Footprints from December.

It has been a while since I opened an entry with a quote-but this one has been very true the last month or so-Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same. (Source-anonymous.) So to all the friends and family who read this, I love you and I am very fortunate that my heart is covered in tiny footprints.


December 2008 saw both a goodbye and a new arrival in Hongseong. Jen has gone back to South Africa, the duck restaurant has gone out of business as a result and many of the taxi drivers wait forlornly outside the apartment block for her. To send her off me and Viro took her to Seoul for one last night out, I acted as the tour guide, and Viro discovered the delights of Myeong-dong. Jen has been replaced at New Briton by Killian, who is slowly recovering from the jet-lag and culture shock and is getting used to the sleepy nature of Hongseong.

I had another month of stability schedule wise-as in only teaching the three one on ones. They kept me very entertained-particularly Sonia with her name plays-
J-Jo Teacher is
O-Old and scary teacher –Original teacher –Orange teacher

S-Sonia is not
O-Old or ugly and she has many
N-Nice friends.
I-Isn’t she kind
A-And lucky?

Since I had no news on my schedule or when my holiday would be exactly (I had been told the third week of January) I paid a visit to Christina. I discovered a whole new academy was opening in January and not a lot else. When I asked her about my holiday (bearing in mind the drama and frustration last time round) she tried to give me New Years Day and Lunar New Year off. These are public holidays in South Korea that not only do I not work anyway but I also get paid to have off. In the end I got Boxing Day, and the 29th to the 31st off. So I spent a frantic evening looking for flights and hostel for-on Monday 22nd December…..and ended up with flights to Osaka, Japan from the 27th-31st December, more on that later.

Christmas Day started with some kids yelling at me in the street-but in a good way! The ringleader had the confidence to say “HELLO” to my face, and the other shouted “hi” to my back, before one said “Merry Christmas!” Ahh bless. The day was spent around Rachel and Paul’s apartment with Viro and Killian. We had Secret Santa, Christmas songs courtesy of youtube, food wise we had mushroom soup, curry, and ice-cream, and we all wore Christmas hats. It was a really lovely day, and it made the fact we were all away from our families that little bit easier. Thank you to all everyone who sent me presents, and I am still cursing Royal Mail for being lame. Despite Skype acting up I managed to speak to my family and briefly to Helen, and all in all it was a great day.