Coffee withdrawals

For around thirty two months I had a coffee almost daily whilst at work. There was a lucky break for the people at my academy a few months after starting at my workplace when a coffee shop opened up directly underneath my office. I've liked coffee for a long time but became a regular drinker after this place opened up.


For over two and a half years I supported the shop. I sometimes had two drinks a day and it was not uncommon for myself to go on a weekend with my wife. But the place was never full, despite the owners best efforts people didn't go in too often probably due to it's location and the fact you don't walk past it because it's on the second floor. That was one of it's charms, the fact you could go in and and drink in peace and quiet.


Other co-workers would go in too but I was probably her best customer over the period the shop was open based on what I saw when I was in. The coffee was good too and remarkable cheap at 2,800won (£1.50) for a take out latte. I find it hard going to Starbucks now and a few of the other famous chains here because I really enjoyed the way I was having my coffee.


Also, the owner was great, friendly, helpful and always wanted to make the best coffee for the customer. She even let us use her wi-fi when we were in the office at work. But about two weeks ago it closed. You could tell it was going to happen as two women were being trained by the owner during the daytime. It seemed a bit odd at first but I guessed they were going to run things in the future.


Starting a new business must be a stressful thing whatever your business is. With so many variables that can dictate how well things go I'm not inclined to give it a go. From an outsider, starting a business here in Korea could be very stressful indeed. Live here long enough and you will see hundreds of places open only for them to be replaced (seemingly) almost overnight sometimes..


Do shop and restaurant owners quit if they fail? Do they give it another go in another location or do they try a totally different venture altogether? Where do they get their money from? Do banks continue to lend money even though we live in difficult times? Are the risks worth taking? Certainly Koreans are very industrious and hard working and also from my eyes somewhat entrepreneurial. But starting a business here is fraught with danger. It's a competitive country these days.


There is another coffee shop down the road from work, just two or three minutes walk. I went in last week and walked out an unhappy customer. As I drank my overpriced foam I pined for the old shop. Today my wife went into the place directly below the old coffee shop and bought some food. She found out what the ex-coffee shop owner was doing now and what would become of the place. It turns out they are planning to sell coffee, tea, and pasta - sounds like a restaurant or possibly what they call res-cafes here. Hopefully I can get one more cup of coffee for the road.

Coffee (I am not a bad boy)

As well as having Korean teachers and native English language speaking teachers, my workplace employs a handful of extra local 'teachers'. They don't do any teaching but spend the duration of classes in the corridors marking papers or preparing some materials for the rest of us and of course completing lists of all the students who have to. These are Jaeshi (재시) teachers. Jaeshi loosely means retest. Where I work, students who don't do their homework, perform very badly repeatedly in class or have poor class test scores get jaeshi. They stay behind after their classes have finished for around an hour or so.

In over two years working at my academy, in largely the same rooms, I have seen lots and lots of Jaeshi teachers. Some I have become friendly with and some who just don't like talking with non-Korean speakers. They all seem to be university students trying to make some money in a part-time job and who from time to time are studying English, but usually not. I talk to them a bit and joke around, trying to make my work as fun as possible because it's repetitive. There is a language barrier but communicating seems to work OK. The rooms I teach in are side by side and right next to the jaeshi teachers desks so I can see them working and they can see me (not) working etc etc. There's no room for me to hide. Or them.

This week on the way to a class a few of the jaeshi teachers were joking that I never buy them a coffee and I always have a cup in class, calling me a "rich guy" etc, etc. After the joking around I said I'd by them some coffee. All this week I've had "bad guy" and "liar" amongst others because I didn't 'pay up'. After another verbal battering today, I gave them ₩10,000, roughly £5 to buy them some drinks from the coffee shop below our school and asked them to get me a drink too. They were very surprised when I actually said I would buy them a coffee. They somehow managed to get my drink and enough coffee to be split between five of them, which I found very impressive. Afterwards they treated me like a prince with some silly and over-the-top compliments (like I'd fed a starving child) and gave me this piece of paper, below. I hope they liked their coffee, the shop I go to needs the business.

Random photo: Looking for coffee

Saw this on route to the coffee shop. I've never seen an insect on the street as big as this back in England. It was around 5 inches long and I think it's a stick insect.

Coffee break

Panic stations over as a friend of mine has kindly given me some tea bags to tide me over for the next few weeks. Over the past fifteen months or so I have divided my time equally over coffee and tea but my recent tea bag situation has led me to appreciate much more how lucky I am working in the building where my academy is housed. This is because on the second floor there is a coffee shop.



I usually have one or two drinks a day there (especially in Summer) and even sometimes pop in over the weekend with my girlfriend. The actual coffee is quite good, better than Starbucks or the other chains that can be found in Korea and a take out is less than £1.50 - not bad if you ask me. Most Korean coffee shops I've been to usually give you either a straight black coffee or a cup of foam unless you specifically state otherwise, but this place is much better. If there had been a coffee shop under my previous workplace in Korea I probably would have stayed on there.



The shop has been open for just over a year now but is doing badly. It must be. The location is not ideal so you don't see many people in at any time of the day. There used to be two people working there but for over six months there has only been one. At times I have felt sorry for her. Always kind and friendly she has often given me free refills or given me free cake or something which has led me to go in perhaps more than I would otherwise and it has now become part of my usual daily routine. For a long time now I have felt that one day I would turn up to work and the coffee shop will be closed and perhaps that day will come, but hopefully not soon becaue it's nice and quiet and a good place to relax and forget about work.