrounded by a massive park and the Hall and statue are very grandiose and seemed almost fitting of a President whose life and politics are now under scrutiny from both historians and Taiwanese politicians figuring out the directions Taiwan will take.


After a quick shower and change of clothes back at the hostel, I headed out to the Shilin Night Market, home to a wide variety of food and street vendors. This was perhaps the one place I missed having company, as I haven’t quite mastered the art of eating out alone. Plus because of the nice weather the food stalls and streets were overcrowded with people. But it was definitely a feast on the senses-particularly the stinky tofu, which I didn’t brave.

Sunday 16th November.

I was rudely awoken by the person in the bunk below me in the hostel. His alarm was My Sharona, and after he let it run for the tenth time I got up, packed my bag and checked out. This was the same idiot who asked me why I was going to bed so early on a Saturday night!? With the clouds as dark as my mood at this point I headed straight to the zoo. Thankfully after a light drizzle the weather perked up, and so did my mood when I saw how nice the zoo was. The layout was easy to navigate, the enclosures looked like some thought had gone into them and there was real ice in the penguin enclosure not rocks posing as ice! I wandered around for a good three hours before heading back to the centre of Taipei and on to the airport. One gorgeous sunset from the plane later and I was back in South Korea.

I am so glad that I took the opportunity while I could, and I would thoroughly recommend a three day weekend in Taipei if you ever get the chance.

A Weekend in the Nineties......I mean Daejeon.

The very first weekend of November was spent in the city of Daejeon (not to be confused with Daecheon-which is a beach town in the same province, Chungcheongnam-do). Despite the fact everyone always gets off the train in Hongseong there isn’t a direct line between Hongseong and Daejeon, So on the Saturday morning we caught the train up to Cheonan and then got another train back down to Daejeon. The best thing about this was the omelette and cheese slice toast we grabbed in Cheonan. 맛있어요! Oh and the umpteenth conversation me and Rachel have had about food we miss from home!


When we arrived in Daejeon we took the subway to the World Cup Stadium to watch Daejeon Citizens vs. Daegu FC. The stadium wasn’t exactly bursting with fans but there was a pretty good atmosphere, even from all ten of the Daegu fans! Plus, tickets were only a fiver, which meant we could enjoy the match with a can of Cass and some noodles at half time. Yep, I am living on the wild side over here. We discovered that most of the players would have a good career as K-Drama actors or Olympic divers. For some of the game it felt a bit like being at a boyband concert, there was a small group of screaming school girls behind us who felt the need to yelp at the most ridiculous times. Nevertheless, it was a pretty entertaining match even with the game ending in goalless draw.

We had a nice chilled out evening once we had found a motel near the main train station. We ate out at a delicious Japanese restaurant, drank steamed milk, watched Body of Lies at the cinema and had another beer at a quiet bar. One of my pet peeves with bars in Korea is the fact you often have to purchase안주-a side dish to accompany the alcohol. If you don’t buy a side dish you can be refused service as it’s seen as the same as a cover charge. We just ordered the cheapest fruit dish on the menu-which turned out to be tinned peaches in ice. Korean drinking culture is a very sharing one, from the 안주 to the “one-shot” with the soju to the fact you can’t get a simple mixer (vodka and coke etc.) you have to spend £35 buying the whole bottle of vodka. All this is great if you are in a big group and plan on getting nice and merry, but it’s not so fun if you just want a quiet drink because that normally leaves you one option-beer.


On the Sunday we took a trip back to the nineties, 1993 to be exact, when we visited the Expo Park. Lonely Liar puts a nice glossy spin on it when it describes the “space-age pavilions” of the park, maybe they would have been space age in 1893, but even with, or perhaps because of, S Club 7 and Bon Jovi blaring out of the speakers (!) the Park felt dilapidated and unloved. You definitely got the impression it was a popular place in its hey-day (emphasis on day), as there were more toilets than you could ever want just waiting forlornly for the coach loads of people that will never come. Getting to the park and the Science Museum opposite served as a reminder that South Korea doesn’t get a lot of English speaking tourists, like in Gwangju there was no English signage for the buses and the confusing signs and maps gave the impression that buses stop in places that they don’t. Nevertheless, once I had eaten (I was very hungry that day) we managed to make it fun, and the autumn leaves gave the rusted up park some much need colour.

Update on my schedule-I am still only teaching the three one-on-ones Monday to Thursday, and as far as I am aware still getting paid the same amount. Obviously I shouldn’t complain about this too much, but in the back of my mind I know that my schedule will change again any minute. So it feels like I am constantly on edge. November has flown by so far though and I am nearly at the seven month mark. I guess I am just taking away different skills from this experience than I was expecting to.

What bloody schedule?!

When Christina dropped the encrypted bombshell a couple of weeks ago that as of November I would no longer be teaching Elementary I made a bit of a joke out it.
Step One: No classes.
Step Two: No apartment.
Step Three: A field trip to the airport with all my belongings and my passport, “we are off to see the planes.”
On Monday I was ready to skip straight from Step One to Step Three. Warning, in this entry I will ramble, and I will rant...and I will not apologise for that.

To be sure, as I have mentioned on this blog, my Elementary schedule wasn’t overly fabulous to begin with. But I was starting to make progress, even the boys in Grade Five were better behaved, and the kids in Grade Three were finally warming to me. Over half my battle had been due to the fact my schedule kept changing, and so I couldn’t get into a proper routine with the kids. Oh, and not to mention that the department hadn’t been told the students that Fely was gone. I was always suspicious of that, so imagine my “surprise” when I arrive to work on Monday to see that she’s back and taking over my classes.

Trying to get a straight answer in this Hagwon is a lot like trying to fasten your shoelaces with your hands tied behind your back. So Fely telling me she was back because the kids kept asking for her didn’t exactly calm my fears and paranoia that I was going to be fired for my teaching not being good enough or something equally bogus. “Hey Timmy, you know how much you miss Hammy the Hamster? Well, we’ve raised him from the dead just to shut you up!”

I was told to call Christina, who did nothing to soothe my fears, she just told me she would talk to me “later.” It turns out that my director is opening a new English and Maths academy on the fifth floor of the building. Over the last couple of days I have been given slightly more information. Apparently the manager of the Elementary department “has no need for a foreign teacher.” Read: she has no need for a foreign teacher who can’t speak Korean. Though unless she had a problem with the job I was doing, I don’t really see how this is an issue. I was hired as an English teacher, not to be her new best friend. Last week Grade Three made me laugh when they showed such shock and pity that I couldn’t speak Korean, bless.

I am so fed up with the whole situation right now. Yet, I know I should be enjoying this time while it lasts. I am still teaching my three one-on-ones, a task which amounts to two hours of work a day. At the moment I don’t have to work Fridays. Christina has no idea when the new academy will be open, or when I can expect a new timetable, and I will still be paid the same wage. Obviously I am not arguing with this logic, but I didn’t come to Korea to sit around in my apartment wasting the days away or blowing all my hard earned cash on crap I don’t even want.

The burning question I have had over the last couple of days is “Why the *beep* was I hired if there isn’t a job for me to do?” Seriously, is that good business practice? My schedule and workload has been so haphazard and inconsistent during my time here, that I wouldn’t be surprised if I was asked to work on reception for a couple of weeks. “여보세요, 서울 학원. 네, 네, 네.” Job done.

More than anything, I would have preferred to have seen out my teachings with the Elementary kids and then gone home to the United Kingdom thinking that I made a slight difference to some of the students. Now I won’t be able to have that because I will have to start again with a new bunch of students. Who knows how long it will be before that changes, and I have to move to the second floor of the building (which is empty) to teach parrots how to say “Welcome to Seoul Hagwon. Fred the Fly…..” oh wait….

I guess all I can do now is wait and see what this new schedule brings, and hope I don’t end up broke by the end of the week. It looks like I will have to spend more time with Christina. While it will be a nice change from the stony silence of the “Third Floor,” and I am glad she can communicate in English, I have a feeling it’s going to be a rocky relationship.

I don’t think I can be arsed with anymore of all this change though, my patience has worn so thin it would win America’s Next Top Model merely on the merits of its cheek bones. Meh……

We are sold out of Seoul/Soul jokes........

As I will explain in my next entry, I have a lot of free time on my hands so you can expect lots of updates. First though, I want to take a trip down memory lane and tell you about a trip I took a whole 2 weeks ago. On 18-19 October me and Viro met up with Rachel and Paul in Seoul. Once a month Rachel and Paul have a session in the capital city for the kindergarten, I meet them once they have finished and we explore Seoul. It’s a good way to experience the city, and slowly but surely we are seeing all the major sites, museums, and Yongsan Motels!

This weekend was no different. We went ice-skating at Lotte World, we went shopping in the malls of Dongdaemun (minus Paul who went to the cinema), we checked out some free art galleries, we explored a palace (Deoksugung) and we went to Chongdong Theatre for a traditional Korean cultural experience.

Ice-skating was good fun, and surprisingly I managed to stay upright. For any of you who have seen me on dry land you know this was no mean feat! Plus since it was the second time I have been ice-skating for around seven years, so I was chuffed! Since May, Rachel and I have promised ourselves a shopping spree in Dongdaemun, home to cheap malls and pineapple sticks. This weekend was that spree, though Viro spent the most. I should mention that despite any weight I have lost I am still considered “large” by Korean standards, which is why I am half grateful for “free size.” Some things are just ridiculously small, but the fashion at the moment seems to be baggier clothes which fit ok on me. I felt a bit violated when trying to buy a belt, but all of us were pleased with our purchases and Dongdaemun (which is the Great East Gate) looked beautiful all lit up when we made our way to the subway station.

We met back up with Paul in Yongsan and went to our new favourite motel, characterised by hard pillows and a Christmas tree in the lobby. Located on the edge of the red light district, but just a minute away from Yongsan station and 30,000 won a night, it’s become our regular motel when we visit Seoul. After a quick fashion show of our new clothes, (the motel is worth it if only for its mirrors!) we watched some Simpsons and went to sleep.

Rachel had booked us tickets for the theatre on the Sunday afternoon, so to fill time before the show we checked out the area around City Hall. I visited Deoksugung palace earlier in the year, but I still think it’s an impressive palace and it has the added bonus of the changing of the guard ceremony. It’s always nicer when you experience a place with other people too. We also went to the Seoul Museum of Art, free admission and lots of modern art. Before we headed to the show we grabbed some food at a cutlet restaurant, none of us braved the “spawn of kimchi,” though we all wanted to know what it was! 

The show, Miso (Smile), was really interesting, a combination of traditional Korean songs, dance and instruments meant to capture the various emotions that a woman experiences when she is in love. I have to say I particularly enjoyed the drumming and the fan dance, and probably didn’t fully appreciate the underlying message. Definitely recommend it though.

After that action packed weekend we grabbed the train back from Yongsan. It was packed, so we only managed to get one seat. Me and Viro found ourselves a spot on the floor of the café carriage (number 4 on both the Saemaul and Mugunghwa) and didn’t leave it until we got back to Hongseong. Definitely another weekend for the “good times” pile!

Since my next entry will be about the Hagwon, just wanted to say now, I am very pleased and relieved that Obama is going to be the next President of the United States.