Ah I’ve been moving around the past week. I’ve returned to Korea and settled into my place now. I got school stuff out of the way today so now I have a little free time until classes start so I’m doing a bit for design for various projects. Anyway, I wanted to squeeze in this photo update:

20060621 Byebye Jiyoung
Jiyoung was a nice friend I made too late. Just as we were getting to know each other well she had to leave to work in the UAE. She dreamed to become an international flight attendant and finally this year after years of study she realised her dream. I’m happy for her and wish her luck adjusting to a new life. Anyway, the pictures are from her good bye party but they are mostly mess around shots.

20060621 Drink to the night
Asami, Junny and myself were all a little bored of the bars in our local area so we headed a bit deeper into the city and found a nice rooftop terrace bar.

20060621 Killer Kimichi
Random pictures of after a world cup warm-up match, outdoor bar, Will’s birthday party, my level 3 class group shot, outdoor bar again, tasty pasta, the drawings on my desk, real kitty figure next to a fake one and finally in a pool hall.

20060621 No teams
I arrived back in South Korea in time to watch the World Cup match between South Korea and France. We decided last minute to go to Seoul World Cup Stadium to watch the game. We were late in and had to sit pretty high up but it was fine. It was strange going to a stadium to find it packed out but not to actually see any teams play live. We watched the match on the big screens after some entertainment down on the pitch. South Korea didn’t play so well and luckily got a 1-1 draw.

20060621 Seoul forest
I decided to surprise Asami and take her somewhere where she hadn’t been before: Seoul Forest. It’s a big park in development to help greenery in Seoul. It’s really nice with it’s diverse range of plants and tress, play parks, skate park, horse riding centre, lake, water features etc. We had a nice day that could only have been improved by nicer weather. It was a tad grey.

20060621 Traditional Village
Me and Asami headed to a traditional village with some of the church folk. It was really nice to see how wealthy Koreans used to live a long time ago. When we went there was a traditional wedding in progress and as we were leaving a traditional band were playing. I had my body checked by a Chinese medicine doctor. She said my I’m very healthy and just need to get back into running to keep my blood pressure at a good level. We also tried on traditional clothes. Fun day.

I’ve returned home to Wales a little earlier than planned. I originally I wanted to come back later this week but I had some reasons to come home early. I guess the main reason was I need some rest. In Korea I’m busy from the time I get up until the time I sleep. So I’ve been exhausted lately. Also I needed some dentistry quite urgently. However, already I’ve realised I can’t do everything I need to do in Wales. Ten days between terms is a little short for language students considering we all live so far away. I went to the dentist today and had a missing filling replaced but there still needs to be more work done. Unfortunately, they are fully booked for the rest of my stay so I guess I have to get the remainder of the work completed in Korea. It’s a little worrying.

Ah World Cup. I’m watching South Korea and Togo right now. Korea did well to recover from being 1-0 down but they are getting too relaxed. I hope they can stick it to the end. I really wish I was in Seoul right now. The Koreans must be going crazy, especially after a comeback. I originally planned to join thousands of Koreans watching the game on a big screen in the city hall area of the city. Hopefully I’ll be back there for some of the other games and experience the inevitable craziness for myself. Tonight, I’m looking forward to seeing Brazil’s form since they are favourites.

Studying languages has been interesting and a real eye opener for my level of English. I realise although I speak English fluently my ability to explain even intermediate English grammar is lacking. The English speaking foreigners who I study with often point out that we are saying something grammatically incorrect. We usually defend ourselves by claiming it’s slang or dialect. I guess you can’t document the way people talk.

My Korean is progressing well. I’m at a critical stage right now. I’ve learnt all the grammar I need to know to converse in most situations, I just need to raise my vocabulary level and practice making sentences. I guess the next level of this course will address these issues but will require some serious memory work. Memorisation will no doubt improve my most lacking area - listening. With that improvement my confidence will rise and I can enjoy the usage of Korean more freely.

There’s always something to do in Seoul. I remember back home all we had was an endless area of bars and parks that had been simplified to avoid the endless cases of parents suing for their kids falling over. The cinema was too expensive to go often unless you had vouchers, public transport was unreliable and well overpriced, the crime rate was a serious problem and the people were just… well… miserable. Of course, I loved my home town but I didn’t know any different. Also, I look forward to going back there in a few weeks. However, Seoul really has grabbed me by the balls to put it politely. I love how no matter what time it is, if I want to go somewhere I can. The city takes a different feel at night but retains the feeling of safety. Also at night, I never have to worry about a place to sleep if I’m out beyond 2am. I go to a comfy all night coffee shop and talk with friends until we sink into the sofas and sleep. Failing that I can go to a bath house, relax in a pool of hot water, take a shower and then sleep in a communal resting area. When the subway starts up again we can simply return home and wash up if not sleep a little more. I’m only touching the surface of the things I like here but one day I plan to write this up in an illustrated book form.

I hear a common problem with all the level 3 students here, “Where has the time gone?” Seriously the last 5 weeks incredibly quickly flew by. Anyway the moments of not studying or being ill I managed to capture. Enjoy.

20060522 Aquarium Again
Me and Asami headed over to Coex to check out the aquarium one more time. Wow, it was so nice. We both really loved the jelly fish that were prettily lit up and looked almost alien.

20060522 Buddha Birthday
Every year in Seoul near the main traditional areas, people gather to celebrate Buddha’s birthday with a fantastic lantern show. The lights were beautiful and it felt dreamy at times. The night was rounded off with a big dance party on the street. It was lot of fun.

20060522 Birthday
It was my friend’s girlfriend’s birthday so we headed into the bar areas and spent the night celebrating with some drinks. I took advantage of the red lighting in the bar to make some more surreal shots.

20060522 Class fun
A series of unforced shots of my school mates. The usual group gathering on the street deciding where to go eat, walking through campus, eating, studying in a nice coffee shop and finally fun in the school’s hallways.

20060522 Science
This day was kinda fun. We head over to an arty area of the city and walked around. The guide book we had said not to miss the park but it ended up being a really tiny place with nothing going on. I guess at night time it’s alive with performances. So maybe we simply came at the wrong time. Later on we headed to the science museum. However, we didn’t leave enough time to walk around the whole building so just paid entry into the outdoor area. It ended up being some examples of old transport and a shockingly bad space ship model. However, the company I was in was good.

20060522 Villages
We checked out a new city the government is funding the construction for (I believe) just outside of Seoul. Wow, the design is so nice. Every building is different and under 5 floors high. There is some truly creative design going on here. I missed a lot with the camera though. So there is only 3 or 4 shots to see. Then we headed over to English Village. It’s a village built for Korean people to practice English. You enter through a fake immigration centre to give the feel of going to England. It’s kinda a nice touch. Then in the village there are banks, shops, restaurants, a city hall, a gym, sports fields, a school etc. So Korean people can put their English to practical use. The staff are trained to help out the Koreans and not get frustrated. It was really nice.