Sandy

I would like to try and forget about last weekend. Stayed in most of Saturday just chilling out and watching Dexter. Then I went out in PNU for my birthday. I thought I would go and see some bands that were playing, have a few drinks and get home in one piece. Well I went to see some bands. Quite good actually, a Korean indie-rock outfit and a rockabilly group! In Korea. Takes all kinds. I bought a new t-shirt as well. A Queen of Diamonds playing card with the face of a skull. Awesomeness. Then I moved onto the bar. Got a few jars in, played some pool. And then I had a few shots of Tequila. Few hours of my life lost, along with my cap, and most of my dinner. I felt really rough on Sunday so I laid low and tried to crawl into a hole.

That took a few days to get over, so last week was tiring. But the weekend just past was good. Saturday I went on a visit to the Museum Of Modern Art. Not as good as the Tate, obviously, but still some interesting pieces and worth the trip. Once thing about Korea is that they just plant buildings anywhere and don't really care about the surroundings. Back home, for example, the Tate is in an old Turbine Hall! And then from the MOMA to Haeundae for the Sand Festival, which was quite good to see all the sand sculptures and to hear some Bulgarian pop. Even went for a paddle in the ocean. Water was very cold but nice and refreshing. Grabbed some dinner at Outback as I had some vouchers. A big steak and some chips with veggies and I was good.

One thing I keep looking out for in Korea is European or American cars. They are not common here, but it's fun trying to spot them. So far my list includes Chevy Escalades, Ford Mondeo, BMW 3, 5 and 7 series, and the X5, Mini Coopers, Porsche 911 GT4, Mercedes-Benz AMG's, and a Lotus Elise! No European supercars yet, but off to Seoul this summer so might see some there.

Looks like Japan is going to be expensive! But it will be worth it, and my exra classes will actually pay for it in a few months. So I think the plan is fly to Osaka, then get a return train to Tokyo and then fly out of Osaka again. There is Ghibli Studios in Tokyo as well, which is going to be awesome! And going on a train that does nearly 200 mph! Braaaaaaaaappppppppp.

Time to update

Well it's that time again. Time to update the ol blog eh?

After my 4 day weekend being back at work has really sucked. It's getting to be a bit of a bore really, and with open classes and stuff coming up it's just a headache. Outside of work not much has been going on really. Last weekend I went for a walk down on the sea-front walk on the west side of the island. It was a really hot day so was nice to get outside and feel the warmth. The walk looks really nice. I only did a small part and chilled out on the rocks by the breaking waves for a while. There are also some public gyms! With pull-up bars and benches for crunches and weights. That would never happen back home.

And this weekend was another lazy affair. Saturday was torrential rain all day, which was nice to see, but means I couldnt do much. And then Sunday went to see the 'Angels and Demons' film. As a movie it is good, but it strayed away from the book a lot.

Well, looking at organising the Japan trip soon. And there is a festival in Seoul in August so something to look forward to.

Cable Car

Yesterday was very productive and good to get out and about.

We took a trip to Kumgang Park which is the north west of the city. It is a large park, with a mountain in the middle. And you can climb the mountain by path or take a cable car to the top. Today was the cable car. But the path looks really good so will need to return with hiking boots. And it would be even better to ride down! Haha.

So after grabbing some lunch in the gigantic Lotte department store we made our way to the park. After trawling through side streets for a while we came upon and old gate house, and further up the hill was the park. A quick look at the park map and we decided on what we wanted to see. Straight to the cable car, and out came the camera. A relatively quick trip to the top but some killer views over Busan. On a clearer day this would be even better. At the top there are some paths to walk around on, and some temples to see and old gate houses. It was just nice to be out in the sunshine and walking amongst the trees. The Koreans sure love to eat and drink though. Even at the top of this mountain there are small huts which cook food and sell drinks, with loads of old Koreans laughing and talking.

Decided to head out again last night, make the most of the time off. This time was the Kyungsung University area in the east of the city. Slightly easier to get to this time. had found out about a couple of bars right next to each other. Ol 55 and Vinyl Underground. And both of them were dead. Totally dead. I guess everyone was away for the long weekend. Both bars were quite cool though, small, dark and grungy. Ol 55 was the best, playing Metallica and Rancid all evening whilst we played pool. And free pool! Awesome.

No shenanigans with breaking and entering this time. Just off to bed.

As for today. A total bust! Went for a quick walk about and then just lounged watching X-Men movies all day and eating junk food. Back to work tomorrow.

I am Wolverine

Went to see the new X-Men movie today. X-Men Origins : Wolverine is a spin-off (prequel) to the X-Men movies. It was awesome. Wolverine is bad ass!

Apart from going to the movies today was quite quiet as well. Mooched about in Nampo-dong for a while and went for a walk. It is so busy there on a Sunday, there are even queues at the stalls for snack food! I don't know. Went for a shop as well, and stocked up on all the goodness for the next week.

Pretty quiet day actually. Oh well.

Breaking and entering

So last night I went out on the town. The first time really since we got to Busan. It's a bit difficult and inconvenient living on a small island with infrequent bus service and no subway. Anyway. We headed up to Pusan National University, in the north of the city, and went hunting for a bar. I had read about some good bars in the area, and this is where most of the ex-pats hang out. Soon enough we saw Westerners everywhere. And then we came upon the bar I was looking for. Basement. No matter where you go the world over, Western bars are the same. Small, dark and grungy with hip-hop and rock blaring from the DJ, and a pool table. Grabbed a beer and took a seat, and was soon invited to join a game of Jenga with some Americans, an Aussie and a Japanese girl. I am a champion Jenga player after my days at Index playing Giant Jenga, where if you made a mistake 3 foot blocks of wood were coming down on you! Played some pool with a British dude who was owning the table all evening. After some jars it was time to catch the last subway back.

Once we got back home there was a dilemna. The main door to the apartment block has two locks. I didn't have the key to open one of them. Locked out! After some hollering and banging on the door to try and wake a neighbour there was no luck. So I did the next best thing. Broke in. I climbed onto the roof, jumped down onto the roof at the back of our building, hopped a wall and clambered up and in through the very small bathroom window. Kapow. In the flat. And off to bed. Haha.

After last night's exploits I lay low today and just enjoyed the sunshine and being off work for a while. Caught up with some TV shows and generally chilled out. Nice.

Sports Day

So today was Sport's Day at school. Not something I particularly wanted to take part in, but was nevertheless roped in. I was informed by my co-teacher that I should grab the camera from the office and start taking photos. So that's what I did. And kept on shooting until the battery ran out, or the memory card filled up. The battery gave way first. It was a really nice day so it wasn't too bad sitting about in the sun. At one point I was strongarmed into running with some of the kids. I think we won, I don't know. Some more sunbathing and watching the relays and then some dancing. Lunchtime!

And then an afternoon spent trying to fill the hours until I could go home. As we now have a four-day weekend to celebrate Budda's birthday and Children's Day. I don't care what it's for. Four days off!

The weather has been rather good of late. Brillaint sunshine all day. Of course being in a city there is a lot of pollution so there is a general haze all day, but not as bad as it could be. The mountains seem to help with that I guess. I can only imagine how hot the summer is about to get.

Scotland rugby? Really?

So the Six Nations rugby kicked off yesterday. And I am trying to follow it over here. But I can't get any video as the copyright restrictions only allow video from BBC to be played inside the UK. Arses. I doubt Scotland will make any impact though.

School has been going OK. The kids seem really interested and I am starting to see who the bright ones are and who the little buggers are. I usually just hang about whilst my co-teacher's do their thing and then I do my part, usually a game or explaining something. It's pretty easy and doesn't stress me too much, but Im not cut out to be a teacher. I can see that now! Ha ha.

There is a new piece iof furniture in the flat! A sofa! Hooray. I can now get comfy in the evenings. It is rather special. It was a bugger to find though. We went to some furniture market in downtown and had a snoop around, and finally decided on this huge sofa. Trying to explain that we wanted it and where to deliver and how much everything was, was certainly a challenge. But it all worked out, and the shop even gave us a life home in the van with the sofa and coffee table that I decided to get with it. The tricky part was fitting it through the doorway and into the living room. It is a BIG sofa! But it is all in now and very comfy indeed.

The weather here is a bit random. For a while it was very cold. Then it heated up a bit and was quite nice. Then we got reports of the yellow dust coming and we had to lock everything down. And now it is cold again. I think the summer is going to get hot though. Watch out.