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