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Nov - Dec 2002 (South Korea - Namsan Tower & the Opera)

I guess being in a country where there are few foreigners from the West, opportunities that wouldn't otherwise present themselves, occur. On the Saturday night we got invited to dinner with one of the top Opera singers in Korea - Jai Whan Lee, a guy who has sang with Placido Domingo and tours each year.

As well as being invited to dinner and being given a bottle of Chianti Wine to go home with, we were taken to a Korean house warming party. Enormous preparation goes into preparing a dazzling variety and amount of food in many Korean festivals and parties and this was no exception. It was a feast and the people who were holding the party were very hospitable and kind.

Last Sunday we visited Seoul Tower and the view is pretty good. Above is a picture of one small part of Seoul. We also went into an Irish pub by work last night with a few friends. You can by a pint of Guiness for 15,500 won which is £8 or Euro12 approx. Real expensive. The local beer 'Cass' is manageable but I miss the taste of the black stuff. Valeria is off to Japan again next week for 4 days to re-new her visa. Its a hard life for some, bless her.

Have completed 3 months of the 12 month contract. Considering English was my worst subject at school its going very well. BUT, frighteningly - there are Koreans walking around with an Devonshire accent saying things like "you know" at the end of sentences and "at the end of the day".

One problem we do have here is that on Jan 1st, everyone in Korea becomes one year older as that is when you become older in Korea. On your birthdate ie Oct 8th for me, you celebrate your birthday but you do NOT become older on that day but only on Jan 1st. It's nearly christmas time and it'll be a little different here as S.Korea is only about 25% christian, with buddhism being the main religion. Nevertheless, they still get excited about this time of year a little as it means a day off for them on the 25th December. I only get the 25th off but i'll handle it for one year.

Korea and N.Korea have been in the news lots lately with the new Bond movie and with the North restarting its nuclear program in definace of the U.S cuts in aid. In the new Bond movie, with the N.Koreans replacing the russians as the baddies int he movie, and with the S.Korean's being cast as puppets to the U.S., many Korean people are apparently avoiding the film in Korea.

The thing I find amazing often are the subtle things which the Koreans do to improve things. Take for example a trip to McDonalds. If you have a drink you are taking away they tape the lid on so it doesn't spill. Simple but effective. If you go to the local 7'11 shop, (Spar in UK and Ireland), and buy a yogurt etc they'll provide a plastic spoon. They also have a counter and a hot water tap in case you are buying noodles so that you can eat them in the shop there and then. Takes up very little space and is so convenient. You go to the subway and they have TV's on the trains and you know exactly where to line up on the platform as mark's indicate exactly where the doors will open (i.e. where you need to stand on the platform). The driver's stop the front of the train at the same spot and thus every set of doors will always open in the same place for you to get on. If you go to a restaurant they'll often offer you a pinnie. Handy for people like me.

Above, a picture of the cable car we used to get to the top of Seoul Tower. You can actually walk up to the top in 15 minutes but we'd never been on a cable car before so we thought we'd give it a try. Below, more pictures we took from the streets of Seoul.

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