Chuseok

After the Chinese New Year, Chuseok, or Thanksgiving, is the most important Korean Holiday.

It was a four-day weekend for me; the school was closed Friday and Monday.

The pic of the week shows John from Wales, Melanie and Lyndenne from South Africa, my father, Michael, and Mary from Clare in Clara's for Chuseok dinner on Sunday.

Chuseok
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Chuseok is on the 15th day of the 8th Lunar month, which was, apparently, last weekend. There were traffic jams all over the place as the large exit of Seoul got under way. And there were large traffic jams in Seoul as those left behind made their way to their relatives. The tradition is that everyone goes to the home of their oldest surviving male relative.

It's funny to be in the middle of a holiday that's so important for everyone living here, and which means nothing to me. I was on the bus at the weekend, and everyone was getting on with presents, and laughing, and wishing each other a happy Chuseok. And it made me realise how strange such celebrations are.

We had a gathering in Clara's apartment. There were ten of us for dinner, coming from Ireland, Wales, South Africa, the US, and Korea. I guess you could call it Irish/Korean fusion cuisine. We had traditional Korean rice cakes, along with roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. It was an excellent evening and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Gifts
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Like Christmas, Chuseok is a time to give gifts. I was surprised to be given a gift in school. A big box in a presentation bag. I laughed when I got home and opened it to find twelve tins of tuna and four of spam. Serves me right for making a joke of it.

My fame
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Living so close to the school I rarely go out without meeting kids or their parents. I'm in the supermarket, and I hear a blabbering in Korean with the words Éamon teacher in the middle. I walk through the grounds of the elementary school on my way to work and I'm like a local celebrity.

The other day I was walking past apartments, and I heard bellowed from somewhere in the building 'Hello, Éamon teacher'. I couldn't see anyone, or work out where it had come from. So I just waved at the building in general and shouted 'Hello' as if I recognised who it was.

Favourite headline of the week
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The fact that Kim Jong Il, the Dear Leader of North Korea, didn't appear for Chuseok, having already missed the country's 60th anniversary celebrations has caused much speculation about his health. My favourite headline was in The Economist - Kim Jong Ill or Kim Jong Well?

T-shirts
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You hardly ever see t-shirts with Korean on them here. They're always in English. And sometimes very bad English. A student came in the other day and proudly showed me his new t-shirt. He wanted me to tell him what it meant. I had to say that I wasn't quite sure. It said Being attracted jazz a motorbike.
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Well, that's it for this week. We're still in the 30s here, which is hotter than I expected for September. My brother Enda arrives on holidays in just over two weeks.

So until next week,

Annyeonghi kaseyo,

Éamon

Today's headline in the Korea Herald: Stocks, won resume rally as AIG bailout eases market jitters

Getting fit edition

It was a quiet week after my return from Japan. I feel I'm getting more used to teaching the kids, and I'm looking forward to a holiday weekend next weekend for thanksgiving.

The pic of the week shows the view of my street from the apartment. It's the main street of Singil Yak-Dong, or Singil Neighbourhood 6. The city is divided into districts, or Gu's, and each Gu is made up of a number of neighbourhoods, or Dongs.

School
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Things are fine in the California Language School where I work. I'm getting more used to teaching the kids, and working out how to keep discipline in the class. It's good experience, and very different from working with adults. Even the kindergarten classes are going well.

Pretty princess soldiers
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One of the things I notice here is that guys dress and behave in a different way from home. Pink t-shirts are all the rage, and it's not unusual to see guys carrying little bags from shops with hearts or flowers on them. This, coupled with the fact that they're much more inclined to hold hands or put their arms around their friends shoulders, can look a little unusual to westerners.

All Koren men must do two years military service. So there are a lot of military around. I was on the subway last week, and a soldier got on in his combat uniform, standing up looking macho, while carrying a pink shop bag with rope handles and pictures of a Barbie look-alike and a horse, which said Pretty Little Princess.

Weather
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The weather has really been beautiful. For monsoon season, there was relatively little rain, certainly by Costa Rican standards. There have been some times that it was very hot and humid, but this week it's been beautiful, and I imagine it will be good for the rest of September. The forecast for this week is sunny every day, except Thursday, when it will be cloudy. Temperatures will range from 31c today to a chilly 25c on Friday.

Getting fit
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I'm currently working on my fitness, having let it slide since moving away from the pool in Heredia well over a year ago. I've started running, of all things. Well, mostly walking, but introducing a little more running each week. The plan is eventually to have a decent run 4 times a week. It's both for fitness, and to strengthen my formerly broken leg, which has not responded well to my more sedentary lifestyle over the past year.

I go to the beautiful local park, Boramae park. There is a 600m track, and in the evenings it's got about 200 people walking around it. To run I have to weave my way in and out. But when I go on a weekend afternoon, it's almost deserted. The Koreans definitely prefer to keep out of the sun.

The park is really beautiful, and I'll miss it when I move.
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Well, that's it for this week. I have two four day weeks back to back, as we have Friday and Monday off for 추석 (Chuseok), the Korean Thanksgiving festival. I'm on my Monday lunchbreak as I write, so I'm just off for some ramen before heading back to school.

안녕히 가세요

Annyeonghi kasayo

Éamon

Today's headline from The Korea Times: Education Spending Growth Hits 5-Year High

Japan

Well, I'm back from my trip weekend trip to Japan. The fact that the Prime Minister resigned as soon as I left is unrelated to my visit.

Fukuoka, the city I went to, was a bit disappointing in terms of photo opportunities, so I've gone back to a photo from the Changdoekgung palace here in Seoul. It shows the Buyong-jeon pavilion in the secret garden.

Visa run
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I am here 3 months now, so I had to go to Japan to get my passport stamped. There were no problems with immigration, and I'm now ok until the 30th November.

Japan
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The easiest place to go to do a visa run is Japan. I checked out the cost to fly, but the tickets were very expensive (come back, Ryanair, all is forgiven. I'll even bring my own oxygen mask). So I booked on the KTX high speed train to Busan, and the Kobee Jetfoil to Fukuoka, Japan. It was a very early start on Saturday, I got the 5.25am train.

I was alarmed on the Jetfoil to read the subtitles on the screen during the safety announcement, when it said "We are making an excuse in the event of an emergency".

Fukuoka
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I should have read more about Fukuoka before I went. I thought it was a ferry port, so I was expecting something like Holyhead. In fact, at 2.5m people it's a much larger city than Dublin. However, there was nothing remarkable about the area I stayed in. I brought my camera, but I realised that everything just looked like Korea.

It was much cheaper than I expected Japan to be. I had a lovely Indian meal, a curry, rice, nan bread and a beer, and the cost was €14.

One of the main things I noticed on arrival, as I walked from the ferry terminal, was that I kept seeing people in 'made up' jobs. I passed a group of 15 youths sweeping the already clean pavements. And when I got to the pedestrian crossing there were two senior citizens with glowing orange batons to guide me across. This despite the fact that the crossing already had traffic lights. When the lights went green, the elderly guy on the far side stood out, shouting at me with a megaphone, instructing me to cross. I thought I was on some type of Japanese game show.

Gift boxes
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I was amused when I went to my supermarket yesterday. Next week is Thanksgiving, which is a major family celebration. Outside the supermarket they have a large display of gift boxes. There are pretty boxes with alcohol and glasses, chocolates and sweets, and bathroom toiletries. But what caught my attention was the beautifully presented boxes wrapped in bows and containing a bottle of canola oil, six cans of tuna and three of spam. I'd be so bowled over by such a gift.

Funny sign of the week
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Soree Ear Clinic.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm just on my lunchbreak, and I'm heading back to work now.

Until next week,

Éamon

Today's headline in The Korea Herald: Won (the currency) extends loss, stocks rebound

Still working

Yet again I thought I was finished in the school only to have it all changed completely.

The pic of the week shows the view from my window, as the evening sunlight catches the apartments opposite. The brown area behind the trees is a soccer pitch which I overlook.

School
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Everything is a bit disorganised at the school. I went in on Friday, for my 'last day', and then the asked me if I'd stay another month. They've guaranteed me work up to 26th September, and 'maybe longer', so I decided to stay.

I have had other offers, but I'm not that mad about working with kids, and I am going to look for a university job. Most university recruitment is in February, so I'm just looking to do temporary work until then.

So all of this means a quick trip to Japan this weekend, because my visa is up on 4th September.

Olympics
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The kids asked me how Ireland was doing in the Olympics. This was before the boxing medals, so we had a grand haul of zero. They fell about the place laughing. "Are you not in it?" they asked. I said we were, we're just not great without the drugs. Well, no, I didn't say that.

It's been difficult to catch any athletics on the Korean TV coverage, as they concentrate on sports that feature Korean athletes. So it's lots of table tennis, badminton and taekwondo.

I was out walking the other night, and I could hear lots of cheers all around from the various apartment blocks around me. It was South Korea's surprise win against Cuba in the baseball final. They've done really well, and have ended up in 7th place on the medal table.

Hangeul
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Hangeul, or 한글, is the script used to write Korean. It looks scary, but it's actually quite phonetic. It's made up of symbols for consonant sounds (ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ) and vowels (ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅗ, ㅜ, ㅡ, ㅣ,ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ). They combine by stacking them in boxes for each syllable, so you get something like 소유진 비하발언.

As it's phonetic, I've learned off the symbols, and can now read what it says. I may have no idea what it means, but I can say it. You often discover that the words are English. Like ai-i-di kon-sul-ting is ID Consulting, and outside my apartment, the ta-i-uh sign is tyre.

I can read the train stations now, which is probably the handiest use of it.

Western names
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When I lived in Dublin, I didn't like that all the Chinese had western names. I didn't understand why people should have to change, and take names so removed from their own culture. But, I have to say that in teaching, I'm really glad of it. Korean names are so difficult, so classes of Harry, Sam, Danny, Sue, Sara (1), Sara (2) and Sara (3) (Sara is popular) are so much easier. You also get to name the new students, so you feel like they're yours.

Koreans have problems with L and R, because it's more of a blend between the two in Korean, so whoever named one of my students Lara must have been having a laugh. They say Rara, Lala, Rala, and everything in between. When I call her name she never realises it's her.
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Well, that's it for this week. I've been struggling to book the trip to Japan this weekend. But a Korean friend of Clara's in working on it now, so I plan to go by train and ferry to Fukuoka on Saturday.

Until next week,

안녕히 가세요

Éamon

Today's headline in The Korea Times: S. Korea, China to Expand Military Exchanges

Liberation day

Friday was a bank holiday here. It was Liberation Day, which marks the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945.

The pic of the week shows my apartment building. My apartment has the three windows just under the black mansard roof and to the right of the tree.

Endgame in the school
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On Tuesday, they told me in the school that the new teachers were arriving at the weekend (I'm just a temporary replacement until they get here). This just gave me two days notice at the school, as Friday was a holiday, and meant leaving the apartment on Sunday. However, by Friday all had changed. They weren't coming this weekend, and so I've had a reprieve.

The Road to Nowhere
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On Thursday, they invited me on a school trip on Friday, the bank holiday. I was told we were meeting at 7.20am, going for dinner and would be back by 9. I assumed they meant breakfast, and thought that it was us taking the kids away. It turned out that it was an away-day for the teachers, and 9 meant 9pm. We met at 7.20, left at 7.30 in a minibus, and headed into the most enormous traffic jam of my life.

We crawled out of the city, as all 12 million people seemed to have chosen to leave at once. Our destination was 1 and a half hours away. But with the traffic, it took us 10 hours. I'll repeat that, 10 hours. In a minibus. To do a journey that usually takes 90 minutes. We arrived just before 5.30pm having left at 7.30am. It was a nightmare. I honestly couldn't believe that no-one suggested turning back. It seems the Koreans are not for turning

When we got there, it turned out to be a picnic by a river. We had a good evening, but it wasn't remotely worth the 10 hour journey. We left for the return journey at 11.30, and I was back here at 1am.

The Wolfhound
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The Irish bar in Itaewon is called The Wolfhound. They show all the GAA matches, which are on at 10pm or midnight. So we went down on Saturday to watch the annihilation of Dublin by Tyrone. The pain of the defeat was made worse in the bar by the sheer glee of the representatives of the other 31 counties. And the of the Koreans, it has to be said.

My favourite part of the night, though, was when An Nuacht came on afterwards, just before the link was cut. It started with a big picture of Ronnie Drew, and Clara said loudly 'Oh my God. Fidel Castro is dead'.
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Well, that's it for this week. There's probably just one week of the school left, and I'll use the time to search for a permanent job. I feel a bit better about the school, because the other teachers told me on the away day that the kids really love me. Plus the kinder class this morning didn't go so badly. I even managed to keep most of them in the classroom.

Until next week,

Éamon

Today's headline in The Korea Times: Korean Duo Wins Badminton Gold

Hi Seoul Festival

The weather for the past week has been great. It's been very hot. Sunday was 35 degrees, but felt like 42, apparently. All last week, it was sunny with blue skies. It rained a little yesterday, and it's been a little cooler since.

The pic of the week shows Clara, Norah and Sarah at the Hi Seoul festival which we went to on Sunday.

Hi Seoul Festival
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This is a free festival put on every year in a park by the Han river. Clara prepared a picnic and we had a fantastic day. There were traditional bands, people on tandems, people with homemade planes crashing into the Han, gymnasts spinning under hot air balloons, jazz, brass bands, and it ended with a couple of very spectacular shows on the main stage. One was a macnas-type display with huge fish puppets and musicians playing violin and guitars while spinning around the stage suspended on wires. Then there was a monster ballet, where the story was told with a mixture of dancers and JCBs, with the ballerina's and JCB drivers taking the applause together at the end. The opening ceremony of the Olympics wasn't in it.

The Korean War
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Before I came here, M*A*S*H was the only thing I knew about the Korean war, and it turns out that that was really a parody of Vietnam but they had to change the location. I've discovered a little more about it now I'm here, mostly
from a trip to the war museum. At the end of World War II Korea had been liberated from Japan by the Allies. Russia controlled the North, above the 38th parallel (the 38 degrees north latitude line), and the US controlled the South. Both put governments in place. Then in June, 1950, the North invaded the South in a surprise attack. The superior forces of the North quickly gained control of most of the South, until a UN force drove them back. After a period of gains and losses for both sides the South then got the upper hand, and gained most of the territory in the North. Then Chinese troops poured across the border and fought on the side of the North.

Eventually both sides were in stalemate, and a de-militarised zone, the DMZ was set up, and that remains the border between the two states. Officially, the war is not over, and both sides are on ceasefire since 1953.

So older people here lived through the war. Seoul was evacuated twice, and people had to live in refugee camps in Busan. Now the living conditions between the wealthy South and impoverished North are incredibly different.

On the city tour, they refer to Korea as the world's last remaining divided country!

They've tried to get closer, particularly during the administration of the last South Korean president. Tourists can even go into certain parts of the North from the DMZ. A couple of weeks ago, though, a woman from Seoul was on a tour in the North, and was shot by a North Korean soldier in unexplained circumstances. So tensions right now are higher.

Bush was here during the week. There were demonstrations both pro- and anti-, but the heat seems to have gone out of the American beef issue.

Bakery bag of the week
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I came home the other day from the bakery, and noticed this written on the bag: This fresh dessert with original goodness and flavor that something delicious for every one and sweets make a very special. So there.
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That's it for this week. Work is going fine, except that the kindergarten classes are doing my head in!

So until next week,

Éamon

Today's headline from The Korea Herald: Park Tae-hwan wins silver in 200-meter freestyle

Folks,

I'm writing on a really beautiful Sunday evening. The sun has shone all day, and I was out in the local park earlier. It was very hot, but now I have my fan on and it's cooler. The weather has alternated between hot days and some really rainy days. Like everywhere I've been, people tell me the climate has changed.

The pic of the week shows some 'soldiers' (or actors) from the changing of the guard in Deoksu Palace. They're inside the palace on a break while the main ceremony goes on outside.

Job
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Things are going fine in school. This was a three day week, because the kids were having their 'summer vacation'. Although at only 2 days it's nothing to write home about. Our type of school is called a Hagwon, and is a private school that kids go to after their regular school. I'm enjoying it, but I don't know that the kindergarten level would be something I want to continue. I was doing The Hokie Cokie Song with them the other day, and while on 'you put your left arm in, your left arm out' I was thinking; remember, I've got an MBA!

Beef Protests
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When I arrived there were protests against the decision to lift the ban on American beef. It's a nation very prone to protests. They had candle-lit vigils at the city hall. The reason is that they are sure they'll get CJD because of Mad Cow Disease (or Crazy Cow Sick, as one of Clara's students called it). The president has had to sack government ministers and reshuffle the cabinet, and they have put some restrictions on the imports. The protests have died down now, but Bush is here this week on his way to the Olympics, and I expect it's going to heat up again.

The Subway
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There's an amazing subway in Seoul. It's got eight lines that they criss cross the city with hundreds of stations, so you're never far from one. What amazes me is that it was only started in the 1970s, but you'd think it was as old as the London Underground. It's also very cheap. It's 45 minutes from Clara's to here, and that costs just 63c. You can get a virtual money card, called t-money, which you load with cash on a machine in the station. You just place it near the card reader as you go through, you don't even have to take it out of your wallet. The cards can also be used on the bus. If you transfer from subway to bus you're not charged on the bus, as it's a continuation of the journey you've paid for.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm back at school in the morning, so I'm going to take things easy tonight.

So until next week,

Éamon

Today's headline on The Korea Times: Koreas Engaged in War of Rhetoric