Slow day

Not very hungover, but hungover. Can't say I enjoyed today at all but perhaps that was the price I had to pay for last nights dinner with co-workers and drinks afterwards. I got back home at around 4am, I think. Drinking a deadly mix of Korean beers and Soju left me nursing a small headache, dodgy stomach and a lethargic body. I hate soju AND Korean lager so why I drank both last night I can't quite explain. I deserve my hangover for putting those two foul, alleged drinks into my bloodstream. Korean beer is the worst in the world. No exaggeration. Soju has all the taste of nail varnish.

Work dragged today. Predictably, but I tried to make the best of things. Being a bit more relaxed (tired) led me to enjoying class even more than I usually do. I seemed to have a lot more conversations with the students who by and large were funnier than usual. One of my more rambunctious classes were up to their old tricks. Acting stupidly, being noisy and leaving me dumbfounded at how some of them ended up at such a high level despite not being able to understand English so well. Random quote from one of the bigger, 'individualistic' boys to his friend next to him, when they were play fighting "Don't do gay. Don't be gay!" I couldn't help but laugh as he corrected his sentence. Maybe it doesn't read as funny as it was at the time. You had to be there I guess.


Above. Me hungover, letting the students use my camera to take as bad a photo as they could manage.

My Korean door

Every day I find an assortment of advertising plastered to my front door. Sometimes these are there at night, sometimes during the day. Usually these are adverts for new local restaurants, pizza places, the local supermarkets or education academies. Essentially a load of unwanted crap that I seldom take notice of these days. Today I woke up to an unusually large amount of paraphernalia taped on or stuck on with magnets. I count eight on my door as I write this. What an eyesore.



When I came home from work tonight they were all gone. Who is the mystery person who cleans up all the doors in my building?

My Canadian AM alarm clock won't turn off

I still have a noisy neighbour. After a week or two of relative peace and quiet last night saw a return to my megaphone voiced Canadian neighbour's usual ways. This girl is incapable of speaking in a normal voice. Is it possible she is part deaf? I feel sorry for her boyfriend. I'd hate to hear her shouting. Does this woman snore? Heaven forbid. I wonder how her students or co-workers view her. It's like living next to an amplifier.

Last night she was on the phone for well over two hours (no crime, obviously). How do I know? because I head most of her conversation. At five in the morning. It was that loud. I assume she used a telephone though she could probably be heard in Vancouver without one. One thing I don't understand is how can the people in the other apartments not hear her and why are they not complaining like I am? I should be moving out in about two weeks. It may be time to use the ear plugs.

Game, set and match?

Here is my latest student mistake photo. By mistake I mean another incorrect spelling of my name.


This is from one of my absolute favourite students. One who I help more than others, am nicer to, give more chances to AND try harder to help her because she is a great kid. She thinks my name reads Gȯvin. Is that supposed to be pronounced Goyvin, or maybe Govin. I am touched by the invention and use of the Ȯ but I shake my head and wonder.

태권도 & 합기도 can go together

Taking hapkido and taekwondo so far has gone well. Neither class has been too intense while both have been enjoyable. One thing I can say is that my legs are now sore, specifically my thighs. They are a bit sore and very stiff. I take this as a sign that I'm getting a much better workout than I've been used to recently. There is no real pain and the stiffness can be shaken off after some stretching. Apart from that I am not finding things too difficult, right now that is. I think the taekwondo will definitely, eventually help my hapkido kicks. I'm very pleased with how this is all going right now. Things should get more intense in a few weeks time as test times come closer.

Today in Korea. Random picture

Taekwondo day 1

Just back from my first Taekwondo class. After a few weeks of checking prices and times one of my co-workers and I decided to go for it. The place we are now going to is just five minutes from our apartments and the time is 1:40 - 2:40. which is perfect as it gives me all morning to do things but also gives me over an hour of free time before work begins It is the first time our new Master has taught non-Koreans. He doesn't speak much English right now but it looks like his wife has decided to take classes with us - his wife speaks decent English, which is a great help. The atmosphere is good, very friendly and relaxed.

Because this is the first time for him to teach people Westerners our first month is free. Our uniform is also free. From my experience, uniforms are usually around 20,000won (£10). If we like the classes, we can continue at 60,000won for three days a week or 80,000won for five days. I think I'll be sticking with the three days for a while, not bad for £30 a month. The dojang is filled with young kids when we study but today we went to a side room and did some basics such as warm up routines and stances. So far, so good and not too difficult. I'm hoping my hapkido experience will stand me in good stead. I am, though, a lowly white belt once more. Hard to get used to that feeling again but I'll have to. More to come as the adventure begins.

Day at the basketball

After a week or two of persuading, my wife agreed to go with me to see a basketball game here in Daegu. I am not a fan of the sport but from experience I can say that its a lot more fun than watching professional Korean football or baseball. I'd only been to two previous basketball games (both in Korea) before and knew that the skill level of the players and teams wasn't fantastic. However, I did enjoy both times and thought we could have fun while not spending too much money. Christmas is coming, after all.






The tickets were 7,000won each (£3.50) for the area we sat in. These were the cheapest tickets available but even from the back you could see all the action. As soon as we got there I could see my wife would enjoy the day. Her enjoyment made me have a great time too. She really got into the game and the relaxed atmosphere. I enjoyed the game even though Daegu Orions lost to Ulsan. I don't think the game was particularly good but that wasn't really the point because I didn't have any stake in the game. The buzz in the stadium was good and there were no breaks in the action/entertainment. Hopefully we can go again some time soon.