Snapshot of Seoul

Back from a weekend spent in Seoul, capital of South Korea. Again we both enjoyed our time there despite not venturing out from most of the places we usually we go when in Seoul - we stayed in the Myeongdong area. The short trip also again reinforced the belief that I am right in not choosing to live and work in Seoul. It's a nice place to go to with infinitely more things to do in Daegu but if I lived there I am sure most of my money would be spent on entertainment, going drinking and buying unnecessary things. That's not to say I like living in Daegu, but right now I'm here to work and make money, not to drink all my money away in bars. Here are a few pictures of what we saw.

Another language

One of today's classes was about someone whose dream was to be an interpreter. As a gentle opener I threw out this question

Me: "Can you each give me a language that people speak? Don't repeat what another student has said"

Students: "Korean", "English", "Chinese", "Japanese", "Spanish" ......*pause*......"Body language!"

Yanks for nothing. LFC red alert

The football season is over but today's British press is focusing greatly on Liverpool Football Club. Despite the continued progress of the playing side the coverage today is of doom and gloom and rightly so. By all accounts the finances of the club are a mess. Even though the club recorded a record high turnover, Liverpool's latest accounts reveal that Liverpool paid £36.5 million in interest on their debts in the financial year ending July 31, 2008. If the current owners don't leave the club we will become paralysed by debt and the recent optimism will be gone. Today's read is indeed a depressing one for any Liverpool fan. The interest loans are potentially crippling.

The others in the so called big for of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea continue to remain in significant debt but probably less alarming than Liverpool. The long term future of the club is the most paramount thing but what have we had in the short term? Despite Man Utd being taken over by the Glazers they have just recorded their third straight Premier League title and got to the Champions League final again whilst signing a number of lucrative commercial deals. Chelsea continue to be funded by Ambramovich via soft loans and with the promise of more summer spending. Arsenal had a modest season by their standards but they have actual bricks and mortar to show for their debt which will bring in substantial funds in the future.

And Liverpool? Despite all the promises of the new stadium coming, so far nothing. Without the new stadium we continue to fall further behind financially week by week and also would appear to be a less attractive option for any potential new owners. We continue to miss out on transfer targets as evidenced by Gareth Barry's move to Manchester City this week. Will Benitez be given enough transfer cash to sign any top quality player?

There are more questions than answers for this regime and the sooner they are forced out the better. what will happen if the club cannot refinance their credit deals with the banks? The Americans have until July 24 to refinance their credit deals with Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia. Could this be another key day in the future of LFC? It would appear that Liverpool is a house build on sand, hopefully not quicksand. What would Bill Shankly think?

Observation update

Last weeks observation seems to have gone better than I thought. I got my feedback this week and it was pretty positive stuff. Some things to improve on but reassurances that my classroom management is OK. Now I have to wait for a new contract offer. That may take a month or so to come as my contract doesn't expire until October this year. I now cannot see any reason (so far) not to be offered new contract. The sooner it's done the better and then I can start doing a lot of planning.

Déjà vu. Again

Today at work I taught 6 classes. Two of those classes were double periods - there are eight periods on Wednesdays, each consisting of thirty five minutes. Out of the eights periods, I taught the same lesson plan for the first six periods. I found myself teaching material that I could swear I've taught thirty times before in my twenty months at this workplace. The pictures for the classes looked the same as the ones I've been supplied with for twenty percent of all previous Wednesday lessons. This was not really a case of déjà vu, but more 'can I keep teaching this again and again without wanting to shoot myself?'. I feel a little like Dr. Sam Beckett in the TV series Quantum Leap, lost in time wondering if and when I will make the leap home. At the end of the day it was a relief to leave the building but I know I will go down this path again some time soon. Tomorrow is another day, with much more positives in store. This weekend should be fun too.

Slide away

We could be set for another North Korean missile launch some time this week here in Asia. Apart from concerns over the stability of the peninsula and the region, something else has started to come into my thinking. What will happen to the Korean Won (₩)? Whatever happens, the currency of South Korea is unlikely to benefit. The currency has fluctuated over the past year or so and has not been so favourable with the British £ so I am anxious about where the possible Korean uncertainty may affect things. What will happen to my money?! I keep an eye on things quite regularly but if the rate starts to slide at a more dramatic rate maybe it will be time to take all my money out. I may be in a job where I don't have to work as hard as some people but no-one wants to see their money slide away.

Korean food delights: Part 1 해장국

From time to time friends and people I've met or taught have asked me what Korean food is my favourite. Over the years I have changed my opinion, but still love the things I did when I first came here back in 2005. I now have a definite favourite. A few months ago a restaurant opened up near my workplace called 뼈큰 청진동 해장국. It's open 24 hours a day and sells different Korean dishes, many of which are very good. The restaurant sells something called 해장국, or haejang gook which is essentially a soup dish.

I have tried many meals at this place and my favourite without a doubt is 뼈큰 전골. this translates roughly to a casserole dish using pork backbone with spinach, leeks, mushrooms, rice cakes all thrown into soup. It might not sound nice or even look good but it's very very tasty.


The meat is already cooked but you crank up the heat on a gas range and wait for the meal to come to the boil. After simmering for a short while it's ready to eat. You place your meat into a bowl along with the vegetables and soup and separate the meat from the bone. There can be quite a lot of bone and it can be messy, but eating is worth the wait.


For me the soup is the best part. Very rich, flavoursome and a little spicy too.


This meal is very filling but for some, like me, there is more to come if you so wish. My girlfriend and I always order some rice which is fried in the pan that the meal was cooked (of course most of the soup/meat has been removed) with a few vegetables and seaweed. Koreans love rice but to me just eating rice is not enough, it has to go with something else. I place this rice in a bowl which I saved some of the soup and create a new dish which again is very good


Like every other Korean meal there are several side dishes but here I love the kimchi. I've never liked kimchi until this place. It's crunchy, spicy and tasty. Like most Korean meals this is cheap and tasty and has some nutritious value too. Definite value for money and always satisfying

North vs South

Again not many people are talking about North Korea, here in The South. Attention has largely been focused on the suicide of ex-President Roh Moo Hyun. and its aftermath People seem to be taking the situation a little too lightly for my liking. Today I took the step of registering with the British Embassy. Giving some contact details and little else so that if 'something happened' in Korea then they could easily contact my family and let them no I'm safe. British citizens who spend a prolonged period of time abroad are advised to do this, and I've been putting it off but recent events made me think again just in case things get significantly worse. The alert level has been raised on North Korea and I wonder how things will turn out.