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Well, i am not sure what to make of Boris being elected mayor of London. I DO welcome the end of Livingstone's reign. He was too comfortable in the role and he has had a good run in office, not without typical controversey. It won't be long, however, until Boris makes his first major gaffe.
Pete claims I am in a "safe haven" living in South Korea. Interesting idea. As the months roll on, I do look back and see England with a different perspective. I keep telling Koreans that I miss my family and friends but that I don't miss England, particularly. Only yesterday morning I was having my hair trimmed in a jjimjilbang in Itaewon, central Seoul, and a retired regular enquired as to my opinion on the country I have adopted as my temporary home. Inbetween his explanations about family being important and how proud he was of his son, I retorted that there is much to love about Korea. On the downside, I think it is wholly obsessed about materialism and is pressurisingly competitive and children suffer from too much expectation, but it is a great place to live and work. A few examples:
Public transport works, it is cheap to eat out, and weather is guaranteed for the day (i.e. not changeable, like in England). The girls are hot, too... apart from the ones that wear T-shirts that knowingly state "Stop being desperate!"
I am fairly certain that I will return to Korea for another year, after my return home. Sometimes I think that I am lucky to be able to do this... other times I just think, no, SOD it, I have EARNED the right to be here and do this.... I have forgone things, made decisions which have enabled me to get here and suffered... by not having the proper relationship that I crave... I split up with Christine in 2003 ... putting my 'career' first.
Anyway, with 31 weeks completed at the Hakwon, I have just got back from a very enjoyable weekend in Seoul.
My 5th visit to Seoul was solely to meet Lee Eun-jung, who I first met at MS Echo Study Group, in March, but who has since moved to the capital to study for 6 months. A date spread over 2 days. Or rather, pack as much into one day as possible... and then do it all again the next day.
In reality, we packed a lot into Saturday and then we were too knackered to do much on Sunday. So we took it easy, once I had adjusted to the fact that someone had deliberately turned my watch back one
and a half hours while I was asleep!
We visited Namsam Tower, walked through Namsan Park, inspected curios in Insadong, checked out fashions in Myeong-Dong, studied families playing on Yeouido and got talking to a guy from Singapore. We enjoyed a twilight ferry cruise on the Han River. We had a curry in Hongik and a drink in Itaewon. I stayed in the smallest and most expensive jjimjilbang... and i am absolutely sure it is the gayest one in town.. guys trying to play footsie with you during the night!!
On Sunday, we checked out Myeong-Dong again before visiting Yongsan to sort out a camcorder battery issue that I had. At CGV, we caught the new Liam Neeson, Paris centred movie 'Taken':
http://www.europacorp.com/dossiers/taken/
We ate in a fusion restaurant, before shooting across town to a WA Western Bar, in Eun-jung's home district of Chungmuro, with several beers from around the world... appropriate considering Eun-jung's recently themed presentation at the MS Echo 9th Anniversary.
We said goodbye at Chungmuro Station. Totally fun, relaxing, entertaining and absorbing. A great date! That's it! That's as much detail as you are getting here.
I visited Yeouido again on Monday, on CHILDREN'S DAY - a national holiday, to begin recording footage for a video I have been asked to make for Anna Jeon's forthcoming website on teaching English in South Korea.
Check out the photos and the short video from Insadong. Pictures, as they say, speak louder than words.
Philxx
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