I Dream of Seoul

I recently entered a photo essay competition being held by the Seoul City Council and was awarded an honourable mention (and a rather nice cash prize!) This was my entry, although I must give credit to Luke for the photos, he is quite the photographer! 

My first trip to Seoul was on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon and I was headed for the Namdaemun markets. Upon arriving in Seoul, I was struck by its beauty-even despite the weather. The streets were clean and wide and there was a sense of excitement about the place, which I couldn’t wait to be a part of. Seoul is the kind of place that you could explore for years on end and never exhaust its secrets. It is forever presenting you with new and wonderful things to see and do, it constantly beckons to the adventurer within us all saying, “come, play with me, I promise you won’t be disappointed….”

On that very first day in Namdaemun, the city of Seoul swept me off my feet-it was love at first sight. I found myself being carried along by the flow of the crowd as the ever-moving sea of umbrellas bobbed through, up, down and all around the maze of the markets, I was a part of all the hustle and bustle and I loved it. The perfect opportunity for a photograph presented itself and click a moment was forever frozen in time, in a picture that begs to be looked at over and over again, to be explored just like the city that created it.

Subsequent adventures into Seoul have deepened my affection for it. It has slowly revealed some of its many secrets to me and I have looked upon each and every one of them as a treasure to be remembered for years to come. The discovery of a new area, the changing of the seasons, a walk through the city at twilight; each aspect has its own unique appeal and its own beauty.

One particular twilight jaunt along Cheonggyecheon stays fixed in my mind however. It was during spring, a beautiful time to be in Seoul, and the young and the old alike were out enjoying the lovely weather. I was crossing a road on my journey when I was suddenly struck by the remarkable beauty of the lights of the city and the superb colour of the sky.

An endlessly moving, vibrant and energetic cityscape, Seoul proves that urban scenes can be beautiful in their own right. Seoul is a mix of old, traditional influences and fresh, modern ones, casually blended in a manner that is effortlessly charming and carefree. Sometimes I feel that someone with great flair must have done a considerable amount of planning to have put Seoul together the way that it is. Perhaps this is true to some extent but I think what really gives the city its appeal is the organic quality it has. It has evolved and grown into a city that truly represents the people that inhabit it. The city of Seoul, like the folk who live, work and play there, is modern, fashionable and stylish, and also deeply respectful of traditions, customs and culture.

I’ve never been to a place with such historical depth before and this was ever more apparent to me on a visit to Changdeokgung. I had heard that the autumn leaves in the Secret Garden were magnificent so I booked a place on a tour of the garden in November.

The garden was an absolute delight. The colours of the autumn leaves were a real treat in all their glorious shades of red, yellow and orange and as I wandered amongst the trees I couldn’t help but wonder what some of them would have to say if they could talk. As the tour passed one particular tree this thought seemed especially significant, the tree, we were informed, was over 700 years old. I daresay that tree would have a many a story to tell about the city of Seoul!

Although it’s safe to assume that I won’t live to be 700, I know for sure that Seoul will stay with me for the rest of my days. I will continue to explore Seoul in photographs and memories no matter where my travels take me and in the meantime, I’m happy to say that Seoul and I have many more adventures planned together yet. 

I don't understand...

Luke and I don't have a television here and in all honesty, I don't think we're missing much. The snippets we've seen have been frankly quite strange and language barriers aside, I just cannot work out what is going on most of the time.

One show stays permanently in my mind and although I don't know what it is called or why on earth people would want to watch it, I will explain my memory of it to you here.

Luke and I had been for a weekend away in the mountains and we were on our way home. We were stuck in dreadful traffic on a bus that was taking forever and with nothing else to do, our eyes strayed to the television. The show appeared to be about people on the subway. There were three people (let's call them hosts) watching the cctv footage of passengers on a subway and while I couldn't see anything of real interest in the behaviour of the passengers, these people had a lot to say about it. I was already confused and thinking I must be missing the point of the show when it got even stranger. Every now and then, for no reason that we could determine, one of the three hosts would stand up, bend over and be smacked on the behind with a rolled up newspaper by a mysterious man wearing a trench coat, sunglasses and a hat. It was truly bizarre. Then it turned out that the hosts were actually on the same train as the people they were observing. They walked out into the carriage and acted as though they were fully expecting a heroes welcome. Well, they didn't get it. People looked at them quite blankly and appeared almost as confused as we were. I'm glad we weren't the only ones! This made me wonder, did anybody get the point of this show? Or was it as strange to Koreans as it was to us? I guess we'll never know....

So, we've gone nearly a year without a television and we've missed it for sure but given what's on here, it hasn't been that hard. I'm sure Australian T.V. would probably look strange to a Korean person but surely they'd be able to make a little more sense out of it than we've been able to make here, right?? Please tell me Australian T.V. hasn't gone the way of cctv footage of sleeping train passengers.... if it has, I might not invest in a television when I get home!

Lucy

SNOW

This is my first time overseas and, as I have also never been skiing or really seen proper snow (I did see snow at the top of Mount Wellington in Tasmania, but as I was riding a mountain bike through it, it wasn't a very comfortable experience) it's fair to say I was more than a bit excited when it snowed here last Sunday.

Luke and I were out for a slow Sunday. Luke had been sick all week and it was his first time out of the house in about 4 days. We were well rugged up and planned on spending a cozy time in a cafe with a nice chai latte and a pile of Christmas cards for folks back home. It was already a lovely winter's day plan and then along came the snow! We were sitting by the window, writing Christmas cards and we looked out and noticed that it was snowing-how exciting! Well, it snowed and snowed and got heavier and heavier and before long, the streets were blanketed in white and the world was a winter wonderland.... just beautiful! This is what winter in the northern hemisphere is all about!

Unfortunately, we were without our camera so we'll have to wait until next time before we can take some pictures. We did however, have an impromptu snow-fight (Luke has far better aim than I do, I'll have to work on that!) and I'm sure we'll build a snow-man at some point too.

We've got our fingers crossed for a white Christmas but really, I think I'll be excited by snow no matter when it decides to fall!

Lucy

Summer Camp: An Exercise in Biting off More Than I Can Chew

There's no such thing as an extended period of time off without strings attached in Korea. Teachers here are forever writing reports and undergoing training to justify their holidays, the Department of Education here seems to take the view that it would be outrageous for their workers to have some time to simply relax. Good lord! If they had time to relax they might be happier at work.... and we couldn't have that, we just couldn't! So, when summer "holidays" rolled around, I wasn't surprised to discover that I would be working more weeks than I would have off. I was to conduct a three week English Camp before I could have two weeks off. And I was lucky to get two weeks off! In fact I had to write a report to satisfy the (useless) Department of Education, because I was technically only supposed to have one (totally reasonable given 20-something week long semesters.... NOT!)

I knew summer camp wasn't going to be easy, afterall, the kids wouldn't want to be there and neither would I, so I set about planning some fun things to make it a little less painful for them and for me. The first week went well with activities such as building houses out of newspaper, having a water fight and even learning the chicken dance. Of course there were problems, like the children completely misunderstanding that they needed LOTS of newspaper in order to construct a house that they could fit inside (one child brought one newspaper and then said to me "teacher, we build one house with one newspaper, right?") and the discovery that there was only one working tap outside because school turns the others off during the holidays (this made the water fight interesting). Still, I made it through the first week and I was feeling pretty good about it all. I was only two weeks away from holidays and three weeks away from our first visitors from home! It was an exciting time!

For the next two weeks of summer camp, I had my advanced class. I already knew these kids as I had been teaching them for most of the semester before. I also knew that their English was quite good and therefore thought they could handle a few slightly more elaborate activities. For the most part I was right about this, but I will never, ever be attempting papier mache with 20 children again....

I came up with the idea for making papier mache hot air balloons long before summer camp and I was convinced it would run smoothly. I was determined to have it all organised in a way that would make it impossible for it to go too wrong. The first stumbling block was the fact that I couldn't track down the proper glue. I solved this problem by deciding to make the glue out of flour and water, easy fixed, or so I thought... Day one of the papier mache project arrived and I hadn't made time during the week to lug home enough flour (mainly because it was stinking hot and I didn't fancy dragging that many kilos of flour home in it) so I arrived at school, put my things down and dashed out to find flour. Unfortunately, the nearest supermarket didn't open until 10am and with my class starting at 9:30am, that posed a problem. Luckily, I was saved by several convenience stores and after I had purchased all the flour they had in stock, I was feeling back on track again. The day got underway and the kids made a foul mess (as I knew they would) but they had fun so it was a success. The balloons were placed on a table covered in newspaper to dry over the weekend and once the kids had cleaned up (sort of) they went home. Then I looked at the floor. There were drips of glue mixture EVERYWHERE. It took me a good hour and a half to scratch the dried glue off the floor and let's just say I wasn't so pleased with my "great idea" once I'd finished.

Monday rolled around and the kids were to paint and decorate their balloons, it was supposed to be a fun, easy day. As I approached my classroom on Monday morning however, the smell that greeted me told me I was in for a nasty surprise. I walked in to find that 17 out of 20 balloons had gone mouldy.... very mouldy! The stench was awful! I flung the windows open and turned on the fans as I thought about what on earth I was going to do. I called the teacher I was working with for summer camp, Anna, and told her what was wrong. We decided to save the three non-mouldy balloons and have the students work in teams to decorate them. It was the best we could do. The kids arrived and we explained the situation. We set them to work and bless them, they really made the most of what was very nearly, a complete disaster. But, I was in for one more surprise. The day was nearly over when it became apparent that the kids were somehow of the belief that the balloons could fly! Oh dear, I think I destroyed a few dreams when I told them that they had not in fact made real hot air balloons! Still, the decorated balloons looked good and they're actually still on display in my classroom.

Now, with winter camp fast approaching (I only have to do two weeks of it this time) I'm taking the time to reflect on what I learned from summer camp and, well, I'll be keeping it simple this time, that's for sure! Nevertheless, I'm sure there will still be some stories to tell...

Lucy

The Jongno-gu Review

If there's one thing I know for sure I will miss about South Korea it's the area known as Jongno-gu. I wish I could pick the whole area up and take it with me. The cafes, the shops, the quaint little streets and laneways.... it's just gorgeous! 

Luke and I have spent a fair few Saturday afternoons in the cafes of Jongno-gu (we can't bring it with us so we might as well visit it as often as we can while we're here!) so I now present to you, the Jongno-gu review.

We first stumbled across the charms of Jongno-gu on a rainy and cold afternoon while on an epic hunt for Indian restaurants. We had a rough idea of where we were going but at that point we didn't really mind because the streets were just so pretty (and we weren't too hungry yet). 

We actually did find an Indian restaurant very near where these photos were taken but we very foolishly opted for continuing our search for a bit longer. We wound up hiking around interminably in the rain, (and I discovered that my boots leaked) and although we did get our Indian food it was rather ordinary and not worth the trouble it caused us! (We have since had great success in finding good Indian food so we're not feeling too hard done by).

Anyway, back to the delightful Jongno! Since that first rainy afternoon Jongno has become a regular weekend haunt for us, some of our favourite cafes include: Cafe de Coin, which mixes a zany collection of decor styles and somehow makes it work. It features vintage tables and chairs, pretty floral plates and cups combined with modern art works and an oriental water feature. It's not cheap but they make a great chai latte and their chocolate cake is superb!

The modern entrance of Cafe de Coin

The water feature

Coin was a hit with Mum and Dad when they visited in September.

Another of our favourite spots in Jongno-gu is The Book Cafe which, as the name suggests is a great spot to read a book while you have a coffee. It's quiet and even has a vast collection of books for patrons to browse through while they are there (sadly, they're all in Korean so we tend to bring our own!).

Along with the fantastic array of cafes, Jongno also offers a wide selection of restaurants for those who want to be seen in all the fashionable places (and for those who want to eat some really nice food!) One such restaurant is Felice Gatto, where Luke and I ate with some friends for my birthday. The lighting created a lovely atmosphere and the food certainly matched the pleasantness of the decor so all in all it was a charming place to dine, especially for a special occasion!

Luke and I outside Felice Gatto.

Well, that's all from the Jongno-gu files for now. I have no doubt I will be showing you around more of the area in the near future.... there are plenty more places we plan on trying before our time here is up so I'll make sure I take the camera along when we do! 

Lucy

Walking in an Autumn Wonderland

It has been a delight to witness the changing of the seasons this year in Korea. From the stark landscapes we saw when we first arrived, to the vibrance of spring and lately, the glorious colours of autumn. The shimmering heat and stifling humidity of summer I could have done without but nothing beats the relief of autumn after a long hot spell. 

On November 8th Luke and I were lucky enough to pay a visit to The Secret Garden which is located within the vast grounds of Changdeokgung ('gung' is Korean for palace). We had to book well in advance in order to get ourselves on a tour of the garden in November, the most popular month to visit the garden. Well, I can certainly understand why November is the most popular month to see the garden, it was spectacular. The colours of the leaves were simply breathtaking and there were just so many of them! 

We took so many photos on our wonderful walk in the garden and while no picture could ever really do those stunning colours justice, these give you some idea of what we were fortunate enough to see.

If you ever find yourself travelling through Asia in November I would not hesitate to recommend a visit to The Secret Garden in Seoul. It has been a highlight for me this year and I've got a feeling it will be something I'll remember for a long time to come. 

So, autumn has been wonderful but now the leaves are rapidly falling and there is a real chill in the air. We walked Dusty this afternoon in sleet (not much but enough to make things very cold) and a puddle in our street was frozen this morning on the way to school. Winter is coming whether we're ready or not and I welcome it with open arms! I love getting cozy in winter with hot chocolates and fuzzy slippers and all the other things that go along with rugging up and staying warm. But let's just wait and see how enthusiastic I am about the cold once I've experienced winter in the northern hemisphere, shall we?

Lucy

Nearly....but not quite

They try. Really, you have to give them credit for that. Still, Luke and I can't help but have a good giggle over some of the attempts we come across from time to time. Of course people have been having a laugh over these kinds of things for many a year but I thought it was time I shared some that have cracked me up over the last eight months or so. So, without further ado, here are some attempts at using english, all the way from Korea.

I think the first one that really made Luke and I laugh would have to be this one:

Now, while there isn't really anything wrong naming an english school "Toss English" you have to admit, it does make you giggle a little, doesn't it?

The second one I couldn't resist a photo of was this one:

That's right the word "mall" is now a verb! Hooray! Let's all mall together, shall we? They just love it in South Korea, it's the latest thing! Luckily, I don't think this has caught on, even in the language referred to here as "Konglish" which is how Koreans label their version of the english language. Luke and I are quite fluent in Konglish these days (there's one to put on the resume!) and sometimes it really is a whole new language in itself.... that frequently fails to make sense to english speaking people. Hmmm....

Seeing this written on a grade five student's pencil case made me do a double-take. I don't have photographic evidence on this one (it might have seemed a little strange) but in among the cute pictures of cartoon pandas was the line "Alcohol is my soulmate". Interesting....

Another one I was unable to photograph was on a t-shirt worn by one of my grade six girls. The t-shirt featured good old Mickey Mouse and informed me that "Being kind is not the same as being wimpy". Great advice from Mickey there.

Even the rubbish bin under my desk has a wacky attempt at english written on the side of it (really, no bin is complete without such a thing, is it?) It tells me to "Please throw down your agony and despair in this basket" which is lovely and all but actually I just want to dispose of my used tea bags and the like.... Not quite sure what they were even aiming for on that one.

Well, that's all the examples I can remember for now so, happy malling to you all and if you have any agony or despair on you please be sure to put it in the nearest bin. Thank you.

Lucy

Autumn Leaves Falling, A Birthday Comes Calling

It was my 23rd birthday last Saturday. I've never celebrated a birthday away from home before and I felt that this one could go one of two ways. Firstly, I'd feel lonely and sad and miss all the people I normally spend my birthdays with, or it would be special because of where I am and the people around me here. I'm so happy to say that the second option is how I felt!

On the morning of my birthday, I had a virtual party with my Mum, my Dad and my brother Andrew, who happened to be in Adelaide for a bike race. We sat around our computers, I opened my lovely presents and there was even a cake with candles! (In Australia, that is. I expect it might have been a little stale had it been posted to Korea!) I was so touched by all the thoughtful gifts and cards I received from home. Thank you to you all, you really made my day so special! After the virtual party, Luke and I slowly got ready to take our usual hair-raising bus ride into Seoul.

In Seoul we wandered about, had cake and chai lattes at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and just generally enjoyed being out and about. We meandered around until it was time to meet our co-teachers for dinner at a gorgeous Italian restaurant called Felice Gatto. Young Ku, Ellie and her husband joined Luke and I for a lovely meal and once again, there was a cake with candles. I felt very well celebrated!

A Chai latte in Seoul

The group at dinner

Luke and I at Felice Gatto

Looking out the front door of Felice Gatto

After dinner, we all went to a beautiful traditional tea house. Set in a quiet backstreet, the tea house had the most inviting warm glow about it as we approached it. We sat on the heated floor, drank delicious teas (I tried the quince tea which was yummy!) ate cake, talked and laughed and had a really lovely time. It was unlike any birthday I've had before and I've got a feeling it will be a memorable one, for all the right reasons.

Tea and cake

By the end of the night, Luke and I were so tired we fell asleep on the couch with Dusty while my new "Mamma Mia!" soundtrack played in the background. As the day came to an end I thought about the distance between Korea and Australia and I realised that it hadn't really felt that far that day. I may be far away in terms of physical distance, but there's nothing like shared affection and kind thoughts to make that distance feel less daunting and less significant. 

I had a great year as a 22 year old but I feel ready to be 23, I feel there are some great adventures in store for the three from the box and I'm looking forward to whatever they may be.

Lucy

The wheels on the bus go round and round...

The first time Luke and I rode a bus to Seoul we were surprised by two things. The first of these was the number of people fast asleep when we boarded the bus and the second thing was the tremendous speed at which the bus travelled (which made the first thing surprising all over again).

It was our third weekend in South Korea and Luke and I had decided it was time we ventured into Seoul. During the week Ellie had told me about the buses so we were all clued up on where to catch them, what number bus to take and where to get off. We didn't have to wait long before the number we were waiting for, a 1000, pulled up at the stop. We got on, paid the fare and turned to look for a seat. As we quickly surveyed the slumbering passengers and made our way to a seat, the bus lurched into motion and roared away from the stop. Struggling to remain upright we made it to a seat and, rather ungracefully, plonked ourselves into it. As the driver crunched through the gears and got the bus up to a ridiculously high speed, Luke and I shared a quiet laugh about the number of people sound asleep on the bus. It was a long time between stops and we wondered how many of the sleeping people were supposed to get off at the stop after ours and how many of them would wake up in time. We screeched to a halt at the next stop, Yonsei university, and Luke and I witnessed for the first time the amazing inner-alarm clocks of South Korean people..... at least 6 people woke up suddenly as the bus stopped, leapt out of their seats and made their way to the doors. Not only did they wake up as though someone had snapped their fingers to bring them out of a trance, they all looked fully awake, immediately! None of this yawning and stumbling groggily! They were up, off and clicking away in their heels and business shoes all in the time it would have taken me to yawn, rub my eyes and sleepily mumble "where are we?"

Luke and I were still amazed by this event when the bus took off again and holy moly! Did it ever move! We tore into Seoul at an incredible pace, the driver was a lead-foot in the extreme! We feared for our lives as he rounded corners on busy roads at crazy speeds and we wondered how on earth people managed to sleep in such situations, shouldn't they be holding on for dear life like we were? We arrived in Seoul with our nerves in tatters and decided that surely all the bus drivers weren't like that, they couldn't be, could they?

We spent the day wandering around the lovely and very vast city of Seoul and by the end of the day we were ready to face the bus ride home..... the driver on the trip home was worse. Not only was he an absolute speed-demon, he had clearly never been taught how to drive the bus properly. He crunched those gears every time he changed them and the poor bus sounded so sick I was sure the gear-box was going to drop out of it at any moment. Still, we made it home somehow and I must admit I felt a pang of sympathy for that driver every time he stalled it-I remember how that feels..... although I wasn't driving a bus!

Well, Luke and I now believe that the bus drivers of South Korea are in fact hired based on how fast they are willing to take corners and how much they are willing to dodge and weave through traffic. I could count the number of times we've had a cautious bus driver on one hand! The majority of them swerve in and out of their bus lane, use their horn liberally and over anything (or nothing) and like to approach stops at speeds which make you think they must have forgotten that people want to get off, then they SLAM on those breaks and send you flying into the people around you or the back of the seat in front of you. I was once "lucky" enough to be standing right next to the driver (the bus was so full I had no choice) and I was astounded to see on his speedo that he was hurtling around a bend at 90km/hr! Though really, I shouldn't have been surprised at all now I think about it.....

However, despite it all, there are still times when you will find Luke and I among those sleeping on the bus. Amazingly enough, we have gotten completely used to it and will now nod off and have a good old nap on the way home from a long day in Seoul. But while this may be so, I still thank my lucky stars every time I set foot on solid ground after a journey with a South Korean bus driver, I guess somebody, somewhere, is looking out for all those sleeping passengers.

Lucy

A Bit British

I've always considered myself to be an Aussie girl through and through. Indeed, I've taken this for granted to the point where I've hardly spared it a thought, it has always just been part of who I am without me ever having to assert it to anyone, including myself. I love being an Australian for so many reasons and I've always considered my Australian-ness to be a plain and obvious fact. Travelling overseas has shown me that this isn't always so.

This is my first overseas adventure and I have discovered that, while travelling sits very nicely with me and I plan to do a lot more of it in the coming years, I really do love my own country very much. I have also found myself feeling more patriotic than ever before, especially when people directly question my nationality. The first time this happened was in Itaewon. Ah Itaewon, the sleaziest corner of Seoul, well, by night it is anyway. Itaewon also happens to be a major foreigner hang-out and the place to go for Indian food as well as certain food items that are hard to come by, such as Milo. We may not like it much but we do pay Itaewon a visit every now and then and on this particular day we were heading for lunch at an Australian cafe. To say that this cafe is run by an Aussie would be an understatement. The cafe is run by the truest, bluest, most ocker Aussie I have ever met! He was once the drummer for the band "The Choir Boys" who toured here seven years ago. Well, he never left and while he'll happily run Korea into the ground in conversation, it's pretty plain to see that he has it good here and he won't be leaving any time soon. We entered the tiny cafe in the backstreets of Itaewon to find the footy on the t.v. and some very relaxed looking customers but nobody who looked like they worked there. We rang the bell on the counter and took a seat as we heard an indistinct yell come from somewhere out the back. He emerged from the back and greeted us with "g'day, what can I do ya for?" and we knew we'd found the right place. We chatted with him for a bit as we looked at the menu and he asked us where we were from. When I answered Adelaide he gave me a funny look and said "yeah, but where else are ya from?" I returned his funny look and said, "nowhere else, just Adelaide" to which he replied, "then what's with ya pommy accent?" I raised my eyebrows and assured him that I was an Australian, mate, and that was the truth whether I talked like an ocker Aussie or not. I have nothing against the British at all, but what was this guy on about? Just because I speak clearly and use correct grammar he has no right to go doubting my claim to being an Australian. Humph. Yes, I was a bit miffed. Still, he made great chips and a good burger so I forgave him and enjoyed a beer and the footy with the other patrons.

A similar thing happened to me again when I was getting my haircut at my usual salon. I was trying to explain what I wanted to my stylist but that day we just weren't on the same page. He was clearly struggling to understand me and he caught the eye of the manager, who speaks some English, for help. The manager came over and explained to me that my pronunciation was "a bit British" and that was why my stylist was having trouble understanding me. The second the words were out of his mouth I found myself firing back with "actually, I'm Australian." I really could have let this one go but no, something in me was not going to have anyone overlook where I come from. The manager corrected himself, looked a little awkward, and then translated what I wanted to my stylist so the haircut could get underway. As I was leaving he even gave me a free gift and I couldn't help but wonder if he was feeling a tad guilty about it all....

At school too, my nationality has caused some confusion among the staff. I think I have finally managed to let them all know that I am Australian but if they aren't aware, I will make them so before I leave this place. I have been asked about Canadian public holidays and the circulation of the New York Times but every time I set someone right about where I come from, I feel proud to be an Australian.

So, don't call me British, don't call me Canadian and please, don't call me American. I come from the land down under, the sunburnt country, I am Australian and mate, there ain't nothing surer than that.

Lucy

The Most Dangerous Animal

Over the past seven months, I have discovered a new side to my personality. I don't bring out this new side very often but that's probably just as well. I like to refer to it as "Angry Lucy Teacher" (thanks to my Korean students who call me "Lucy teacher").

Last semester Ellie and I finished the text-book work too quickly and so we had some spare lessons to fill with whatever we chose. We decided it would be best to split the classes into two groups based on their ability levels. I would work with the more advanced kids and Ellie would work with the ones who needed some extra help. The topic we chose was animals with a special focus on dangerous animals. So, armed with various sheets of information and a vague idea of what I was going to say I stood before my first class feeling really nervous! Luckily, I had to face the grade fives first, they are easier to engage and haven't quite reached that stage where it's cool to think everything is boring and crap. The class was going well until I realised that I was running out of material but not time. I thought quickly and came up with the idea of telling the kids a story. I searched my memory and decided to tell them about the time I got head-butted in the stomach by a cow. They listened as I told the story and laughed as I acted out parts and generally made a bit of a fool of myself (that's one thing I've learned here, the kids love that!) The story was a hit and I told it to all my grade five classes....

But then, it was time for the dreaded grade six. There was no way I was telling them my cow story so I had to come up with something else. I found a list of the "most dangerous animals" in the world on the internet complete with facts about the number of deaths per year these animals are responsible for. Aha, this was something the grade sixers might enjoy! It was all going well until one particular class walked in and decided they didn't want to play along..... Before I knew it I was in Angry Lucy Teacher mode and the class was in stunned silence. Oh boy, did I let them have it! I was furious. After I'd said (ok, shouted) my piece I continued on with the process of revealing to them the top 10 most dangerous animals in the world. When we got to number one, I posed the question ,"what do you think is the number one, most dangerous animal in the world?" and before anyone else could say a word, a student called out "YOU! Lucy teacher!" Wow. I didn't realised I'd been quite that scary! Still, I laughed and told them that perhaps this was true, but only when I was angry.

So, there you have it, I am now (according to certain grade six students) the most dangerous animal and for me, that's a good enough reason to keep Angry Lucy Teacher moments to a minimum! I just hope those kids won't always remember me that way....

Lucy

"What's that?"

As we spend 5 out of 7 lunchtimes a week at school, school lunches have become something of a talking point for Luke and I. Let's just say what we have to say isn't always positive...

On the whole, I really like South Korean food. Most of the time it is tasty and delicious and lovely and fresh. It is also wonderfully healthy! There really aren't very many fat Koreans walking around and their diet completely explains that. Unfortunately, school lunches are not the best ambassadors for Korean food. If you came to Korea and said you really wanted to try the food, I wouldn't take you to my school for lunch. (Mum and Dad, the day you were here actually wasn't too bad but I'm still glad that it wasn't your only taste of the food here!)

Where should I begin? School lunches usually consist of the following: soup, rice, kim-chi and two main dishes. The soup is often really spicy (too spicy for my tastes, that's for sure) and quite frequently involves large quantities of tofu, of which I am NOT a fan. As I told Ellie the first time tofu was on the menu, I don't particularly enjoy chewing on a wet sponge. The rice, well, the rice is sometimes the only thing I can eat so even though our current chef doesn't really have the knack for cooking it so that it doesn't resemble glue, I can't really complain too much about it. Kim-chi is spiced, pickled vegetable, usually cabbage, sometimes raddish. Koreans LOVE kim-chi! I don't mind it either (I prefer it on the bbq) but I don't usually pile my plate with it. The main dishes can either be really yummy or just downright wierd and awful.

One day, as I surveyed the lunch trolley and found chunks of tofu in red-hot sauce, tofu soup and some unrecognisable dish that appeared to be some kind of insect, I thought to myself "well, unrecognisable dish it is... with rice and kim-chi. Hooray". I took my lunch back to my seat, took up my chopsticks and paused to have a closer look at what I was about to eat. As I looked at my lunch, and it looked back at me; I decided that I wouldn't ask what 'it' was until I'd had my fill of whatever it was. This has become my general rule at lunch time because if you find something you can eat, it's sometimes best not to know what it is until after you've eaten all you want. I tentatively held one of the little critters up with my chopsticks, took a deep breath and put it in my mouth. And you know what? It wasn't that bad! It was a little salty but not unpleasantly so and it certainly beat tofu! I ate a few more, and then a few more. Before I knew it I was tucking in quite happily and hardly even thinking about the fact that my lunch was watching me through tiny little eyes.... After I'd had my fill I dared to ask the question. I leaned over to Ellie and asked "were those things insects?" She cracked up laughing and informed me that they were just dried anchovies and I laughed too. Oh, silly me! Here I was thinking I was eating a whole bunch of tiny insects when they were tiny fish all along..... hang on, that still creeps me out a little. I could still see their eyes and their spines and I'm not sure I like that.... Oh well, like I said, it was better than tofu.

These days, I don't find myself asking "what's that?" quite as often. I recognise most of what is served now and I know what I like and what I don't like. Curry, stew and sweet-potato chunks in honey are some of my favourites and I love it when there are pieces of crisp pear for dessert. I don't think I'll ever get into tofu but I still eat those tiny little fish when they're on the menu.... just with a little less enthusiasm!

Lucy

Ellie

Ellie. What would I do without her? Well, I'd be a bit lost to be honest. Since the very first day we arrived in Korea, Ellie has been nothing but a friend to me. She supports me, understands me and is willing to help me with anything and everything. Seriously, nothing is too big or too small for Ellie! She's made phone calls on my behalf to everyone from the hairdresser to the vet, she's paid for things on her credit card for us and made numerous bookings and reservations for us. But, on top of all of that, she's been my friend. We've listened to each other, laughed together and tip-toed around the class-room when the other one needed a nap in the afternoon.

So far, nearly every time I've visited Incheon International airport, it has made me shed a few tears. The last time we were there I was saying goodbye to my parents and I was a mess. As we left the airport Luke pointed out that the next time we were there, it would be our turn to walk through the departures gate and that then I would be happy...... I replied that then I would be saying goodbye to Ellie, and who knows when I would get to see her again! So, I think Incheon airport is destined to always make me cry.

Still, even though saying goodbye will be oh, so hard, I will take away so many fond memories of teaching english with the beautiful Ellie. And who knows, maybe one day it will be my turn to show her around my country.

Lucy

10 things I miss about home.

1. Friends and family. Miss you all like crazy!

2. I miss the wide open spaces of Australia! There are just far too many people crammed into this tiny country, it's hard to get used to when you come from pretty much the opposite situation.

3. Driving and the freedom of having a car.... still, nothing is going to make me attempt driving on South Korean roads! I value my life a bit too much for that.

4. Chai lattes and baked apricot cheesecake with friends in Cibo. This one is high on the 'to do' list for my first week back home!

5. Talking! I have people to talk to for sure, but I miss being able to freely communicate with people everywhere, in shops, in restaurants, in bus stations, on the phone, the list goes on.

6. Being able to find pants that fit! 

7. Live music. Looking forward to getting to a few gigs when we get back!

8. Being able to read labels and signs. We know the alphabet but our vocabulary is a little limited.

9. Living somewhere where animals actually have some rights! The treatment of animals here makes me so angry.

10. Hanging washing outside to dry. 

Space They Cannot Touch

Apartment living is not something I ever thought I'd be up for. Indeed, I miss having space, especially outdoor space and I can't wait to hang the washing up outside again (it's funny the things we miss!) but in all honesty, I love our cosy little box of three!

I think the reason why I've become quite attached to our home is more because of what it represents than anything else. In short, 402 Garam Villa is our sanctuary. It's one place where we know we can relax, let go and be understood. The area we live in is not the nicest place to be when you stand out like a sore thumb in a country. It is not often that we get smiles from people as we walk down our street. Most of the time we get glared at with suspicion or just out-right scowled at. We are so out of place in our part of town, I think a great deal of the hostility we feel comes from a fear of the unknown. It is so different to be the ones getting singled out and disliked simply because we don't look like everyone else. It's an eye-opener, that's for sure. There are days when this really brings us down but we have learned to block it out for the most part. When we step out onto the street, we put the walls up and try to ignore the negative energy that comes our way; but when we get home, we are in our own space, to quote the lovely Kate Miller-Heidke, the space they cannot touch.

So, although I miss Australia and I can't wait to make a home for Luke, Dusty and myself there with a yard for Dusty and a place for me to hang the washing outside on a warm, breezy spring day, I will, for now, appreciate the space that we do have and enjoy the feeling of being home wherever it may be.

I will leave you with Kate Miller-Heidke's "Space They Cannot Touch". It's a beautiful song and one of my absolute favourites. Enjoy!

Lucy

Kate Miller-Heidke - Space They Cannot Touch 

Dusty's Day Out

We had only had Dusty for a few weeks when I came down with a bad cold and decided to take a sick day. I planned to sleep, drink cups of tea, eat toast and generally rest and recuperate. Dusty, unfortunately, had other plans...

I was dozing in bed when I heard Dusty growling from his bed (on the couch in the living room). I got up to see what was wrong and found him perched on the back of the couch with his back against the window. I talked him down from his little ledge and gave him some reassuring pats, then I went back to bed thinking everything was fine. A short while later the same thing happened but this time I decided it was time to get up and go out for bread. Right from the start Dusty has had a strange habit of refusing to eat when Luke or I are home (unless we're feeding him roast chicken on his bed out of desperation!) so I thought I'd pop out for bread and go for a little walk to give him time to have some food. It sounded like a nice, simple plan, what could possibly go wrong? So, I dawdled up the street to the bakery in my hoodie and trackies and then sat a while on a bench until it started to rain lightly. Thinking I'd given the little fellow enough time to satisfy his hunger I headed home.

Upon opening the front door to our apartment I was met by a speeding flash of pale brown fur and before I could register what was happening, Dusty had pushed past me and was on the stairs. At this point I remembered that the door to our building was open and that he only had to beat me down the stairs to make it out onto the street. I panicked. I dropped the bread and ran out after him. He made it down the stairs and was on the street in no time, sprinting ahead of me with no apparent intention of slowing down. I chased him, shouting his name and begging people on the street to help me. I thought the cause of my distress was fairly obvious but nobody tried to help me. Language barriers aside, I would have thought seeing somebody chasing after a dog, shouting and sobbing loudly would generally mean "HELP ME! MY DOG IS RUNNING AWAY!" Not here. I got blank looks and even saw one man looking scared and running in the opposite direction to get out of Dusty's way. As Dusty approached the six-lane, main road at the end of our street, one woman, bless her, stuck her umbrella in front of Dusty causing him to veer onto the footpath.

I chased that dog (who is seriously fast, I might add) around an enormous block. He nearly got hit by countless cars and I nearly lost my voice from screaming out his name. I chased him and chased him and then, I lost sight of him. My last glimpse of him was as he was racing towards a huge intersection, just a tiny, vulnerable bundle of fur, running in among the traffic. When I got to the corner and looked at the intersection he would have to have made it across I felt certain I'd lost him for good. I turned and saw some builders looking at me curiously and I racked my brain in an effort to remember the Korean word for dog. All my brain would offer me was "namu" which means tree.... not helpful. I then tried to mime "have you seen my dog" (also a dead-end, funnily enough).
I headed home to call Luke to tell him that I had lost our dog and was therefore the world's worst dog-fosterer. Luke left school immediately to come and help me look for him. Neither of us said it at the time but we both assumed we would be finding a badly injured or dead dog.

Well, luck was on our side that day because something made Luke decide to walk a certain way home and as he did so, he came across our little lost doggy, wandering up ahead of him. Dusty had headed straight for the place where he went for his walks, the only place we'd ever seen him wag his tail at that stage. Luke called out to him and he stopped, turned and looked back. Luke said he felt as though Dusty was waiting to be found, he'd made his escape and decided that the hard-knock life was not for him anymore. When I caught up to Luke, he had Dusty in his arms, miraculously unharmed but looking a little shaken.
We took him home, Luke went back to school and I didn't leave the apartment for the rest of the day. Things have gone quite smoothly since then, but it was a long time before I was game enough to take another sick day!

Lucy

Did you have breakfast?

It was with great trepidation that I asked my co-teacher, Ellie to book my first hair appointment. My hair was starting to feel pretty ratty but I was nervous about trusting someone other than my wonderful Adelaide hair-dresser, let alone someone who I was predicting wouldn't be able to understand the majority of what I was asking them to do. Still, I plucked up my courage and asked Ellie if she could recommend a place for me and book me an appointment. Ellie, in her usual way, not only thought of somewhere and made me an appointment, she also requested that I have the best stylist available and then drew me a map to make sure I wouldn't get lost on my way to the salon. Truly, I don't know what I would do without people like dear Ellie! 

The "big day" arrived and I made sure I was on time and feeling relaxed. My hair-dresser, on the other hand, appeared to be a bundle of nerves! I could tell cutting my hair was going to be a bit of a new experience for him.... As I sat down my stylist apologised for his poor english skills (this seems to be something people find obligatory here, I actually managed to communicate with him just fine) and we began the process of working out what I wanted him to do. I was a little amused by the question he asked me shortly after, I think it was out of a combination of finding it necessary to make conversation with me and wanting to practice his english. He nervously cleared his throat and then asked me, "did you have breakfast?" I told him that I had indeed had breakfast and asked him if he had done the same. His response was a rather excited (yes, excited!) "no!" and he explained that he didn't like breakfast. I told him that I liked breakfast very much and quietly thought to myself that this man who somewhat resembles a stick figure, could really do to get into breakfast more often! 

Along with being a tad amusing, the hair-cut was also a success and I left feeling a bit like a celebrity actually. It turns out that my hair was something of a novelty for a fair percentage of the salon. At one point I had three people blow-drying and straightening my hair at the same time. They chatted away in Korean and then informed me that they all loved the texture of my hair, I'm pretty sure I blushed at that point! 

I still go back to that hair-dresser though, I plan on sticking with them until I return to Australia. And yes, my stylist wants to know if I've had breakfast every time!

Lucy

Dusty from Daejeon

Luke and I have a dog. We moved all the way to other side of the world..... and got a dog. What on earth were we thinking??? Well, I'll tell you. Luke and I are both animal lovers and lovers of dogs in particular, so when we became aware of just how awful the situation for dogs in Korea is we just couldn't sit back and do nothing. So we looked around and learned of the plight of a dog shelter in a place called Daejeon. An hours KTX train ride away from Seoul there lives a woman who could well be the patron saint of dogs in Korea. Mrs Jung has given everything up for the lost and mistreated dogs of Korea. She lives in a greenhouse with around 100 dogs and has pretty well been cut off by her family because of it. She takes in and looks after strays and misfits and even rescues some from outside restaurants where they are next in line for the pot. On top of all that, her sister breeds dogs on the very same property for the purpose of selling them to restaurants. So, Mrs Jung saves all the money she can to buy as many puppies as possible from her sister. Unfortunately, the council wasn't too pleased with Mrs Jung's efforts so they decided that the shelter had to be closed. Luckily, there is a passionate and extremely capable Aussie called Tim living in Korea who took action. Thanks to the efforts of Tim and many others the number of dogs in the Daejeon shelter has been dramatically decreased. When the volunteers first started working with Mrs Jung there were around 200 dogs in the shelter and these days I believe that figure is down around 75.

Luke and I went out to the shelter several times. We brought home a dog under the pretense of "fostering" it on our second trip to the shelter. It didn't take us long to talk each other into it, that's for sure! Over the course of a week we went from "no, we really can't take on a dog" to "we can't just do nothing! We'll foster one but we won't keep it." So, we came home with a thin, bony little fellow who was just a bundle of nerves and uncertainty. We'd named him Dusty before we'd got him inside the front door and it didn't take him long to steal our hearts and become so much a part of our lives that we just couldn't imagine being without him. He is the gentlest and most polite little dog I have ever met and these days he is healthy, happy and confident. He will also be calling Australia home as of March next year!




Dusty has really changed this experience for Luke and I. I think he's a big reason why we're still here, sticking it out for the full year. On days when things go wrong at school and I miss home so much I feel like crying all day, Dusty is there to comfort me in his own scruffy way. I just can't wait to see him in a Australian backyard!

If you would like to find out a bit more about animal rescue in Korea, check out http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/

Lucy

Small face, yellow hair

Those who know me well know that I have never been much of a "kid person". I've never seen myself as being all that good with them and a lot of the time they annoy me, so what on earth am I doing putting my hand up to spend a year teaching grade five and six children in a foreign country?? I have asked myself that many times but I have also been amazed by how many times the kids have made me smile and laugh this year. There really are some great kids here, and that's saying something coming from me!

The children here work INCREDIBLY hard. Too hard, in my opinion, and yet somehow they manage to always find a smile and a hello for me. Of course there are bad kids and good kids, trouble-makers and class clowns, just as there are in schools the world over but I have met some kids here who I will remember for a long time. They have their charms and their quirks and I must say they have a knack for paying me compliments. Now, I'm certainly not complaining about having children knock on my classroom door in the afternoon simply to tell me they think I'm beautiful and that they love me, but some of the compliments have been a little unusual....... One day when I was walking out of the school yard I heard my name being bellowed out across the oval. I stopped, turned and saw three of my grade six girls barreling towards me at full speed. They reached me as I was wondering what could be SO important and it turned out that what they just couldn't wait to say was, "Lucy teacher! We love you! You have a small face and yellow hair!" I thanked them and they scampered off, content that "Lucy teacher" now knew of their admiration of her "small face and yellow hair". I asked Ellie what the story behind the "small face" comment was the next day and she told me that a lot of Asian girls believe they have large faces and wish that they had smaller ones like western women. These days, when one of my students tells me they think I'm beautiful, I tell them that I think they are too. I tell them this because it's the truth and also because I find it sad that these girls are growing up permanently believing themselves to be inadequate because of their nationality.

I have gone from being somebody who doesn't really "get" kids to someone who feels happy when a student does well or even just manages to speak english when they've been struggling with it for weeks. Sure, they still get on my nerves at times but they also make me smile and laugh and that, is something I didn't know I had in me.

Well, that's all for tonight so until next time, take care and be happy.

Lucy

The Early Days

6 months ago Luke and I left beautiful Australia to work as english teachers in South Korea. It hasn't always been easy, to say the least, but it has been an experience and a half, that's for sure!

We arrived in Incheon International airport on March 2nd early in the morning with little idea of what to expect other than the fact that we were being picked up, but were to spend our first two weeks in a hotel as our apartment was not ready for us yet. We weren't too thrilled by this fact but there wasn't a lot we could do so we were prepared to just make the best of it. Tired from our overnight flight and a little overwhelmed by it all we made our way to the luggage carousel where we were to get some VERY unwelcome news. We stood there as the crowd of people dwindled away and the appearance of new bags on the carousel stopped. Finally, we had to face the fact that my bag was not going to appear. We went over to the lost baggage counter where we were given a form and told to call the airport the next day...... at this point I fell apart. From there on Incheon airport was a bit of a blur, I didn't really take in much of it through my tears, all I knew was that I wanted to go home!

That first week was a real test for me as I was without my luggage for the whole week and we were staying in a tiny hotel room at the "Nice Hotel". We both started work the day after we arrived so there wasn't a whole lot of time to adjust to the country we would be calling home for the next year. The first week at school was tough more because it was the first week than anything else. There were no classes so I took it fairly easy, I didn't really know what to do to be honest, but my co-teacher, Ellie, was nothing but lovely to me from the very start and we instantly got along. One day in the lunchroom during that first week, as I ate the food that was so strange to me and looked out the window at the dull, grey sky and the stark, boring buildings, I was suddenly hit by how incredibly homesick I was. I tried to hold them back but I couldn't stop the tears from running down my cheeks. Most people had already finished their lunch by this time so the lunchroom was thankfully, quite empty. My tears did not go unnoticed by my principal however, who came over to me and gave me some herbal tea bags and told me (via Ellie, my principal speaks practically no english) that her daughter was studying overseas and she could understand some of what I was feeling. I so appreciated her kindness and understanding at that time, I'm a little disappointed that her understanding has not extended much further than this incident.

So, the first week went by and before we knew it it was Friday afternoon and, joy of joys! my suitcase was delivered to me at the "Nice Hotel"! It instantly perked me up and we went out for dinner to celebrate its arrival and making it through the first week.

It all feels so long ago now and yet at the same time I can't believe we've been here for 6 months. There have been so many memorable moments, some for happier reasons than others, and I will try to recount them here, as they come back to me.

Anyway, that's all for this particular excursion into the early days of teaching in South Korea.

Lucy