It's Spring

It looks like spring is finally arriving. We had a lovely week a few weeks back, but were back in the cold for the past few weeks. Today, it's a sunny 21 degrees. I have opened the windows, and closed the mosquito screens, because I know it won't be long before we see them. The temperature is supposed to go to 24 degrees later in the week.

The pic of the week shows my apartment building, called 'Bestuh Bil' (I think it's supposed to be Best Villa), and referred to in work as Site F. My apartment is on the 3rd floor (in Ireland it would be the second), but this is the front of the building, and I'm at the back.

Trips to Seoul
--------------
I've been back in Seoul so many weekends since I moved down here, I'm like a culchie who's just moved to Dublin. The first was to collect stuff from my sister's, then it was St. Patrick's weekend, then it was the gay wedding of my friends Cam and Saejin (with the Grand Slam match later that night), and this weekend I was up because my friend Joanna is moving back to UK. She's travelling overland, which I'm very interested in hearing more about. She gets a boat to China today, and after 4 weeks there will go home on the Trans-Siberian Express through China, Mongolia, Russia and Poland.

The Grand Slam
-----------------
There was nowhere better to go for the Grand Slam game against Wales except The Wolfhound in Itaewon. The match was at 2.30am, and I arrived having been at a wedding since 4.30 that afternnon. I was meeting my friend Jonathan there, and everyone was in very high spirits before the match even started. Being down 6-0 at half time did dampen our spirits a bit. But the two tries in the second half, and the tension of the closing minutes really put us through our paces until the explosion of celebration when the whistle went. What an unforgettable night.

For non-Irish readers, this is the 6-nations rugby championship, and the winning Grand Slam means that you have beaten the other 5 countries. Ireland beat Wales 17-15, winning only their second Grand Slam. The previous win was back in 1948.

Students
---------
I've got to know my students quite well at this stage (we're just a couple of weeks from mid-term!). Most of my classes are with Chinese students in the International Business school, Solbridge that I mentioned last week. I then have a University Freshman (first year) class of Korean Students, and I really have fun in that class. I'm never that mad about teaching kids, and so my middle school class is just ok. There are five Korean students in it, aged between 12 and 14.
-----
Well, that's it for this week. I just realised that Sunday is Easter, so guess what, I'm off to Seoul again. Clara is preparing an Easter Sunday dinner. No time off for Easter though, I'm afraid.

So Happy Easter, and until next week,

Anyeong-hi kaseyo,

Éamon

Today's headline from The Korea Herald: U.S. seeks strong response to N.K. launch