Korean Age

The weather has improved this week. We're back to 10 degrees as I write. Although tomorrow is forecast as windy with a high of 4 and a low of zero degrees.

The pic of the week shows Vio from my school in Sinpung. It's a while since I was there, but I realise that I hadn't used any pics.

Party for Sellinne
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Sellinne is Clara's friend. She had her birthday during the week. We had a party for her in the apartment last Saturday. She's been so helpful to us. For anything that requires Korean we get on to Sellinne. Booking a visa run, getting cable and internet, translating Korean websites or booking concert tickets - it's a phonecall straight away to Sellinne.

It was a great night. We started about 6pm, and over the night a lot of people came along. Clara made a Thai curry and a vegetable bake, and we had a good laugh. Afterwards, we headed down to Itaewon where we got the tail end of the Ireland Argentina match.

Korean age
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Korean age is different to western age. When you're born you're 1. They count the time in the womb as your first year. You 'age' at the new year, not on your birthday. So on the next new year you're 2. It's possible for a baby 2 days old to be 2. Clara works with a girl whose baby was 2 within five days of birth, because she was born at the end of the year. So Korean age is 1-2 years older than western age.

It used to be based on the Chinese New Year, called Lunar New Year here, but now they're increasingly using the calendar new year. Also, some younger people are now using western age.

Piano Man
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I forgot to mention last week that I went to see Billy Joel in concert the previous weekend. He was playing 2 nights in Seoul, in the Olympic Gymnasium in Olympic Park. It was a great gig. He played all the old favourites, and the crowd seemed word perfect. They have little shops inside the venue, so you can pop out to buy a few cans of beer during the gig. Very civilised.

University applications
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The university applications continue. I've dropped some applications to the colleges by hand, so I can check out the campuses, and most seem quite nice places to work. Some others have been submitted by post, and there are more going this week. I should know if I'm called for interview by Hongik, my university of choice, from their website on Monday. So wish me luck.
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Well, that's it for this week. The final applications will be sent during the week, and hopefully I'll have some interviews scheduled. It's hard to believe it's almost December. Most people here are staying for Christmas. It's not a big holiday here, and a lot of people just have the 25th off work.

Until next week,

Annyeong haseyo,

Éamon

Today's headline in The Korea Times: Prosecution Raids Home, Office of Key Roh Sponsor

Enda's holiday

I'm going a little back in time with this mail, and recalling Enda's two week visit.

I'm also working on my university applications. There is a huge amount of supporting documentation required, so I'm waiting on receipt of university transcripts from Dublin.

The pic of the week shows Enda, Clara and myself having a wonderful meal outside the city of Wonju.

Tourist Seoul
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It was Enda's second visit to Korea. He was over with Clara to visit my father four years ago. He hadn't seen much of Seoul on that trip, and so we started off by doing the tourist spots. Mostly the palaces.

Enda also wanted to see the headquarters of the World Taekwondo Association, which is here in Seoul. We went over one morning, and were lucky enough to catch a demonstration show. It was really impressive, I hadn't seen much Taekwondo before and I was amazed. At the end they asked if we wanted to come forward for photos. I assumed they meant to take them, so myself and Enda moved down to the floor of the gym. A guy there took the camera, and gestured for us to go into a group photo. As we took our places we realised that all the others were international delegates, wearing suits and delegate badges. I can imagine them all going through the photos wondering who the two imposters in shorts and t-shirts were.

Travelling
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My father has a 12-year old Jaguar car that he never uses, it has just 20,000km on the clock. We took it out of storage to travel around the country. Our first journey was to a restaurant owned by one of his students in Wonju. We were made good time. At 3.30 I remember Michael saying we'd be there by 4pm. Unfortunately, we were again dependent on Korean directions. We drove hither and yon in the vicinity of the restaurant, sometimes within metres. Every time we phoned we were told how close we were. We drove over roads, boreens, dirt tracks and through motorway building works, eventually arriving at the restaurant sometime around 8pm.

Over the next few days, we visited the largest cave in Asia, Hwanseongul, and the historical capital, Gyeongju.

The Seoul of the Party
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What an old pun! When we got back to Seoul, we concentrated more on the night life. Seoul is a city where you can find a open bar at any time of the day and night. I was the one not working, so I was out with Enda to 5, 6 or 7am. Even 9am on one occasion. By the time he left I think we were all in need of a week of sleep. Preferably at The Priory.

University applications
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I've spent this week getting my university applications together. The application process is very bureaucratic, and I had to write essays about my teaching philosophy. However, once the first one was done the rest have been pretty straight forward. Three had closing dates this week, and there are more next week, and more in early December. Hopefully I'll get something from one of them! I should know if I'm called for interview in early December.
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The temperature has really dropped in the last few days. The night before last it was minus 5, feeling like minus 11. And it only seems like last week I was sweltering in the heat and humidity! Today the temperature seems to have risen, but there was a little snow earlier on.

Well, that's it for this week,

So until next week,

Annyeong haseyo,

Éamon

Today's headline in The Korea Times: S. Korea's Subway, Railway Strikes Averted

Halloween

Folks,

I'm getting back into my routines. I'm currently preparing my applications for a number of universities which are now recruiting.

The pic of the week shows the motley crew that prepared for the Halloween fancy dress in the Wolfhound on Saturday. Back: Clara, Sarah, Norah. Front: Sean, Sellinne, Brian and Elmer. I'm behind the camera in an amazing costume. Pity you missed it.

Finishing in California Language School
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While we'd agreed on September 26 as my final day in Sinpung, it wasn't until the Thursday that my departure was confirmed. I was happy enough. I enjoyed my time there, although it was difficult being the only non-Korean on the staff, and I never warmed to teaching kindergarten.

On my final night they took me out for a Korean meal. It was in one of the traditional sit-on-the-floor restaurants which are everywhere. We then cook the food on hot coals in a bucket in the centre of the table, as I explained before. It was delicious. We also had beer and sojo (the local poteen). I was so full at the end, and then they decided that we'd go somewhere else for seafood!

Back to Kyeong Li Dan
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The following day I moved back to Clara's. It's a much more lively area than Sinpung, and it's so close to the nightlife of Itaewon, a ten minute walk away. We have a large selection of restaurants and bars within easy reach.

Enda's holiday
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My brother Enda arrived on October 5, and was here for two weeks. I'll write about it in more detail again, but it was great that I was off work and available to spend time with him. We had three parts to the holiday. The first was sightseeing around Seoul. Then we travelled around the country for a few days. Finally, there was the party phase back in Seoul. Enda took full advantage of the fact that you'll find bars open around the clock. By the time he left we were all wrecked, and we nearly had to pour him onto the plane. We had a really great time, but I took nearly a week to recover.

Halloween
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I always seem to celebrate Halloween more away than I ever do at home. Halloween isn't a Korean celebration, so Itaewon, as the main foreigner hub, was full of people in a variety of costumes. We went to The Wolfhound on Saturday, and it was a thronged. First prize went to a guy who dressed up as a mad cow being carried around on the president's back. A throwback to the protests about American beef earlier in the year. It was excellent.
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Well, that's it for this week. The weather has got a good bit cooler, and the trees have taken on beautiful autumnal shades. The days are mostly sunny and we've had hardly any rain. Top temperatures this week range from 13 to 18 degrees centigrade.

Until next week,

Annyeonghi Keosayo,

Éamon

Today's headline from The Korea Times: S. Korea to Hike Fiscal Spending by $10 Billion Next Year