Failcation!!!

Well the best thing about a public school gig in Korea is the vacation. I was given eight days off so Lush and I headed off to Taiwan for the vacation.
Things started off brilliantly with a surprise upgrading. Living it up in business class we though this was a sign of things to come and our vacation was going to be awesome!!!

So the first day of vacation was filled with travel. Bus to Incheon, flight to Taipei, fast train to Kaohsiung, and finally bus to Kenting... It was a busy day but it was worth it to be near the beaches.
We got off the bus and had no idea where our hostel was. We walked around completely lost so headed into the police station to get directions. After being told how to get there the cops just decided to give us a lift. We jumped into the back of the police car and away we go. (and it was a mighty Corona)

We decided to grab food so walked around and found a place where we got amazing burgers... So much for eating the local food.... but tomorrow we will get amongst it.

We wake up on Sunday get on the go but not before the all important coffee and food and headed for the beach. We jumped on the bus and headed to Kenting town... Walked around for a while then waited for what seemed like forever for another bus and headed for Eluanbi Park. Had a nice walk around the park and checked things out...We headed back to where our hostel was and grabbed food and headed to bed.

Monday we went to the beach, We decided to head to Beisha Beach, which is considered the nicest of the beaches... The day was overcast but we thought to hell with it... When we arrived it was a typical Asian beach. Umbrellas everywhere and people swimming fully clothed. The water was beautiful and clear, however this is where the weather packed up. We headed back and got a beef noodle dinner that was amazing!

Tuesday we woke up early to head to Taipei feeling little more refreshed after a beach day. Opened the blinds and holy rain Batman! So we got out our umbrellas and headed to the bus station and looking forward to our next adventure... A little bit of rain can't dampen our spirits. So good-bye BlueHi, hello Taipei Hostel.
So after our bus ride we had a lunch of duck then fast train we arrived in Taipei. We were greeted but heavier rain... Oh well we are on vacation and it won't last the whole time.... Right?

So that night we headed to Shinlin Night Market and walked around. It was not what I was expecting but it was fine, however the food was awesome.

Wednesday....LAME SAUCE!!!!
Typhoon hit. So we found out that the weather has completely packed in and is meant to be like this the rest of the time...Yippee.
What the hell let's get out into it anyway. We headed to Longsin Temple... It was pretty cool.

After this we thought what the hell we are wet anyway let's just toughen the hell up and get amongst it.
So next stop Chaing Kai Shek Memorial. It kind of made up for the crappy weather... it was really nice... and I saw a squirrel and a turtle... It's all coming up Fitzgerald!!

With the weather completely packed up we were struggling to see the best in Taiwan but we gave it our best... so instead of staying in our hostel we ventured out to go to another night market... We jumped on the subway and off we go. We struck up a conversation with a local who had amazing English. She asked where we were off to and after hearing our reply she basically told us not to bother. Meh we are not letting anything stand in our way. We left the station only to have the rain coming in sideways... after five minutes of walking in this... it had us beaten so we turned around and moved as fast as we could in jandels and slippery footpaths and headed back grumpy and beaten.

Thursday we had plans to go to the Toroko Gorge and it was the only thing Lush was looking forward to. So we headed to the train station only for it to be empty... something was definitely wrong. We asked for our train ticket and found out all trains were cancelled due to the weather... we were beaten again.
So plan B we will do museums and temples and stuff... nope try again they were all closed due to...you guessed it weather... Plan C we will just walk around the mall.... closed... What the hell? Turned out everything shuts due to bad weather.... well and truly had our asses kicked... dejected we played cards.

Friday we are heading home...AWESOME!!! It just doesn't seem right to be thinking that on vacation... it should be I want to stay but not this time.

Well today was overcast wanting to rain but it wasn't for once.... So we headed to the tallest building in the world..Taipei 101. So when we got there we found out that we could not go to the outdoor viewing platform as a result of the weather.... one bug final get stuffed to Blair and Lush.

Well we headed to the bus station to get the hell out of here and guess what? Yip, more flippen rain.
We hit Korean soil and our mood improved... we are home.

So let me end this by saying I don't really have an opinion on Taiwan as we didn't see the best of it. The people we amazing...polite and not rude at all...even the old women were nice... Not an ajuma in sight.
So the highlights were upgraded on the way there, the beach for a day, and ending with finding salt and vinegar chips and marmite.
So the weather sucked, which made our vacation super mega lame but the thing that really got to me was the everything closed, which made it near impossible to do anything besides staying in our hostel.
Oh well onto bigger and better things.... Hopefully, Iowa for a white Christmas with some luck.

Well it's about time that this was updated...and seeing as I have a random day off what better time to do it.

I have now been back in my third stint for three months and and reminiscing about the first time I made it to Korea... the fear, questioning if I made the right choice, and dare I say it the loneliness. The thought here is that if you can make it past three months you will have a blast...and it's true. Of course there is times that you miss your friends and family from home... and to be honest this happens the entire time you are overseas.
Today is one of those days for me... Thinking of all my amazing family and friends back home. Some of which I have known for 20 plus years. Remember the good times, all the stories, rugby, cricket and league. 
I know we will be friends with them forever and I will make sure of that. 
This leads on to the time in Korea. Everyone is in the same boat, which makes it easier. We are all in a foreign country with a major language barrier so what do we do... we become a pack. We roam streets, have fun and develop, for lack of a better phrase, build a dependency with each other. With an added bonus being we have developed friend from throughout the world and no matter where we are we are bound to know someone. Plus I know if friends ever come to NZ my family, friends and I will make them feel welcomed.


Anyway nothing too much to report from the land of kimchi for me. We have had a long weekend so what did we do... went camping. Being in a landlocked area in Korea we headed to an Island and to beaches. So the group of us boarded buses, jumped in cabs, boarded a ferry, jumped on a bus, then more taxis and we arrived to our destination. The first beach we arrived at was a sand beach, but it was not the nicest place. There was fishing crap everywhere, the water looked disgusting and there were no open toilets. 
The amazing taxi drivers took a few of the group to another beach which we decided on taking over. The one downside was a stone beach... definitely not the best on feet, however the water was beautifully clean all be it cold as hell. It was some good time filled with swimming, camping and fires. 

      
Other than that just been hanging around spending time with friends.


The work side of things is up and down for sure. Some days it's fine other days the kids are done. The drawbacks of high schools in Korea is that if they are deemed not suitable for university are basically given a lessened education. They are often shipped off to a technical high school, which are effectively just a place for students to be held before they are old enough to be released into the world. 
In terms of English ability most students have given up even trying to learn it and know little if any at all.
An example of this is one day I asked a student, "how are you?" The response I got was, "it's Thursday" 
Instead of being annoyed I was impressed that this kid even knew what day it was. My classes basically consist of me talking about a topic and then asking a few of the kids with an interest in English questions regarding the subject matter.

But the perks of a public school job is coming up.... Vacation days!!! I have no idea how long I get off yet... could be a week, could be a month. The previous contracts were at private institutes and did not have the same vacation benefits that's for sure.

Anyway that is enough from me... To all my NZ friends and family... miss you guys and I'll see you when I see you next. Hopefully for March.

Be good and have fun.

Blair

Sucker for punishment???

Well to quote the classic hair metal song; "Here I go again".
That's right I am in Korea for another contract...(If you are keeping count we are at three).
This time I have gone for something a bit different. This time it isn't in Gwangju...it's just outside of it in a place called Naju. But it is a 30 minute bus ride into Gwangju so it may as well be Gwangju.

Now what I lack in diners around me the complete kick ass nature of the apartment I have been given more than makes up for it.  Fifteenth floor, overlooking a river is pretty cool but having two bedrooms, a separate tv room, a dining area and kitchen is just amazing. After going from two apartments where if you have a big night of too much beer and fatty food I struggled to fit in to this is awesome!!! (please note; the small size of the previous apartments may have exaggerated just because my new place is just so flippen amazing).

Onto the school that I have been employed by: Yongsang-Po High School. It's fine. I only teach four classes a day and on the whole the kids are great. While the level is low they are pretty respectful and are good kids.
On my first day I was informed that I was to teach at a second school... Naju Technical School. This is a common practice and it means that I receive an extra 100.00 a month for the trouble of going to two schools. I thought brilliant I can save more let's do this.
The feeling has now changed. I would rather burn that 100.00 than deal with these damn kids. I am the only foreign teacher there so have to teach all the schools classes in the two days. This means Thursday I have six, and Friday four. So before I go off on my rant I will tell you the good news. My Friday is great. The kids are fine and I finish damn early so win.
Now onto the negative...THURSDAY!!!
Being a Technical school these are the kids that will not attend Uni, which is fine not to attend it... However, the kids I have all Thursday have checked out of school already and are not wanting to be at school and (as bad as this sounds) don't have the ability to be at school. They are rude, obnoxious and I am going to struggle to make it through without killing one.
Ok that is enough whinging so let's get on to the more fun aspect of this place...The weekend!!!!

Well I snuck into the country after finding out on Thursday that I could fly Friday. It seems to happen that way with Korea. You wait forever then all of a sudden you have to fly now. So I bailed on NZ without saying a proper good-bye and I feel bad about that but know that I will see all my amazing friends again (with the hope of forgiveness).
So my arrival was the day before St Paddy's Day (the day that allows my birthday to be forgotten hence why I am still 29). Knowing there was a party to attend Lush and I turned up and surprise the kiwi ginger is back... It was great seeing all the friends still here and although since I have been back I may not have caught up with them as much as planned.

The other thing making my return to Korea something special is a certain, Lush I left here. It was good seeing her smiling face upon exiting the cab.

This past weekend I headed to Daejeon to celebrate my buddy Ron's birthday and as usual with a weekend there is involved fun and awesomeness!! This weekend also had the added bonus of beer pong and flip cup. Team "Best Villa" did not challenge the scorers with a result of 0 from 4... but it was fun so big who cares.

Tomorrow is Koreas general elections...What does this mean? Tuesday night fun as we have the day off tomorrow... WIN!!!

So until next time...be good, be safe and be awesome.

Well the North is trying it on

Today North Korea attacked a bit of South Korea so thought I had better write something to tell everyone what's going on.... Nothing much!!!
I live miles down south so I am safe as something that is safe. There is nothing to worry about I'll be forever safe.

Anyway since my last entry what have I been up to? The answer not a hell of a lot to be honest... Just the same old thing really.
That involves heading out either one day or both days during the weekend and do my best to come home at a usual hour and at a sober state...often failing at both.
But it is always fun hanging out with some great people and with amazing stories to be shared. And often the phrase next weekend will be a quiet one.

So what have I done...
Went to a rock festival in Daejeon with a couple of mates and I have not seen this level of debauchery since mudfest... It was called off early because of noise complaints but as a whole it was a success... some great bands and good times.
Had Halloween in Gwangju that was amazing. Some amazing costumes, which included lego man, Elvis, a tampon box just to name a few... Was a great night and a late one as usual.

Well autumn is well underway and almost heading into winter... getting nice and cold here but still nice during the day...looking forward to snow and going to make sure I head up and have a snowboarding trip.

As for the teaching it's fine... my kids as a whole are great and continue to amaze me with how smart they are and how hard they work.
I was invited around to my recruiters house for dinner, which happens to be a students mother too, she was working hard all night trying to complete school and academy homework. It makes me realize why some of them are tired or frustrated and even little shits... they are always working and don't get the chance to relax the way I did as a kid...

Well it's official I have been in Korea too long. I now don't even notice people staring at me anymore... being a ginger I am completely outside the norm no matter where I am but in Korea even more so... I find it funny now rather than annoying. It is just something that happens here however there is one thing that continues to frustrate me here, which is the lack of other food here but oh well need to head to Seoul for some taste sensation.

Oh well that will do for now.... will aim to update a bit more regularly.

A third of the way through... DAMN

Hi all in case you are reading this then I guess I better introduce myself.
I'm Blair 29 and a New Zealander currently living in Korea. Any questions?

 Why am I doing this? Well I thought I'd get one of these to that people know what the hell I'm doing with my life in Korea... and the answer is not a hell of a lot but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun and meeting some great people along the way, which always means for pretty painful good-byes but however it means for more hellos to ease the pain.

Well I arrived here for my second stint at the end of May and the first thing I did when I arrived in Gwangju was the smart thing to do after 16 hours of traveling. That is I headed to the bar and was lucky enough to catch up with some of my old friends from my last stint here... Any jetlag was quickly forgotten about as the feeling of tipping back a few handles of the average local brew was rehydrating me after the grueling day of flight layover flight, then a bus ride.

It was truely great to see all the old faces that are still here although was a little sad that some of the older faces had gone however there are plenty of new people to meet and greet so why dwell of the past when there is a future to be made.

So the last four months have gone by in a blur of heat, booze and laughs...
Let's see if I remember what I have done: Daejeon several times, Daegu a couple and Bigeumdo...oh and a bit of Gwangju.

Seeing as it seems I am the only New Zealander in Gwangju, which means I am the only sane one) I head up to Daejeon to catch up with an old school friend from my high school, Ron.

It seems amazing that we have known each other as long as we had and that we would even be hanging out in Korea together after our first somewhat aggressive meeting. Almost 20 years ago on a school field on the North Shore of Auckland an innocent Ron was just looking around wondering what the hell he was in store for the next seven years. When all of a sudden his wonder was distroyed by an angry ginger asking what the f**k he was looking at? My bad, Ron and I am just glad we got passed that and have had many an awesome time in Daejeon and with many more to come I'm sure.

Korea was blessed with the visit of Mr January. I have a cousin who is a firefighter and who is this years Mr January in the calendar. (And ladies I do believe he's single) It would have been rude not to have gone up there for a visit.
Jaco having a half marathon the next day did not stop anyone from hitting a Korean nightclub until 5:30am when he was required to wake up at 6:30. Both Jaco and Will put in an amazing effort during the middle of a Korean summer to complete the run.

So it required a repeat visit the next weekend, which all I am going to say is one of the first things I remember is being in the bus terminal in Gwangju... After putting the weekend back together all I can say is opps and I'd like to think it won't happen again but there is no guarentee.

The Korean version of Thanksgiving was upon us meaning we had a six day weekend so what better way to see of the last of the summer than with a camping trip. It was good to see Tentamus Maximus again... although I had seen him in better shape he had let himself go a little but can easily retun to his former glory.
So the group of us headed down to Mokpo and then jumped on the ferry over to the Island.
Pitching the tent involved a lot of swearing and throwing of toys but after a while it was sorted and swim time.
The next day it started raining so a cabin was broken into by someone who shall remain nameless but I hear is pretty awesome and it was a day of card playing. Although not what was planned we had fun anyway... at least the company was slightly above average even if the morals were not.
It stopped raining so we could therefore get amongst an evening of epic proportions. Although I will not go into anything that happened on the Island at night (the old adage of what happens on tour stays on tour) it was a fun time thanks everyone who had a part in the awesome time.

The epic group!

I am not going to go into the weekend that have been spent in Gwangju. All that anyone needs to know is it involves soju and/or poju (this is poju mixed with powerade) average beer, which is made up for by awesome people and great times.

Right that will do for now... the next one will be shorter but may have more details but meh will see what happens when it happens.

Be good all or just don't get caught

Blair