Putting the "BANG!" in NORAEBANG!

Okay, so the inevitable happened last night... I noraebang-ed for the first time!

But that's the end of the story. Let's rewind...! So, to start the night, Miki, our boss, had invited us (me, Merv, Hye Jung and Jeong Mi) out for dinner. I knew we were in for something special the moment I heard she'd reserved us dinner at a place: nowhere does reservations in Korea, and when they do, you know you're in for a treat. And Miki didn't disappoint! ...no, we weren't just reserved a table... we had OUR OWN ROOM! And though I might be used to formal dinners (they're part of everyday life for a Cambridge student!), this was something else! Objectively, the meal was AMAZING - literally made up of like a bajillion mini-courses and all the banchan (side dishes) you could ever want... but, for me personally, there was perhaps a little too much seafood (I even feigned enjoyment of JELLYFISH, which for a seafood-loather like me, is an effort!) and a little too little kimchi!

...also, all the chopsticks and eating-bowls were made of tin, which was strange! Apparently it was an old royal family tradition to use a certain type of tin which turned black when poison touched it (for obvious reasons), which was pretty cool! (...or sad, if you're not so easily impressed by your novelty crockery XD).

So, after gorging ourselves on some sassy Korean grub, me, Merv, Hye Jung and Jeong Mi boogied over to Gangnam for ee-cha (round two): bar time! Now, I'm no stranger to soju - if vodka is Russia, then think of soju as Korea! (...the two don't actually taste that different: i.e. both ridiculously disgusting, and drunk with only one purpose in mind!) - but last night was my first time trying makgeolli! It's a milky, slightly sparkling, alcoholic drink made from rice, served in a massive bowl, out of which you ladel your own helping. It's certainly much less aggressive tasting than soju, that's for sure!

Makgeolli > Soju

Jeong Mi and Hye Jung

So, there we stayed, supping our makgeolli, and taking the occasional shot of soju, whilst we waited for Lydia - another part of the Miki hareem - to finish work, so she could join us for sam-cha (stage three): NORAEBANG!

Now, before I get onto that, let me just explain something about the Korean "bang" culture. It's typically Korean in the sense that it just covers a ridiculous number of ways of having communal fun with your friends in the comfort of a private room ("bang" literally just means "room"). So there's DVDbang, where you all get together and watch DVDs in a room, videobang, where you do the same with videos, Playstationbang (yep, you guessed it! ...with playstations!), gamebang (...board games!), and a bajillion other types, not forgetting, of course, noreabang!

So, because noreabang is in your own private room, it's actually a lot less daunting than karaoke singing in England, where you'd typically stand up in front of a packed bar and do it - in Korea, you've only got to worry about humiliating yourself in front of your friends! Needless to say, that's something which I'm pretty accustomed to already, so I was game! XD

Jeong Mi shows some love whilst Lydia checks out the song list.

...and that's not all - not only do you get your own karaoke machine to control in your own room, but you also get your own TAMBOURINES to bop along with while your mates sing! WHY HASN'T THIS CAUGHT ON IN ENGLAND?!

So, that was how we spent the rest of our night! After you start, you literally won't want to give the mic up! XD Lydia whipped out some pretty amazing renditions of Beyonce - Listen and Christina Aguilera - I Turn To You, whilst the rest of us singing-amateurs muddled our way through Avril Lavigne, Britney, Madonna, Girls' Generation (gee gee gee geeeee!), Super Junior, DBSK ... and even the Little Mermaid soundtrack! Hahahaha - perfect! But, seriously, nobody does Ariel's "Part Of Your World" like me... I'm not even joking. O_O

Mervyn looking perhaps a little too happy singing Avril Lavigne - Complicated.

Now, I know what you're thinking: wasn't it a little embarrassing singing in front of everyone like that? Well, the answer is... NO. And why not? Well, for starters, the soju did a pretty good job of numbing my inhibitions, but, perhaps more importantly, the microphones had such a ridiculously amazing echo quality that you could be Leon Jackson and they'd make you sound like Mariah Carey. Of this I was a MASSIVE FAN, because it allowed me to delude myself for the three minute intervals in which I was "singing" that I actually have more musical talent than a spoon. The noraebang folk clearly know their market and how to help them to massage their own drunken egos enough to consider returning. For this genius marketing ploy, I salute them!

Special mention must also go to Jeong Mi and Hye Jung's rendition of Super Junior and DBSK's - Show Me Your Love... legendary. I know it will now forever be the song I associate with them! XD

So, my first experience of noreabang? ...AMAZING. July 28th will hereby forever be remembered as the day when I dared to take on the noraebang. *cue sentimental group shot*

From left to right: me, Jeong Mi, Lydia, Hye Jung and Merv.

...in other news, me and Merv took a trip down the Han River on Sunday! Merv insists it was a little underwhelming, but I actually really enjoyed it! It was nice just relaxing on the boat, the wind lapping your face, and being able to take in all the sights on either side of the river! ...you don't get wind much in humid Korea (except from the old women on the subway, and I only rarely enjoy that variety), so when you do, it's nice to make the most of it! XD

... so, all in all, a good few days! :D

The Eun Hye and Ha Na Reunion!

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SHAMELESS AND REPEATED DEMONSTRATIONS OF "TYPICAL ASIAN PHOTOGRAPHY POSES". THOSE OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION ARE WARNED TO READ WITH CAUTION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

*Ahem* Now that that's out the way, I can get down to business. Eeeeeee - what a day! :D Remember Eun Hye from the jazz bar we went to on Mervyn's first night? Well, she dropped Mervyn a call yesterday (...I still chronically lack a phone... must.get.it.sorted!) inviting us to her family's restaurant! So, at one o'clock this afternoon, we took her up on her offer! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a LITTLE nervous when she took us to her restaurant in Seocho and insisted we meet her parents... I presumed they'd be more than a little hesitant to welcome with open arms two guys who their daughter had just recently met whilst working in a bar... but I was clearly thinking much too much like a Westerner: far from a receiving a frosty reception, we were given a ridiculously warm welcome and treated to a FREE (and AMAZING) samgyaetang lunch! (...Korean generosity is clearly willing to defy English sceptics who claim there to be no such thing!) ...and her mum even went so far as to compliment my handsomeness! ;D (She CLEARLY has taste. :P).



...Eun Hye herself is an absolute legend. She's typically Korean in how expressive she is about EVERYTHING (all head shakes and "AIIIISH!"es XD) and is just so kind and generous (I mean, a FREE LUNCH?!). She's even been teaching us some Korean too! Though her attempts at English are still the funniest - especially the way she answers her phone "HEY GIRL!" - and the way she gets ridiculously frustrated whenever we can't understand what she's trying to say -hahaha, so cute! n_n

So, after lunch, we popped to Eun Hye's favourite coffee place, where we grabbed some ice coffees and chilled for a few hours... just chatting and getting to know each other! Eun Hye grabbed a laptop off one of the staff there (she seemed to know them quite well!) and showed us her "CyWorld" with all her photos and friends on (CyWorld's like the Korean answer to FaceBook, except much cooler!) and we returned the favour, showing her all our pictures on FaceBook, etc... was really cool! Anyways, after a little bit, Merv had to dash to catch up with some other friends (...see the bottom of this post for details! XD), but was soon replaced by Ha Na (also of former jazz bar fame!). I'd thought her name was "Hannah" when we first met - again, typical Westerner thinking - but it's actually Ha Na! Much more Korean! Anyway, it was great to see her again too, and to be able to spend the afternoon just chilling out and getting to know them both better! Turns out they've known each other for much longer than when they started working at the bar: apparently they used to be next-door neighbours until Un Hye moved away, but have remained best friends since and now work together!

Missing Starbucks? I don't think so!

Eun Hye and Ha Na strike a pose.

From the coffee house, we moved to the jazz bar where we first met (Eun Hye was working 8PM - 2AM and Ha Na was going to keep her company, since Eun Hye was doing the shift on her own...so I tagged along too!) And that's where we spent the rest of the night! We ate our dinner (gimbap and what seemed to be some kind of udon, followed by Mister Donut donuts...YUM!) at the bar (Ha Na popped out to get it from a street vendor), knocked back a few drinks (all underpriced and oversized, thanks to Un Hye being in control of the bar for the night! XD), played some cards, racked up a few tunes on the jukebox and generally just chilled! But neither of them would let me pay for anything! First of all a free lunch, then a free dinner of yummy tteokbokki (Korean rice cakes) and gimbap (rice, meat and veg wrapped in seaweed)! I tried to force money on Ha Na but she wasn't taking it! ...I'd heard about Korean generosity - it's clearly not a myth!

Am definitely going to be arranging another meet up some time soon! Un Hye has invited us for galbi at her restaurant again on Saturday, and I promised her we'd drop in on her at work sometime in the week! They're both so good to hang ou with and the inevitable language barrier isn't a problem - if anything it makes it all more fun! XD

...in other news, I have the sad task of reporting the heartbreaking news of our EPIC FAIL in the mission to acquire SM Town tickets. I made a fatal mistake in underestimating the sheer power of the rabid fangirl to move and destroy en masse. Despite the fact that me, Hye Jung and Jeong Mi treated it like a military operation - meeting on MSN at 19:45 and each pouncing on the ticket booking website the literal second it opened - we all PHAILED. It was ridiculous! I got in the SECOND the tickets went up and was greeted with a "SOLD OUT" sign! Hye Jung warned me that they'd sell out within five minutes, but this was less than five seconds...daaaaaaaaaaamn you, fangiiiiiiiiirls! Still, against an enemy like that, I can hold my head up high in defeat, because the reality is...I never stood an effing chance. XD

...in related K-Pop news, I'm currently addicted to SNSD's "Genie" ...an addiction which is made all the more painful by the fact that they're going to be at the SM Town concert in Olympic Park! ;_; ...you literally can't walk 500 yards without hearing this song playing somewhere! Check it out:

Ahhhhhh, the beauty of K-Pop! <3

EDIT: Remember I said Mervyn left early to meet up with some other friends? Well, I've just received this FaceBook message from him:

...BRILLIANT. Sounds like he had as good a time as I did then! :D Oh and *noraebang = karaoke room... something I'm yet to experience! So expect a post coming your way soon on my first trip to a noraebang! Now that Merv has had his fill, he can show me the ropes! Though perhaps I should let him sleep tonight off first... XD

K-Pop meets western pop! + Studio Ghibli shopping!

BREAKING NEWS! I've managed to get my hands on a pair of tickets to see Lady Gaga in Seoul! Ahhhhh! :D Merv told me literally the day that he got here that she was meant to be playing over here some time this summer, so, obviously excited, I did my research, but found loads of sites saying that she'd already been to Seoul in June, so reluctantly I gave up. Buuuuut now it turns out that Mervyn was right - BECAUSE SHE'S RETURNING! And we're lucky enough to have got tickets to see her! (Admittedly all thanks to Hye Jung, who was able to decipher the solely Korean ticket website for me!) Aaaaaah - so excited! :D Let me just put the importance of this in context: I effing LOVE LADY GAGA. The Fame is literally my most listened to album on iTunes! Olympic Park, Sunday 8th of August - it's going to be epic!

But that's not the only bit of gig-related news! Remember I said about the SM Town Concert? Well the big day for that is tomorrow, when the tickets go up on G Market. Unlike Lady Gaga though, these aren't going to be so easy to get. Lady Gaga's nowhere near as big in Korea as SM Town, for obvious reasons, but Hye Jung and Jeong Mi have given me step-by-step instructions on how to operate the (once again) solely Korean ticket website. From 8pm, when the tickets go on sale, all three of us are going to be glued to our laptops, frantically trying to get tickets, and in the rare event that we get an excess number, Jeong Mi has assured me that they'll be easy to sell on! I've already been practising my way around the website in preparation - hahaha, so sad. But it will totally be worth it if we manage to get them! Jeong Mi's not hopeful, though - apparently she's tried for the past few years and NEVER been successful! But I'm confident we can soon change that! So fingers crossed that we may have two big gigs lined up for August! Sweeeeeeet!


In other news, I took a trip to COEX Mall in Samseong today...



...and stumbled upon the most amazing Studio Ghibli shop! It's called ANI LAND and it was actually awesome! ...like South Korea's answer to the Disney Store (only a million times better!) It was packed with Studio Ghibli plushies, figurines, puzzles, playing cards, phone charms... basically all the innate novelty stuff which I'm a ridiculously overaged sucker for! XD (Except, strangely enough, the DVDs...! Slight oversight, no?) I couldn't help but get excited looking at it all - I can't help it, it keeps the child inside me alive! XD ...and the store music which was playing was all from the films too! (Joe Hisaishi is a GOD... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5tTiYT1cgU *is now obsessively listening to all of his pieces on YouTube again*). Ahhhh, I'm such a geek! :D ...it would literally be impossible for me to pick a favourite Studio Ghibli film! Though, out of all of them, I do think that The Cat Returns is definitely the most underrated! Anyway...

...and they did these funky ornamental calendar things -I'm tempted to go back and get one for my desk at uni, just because they're so cooooooooool! And not bad at W39,000!

...even the carrier bags were Studio Ghibli themed! What more could you want? (And no, the answer isn't a life - I have one of those... occasionally). Talking Studio Ghibli, I really want to visit the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo at some point! ...plans for next summer, perhaps? :D

생일축하합니다!

...that's Korean for "happy birthday!" and what a happy birthday it was!

Waking up, I dove into the pile of presents and cards from home sittng next to my bed, which had been eagerly waiting to be opened for the past two weeks! Clothes from Mum and Dad, which was nice! :D After trying on my new gear, I had teaching as normal (9.30-12.30), but then, luckily, my afternoon classes were cancelled! Pretty cheeky birthday present! So to Rodeo-gil it was to treat myself to even more new clothes with the birthday money I don't have! I'll definitely be returning THERE come wage day!

So, well and truly presented and relaxed, up, I scootched over to Itaewon to meet Merv, Chris, Hye Jung and Jeong Mi for galbi (for the third time in so many days! XD) and then we all flitted up to N Seoul Tower by cable cart to lap up some nighttime scenery! Unfortunately, the lift to the very top of the tower was closed (we were half an hor too late! ;_;) but Hye Jung and Jeong Mi came well prepared and, from the mystery box that they had been carrying, whipped out a MASSIVE CAKE! Okay, no views from the top of the tower, but when we've got amazing cake and even better company I'm a happy boy!

Chris, Hye Jung and Jeong Mi enjoy the galbi!

Not quite atop N Seoul Tower - but halfway there!

Oh, and did I mention the MASSIVE CAKE...?

75% of Korea's supply of ice-cream went into making this cake.

Wow, definitely a birthday to remember! That cake must have cost a fortune! (Though, knowing Korean prices, it was probably about as much as a bakewell tart is back home XD) It was so cute the way Hye Jung emerged from the cab with this mystery box wrapped in her hands and a birthday hat too! (Look closely in the pictures, you might see it!) - ahhhh, I'm going to miss my Korean friends!

It was also really cool around the edges of the tower - it's a popular place for couples to date, and the fences are all flowering padlocks of every shape, colour and size, which couples on a date have brought themselves, written a heartfelt message on and then locked to the fence to symbolise their lasting love. Ahhhh, how sweet! There are actually now so many padlocks on the fences that the staff have even put up these metallic tree-like things to make more room to hold them on!

Padlocks, padlocks, everywhere! You can see how much they've filled up the fences!

Oh, it also turns out that this was actually my 20th birthday, rather than my 19th! ...since in Korea, although birthdays are still celebrated, you aren't considered as ageing a year on your birthday, but, instead, everyone gets a year older on January 1st of every new year. So, in that sense, I was aready 20 coming into the country! One of my students told me that she preferred it to the Western way, since it meant that everyone in her school year was the same age, but it seems a little strange to me! Is uniformity really that important? I guess it adds another dimension to New Year's celebrations though!

Anyway, in other news, I got talking to Jeong Mi last night and she mentioned going to an SM Town Concert at Olympic Park. In Korea, SM Town is literally as big as they come: it's like an amalgamation of all of the biggest acts on the SM label: Super Junior, DBSK, SNSD, BoA... needless to say, I'M THERE! Hahaha, will be such a different side of Korea worth seeing: the side of the rabid teenage fangirl. Apparently we're going to have to POUNCE on the ticket website when it opens, though, rabid teenage fangirls don't hang around when it comes to ticket-buying! Oh, and it also turns out that we share the same favourite member of Super Junior: Hankyung! Great minds and all that...! :P

Anyway, I'll leave you with this pretty nifty picture of me in front of N Seoul Tower! (The tower was waaaaaaaay too big to get a close-up of in one picture, but I used MS Paint to stick two together - not bad, huh? :P).

...yes, I traded a bag of Deli Manjoo... FOR MY FACE.

It's a sad day indeed when you start to run so low on Won that you're willing to pawn your bodily features for a morsel to eat. I'm sure you know the feeling well. But, I pledge, these aren't just any morsels. These are DELI MANJOO: the God of portable, do-it-yourself sweet-toothed junk food. (Which are so good that even the Oxford Dictionary recognises that the complete capitalisation of their name is the only way to speak of them). So, what are DELI MANJOO? Well, they were, up until a few hours ago, potentially my favourite South Korean snack: little, bite-size morsels of spongey, custardy goodness, served hot and in their own stylish DELI MANJOO bag, all for W2000! (i.e. £1).

Now, the observant amongst you may realise that DELI MANJOO were my favourite snack. Why the past tense, you cry?! Well, I learnt a lesson in gluttony this afternoon, that's why. Wolfing down my W2,000 bag, I suddenly realised I'd already had a full Japanese lunch, followed by ice cream, and neither was a particularly small serving - it's like, as soon as I smelt that DELI MANJOO smell, my gastric jusices got so excited that they forced me to ignore my bloatedness and down the bag for their own hedonistic satisfcation. Needless to say, not long after, I felt the effects of my gluttony - and BLERGH is the only word I can use to describe how I felt! Like, REALLY BLERGH. So now, my irrational mind cannot bare to face any DELI MANJOO - at least for the next few days. I'm sorry it's come to this, dear friend, but - at the end of the day - you were just too damn delicious for your own good!

And, my research suggests that this is not a one-off incident. Indeed, one blogger - a dubious "Miss Koco" went so far as to pen a poem of her woeful tale of misery. Read it and be moved to tears:

Shaped like corn, filled with custard goo.

Oh delimanjoo, though you smell like heaven,

you make me feel like poo.

In case you were ever in doubt, this conclusively proves it on the grounds of hard scientific fact: DELI MANJOO are evil. Someone call the police! I'm not the only person to suffer at the hands of their custardy goodness! I just thank the Heavens they haven't sent me into such a poetry-inducing state of delirium. My mind is, as of yet, unaffected. But, take this as a warning - you have heard first hand of their destructive power... eat them at your own risk!

So now it looks like I've traded my face for a bag of a snack I no longer want to eat - not ideal, really... I wonder if I can get a refund? But, even if I can't, I've learnt an important lesson. Call it Aesopian. And what is that lesson? Don't trade your face for food. EVER. It may seem worth it at the time, but in the long run, it isn't. Trust me. Now I'll have to wear this bag for all to see as a token of my shame for the rest of my life.

In other, somewhat less apocalyptic, news, Eun Hye's just text Mervyn asking us for lunch on Tuesday. I'm there. Especially if it's galbi. Perhaps if I wear a hat and sunglasses, she won't realise I no longer have a face?

Quote of the day: Me, after filling ever last fibre of my existence with DELI MANJOO: "Blerrrrrrrrrrrrrgh..."

Oh, and I almost forgot - me and Mervyn were scootching around the Olympic Park today... only to see a massive gaggle of teenage girls queuing outside the main stadium. Hmmm, curious - "some band called Super Junior are playing - who the hell are they?", Mervyn asked. Only like THE K-Pop band taking up the most room on my iPod! Ahhhhh - can't believe I was so close to them! XD (If you don't know them, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVJuBkqAj78 - hahaha, hilarious!)

Edit: I've just received a message from Duncan asking me to feature DELI MANJOO in my next post. Well, here we go, Duncy-babes! I read your mind before you even knew you wanted it! Really, I did!

Galbi = YUM.

So, our "choose a random station and random exit" technique worked miracles for the second time in a night. This time, getting off at Exit 6 at Seoul National University, we stumbled upon this little place for dinner, hidden amongst the sea of fish restaurants...

... don't let its humble exterior fool you. This place was an obese Englishman's DREAM! Behold...

The middle of the table was a bloody BARBEQUE (Korean word: galbi). 'twas PROPER Korean-like: no shoes, sitting on cushions on the floor, W26,000 for the whole schebang (i.e. £6.50 each) (although we almost regurgitated our kimchi when Mervyn read the bill as W260,000)...AMAZING. And yes, that is a look of pure, unbridled elation on Mervyn's face. Can you blame him? Perfect.

Quote of the night: Mervyn: "Well, at least I'll be a cool twat, and not a boiling one."

Octopus legs, jazz bars and a shiny new friend!

First off, let me say: last night was fucking AWESOME. What started out as a pretty normal day in Seoul soon turned into what I think's going to be the turning point of this whole experience. To cut the crap, Mervyn arrived. OMG, another English person at last! Yup, while I've been having fun familiarising myself with the country up until now, and while I'd say one of the best things about Korea is its small Western population, even I was starting to get a bit desperate for some English-speaking company . . . and THANK THE HEAVENS it's not just arrived, but that it's arrived in the form of someone I can definitely see as becoming a really good friend.

So, we didn't waste any time! Mervyn got here about 6, and, without a plan, we headed straight out for dinner. Our tactic was just to pick a random station ("Seoul Nat'l University of Education" - that must be kind of studenty, RIGHT?") and get off at a random exit (Mervyn: "...this one's got a smiley face next to it on the map! Let's go there!"), and, somehow, it worked! We ended up at a little noodle-bar like restaurant, flipping through a menu with not as much as a word of English in it. So I pointed to a picture on the menu which I thought looked like chicken (*WESTERN DEFAULT MINDSET* = ALL WHITE MEAT = CHICKEN) and asked what it was, which apparently in Korean is the same as actually ordering food, so one plate of chicken-like stuff it was! Turned out it wasn't chicken. It wasn't even fucking close. It was OCTOPUS. And not just octopus, but octopus legs (legs... tentacles... I'm not splitting hairs) - all full of suckers and everything! Blerrrrgh! Don't ask me how the hell I thought a chicken was an octopus. Blame the menu! But, I guess it got me to try something I never would have dared to otherwise! And it wasn't actually that bad! ...except, in typical Korean style, the sauce it was in was hot enough to make you infertile.

So, after declaring nuclear war on our tastebuds, we figured we needed a drink to cool down. "Hmm, that place looks alright...", Mervyn mused. Oh, how right he was. Turns out it was what I can only think to describe as a Korean gentleman's cocktail bar: outwardly classy, but with a hint of middle-aged grime in the air. Now, don't get me wrong - it wasn't seedy and there was nothing sexual about it, it was just - well, a place where middle aged regulars go, mostly alone, for a drink and a chat with the female barstaff. More upsetting than sexy... these poor lonely old men... Anyway, needless to say, we were probably the youngest people to ever to step foot through the door. So, the scene set, we spent the next three hours sitting at the bar, drinking and chatting to two of the bar staff: Hannah and Eun Hye. Obviously, when I say "chatting", I mean Westerner "chatting", i.e. sign languaging and speaking like your audience is made up of partially deaf three year olds XD. Me and Mervyn hardly understood a word that was being said to us, and they hardly understood a word being said to them, but somehow we managed not only to swap numbers with Eun Hye (who reassured us with an "I'm fun!"XD, and when asked what she gets up to during the day replied "I DRINK."), but to get an invite to her mum's restaurant for a barbeque ("You? EAT?" *sign language*) and all agree to meet up and go clubbing at Gangnam at some point... MASSIVE WIN! Oh, and somewhere in between all that, me and Hannah found time to wipe the floor with Mervyn and Eun Hye at virtual darts... >:D

... in other words, a good, no AMAZING night was had by all! Even if I did have to be up for work again at 7! *shudder* Anyway, I'm off now to meet Mervyn for roud 2 - his class finishes at 7.30, so we're gonna go grab some dinner again and head off to another bar at another random station... hopefully with another random story to tell tomorrow! XD

(Quote of the night: Hannah, speaking to Eun Hye when Eun Hye asked her which night she wanted to go out next week: "I DON'T CARE!" ...hahaha, was so funny to hear her shout out so angrily in English! XD).

...and so it begins!

Okay, I’ve already been in Seoul ten days, so I guess it probably would’ve been a smart idea to start one of these up sooner, but I figured better late than never! So here it goes!

So, what am I doing here? Well, I’m teaching English at a school called MIKI’s British School, which has campuses at Gangnam and Yangjae. I’ve been asked to write a “diary” to be posted on their website about my time in Seoul, so I’ll nab the intro from that…! It explains everything pretty clearly!:

First off – who am I? Well, my name’s James and I’m a student from London, who, despite having travelled around Europe and dipping into Africa, was – ten days ago, at least – still a stranger to Asia and, perhaps more importantly, to the scary world of travelling alone (*GAP YEAR FAIL*). So how I end up at MIKI’s school? (EDIT: hahaha, that was a typo, but it's suitably Asian, so it stays!) Well, bored one afternoon and wondering what I was going to spend my summer doing, I stumbled upon my university’s volunteering website. At first, I found nothing interesting listed for summer 2009, but I kept on ploughing through, silently hoping I’d stumble upon a diamond in the rough...

And there I saw it (*dramatic music*): MIKI’s listing! Finally, one that actually sounds interesting, amazing, like it could really... but wait? What's that? (*dramatic music cut*)... it was for 2008? 2008?! But, that's like... IN THE PAST. Okay, breathe... just send them an email asking them if they're still taking applicants on...

So, that's what I did. I can remember sitting on my bed writing out the message at midnight, knowing it was desperate, but hoping that someone would answer my prayers! And, the next morning, God himself, in the form of a slightly squat Asian lady named MIKI, flashed up on my Windows Mail: yes, desperate little English boy, we're taking on teachers for the Summer. We'll let you know.

WIN! Even then, just hearing from the school, I was stupidly excited …but then the days and weeks passed, until eventually it had been well over a month and I’d heard nothing. It's like in the films when the days of the month flash up on the screen and the clock runs at 100mph... while nothing changes. My head was saying that I was chasing a chimera, get real and give up, but I knew that I had to persist – so I sent the school another email "politely reminding" them of my original request, and was astonished when the clock stopped ticking and I got an ACTUAL REPLY! But not just a reply - a call for interview! :D

But, you curious people are surely crying out in dismay, what drew me to MIKI's School in the first place? Well, I could say it was fate, destiny, meant to be... but in reality it was just the free flights and my own mild case of Asiaphilia (if symptoms persist, consult your GP... unfortunately, my case was deemed "incurable"). Yes, growing up as a teenager, I’d always been interested in contemporary Asian culture (i.e. FAR EASTERN STUFF), entering secondary school as a rabid Dragonball Z fan (note: not a good way to make friends, only the "really sad" (i.e. "really cool") kids liked Dragonball Z), my interest expanded into other types of anime and manga, then bloomed lusciously into Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon films, peppered with a bit of J and K-pop for good measure (which still unashamedly makes up a good quarter of my iTunes library…:P)). So, what I'm trying to say is that it was the chance to live the life of someone to whom all those kind of things were everyday that got me hooked. And they ARE everyday here: Dragonball Z's ALL OVER the tele (well, all over CHAMP, the kids' channel, at least), and I even heard Super Junior playing in Dunkin' Donuts the other day! (Yes, even I couldn't resist the delicious Westernised win of donuts on a hot day).

And then, like I said, it was made all the more enticing by the fact that I wasn’t going to have to pay for the privilege (*SHAMELESS CHEAPSKATE ALERT*)... but that MIKI was actually going to be paying ME! Yes, I know it's too good to be true, but I checked the smallprint like a BAJILLION times and didn't find any catches! I'm just hoping I haven't somewhere sold my soul to the Asian sex slave industry, which is actually where my Mum thought I'd been shipped off to when I didn't email her for the first few days of being here (but then again, this is the woman that didn't understand the concept of North Korea and South Korea being TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES... *GEOGRAPHY FAIL*)... I think I'm safe for now! XD

... so that’s how I got here! Travelling three hours for a ten minute interview (eager beaver, yes) seems to have paid off, considering I’m now well over 5,000 miles away from home in Nakeseongdae in the heart of Seoul, sitting here writing this blog!

So, that's my story so far - I'm teaching English to three different classes (ranging from Y6 to Y11) 30 hours a week, which leaves evenings and weekends free to explore! Already in my first week I've managed to visit four of five of Seoul's "Grand Palaces" (don't worry, Gyeonghuigung, I'm coming for you next week, bitch!), which are all ACTUALLY PROPER GOOD (more to come on that one in a later post!). But that's not all, I've been shopping at Namdaemun and Myeong-dong (W60,000 that I don't have on a hoody? I think so!), managed to impress my boss with my exquisite use of chopsticks (...all the practice and YouTube videos paid off!), developed an addiction both to kimchi and Delimanjoo (YUMMM), experienced my first Korean Monsoon (...even being from England, that's some SERIOUS RAIN) and got lost wandering around Seoul and the subway network more times than I care to count! XD

So, that's me in a post! It seems to be like an unwritten code of bloggers to express their fears in their first post that nobody's going to read what they write, but let me just say this: I DON'T CARE. This is just a side-project for me to document my two months here, share my discoveries and give myself something to look back on when it's all done! So, I'll leave you with my favourite picture from the past 10 days (taken at Gyeongbokgung; yes, I know, I know, I AM an amazing photographer)...and here's to a happy blog...! :D