Andy's Mum Visits him in South Korea

Here is the final part of Andy's adventures in South Korea. Andy's going home to Scotland for Christmas next month but he'll be back in Daegu for more adventures in the new year.

'The following week my mum came to visit, and we had a great time seeing the sights, eating all the traditional meals, drinking together, etc! We spent the 2 weekends in Gyeongju, the old capital, where we went to the biggest and oldest Buddhist temple in Korea, and in Seoul, where we visited a magnificent, historical palace. We also browsed in an old district full of shops with antiques and other traditional Korean items (Insadong), bought a camera in the largest electronics complex imaginable (at an amazing price), and rounded it all off with a pint of Guinness in a British-style pub in Itaewon, a foreigner-packed district. My mum is full of the whole Korean experience now she is home - I think she wants to emigrate here!'

I'm going home after this contract for a couple of months, to spend Christmas with family and old friends, but I'll be back here in January to continue the adventure, as there is still so much to see and do.....

Glossary

seeing the sights – visiting/seeing the attractions

to round something off – to finish something

emigrate – move to another country to live

Andy's Trip to Jeju-do

Andy, who is a teacher at the London School of English in Daegu, continues to tell us about his adventures in South Korea.

'The following weekend was a long one, so a couple of workmates and I went to Jeju-do, a sub-tropical, volcanic island about 100 miles off the south coast of Korea. We had an exausting time of it, cycling literally continuously uphill from the sea-level airport for 4 hours, gaining a height of 2000ft, after which we stopped at a solitary mountainside pension (like a cottage) for the night. The next morning we climbed the remaining 4000ft of the volcano - 'Hallasan' -which formed the island, in blistering hot sunshine, finishing on the lip of a magnificent volcanic crater, with great views over a blanket of cloud. We descended back to the pension, then the next day cycled another 80K, virtually all downhill, to the east coast, where we stopped for a great lunch of cold beer and raw fish by the sea, in front of a stunning volcanic crater out in the water, before testing ourselves to our physical limits to get the bikes back to the hiring place in the city for 6pm! After that we had a much-deserved rest, before heading out to the casino, where we were nearly tossed out for gambling too little, and pushing their free beer concept to the limit! I broke even on the roulette, which was cool, it being my first time, but then lost 15 quid on my first hand at blackjack, and decided to call it a day (canny Scot that I am!).'

Glossary
workmates - people you work with
solitary - alone, with nothing around
cottage - small house usually in the countryside
crater - the hole at the top of the volcano
tossed out - thrown out/asked to leave
roulette - a game in a casino
quid - slang for £
canny - clever
Scot - person from Scotland

A message from Andy at LSE in South Korea

Andy Innes is from Scotland and he is a teacher at the London School of English in Daegu, South Korea. He's joining the blog over the next week or two to tells us some stories about his time in Daegu.

In this post he's going to tell us about a 10km race he did.

'All my training in my excellently-priced gym came to a peak recently (in theory!), and I entered a 10K run here in Daegu. It was a fabulously crisp and clear morning, but my joy was eventually worn down as my nights out made themselves known and my fatigue took over! However, having the energy to sprint past so many people to the finish on the same running track the 2011 World Athletics Championships will be held on was something special, and the old feeling of forgetting about finishing times and enjoying the communal spirit took over! What a day! I got a cool medal with 'International Marathon' on it (with '10K' in small letters), as well as some Korean writing, so I was quite happy! I got a cool certificate too, even if the time on it was my worst ever!'

Look out for some more stories from Andy in the next couple of weeks!

A Message from LSE in South Korea

안녕하세요 (Hello) from LSE in Daegu, South Korea

My name is Kirk, I’m English and I’ve been teaching at LSE Daegu for about 8 months. I’m proud to work for such an established and recognised school. I’ve been living and working in Korea for almost 2 years in total. I’d like to tell you a little bit about life in Korea.

When I first came here I was in a small city called Geoje and I was totally blown away with the seemingly huge differences between England and Korea. Firstly, I felt very foreign – everywhere I went I stood out and children would run up to me and say “Hi, hello, how are you, I’m fine, my name is…”. Korea is a very homogenous country, so a tall, blond haired, blue eyed Westerner like me stands out a mile! Now, I live in a bigger city so I don’t get as many stares, and I actually like the attention sometimes – it makes me feel like a Z-list celebrity!

Another difference was the food. Korea isn’t famous for its food, but it should be! It hosts a wide range of different food for meat lovers and vegetarians alike. My first meal in Korea was 비빔밥which is a mix of rice, vegetables and hot pepper sauce. It was absolutely delicious! Another favourite is 삼겹살which is thin slices of pork cooked at your table… mmmmmm. Korea’s national food is 김치(fermented cabbage), which sounds disgusting but actually tastes great!

Another striking difference is the language – at times it seems a millions miles away from English. Firstly, the Korean language uses Hangul to write its characters, so I had to learn a whole host of new symbols. Secondly, the grammar is very different to English, so instead of saying ‘I ate the pizza’ Korean’s would say ‘I pizza ate’. One saving grace is the fact that a lot English words have entered the Korean language, which makes it a little bit easier. Unfortunately, there also exists the dreaded ‘Konglish’ which is English words but ‘Koreanised’. One of the words for mobile phone for example is ‘handphone’.

Many other differences became apparent as the weeks and months went by, but that’s the interesting thing about this place. Korea has some brilliant innovations which I would love to see in the UK. One of them is the very popular singing rooms. Instead of singing in front of a large pub filled with strangers, these rooms are designed just for you and your friends.

When I eventually leave Korea I will be really sad since it has opened my mind and heart to a whole new world.

안녕for now.

Kirk