Spring has sprung!

It's so nice to see the temperture rising and the flowers coming out. There are alot of trees around me that I have never seen and I don't don't know if they'll burst into flower or leaf yet! The weekend was great for me cos I found a BIG supermarket with things I recognised. It's not too far from my house so I'll be back there. There was also a Chinese herbal medicine market that had some really interesting things. It was a bit dark when we got there so no pics but when I go back I will take photo's.


I went out with Woogi and his college friends on Friday night. When I first came here this guy very kindly brought some stuff for me in his car. He thought his car might get past this post but ..... it couldn't. There is now a big concrete block there and a new post.



They call this guy camel because of the way he eats, the next girl was known only by 'A' and the last girl 'mushroom' cos of her hair. They were really nice. I drank too much though. If I drink wine I can feel when I don't need anymore but Korean alcohol seems to hit me only when I stand up. I wobbled into my house quite late.

Woogi and I went to the movies and had a short walk in the small park nearby the cinema.

Some days it feels like I'm still in Japan. Some people making mochi (glutenous, sticky rice)

This narrow street was the back enterance to alot of restaurants. I didn't want to look too hard at was cooking in the pots there as it could've been lunch!

Weekend

Teachers welcolme party!

We went to a traditional Korean restaurant where you sit on the floor and the staff come and bring the whole table with the food on it. I didn't know what I was eating but it tasted pretty good. Got home quite late but had a good time.

Sachiko comes to Korea! The first time I was in Seoul was on a stopover. To fill in time I went to a palace. On the tour was a Japanese girl and her Korean friend. We got to talking and I discovered that she was from Fukuoka. We kept in contact and on my return to Japan we became very good friends. On Saturday I met with Sachiko and the friend, Yumi she was with 3 (4?) years ago when we first met. Yumi is with her husband. As Woogi and I were getting off the subway Woogi saw an old high school friend of his so we invited him along too.

This is Satoshi and Jennifer, two friends I met at church in Japan. They are both living in Seoul now. We had a nice meal together, catching up.

Skiing!

The crew

The transport - really neat. We watch DVD's to pass the time.

The place (Yong Pyeong)

The mountain

The squeeze

The skiing (though mine would hardly be described as that being my first time and all)

Stuff

Hot stuff! It's gonna take me a year or more to get through this stuff. I like it though. When I mix it with my rice, it looks pink but Woogi's rice looks red. I'm in training to get my rice to look red too!

Art stuff - this month's picture on a Korean calender in my room.

Good taste stuff (well that's the name of this milk)

Fridge stuff. What's happening in my fridge? Well there's beer for Woogi, kimchi, yu ja cha (kinda marmalade) tea, miso, more hot stuff, butter and cheese. I wish for real cheese.

Never tooo far from home stuff.

Phone stuff -for those who like this stuff there is mp3, camera, internet and all the other usual stuff!

This is work. I share an office with a nice Australian, Lizzie.

This is the view from our office. Quite nice.

I went out with the memebers of Doom (????) They are some of an internet group who have an interest and have travelled to India. These people are the ones that Wooki and a couple of his friends often catch up with. It was a good night and I enjoyed listening to them loudly discuss a few things and just chat as well.

I just liked this poster. Makes you feel tired.

This is my favourite Korean dish. We have tried to eat it a couple of times but the restaurants that serve it have either been nowhere to be found or full. Today we finally got it right. It is a chicken dish with noodles made from sweet potatoes, veges and a good amount of spicy chilli's.

I'm not yet used to all the people here. I watch people really working hard just to make a living and I realise that my life really hasn't had much hardship. I see the beggers on the subway and I'm torn about what I should do. I don't want to feed a gambling or alcohol problem. I'm reminded of the U2 song that says 'where you live shouldn't decide whether you live or die' , I think that I have been privilaged to have been born in an English speaking country, that I can travel and work in countries in a good job while the people there struggle to find work. It makes me think I have a responsibilty to give something back.

Independence day

March I is Independence Day in Korea and a public holiday. It started off cold!!!

Woogi and I went to the movies at the World cup Stadium. There were tons of people there. There were a group of people line dancing, alot of TV cameras and spectators. While we were watching a guy came over to interview me. A little bit embarrassing! We finally found out that later that evening Korea played Angola in a soccer match (Korea won 1-0)

This is the longest line (in fact the first line) I've ever seen to get into a convenience store!