Hi to all of you.

 

It's so nice to be back home after the week on Jeju Island. So much walking, hiking, cycling,

and swimming done.......home to rest until the start of the new semester on Monday. Day 1 of the 

trip was early. Get the 6am train from here, so that we could get to Gimpo Airport 2 hours before

our 12.30 flight to Jeju. Although Jeju is 100km's off the southern-most tip of Korea, the flight only

took an hour. It just felt like an up and down flight. After arriving, we headed east to Hamdeok Beach

 to find accommodation. It was hot, hot, hot, so we booked the first good-looking place.......a resort....very expensive. Great resort. but, get this....no pool. We then trundled off to Manjanggul Lava Caves to explore. We walked 2 km's underground. Pretty amazing stuff. Of course, that night we were exhausted, so we downed

a few ales.

 

Shit.....gotta go. More to come.

 

HI SUZANNE........GOOD TO HERE FROM YOU.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM.........thinking of you heaps........you have such a beautiful soul. Lots of love. GARY. XXOOXX

G'day everybody.

 

Although it's the end of semester, I don't get holidays until Aug 9th. I have 2 weeks of summer camp English to teach. That's ok but, very informal indeedy-doo. The English teachers are all coming around my place again tomorrow, so I'm happy about that. There will be 2 guitars, 2 violins, and a harmonica. The 'Mekchu' will be flowing. Roy and I are heading into Seoul on Sat to watch the Bledisloe Cup on telly....looking forward to that. I've been doing a fair bit of training....trying to get fit for my Jeju Island bike ride. My English Drama class was a success. All who attended thanked me for a good time. Nice to get that from them. Love to all. Me. 

Hi all.

 

It's been awhile since my last update. I'm teaching evening Drama classes to Korean teachers. We're doing 'The Wizard of Oz'. Good laugh.

 

I now have a great bunch of friends here. On Sat night, I had a bunch of English teachers around my apartment playing music and singing. We had 3 guitarists with their instruments, 1 violinist who is sensational, and a guy on his harmonica. We had a ball. We will have another one here in a couple of weeks. One of the guys (Roy) and I are going bike riding around the bottom part of Korea in August. One of the Islands off the southern coast (about 100kl's) is called Jeju Island. We are going to spend a few days riding around it. It's 70kl's by 40kl's wide, and has a huge volcanic mountain in the centre. Looking forward to that.

 

Please leave me a comment sometime.

Hello to you.

 

It's Monday morning. I have my 1st class at 10.30, and I'm pretty sore. Went on 2 decent hikes this weekend gone. The old legs are feeling it, but it's a good sore. Saturday, Tamara, Jen and I met for lunch then walked it off with a 10k jaunt. Yesterday, Roy and I walked up Soyosan......that 1st peak always gets me.....it's so bloody steep. Views from the top are pretty special though. Back in the swing of things here at school for another week. Must admit, I'm enjoying it here more when there are things to do with other native English teachers......and it's so nice to be able to speak at a regular pace with them. Hope you are all well. I am fit and healthy, and still loving the experience. That's it for now. Love to you all. MWAH.

Hi all.

 

It's Sunday morning. Went to Seoul yesterday to watch the Super 14's final. Bugger.......the Waratah's got done by the Crusader's. Oh well, nice to have some VB's though. The kids are really enjoying my presence here. Every morning before the start of school there are always a bunch of them in my classroom waiting for me. This time is great, they play twister, and have a good laugh. My English Drama classes will be starting a lot sooner than I thought. I will start teaching after school from June 24th. There will be 22 Korean speaking English teachers. I'm hoping to break them out of their shyness towards expressing themselves in English. The warm-up exercises, including vocal warm-up, will scare them a bit, I reckon. But......they'll get over it. Roy, the new South African teacher, is a good friend. He loves his rugby, as do I. So we've been heading into Seoul a fair bit recently. Tamara and Berenice will join us next week for some fun in Seoul. Apart from teaching the little ones, not much has changed here, so I'll sign out and say cheerio for now.

  

Hello to all of you.

 

It's warming up a little here. No more snow for atleast 8 months. Looking forward to the stinking hot summer here. I've nearly been here for a year now. This second year will be alot more relaxing, because I have adjusted to the lifestyle. I must admit, the first 6 months here was really stressful. They have given me more classes to teach, so I'm pleased about that. My language skills are picking up too.

 

I went on a nice 5 hour hike on the weekend. Loved it. Great for the old bod, not so good on the knees. Walking down the last mountain was excruciatingly steep, and seemed to never end. Glad I did I though. The photo's should tell the story. I'm enjoying yoga again in the evenings. Not much to say, except life here is good.

 

Toodles

First day back and it's snowing....a total contrast from being on The Gold Coast yesterday, wearing singlet and shorts. Overall, the trip back took 19 hours. It was great to catch up with family.

 

Now it's time for work. The school has totally re-arranged my classroom, and I've just been given my schedule for the year......Yep, it's going to be a busy year.

Hello everyone.

I've just managed to book my flight to Brisbane. I did not think I was going to get a seat. Apparently, everyone is going to Australia in mid-Feb. I arrive in Brisbane on Feb 14th. Plenty of people to see, so I will need to hire a car for a while I think.

 

Hello to all.

 

Next year I will get vaccinated against the 'Flu'. My co-teacher forgot to tell me that most people get done in Sept. The last 2 weeks I have been doing an English Drama course. On Wed, just gone, my group and I performed 'The Wizard of Oz' to an audience. When I get photo's and video, I will post it here. It was mostly fun to be apart of the workshop; however, the communication was (at times) a little frustrating for me. The girls in my group were fun to be with. At the end of our performance I just wanted to give them all a hug. In the past I hugged a couple of Korean women (not randomly of course, women I worked with), and they were so uncomfortable about it. I ended up shaking the hands of my fellow cast members. Now that, to me , was very uncomfortable. Nothing like a good hug, hey!

The next 2 weeks I'm teaching skeleton classes during winter vacation. Yesterday in one of my classes I had 4 students. I plan on making these lessons good fun for me and the kids. Chow for now.

Hello all.

 

5 weeks of being unwell is enough for me.....thank you very much. I'm definately on the mend. Went into Seoul yesterday to get Australian wine as gifts for my fellow teachers at the school. Nothing really too exciting to say, just ....yep, I'm still alive.

 

 

Hi to all who readeth this.

Happy New Year. I hope this finds you happy and healthy. I've had a chest infection for awhile now, but it's getting better now......thank god (or Buddha, or Muhommed). Some good news though. At this stage I have just about decided to renew my contract here. Although I still have a few months to go, I have so much I want to achieve here with my teaching.

 The children are such a joy to work with. I feel that the last 8 months has only been my settling in time. So, if I can get myself better, I'll be here for 2008.

 At this stage, if I decide to renew, they will send me home for a few weeks in Mid-late Feb 2008. So, hopefully I will get to see some of you. I need some friendly faces to see, not that the people here aren't friendly, just that the conversation is not too stimulating. I really do feel like I am getting better now. It's been a difficult 5 weeks for me. Lots of love to everyone.

 

  Hello....family.

 Geez, it's sounds like Montana and Lincoln are growing up. First thing I thought of when I read your e-mail was, reading with the kids..........you guys are great. It's so important to give your children the confidence to do so at such an early age. Congratulations on that. I would love to read with the kids when I eventually get back.

 Yeah, well, since you last read my web page...I have updated it........I'm a lot worse health wise. Yesterday, I went through a series of lung tests and chest x-rays (same kinda tests we would have at home for ASthma). I do have 'the flu', and have had it now for 3 weeks, but the DR also thinks I may have Asthma. He's given me a puffer to use until next week when I see him again, and he wants to do the tests again to see if results have differed.

 The air here is terrible. Even on those days when Koreans say it is 'foggy', I feel like telling them that's not fog.............it's something else that aint healthy for ya......but, they wouldn't understand me.....so. If I have Asthma, I'll be very angry. Come to Korea for a cultural experience, and go home with Asthma......fuckin great.

This cold is turning into a little something a bit more serious. No sleep for  the last 2 nights.....coughing lungs up. Will have to go to Dr's again tomorrow for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. Whinge whinge.....looks like it's going to be a great Christmas here in Korea for me. I'll probably be laid-up in hospital with a drip in my arm.....How lovely!

 

Quite a few of me Native Englis teacher friends are going home for a few weeks.....South Africa and USA. It would be nice....but if I'm crook, I will not bother until the end of my contract in early May. Yesterday, over 1,000 Native teacher's met in Seoul for a convention. Big day at the Everland Resort. The seminars were good; however, walking around the amusement park for 3 hours in Sub-zero temperatures did not help my "getting better" cause. I nearly didn't go (too sick), but I was informed that it was compulsory to attend.........GREAT. Of the 1,000 people there, I would be the person who comes from furtherest away, on the North Korean border. So the 3 hour bus ride there and back was not much fun either. Overall, I'm feeling shit.......apparently 'the flu' can hit some foreigners really bad.......YEP, THAT'S ME BABY. On that cheerful note.....I think of you all regularly.

 

Lots of love.

 

The Happy Me, who's inside here somewhere.

Hi all.

 

Not much of a happy chappy today. Had no strength to do my 6 classes yesterday, so I didn't. Principal was once again concerned for me, so Mr Kim took me to Dr in Jeongok.. Bad cold.....bronchitis. I managed to get through 4 classes today. The students were all concerned for me.....really sweet of them. Classes today were not as animated as they usually are, but the kids understood. It's actually good being sick.....I've lost my appetite.....maybe now I'll lose that belly. The last 2 days I've had soup, toast, and some Mandarins. Had to postpone tonights class with the area's other teachers. Not feeling up to it. Tomorrow will surely be a better day.

 

It's amazing how those days when you are sick, make you think mostly of being near to your mother. I guess it's that unconditional love we all cherish. If your ears were burning on Monday Mum, it was just me thinking of you. I was craving for that motherly hug.....and the warmth of your smile.   

 

Really sad news about 'Flashy' guys. I remember what it was like when Mum went and had 'Pippa' put down. Mum was sitting in the lounge room crying when I got home from school. She didn't want to tell us that she was going to have her put down. Poor Mum.....she was devastated.

 

I had my meeting with the regional Archaeologist, Mr Kang. He looked at the artefacts and suggested sending them away to be analysed. I said, sure no worries, the artefacts were not mine to keep anyway. He then gave me an updated thick book with photo's, locations, maps, and infornation of all the Archaeological Sites in the Yeoncheon area. Bloody heavy book, too. I was rapped. He has invited me to excavate with him in the new year. The Yeoncheon Cultural Heritage Office has ear-marked 2 excavations for the new year. Boy, did my eyes pop out when he said that. Might be very interesting stuff. The history (or should I say pre-history) of the area where I am teaching goes back some 750,000 years.

I'm a happy chappy. I've just been told that I will be getting connected to the internet at home next week. The school will lend me an old computer (saves me buying one for a thousand bucks).