Christmas abroad

Christmas was a blast! I went out to my friend Kieran's house on Christmas Eve in Ilsan (about 30mins outside Seoul) for a few drinks and a feed. They mistakingly ordered 3 turkeys so there was more then enough food to go around all night and they put on a great spread with cheese and crackers and salmon on brown bread as appetisers and mashed spuds, roasties and gravey to go with the turkey. After dinner it was Irish whiskeys and white Russians all round and at around 4am a few of us went for a drink in the local disco bar for an unnecessary extra 45 minutes of seasonal revelry.

The next morning i awoke with a head like a binbag full of clothes hangers, but it didn't matter because it was Christmas day. I put on Fairytale of New York, got dressed and went for breakfast to discover that to my mild dismay that everything outside looked the exact same as the previous day, business as usual in the coffee shop, busses going about their daily schedules and Korean passers by giving me the usual looks (an equal combination of curiousity, awe and disgust). After breakfast and speaking to the family back at home I made my way towards Seoul Millenium Hilton.

Once I walked throught the doors of the lobby i realised that this was more like the Christmas I had expected. To my left a two meter high (authentic) gingerbread house, to my right a 15 meter tall Christmas tree (the largest in Seoul) and hilariously in front of me a guy dressed as a Korean Santa (funny because he looked about 20 and had no beard whatsoever). I met the guys in the Resteraunt and we were treated to a feast of a feed and as much wine as you cared to poison yourself with. After dinner we played secret Santa with a twist, which involved stealing each others gifts which were all aweful to begin with (eg. Kimchi chocolate, Kimchi being pickled spicy cabbage) which made it a lot more fun then it usually is. Also during conversation with an American team-mate of mine, it transpired that the previous occupant of his apartment had left a guitar behind which he gave to me as he already owns one himself which was brilliant!


Oh and did I mention that it started snowing on Christmas day. Yeah, we had ourselves a white Chrstmas by about 7 o'clock and it's been snowing for the last few days. I've spent the last few days between Itaewon and Ilsan with various different people so I've been taking loads of photos of the snowy scenery. Because the weather's so good for skiing, I think I'll have to go this Saturday. As for New Years, I think a pub crawl in Hongdae (the University district) is on the cards.

Apart from Christmas, not an enormous amount has changed since i last posted a blog. The teaching's still going fine, in fact if anything it's going better as all my students now know who I am (Niall-teacher) and I know all their names too so it's easier to control individuals who are acting up. I've been blessed with my apartment though, because I've been in a few of the other lads apartments and they're all tiny apart from the ones who are co-habiting with their girlfriends, in which case their apartments are around the same size as mine. I also have yet to try the same Korean dish twice so I'm still not sick of the food as each meal is an exciting olfactory experience. Happy New Year to all!

Right, where to begin? I'm living in Eunpyeong-gu which is a district in the north-west of Greater Seoul, which approx. 20 mins on the subway (which is amazing and really easy to use) into Jongno which one be considered the main centre of the city. It's a bit mad living in such a high rise city, for example my apartment is on the 7th floor of an 8 story building (Liberty Hall is 16 stories) and is dwarfed by all the buildings around it. Also I seem to be the only westerner living in my area. My apartment is only a 15 minute commute from work which is pretty cool.

My first weekend here involved meeting up with the lads from Lokomotiv Goyang, a football team i joined when i arrived here. There was an international snowboarding competition in the centre of downtown so we all went to that and went for a few pints later in Hongdae, the University district. Also one of my co-workers was nice enough to show me around Seoul on Sunday so we went to one of the palaces, cheonggye stream and myeongdong shopping district where I've never seen so many people in my life.

I officially started teaching this week because the American guy went home for a while so it's just me and the Kiwi (thought he was Australian and found out the hard way!) teaching in the hagwon with the Koreans. The "headmaster" sat in on my first lesson which was really uncomfortable but after that i've been flying it. The kids are great craic and so far it's been smooth sailing and hopefully it'll continue to be as such. Oh, and I passed my medical today so I'm nearly officially completely settled (just have to get my alien registration card).

As for getting my bearings on Seoul, it's a ridiculously massive city but i've got a grasp on downtown Seoul and a few other areas due to extensive walking around. For thoses of you not on facebook, i joined a local football team with a few Irish, English, Americans, Canadians and Korean lads and i went training last Thursday when it was minus 10C and the sweat in my hair froze after about 5 minutes. Also, all the water/gatorade we brought to drink during training froze after about 15 minutes so that was a bit mad!

Next Thursday (Christmas Eve) the manager/captain of the team's having everyone over to his place for a few drinks and a turkey dinner and on Christmas everyone's going to the Hilton for a turkey dinner and an open bar so I'm lookin forward to that as i only have Christmas day off work. I get New Years day off too so I might go skiing. The bus and pass cost around 30 euro and equipment hire costs a little more so it's a no brainer really.