March 2010
3 posts
JBJV update
Picture from sean website link
Weekend stuff
to anyone reading this and last post, they are just reminder posts to myself so i can fill them out later. Life is busy here, it doesnt ever stop…
fri: skol cake hm piano danguchun cake cutty shark fri dog lunch sat trist hangoverover hyun wedding bonsai wedding free meal blue house river dance unclebar hongde big willy style speech cake pocketknife seagull pin pokarekareana skabar...
February 2010
10 posts
hair gel and chang hyun pay and tour les j link
So I guess it’s been a good week now since my last update so there’s a whole lotta crackin yarns to share. I will stick to the best of the bunch, and slot away the rest for my return to NZ so that I still have some things to talk about..
First of all I have to tell you about ‘Denny’. So earlier I’ve told you about my newfound friends from Ireland. Well one of them,...
I am from Middle Earth, Nice to meet you
Finished school/piano and my ever so loving father (props to you NZ Dad…) helped me out with a bit of tie-over cash till my first pay check. I celebrated by popping out to a cheap bbq style restaurant near my house. Yet another cultural misunderstanding was underway. This was the same restaurant where on my second night in Korea Hyun had taken me to eat and drink many-a-bottle of the...
''Don't you have an English degree???''
Today was the first time I’ve ever been homesick in my life. After my first year of university I lived and worked alone in Brisbane, Australia for 4 months, and I didn’t feel even the slightest pang of sickness, aside from wanting a decent pie and an actual beer every day. But this time it was different. Here’s how it panned out…
To start with I was late to school by...
Wax on Wax off
Me and the G-man himself. Another tick off my bucket list….
Which one is Wax? I can’t tell, and I’m in the photo…
Saturday 6/2: Photos above from a very eventful trip to the 63 City Wax Museum in Seoul. The proprietor is a Madam Toussad associate with similar skills and training. I joined a few of my school colleagues for the ride to this famous outfit. The 63 City...
Rap battles and Korean technology
Not alot happening in the new week. I’m really enjoying teaching and getting to know students, it’s a great way to find out if teaching is your thing, which is something I always wondered. Wednesday afternoon we created a new game with the kids. They are tested weekly on fluency and phonetic pronunciation (eg. P-ig…PIG, B-us…BUS, Sk-un-k…Skunk) and have one minute to...
Kiwi Pie and Fire in the hole
In the wee hours of Sunday morning I asked Hyun what he missed most about NZ. Without blinking he said “Pies and Kebabs”, and soon we had a cracking business venture to start in Seoul. As meat pies are as yet an unknown entity in Korea, we discussed the basics of opening a pie shop/cart in central Seoul, selling pies for 3,000won each ($3-4 NZ). We came up with names ‘Kiwi...
On to Seoul...
Met with some agents from TNT recruitment Thursday morning (28th) to get health checkup for residency card, work permit and insurance purposes. The drugs are working and my leg is a thousand times better, but still they give me another shot in the butt (I think they just like the novelty of my pasty-white ass). Had to do a urine test which was very difficult as I had just used the loo at home...
It's all good
One of the best things so far about Korea is the cost of living. My apartment is rent free thanks to the school, all I have to pay for is the monthly heating bill which is around 50,000 won in the winter ($60) and 20,000 or less in summer! I also had the opportunity to meet Mr Song, the principal of my school. Despite the language barrier, I can tell he is pretty cool and am told he’s very...
`My Hagwon (School)
When I wake up my leg is killing me. Soju is very bad for infections (which I later learn is what I had). I arrive at school to start teaching at 2pm. It is very sweet. Everyone is very nice, there’s coffee in small cups and water in paper squares from the water cooler. School is not what NZers (nor what I)would picture. Teachers can smoke in the stairwell, with cigarettes costing $4-5 a...
Soju is bad for the legs...
Called my Korean friend Hyun (Chang Hyun Ro) on Sunday night when I got home. He got on the subway and came out from Seoul where he lives. I taxied to the station to meet him and practised my Korean on the driver. Lost in translation is now my life!
Hyun is now 29 years and it’s been six years since we met at Victoria Uni. He says I got fat and bald and have a big forehead. I say...
What up Korea?!
Saturday 23rd January 2010. Have finally arrived in Korea after 5/6 years of dwelling on the prospect. Holy shit. What am I doing? Oh well, what up Korea!
Got some bad asss DVT style pains in my leg from the 27 hour flight transition. Wgtn to Akl - Akl to Hong Kong - Hong Kong to Seoul (Incheon Airport). Met my agent James for the first time, he’s one hard case mofo. Keeps yarning about...
December 2009
1 post
Teachin in Korea
Finally tis happening. Have scored a job in South Korea teaching English and am off on my travels around 14th January 2010. Off to a school outside of Seoul named 7 Step English - www.7stepenglish.com
Just gotta sort my documents and post em all off. Al’s coming too. Whoop whoop.
September 2009
1 post
Flying High
Working as a hospital administrator day to day is not the sort of thing that gets my blood pumping stronger than usual. So after getting a taste for flight riding shotgun in a short trip across Cook straight earlier this year, I was longing to try out the real deal in the pilot’s seat. And thanks to a thoughtful gift at this years coming of age, the opportunity arose on Sunday afternoon. “All...
August 2009
2 posts
Sweet, new blog
So this is a random place for us jot down thoughts, writings and general stuff