The Irish of the East

I've heard it said a few times that Koreans and the Irish are similar: they both like to talk, sing and drink, and both countries were invaded and dominated by imperial nations. Here is an article from today's JoongAng Daily (English paper in Korea) about the two peoples similarities. The article asks if Korea can follow the example of the Celtic Tiger, Ireland's economic success.

The curious thing is, the writer is asking if Korea can be as economically successful as Ireland, when it is already one of the economic miracles of the last 15 years. And this is something many people aren't aware of; a common misconception back home is that Korea is undeveloped and backward, a third world country. South Korea was actually lagging behind the North economically until the 1970s, and yes, there was famine and extreme poverty. But since the late 1980s, the country has undergone a drastic transition, and is now in fact the world's 12th biggest economy, with international influences. Samsung, LG and Hyundai: you probably have something made by them at home or at work. All Korean.

Quite successful, I'd say, given that the country isn't much bigger than Ireland. So it strikes me as odd that they still don't accept their own achievement.

Bring on the rain

I would like to share a soppy emotional memory with you.

It was raining this evening as I left school at half nine. I don't mind the rain here, as it is usually a welcome relief from often horribly muggy weather; it breaks the humidity, and you can be guaranteed to get up the next morning to be greeted by a crystal clear sky.

For a second, as I was walking down the stairs at school, the smell of fresh rain took me back to summer holidays at Rossnowlaugh, on the north-west coast of Ireland (on Irish beach holidays, it inevitably rains four days out of five, and the sunny day is usually the day you go home!) The scent of summer rain brought back warm fuzzy memories, and made me smile the whole way home!


*PS I'm aware of the fact that this is how I should write my blog - update every time I have a thought or a story to tell. That's an awful lot easier said than done, however! Life trundles on, and maybe next week I'll be updating properly!

Teaching would be great if it weren't for the kids

Every now and again, a day passes at school when something is up with the kids. And it's something that runs through all of them, making them non-responsive or disruptive, and it's incredibly irritating. And there's usually no reason for it: we try to say it's the weather, or there's a holiday coming up, but there's no real pattern. Admittedly, the students have had a couple of very distracting weeks, so it could be hard to get them focused again, but it means I've had to shout and give punishment homeworks.

And I don't like shouting. But I do it a lot more these days. Maybe the extra classes are trying my patience, maybe I'm just finally realising that yelling is at times necessary, or maybe I'm just fed up with the whole teaching lark and it's about time I got out of it!

I don't really mean what I say in the title; the kids are great most of the time, and they do make me smile and constantly amaze me with their creativity and friendliness. But on days like today, I wish I could just make them all sit on their hands, like my teachers used to!

Tomorrow will be a brighter day. Hopefully travel arrangements for the mud festival will be booked by then. More on that later!

Apologies for the delay...

Greetings all my lovely devoted readers (all 4 of you!)

I know you are all waiting with bated breath for the next instalment of my blog, but I apologise sincerely for this will not be it. I know I can make all the excuses in the world, but nobody will accept them. But quite genuinely, I've been working 13 hour days, and then heading off every Friday afternoon for travels, and not returning until Sunday night; and then doing the whole thing all over again! I actually ended up ill for a couple of weeks because I've been going flat out - basically a very nasty cold, that was very difficult to shift, even after I'd been to a doctor and they gave me these five - yes FIVE - pills to take:





And there's no sign of it letting up. But fingers crossed, I'll get some updating squeezed in somewhere. Although I'm going to blame Mum also for the delay - I'm boycotting my updates until she sends me the photos from her camera from her visit! So if you want an update, go hassle my mother!

What I've been up to since the last update: there was Mum's visit, I've gone hiking and boat tripping in Busan, the boy Jonny came to visit for a few weeks - so it was some extra travelling for me - the Gwangju Two had a weekend birthday bash, I've seen pretty lanterns in Seoul, Buddha had a birthday, school had a dance and a sports day, and I've been to a Korean wedding. See, lots to look forward to...when I finally get updated!

Oh, I've also booked a trip to North Korea in August, and for those who don't know yet, I'm coming back home to start a Masters at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. So it's all go, really!

But to tie you over until a proper update, here's a video and there's one below, from my school's sports day last week: while the athletes were competing, their classmates cheered them on through organised chants and songs, and it's great to watch. Did also want to show you a video of one of their dance performances, but the file is too big - boo.





And here's a photographic taster:




Oh, also in the last week, I've got myself a new pet! Well...not really. I bought a Nintendo DS - a nifty little portable games console (that's pink). I know, I'm turning into my brothers, but it is great fun - and I've now got MarioKart in portable form, so that makes it the best thing ever. I also have a game called Nintendogs, in which you raise and train a puppy. So my new pet is called Ping, and she's a chocolate lab. Hey, it's the closest thing I'm going to have to a real pet for a long time yet! And look - isn't she adorable?:



But until I get blogging again, I hope you are all safe and well and enjoying life, wherever you may be. I have much to tell you, and I promise, it will be interesting. Bear with me. Ta ta for now.