After Dark (there is only noise)

For two years in my Daegu apartment I've had some good times. Nothing to really complain about. Sure there's been some crazy noises here and there but by and large it's been two years of trouble free peaceful living. Then a few months ago another ESL teacher moved into the building (not a co-worker). And things changed. At first there was no difference but that didn't last long. I. Have. A. Very. Noisy. Neighbour.

When I say noisy I must stress that during the daytime there is no trouble. In fact there is probably more noise coming from the music on my laptop than from her place. And then day turns to night. AM turns to PM and things often change. She has an unbelievably noisy voice, unbelievably noisy friends, makes unbelievably noisy phone calls that I cannot fail to hear, has a noisy TV and has a friend that recently knocked on her apartment for ten minutes without answer at 7am recently. But none of my Korean neighbours complain. It beggars belief. I just don't understand it.

I am a light sleeper at the best of times but when someone is so bloody noisy at 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7am AM (times I have been woken up at least ten times during the past two months) then you can't help but be extremely annoyed. Let's be honest, it's not every night and recently things have been largely pretty quiet but last night the straw broke the camels back and I had to knock on her door after being woken up at around 4am. Again. After asking for a bit of quiet things were great again. I'm sure she's a nice person but her voice is intolerably loud. I have never met someone who talks as loud as her. Perhaps she is deaf. There is a solution at hand. I'm probably going change apartment next month, fingers crossed. My noisy North American neighbour, I won't miss you.

Hapkido update

My body is aching in several places after my hapkido Master put me through my paces these past two days. I'm still far below the level I reached at the end of September but that's to be expected. Never mind though, there's no rush because I won't be taking the latest round of tests.

Every two months at my hapkido dojang we have a series of tests with students all of levels. These tests have to be passed before the students can move onto the next belt level. There is some stress involved but in reality the hard work has gone in before test day. Barring a disaster I feel passing the test is probably a formality.

The latest tests were due this weekend but won't take place in their usual format. There will be no parents coming to watch or judges to check them out. The tests will take place during the classes that the students have at our dojang during this week - the usual test format has been changed due to H1N1 fears. Due to missing several weeks through illness I won't be taking any test till next year, around the end of January but I'm not too fussed at that.

When there are Saturday tests, previous test students who have passed a significant black belt test (1st, 2nd and 3rd dan) are awarded their belts by judges in front of fellow students. That won't be happening so I will probably pick up my belt next week in one of my classes. That's a bit of a shame as last test I won a prize (roughly translated into 'best of the best') so I was looking forward to picking up my new belt in front of the kids. Well at least I'll be getting my belt. This will represent a big portion of the last two years of my life. I can't wait.

10 reasons to take up Taekwondo

I have decided to take up Taekwondo. I find myself stuck in a similar routine most week mornings and lucky to have enough of time, money and enthusiasm to study with the aim of getting a black belt before I leave Korea. All over Korea there are thousands and thousands of Taekwondo dojangs and practically every week day I see some kid in a uniform so why not take this up?

There is perhaps too much choice though. How am I supposed to know what dojang is better than an other one or what Master is better than somebody else? I have done some research and found six dojangs within five minutes walk from my apartment. I am still in the process of deciding and hope to pop into one some time this week. Each place costs around the same, 80,000won a month (£40) but the times vary though they are all do-able so it's probably pot luck as to which place is better. Here are my considered reasons, in no order, for taking up Taekwondo.

1. Some extra form of exercise can't do me any harm
   
2. Meeting some new people could be nice
   
3. Logically this should improve my Hapkido which I am planning on continuing. It should help both my flexibility and my kicking. Doing Hapkido for two years should also give me a head start for the first few months
   
4. I can be a little more immersed in Korean culture. I'm aware I should do more 'Korean' things
5. Helping me have a more meaningful daytime.
6. The challenge of something new to do and a goal (black belt) to go for
7. It will mean me wasting less of my time on the Internet reading
8. Probably will only take up three or four days a week so I have more than enough time
9. The possibility of getting a 2nd black belt but in another discipline is a bit exciting, especially as getting a black belt in anything back home in the UK take two or three times longer than in Korea
   
10. It's cheap so why not? I know I won't have this opportunity back home

Late November roses in Korea

Obama in Korea(n popular culture)

Student view on Kim Jong-il

Yesterday. The aim of the lesson was to understand and to use HAS TO and HAVE TO. After a while I wrote six names on the board including my name. I asked the students to roll a die and make a sentence with the relevant grammar and using the name they rolled. Example "Gavin teacher has to be nice to students". Student rolls a six thus picking the name Kim Jong-il. Student, emphatically "Kim Kim Jong-il has to die!"

New name. Again

I am constantly having my name said wrong or incorrectly written (here in Korea). Yesterday I heard of a new name for me. Hyeong Boo (형부). It may sound like an insult but it's not. One of my wife's friends used it over the weekend. I didn't know what it meant so asked. It means older sister's husband. My wife doesn't have any sisters but here in Korea it is common to hear of friends referring to an older friend as 'older brother or sister'. It is an affectionate term. I doubt I'll hear this name again pretty soon but it was nice to hear about it.

Books in Korea. Watchmen

Time on my hands and money to burn. So it would seem whilst being Korea. One of the pitfalls of ESL teachers here is how do you spend your time? Over the four years or so I've been here I've wasted a lot of time but not all of it! One pleasing thing about this excess of time is the chance to read. I spend a big chunk of the day reading the English newspapers and some selected blogs of people in Korea. And of course I also like to read books when I have the chance. I say "have the chance" because choice, on first inspection, is limited. Limited because where I live, there is only one main bookstore (Kyobo) in the downtown area of Daegu, where I live. The main bookstore downtown has a very limited choice in its store and also the prices are far too high. Getting books shipped in from home is too expensive so you can rule that out. So, looking at the Internet I have two main choices. The Kyobo book store website and WhatTheBook.

After my recent DMZ trip I spend the rest of the weekend in Seoul relaxing with my wife. This gave me a chance to visit the What The Book store in the Itaewon district. It was exciting to be in a real book store again with an emphasis much less on education than is the case with Kyobo. There was a decent selection but a few too many second hand books taking up shelf space. One good thing about What The Book is that they speak English, the website is in English and they have free delivery. However, for many publications, the Kyobo website is just a little bit cheaper and they do have a point card system where you can use your points as cash on purchases. The drawback here though is, realistically, you have to read Korean or get a Korean to order your book for you. It is manageable though.

During my time in Seoul at What the book I must have spent an hour there looking forlornly for things I wanted (many of the great titles on my shopping list needed to be ordered in advance) but also going through sections I would normally ignore. In the comic book section that I would normally ignore I saw a second hand copy of Watchmen, the famous Alan Moore graphic novel. Having seen the film earlier this year and enjoying it I thought I'd give the book a go, especially as a) the copy was in very good condition and b) the front cover is so damn cool. A few days later I picked it up and started to read. What an amazing book. A real page turner. Well written, compelling and challenging too with diverse and interesting characters. I would recommend the book to most people who can suspend belief, have an open mind and who don't detest violence. However I must say that I preferred the ending that we see in the film version over the book ending (good though it is). Has this opened up a new world for me of graphic novels? I look forward to spending my free time here in Korea.