Trip to Busan

Folks,

Greetings from Seoul on a sunny evening. It's 27 degrees, with humidity at 69%. Yesterday, it was lashing rain, with humidity at 100%, so this is a lot better. We are heading into the monsoon season, so I can expect more rain and higher temperatures.

The pic of the week is taken from the Busan tower, and shows the view over the port area of Busan, where we were last week.

Apologies for the delay in this weeks email, but we don't have an internet connection in the house, so we have to rely on picking up a signal from outside, which isn't always available. I know I'm also behind in replying to emails and Facebook messages, so please bear with me!

Busan
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Clara had a few days off, so we headed to Busan on the high-speed KTX train, which travels at 300kph. The journey is 3 hours, and we arrived on Saturday night. We met up with Paul, who I worked with in Costa Rica, and his Costa Rican girlfriend, Esperanza. We stayed in Haeundae, which is where Paul and Esperanza live, and the most popular beach in Korea. It wouldn't be the best beach in the world. It's fine, but it makes me think that beaches are not the strong point of the Korean experience.

It was also much colder there than in Seoul. I had to wear my jacket out every evening, which I don't do here.

We stayed at a love motel. They're popular here because most young people live at home, and it's difficult to have somewhere for your loving. I don't think they're designed for brothers and sisters travelling together, though. The guy on reception seemed most put out even at the request for a room with two beds. That said, the facilities were excellent. It cost just €18 for the room, and we had a PC with internet access, a TV and DVD player with a DVD library downstairs, coffee and water, and a large jacuzzi bath!

First impressions
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My first impression of Korea is how safe it is. Having come from Costa Rica where everyone is so crime conscious, it's amazing to come to a city where people leave down their bags to go off to look at timetables in the train stations. I saw a guy unloading boxes of trainers to a shoe shop, and he just left the boxes piled outside on the footpath while he transferred them into the shop. People leave mobile phones on tables, I took a beer from a fridge at an outdoor food stall, and practically had to wake up the owner who was dozing in front of a TV. Girls travel alone through the streets late at night without a concern.

The other thing you notice is how technologically advanced it is. The city lights up at night in neon and huge TV-screen style advertising hoardings. On the subway almost everyone is glued to some sort of technological device, reading email, playing games, accessing internet or watching video. I'm in my element with my little iPod which I was normally too shy to use in public in case it looked like I was showing off.

Job hunt
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Before I'd even started looking for a job this week I was offered one. It's teaching elementary school kids, and it's located a little out of the city. The pay is on the lower end of what I've been told to expect, but it includes accommodation. The recruiter said that the school is looking for an emergency replacement, and that I could take it for the moment while I got something else. I decided not to take it, because I've only just started the job hunt, and I feel that I should know more what's on offer before making a decision. It would be perfect if I needed to work straight away, but I'd rather put my energy into getting the right job. And I have enough money to tide me over for the moment.

Social life
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The social life here is certainly hectic. The bars open all night, and there have been many weekend nights that we've been home well after sunrise, at about 7 o'clock. I'm realising that at my age it's difficult to sustain that for too many nights on the trot, but I'm enjoying it all the same. After the busy weekends, I like to have a quiet week, and some nights I've even managed to do it.
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That's it for this week. I'm planning a quiet weekend, with a rooftop barbecue at a friends house on Saturday, if the rain holds off.

So until next week,

Annyonghi kaseyo,

Éamon

Yesterday's headline in The Korean Herald: Consumer Prices Jump to 10-Year High

Seoul, South Korea

Well, I'm finally on my travels again. Having spent nearly 6 months in Ireland catching up with friends and family. I'm now in Seoul, South Korea, my new home for the next year at least.

I'm in my second week here now, and only beginning to get into my routine. It's a very large Asian city, and seems very far, not just geographically, from either Ireland or Costa Rica.

The pic of the week shows the view of Seoul across the Han River. It's early evening, and you can see the evening sun on the river reflected off the buildings opposite. You can also see the Seoul tower on the green hill, Namsan, which is my landmark for getting my orientation around the city. I'm staying with my sister Clara and we live quite close to that tower.

Ireland
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I really enjoyed my time in Ireland. I thought I was just going to be there for a couple of months, but ended up staying almost six. It was a relaxing time. I sorted out a lot of things to do with my personal belongings, my finances and just generally organised my affairs. I tried working as a freelance writer, but I didn't really enjoy it. So, for now, I've decided to forget about earning money from writing, and just giving myself the freedom to write and see what I enjoy writing about.

I spent most of my time in Ennis, staying in my mother's. It was a very relaxed time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually didn't get to spend as much time in Dublin as I would have liked. The disadvantages of not having a house there that I have access to. So I ended up seeing far less of my Dublin friends than I had intended. Six months in Ireland sounds like a long time, but my time in Dublin was a lot shorter. So apologies for those of you that I didn't get a chance to meet.

Several friends came down to see me in Ennis, and they were the most satisfactory times for really catching up with people.

So why Seoul?
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I had planned to come to Asia next, and as my sister lives in Seoul (and my father), I thought that I'd stop off here on holidays en route.

However, not working for a year takes its toll on your finances, and I haven't worked since leaving Intercultura almost a year ago. Korea is well known as being the country where English teachers are best paid, and so in the end money talked.

It's also a huge world city, and I've never lived anywhere bigger than Dublin before. The population is, according to different sources I read, somwhere between 10 and 12 million. It's very modern and technological. The city at night is lit up with neon signs and large television screens showing advertising.

I'm currently staying in my sister Clara's flat. It's near the international district of Itaewon, and we've been having quite a social time since I arrived.

Plans
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I'm using my first few weeks to get to know the city, and to do the tourist trail. I'm also taking the opportunity to talk to Clara's friends, most of whom are English teachers, about the places they work and what type of schools and jobs are available. English teaching is in great demand, and I'm not worried about getting a job.

Next week I'm going to update my CV, and start to check out the websites listing what's available and the job hunt will begin.
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So that's it for this week. If you're one of those people who hasn't missed the weekly emails, and don't want to stay in the loop, I have to say I don't blame you! Just reply saying 'unsubscribe' and I'll take you off the list.

For the rest of you, apologies if I didn't see you or didn't see much of you when I was in Ireland, and I hope you'll find my description of life in Korea interesting as the weeks go by.

Until next week,

Éamon

Today's headline in The Korean Times: Lee Replaces Key Secretaries

Water, water, everywhere

This email is just going to my friends who don't live in Ireland. I don't feel that a description of life in Ireland is going to be too interesting to people living here, so I'll just include them again when I start my next travelling.

Last weekend was St. Patrick's, and the pic of the week is from The Irish Times on Tuesday. It shows kids in the parade in Gort, Co. Galway.

Water water everywhere
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Well, there is no shortage of water since I arrived back to Ireland. It rains almost every day, and the train line has been flooded for the past couple of months. It's completely submerged, I saw pictures of it in the paper. So if you're travelling from Dublin you have to get off in Limerick and get a bus to Ennis.

It's strange with water in such plentiful supply that you can't drink it. People imagine that the water would have been dodgy in Costa Rica, but it was perfectly fine. Then I move back to one of the wealthiest countries in Europe to find that the water here in Ennis is undrinkable, because there is cryptosporidium in it.

They had this problem before, and put in a temporary filter. But with the heavy rain they've had to by-pass it.

Light in the evening
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When students in Costa Rica asked me what I missed about Ireland I always said the long bright evenings in the summer. In Costa Rica the length of day varies very little over the year. But boy did I choose the wrong time to come back from that point of view. When I arrived it didn't start to get bright until about 8.15am, and then got dark just after 4. Now there's what we call 'a stretch in the evening', and it will be even more after the hour goes forward at the end of the month.

St Patrick's
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I was in Dublin last weekend, and went to a St Patrick's weekend party on Saturday. It was a great night. There were several people I hadn't seen since I'd come home and it was great to catch up. It ended up being almost a 12-hour drinking session, having started just as Ireland was being anihilated by England in the rugby, and ended up around 5am. A typical St. Patrick's.
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So that's it for this week. I'm writing on Good Friday, and my brother, Enda, is coming down on the train from Dublin to spend the weekend with us.

So, until next week,

Slán

Éamon

Today's headline in The Irish Times: Opposition says Ahern's fitness to lead now in doubt

Ennis, Ireland

Folks,

For those of you that don't know where I am, I'm in the lovely town of Ennis, County Clare in the west of Ireland. The pic of the week (not that the mails are still weekly) shows the coastal town of Lahinch on a lovely sunny day. So what have I been doing. What am I planning to do?

Christmas
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It all seems very long ago, but I had a lovely Christmas here with my family. My mother had just returned from Africa shortly after I came back from Central America, and we had Christmas in my sister Sharon's, with her husband Niall. It was a lovely relaxed Christmas. It was almost a complete family, apart from my sister Clara who's in Korea.

Trips to Dublin
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I've been on a few trips to Dublin. It's fantastic having the opportunity to meet up with people when I've been away so long. But it's strange going to Dublin when I don't have my own place there. My house in Rathmines is let, so I have to rely on the kindness of family and friends for accommodation. It's also very busy when I'm there. I'm out every night and it's really expensive when you're out every night in Dublin.

Ennis
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As I said, Ennis is a lovely town, although apart from family I know nobody here. But it's nice and relaxed, and I'm getting plenty of time to work on writing, going through all my stuff I've got stored here (and throwing out half of it), and just catching up with family. The weather is incredibly wet. I know Costa Rica has a lot of rain, but never all day, and never for many days at a time. Still, it's the west of Ireland, and you expect it. I haven't found it too difficult adjusting to the climate. I had many years to get used to it before my Central American years, and you get back into the swing of it very fast. I miss being able to throw on a t-shirt and being set for the day. Now it's trying to get out between showers and donning sweater and jacket and hat to go out. I've had some friends come down to visit, and that's been great, and a much more satisfactory way of catching up than when I'm in Dublin.

Writing
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I've found it slow progress on the writing front. I've set up a blog www.startwritenow.com to track progress, but it's all very early days, and it's a difficult career to get started in. I've read a lot of information on the whole area of freelance writing, and most people talk about how it was slow to start, so I'm prepared to give it time.

Plans
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I'm going to stay here probably until the end of next month. Then I'll go to Korea, where my sister Clara is living. My plan is to stay for a few months, and then move to somewhere else in Asia. But I'm not going to tie that down, just in case I really like Korea and decide to stay.
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So that's a quick update for now. You can email me any time at the usual address. I may do updates on the website (irishduo.blogspot.com), but I won't be sending them by email. I'll give people to opt in to my emails again when I start my next travels.

In the meantime,

Slán,

Éamon

Today's headline in The Irish Times: EU report warns of conflict with Russia over energy issue

Journey Home

Hi. Remember me? I used to clog up your inboxes on a weekly basis!

Well, I've missed writing to you, and I also feel that I didn't finish the Costa Rica story. So today read the journey home, and next week I'll give you a little update on what I've been doing since.

The pic of the week shows a couple of surfers on Lahinch Strand, where I went for a walk in my first week home. They're a little overdressed by Costa Rican standards.

Heredia
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I managed to muscle my way onto the bus to San José from Panama City. I had booked it online, and confirmed by phone, because I didn't get an email acknowledgement. But still when I arrived they had no record of my booking.

Back in Heredia I stayed once again with Joaquín, and met up with the teachers from the school. It felt a little strange knowing that I was going away from these places and people that were so much a part of my life for more than 2 and a half years. On the other hand, it was about the fifth time I'd said goodbye, and so it was high time I actually went.

Leaving Costa Rica
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I left Joaquín's house, and got a taxi directly outside. As soon as it pulled over the driver said "Hello, Éamon. How are you?" He was an ex-student! I flew from San José directly to Newark. It was a beautiful morning and we flew directly over Heredia, on a little loop I'd seen countless planes do from my balcony. I could see the apartment from the plane, getting my bearings from the swimming pool and football stadium down the road.

Newark
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Newark is in New Jersey, but it's practically part of New York. You can see Manhattan from the airport. We arrived in a snowstorm with temperatures of -2 degrees, which was such a contrast. I arrived at lunchtime and the airport closed in the afternoon so we were delayed by few hours leaving.

I was very early to the departure gate, and was there as the Irish accents (mostly Limerick) gathered around me. They were the famous New York Christmas shoppers, and if I was looking for a parody of what modern Celtic Tiger Ireland had become I couldn't have chosen better. Everyone was talking about the malls they'd been to (Woodbury Common and Jersey Gardens), the designer gear they'd got, and how much they'd had to pay for excess baggage. It was all money, money, money.

Shannon
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I've only flown into Shannon once before, and it's lovely because you land in such beautiful Irish countryside. We were supposed to land in the dark, but thanks to our late start we arrived at dawn. There were cloudless skies as we approached the coast. I could clearly see the Aran Islands and Mutton Island (I didn't know it, but I looked it up on a map when I got home). I could see the lights still lighting up Lahinch and Ennsitimon. It was beautiful.

Then once inland we were into dense dense clouds. Sharon met me at the airport. We were both true to our emotional McDonagh selves and couldn't speak for about 5 minutes.

Acclimatisation (or for the Americans - Acclimation)
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It's amazing how quickly you adjust to the temperatures, putting on extra clothes, and bringing a jacket everywhere, and turning on the heat. I guess I lived here for over 40 years, and I was in Costa Rica for less than 3, so it wasn't so foreign. The weather in my first week was beautiful. Cold days, but with clear cloudless blue skies. I got about five days of that, before the heavens opened, and the rain (and it's such cold rain) set in, and we've fairly much had it ever since.

Still, for now, it's good to be home.
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Until next week,

Slán,

Éamon

Today's headline in The Irish Times: Employers and unions split ahead of new pay deal talks

Panama City, Panama

Folks,

Well, here I am. Final week. It's hard to believe. I'm now in Panama City, and it's been so hot the last couple of days that I'm happy to be hiding away in my hotel room with the air conditioning on. The hotel is called Hotel California, and the mat outside the door actually says, Welcome to the Hotel Calfornia.

The pic of the week shows the financial district (El Cangrejo) from the old city (Casco Viejo). I'm not sure what I expected of Panama City, but it wasn't this. It's like Manhattan on the Pacific.

Leaving Ometepe
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I had a really early start on Monday, taking the 5.30am ferry from Ometepe. They gave us life jackets when we got on, and I put mine by my side on the seat. Of course, the next minute I moved and off it went into the lake. A major rescue operation ensued as they scrambled about to recover the lost jacket. And they were ultimately successful.

The journey, while still a little bumpy toward the end, was a lot less rough than the way over, and I had time to enjoy watching dawn rise over the volcanoes.

Transit through Costa Rica
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My bus took me to San José, where I had an evening in the city before getting the 11pm bus to Panama City. It was great to be back in San José and knowing where everything was. I was able to go to a good restaurant and then pop out to a cinema. Having started on Monday at 5.30am, I arrived into Panama City at 3pm on Tuesday.

Panama City
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As the bus comes in through the city it looks really beautiful, and unlike any other place I've been in Central America. There are big architected buildings with columns and lawns. And the financial district is full of high-rise banks and apartments. There are a lot of banks.

Just as I arrived news broke of the John and Anne Darwin case, the canoeist who faked his death. She had just moved here, and I was never so aware of the city in the news.

However, now I'm here a while and have had a chance to explore I have to say that there are extremes. In the wealthy areas I saw more Lexus cars than anywhere else I've ever been. But in the poorer districts you could be anywhere in Central America, and the wealth doesn't seem to have made any transfer.

The Canal
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Of course, the centre of the whole Panamanian economy is the canal. You cross it on the Puente del Las Américas when you come into the city, and although I saw ships out in the ocean there were none in the canal. I thought it would be choc-a-bloc all the time.

But they actually have the flow of traffic north (Pacific to Atlantic) in the morning, then let it clear out, then route the southern traffic in the afternoon. At night smaller vessels go in both directions.

I went to see the operation of the Miraflores locks on Thursday. To build the Canal they created a large artificial lake that stretches from the pacific side to the centre of the country, which is 84 feet above sea level. Then they they cut through the mountains (The Culeba Cut) between the lake and the Pacific. Three massive locks near each coast bring the massive ships up the 84 feet and back down again.

Because of the shape of Panama (like an S on it's side) the canal actually runs from the northwest (Atlantic) to the southeast (Pacific). So the Pacific entrance is actually east of the Atlantic!

The Canal was only handed over by the Americans to Panama on 31 Dec 1999. There was concern that Panama wouldn't be able to run it. But in the 7 years they've increased the transit rate, and have begun construction of new locks which will almost double the capacity and allow much larger ships use it. This extension was approved by referendum last year.

The size of the ships going through is amazing. The largest are called Panamax, and are built to exactly the maximum dimensions of the Canal locks. And they're massive. They pay around $250,000 to cross. And the extension will allow a whole new generation of even larger ships to use it.

Mother's Day
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I dropped my clothes to the laundry on Friday, and they were to be ready Saturday. However, when I went to collect them the whole centre was closed. It turned out 8 December is Mother's Day, a Bank Holiday. Although what bright spark came up with the idea of celebrating Mother's Day on the feast of the immaculate conception I don't know!
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Well, that's it for this week. I take the 11pm bus overnight to San José. I'm in Heredia for a couple of days, and then fly to Shannon through Newark on Thursday, arriving Friday morning.

So, until next week,

Slán go fhoil,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Prensa: 'Obedience due' in Institutional Protection Service regulation (I haven't a clue what it's about either)

Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua

Folks,

I'm now on Ometepe, an island in Lake Nicaragua. I have come to realise that I do seem to be drawn to little islands. Maybe it's because I'm from one.

The pic of the week shows some kids in the town of Altagracia on the north of the island that insisted I take their photograph.

León
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There was no direct bus from Tegucigalpa to León, so I had the driver drop me off at the crossroads, where I got a hugely overcrowded bus for the last few hours travel. Lots of the local buses in Central America, often called chicken buses, are old US school buses. This one even had a sign up telling us to protect our riding privileges by observing the same conduct as in the classroom.

I had been told that León was perhaps the most beautiful colonial city in Central America. But, for me, it didn't beat Granada which I love. However, it does have a magnificent cathedral, which is the largest in Central America.

Granada
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I had been in Granada before, back in March. You may remember that it's where I lost my wallet. As I walked down to the lake I remembered the last time I'd taken that walk, and I could recall so clearly the rising sense of panic as I realised it was gone. And when I got to the bench I had last sat on before I realised the wallet was gone I could remember that the book I had been reading was 'The Secret Life of Bees'.

It's a beautiful colonial city, and I was delighted to have the chance to get back there before leaving Central America. There were processions and bands every night while I was there, because it's the festival of La Purisma, the 10 days leading up to Immaculate Conception.

Ometepe
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Lake Nicaragua is huge. When you're on the shore it stretches beyond the horizon, and it feels like you're on the coast. In fact, before the Panama Canal was built many people preferred Nicaragua as a location. Because the Río San Juan is navigable and links the Caribbean with the lake, and then there is just a narrow stretch of land between the lake and the Pacific.

Ometepe island is created by two volcanoes that rise up in the middle of the lake and are connected by an isthmus between them. It takes an hour to sail over, and it was a really rough crossing. In a lake!

It's beautiful here, but most of the activities centre around hiking up volcanoes, or horse-riding. So way too energetic for me. I've been taking it easy, and exploring just by taking the local buses.

Mobile
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I still have my mobile phone from Ireland. It's my calendar, organiser and alarm. But in my two and half years plus in Costa Rica it never operated as a phone; it never connected to the cellular network because there was no roaming agreement. I was quite surprised when I turned it on in Guatemala at the beginning of my travels and it leapt into life and delivered me a text message. I was then able to use it throughout Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Belize and Honduras, but after crossing the border to Nicaragua it lost the Honduran signal and I've had no coverage.

So I was amazed on the boat to Ometepe for it to beep with a text message received with a special offer from O2. I wondered where it was getting the signal from, and saw that the network was none other than ICE, the Costa Rican phone company. So just as I'm about to leave they've obviously started allowing roaming!
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm going into my last full week in Central America, and I have my ticket to get a bus directly through Costa Rica and into Panama for 5 days, before returning to Heredia next week for my last few days before flying home.

So until next week,

Chau,

Éamon

Wednesday's Headline in La Tribuna: Ortega gives Assembly an ultimatum.