Christmas in Korea

I asked my students if they celebrate Christmas. After about a week or so of asking every one of my classes, I found that the majority of them said 'yes'. Now, I don't know whether they really understand the implications of the word 'celebrate'. It usually means doing something extra special for the occasion, whether that includes meeting up with family, having a special meal, going to church, or whatever. One of the third graders I spoke to said that he ate with his family. Another said he had a nice meal. Another was wearing a new, sharp looking v-neck sweater underneath his blazer. Promising, I thought. It turned out that the first...

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Our Area

It's taken about 22 months, but it's finally here... pictures of our area: Gyesan-dong, Incheon! Sarah took the pictures during the daytime and I, Lee, took the pictures at night. For almost 2 years of living here, you would have thought I could have taken better pictures. You wouldn't believe it, but the ones I uploaded are actually the best of the bunch. Sarah's photos are good though, as usual. This is my (Lee) building. I guess it's a standard apartment building for people who live alone and like to get hassled by nosey superintendents. This is the view from my apartment window. You can see Seoul tower in the distance on a clear day, of...

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10 Things I Will Miss About Korea: by Lee

This is the start of my little series on how I feel about returning home to the UK in March. Didn't know I was coming back? Well, come the end of March, my mug will be paraded around the streets of Portsmouth once more. Hide your pork pies... I'm a-coming!10 Things I Will Miss About KoreaThe things I will miss about 대한민국 (South Korea... I'm just showing off) are plentiful to say the least, but I will try and think of the things I will miss most and somehow form a kind of list. It's not a 'top 10' or anything, just a list.제육덮밥 (Jae ook deopp bap (sorry for the rubbish romanisation)) - a kind of spicy pork dish. The meat is quite fatty but cut...

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Vietnam: Part 2, by Lee

I write from my metal box/apartment in Korea about the second half of our great trip to Vietnam! (Only kidding - I love my apartment :P). The Trips The White Sand Dunes We began organising our excursions like anyone else would: by inquiring at the reception in our resort. As it turned out, they had cancelled all their excursions for some reason and recommended we take a taxi... Great service there Amaryllis! If we hadn't have been into town the previous day we wouldn't have noticed the 10 or 20 different local tour operators nearby and so through ignorance we might've been forced to take a ridiculously expensive taxi ride for a good 3-4 hours....

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Vietnam: Part 1, by Sarah

During a jeep ride back from the White Sand Dunes in Vietnam, I had this idea for a travel blog. I wanted to write a blog with Lee about the times we've shared both abroad and in Korea. Lee and I both would write a post about different parts of our trips. I thought that we could use the blog for two reasons: as a record of our memories and as a way for both our families to get a bit more insight into the other's personality. I hope that we will be able to post on the blog continuously throughout the remainder of our time here in Korea. Lee and I had a paper, rock, scissors match to see who would have to write first and...I lost,...

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