Hungover? Not I, said the little red hen

These middle school girls of mine share all kinds of stuff with me. They talk about the ins and outs of middle school life, the best places to find groups of high school boys, the high schools with the best looking boys and the latest comic book taking the girls by storm. Well goodness me it is a corker. The girls were so sad at having to take the book back to the comic library that I let them use the photocopier to make a couple of copies of their favourite pages. And this was the best

It makes the girls shiver with glee when they see these two black and white drawings kissing each other. They are an insightful pair but occasionally they go a little strange too

like spelling out the alphabet with their bodies. I have put a guide on there so you can see which letter it is. They got all the way to V before the batteries in the camera ran out. This class goes until 10 at night so it is usually a rush from the class to the bar on a Friday night. But this was a special night. It was an all you can drink night at Bumpin. Yes, every night is literally an all you can drink night but this is all for one lovely price- and includes Mr Lee's special barbecue.

And I couldn't take part. Nope, had to be strong as I really had to make it to Gwangju the next day as it would be my last chance to make it down there before I leave the country. It really is about as far from here as it is possible to get before hitting the sea

Or a five hour bus ride away. So I had one beer at the bar, paid for it and left leaving much confusion behind me

'Helen, you know that it is an all you can drink night, right?'

'Yes, I am fully aware of that'

'So you are coming back, right?'

'Nope, just the one beer for me tonight'

'....???'

Cue our exit from the bar and onto the DVD bang. Tania and I watched a movie and were safely tucked up in our own beds, alone, by 2am.

Which meant that I had no problem whatsoever getting myself up and to the bus terminal the next day. I tried to sneak the window seat in the bus but the rightful owner came and pushed me back to the aisle seat, pulled the curtains shut and went to sleep. So I was deprived of the only good bit of a bus journey, the view. Which would explain why I managed to read an entire book before I hit Gwangju.

I bumped into my friend, Rebecca, at the bus terminal and we went downtown to find our other mates. We had some dak galbi (around the world on 80 servings of dak galbi) and went off to a friend's house. I was meeting up with my mate, Alan, his wife, Eun-kyong and their son, Tommy. I met Alan and Eun-kyong while I was in Dublin doing my TEFL course (yes, I actually did one before I realised that it was easy enough to get a job without one) and I believe, to this day, that it is their fault that I ended up in Korea in the first place. Therefore I like to check in with them as I enter and leave the country.

Tommy has recently turned one. And I haven't seen him for about six months so it was a shock to watch him running around all over the place. I wanted to get some good photos of him but he moved so fast! He was fascinated with Neil and Annette's computer, apparently he loves the mouse

Now usually when I go to Gwangju the night is all about lemon soju

and going to The Mad Season, local foreigner dive. But The Mad Season has closed. So we stayed in and watched the ongoing demise of the Pope on CNN. After a few more lemon boys we watched some other telly. Now, I am not saying that my mates don't like me or don't want me to leave the country in two weeks but there has to be some reason why they made me watch 'Lost', an American series which seems to be about the aftermath of a plane crash. Which even has Koreans in it so to exactly reproduce the conditions that I might find myself in soon. Gits!

I think that one of the oddest things about going back home is going to be not taking photos of Cadburys chocolate every time I see a bar as it has become rather a compulsion

So apart from the odd nightmare about my plane crashing and me being eaten by some nasty beast in a Fijian jungle I had a relaxing weekend. Waking up on Sunday I had a HOT SHOWER which was great and worth a ten hour round trip on the bus. Then we went into town so I could buy a book for the return journey and stuff some Burger King down my throat (it is amazing what constitutes exotic when you have to travel to get it) and then it was back on the bus for me. Minus the window hogging ajumma.

It took five and a half hours to get home and I have discovered that the bus ride is much easier without a hangover- why did no-one tell me before? I even saw a great sunset just outside Gangneung

Thank you to Neil and Annette for your ever great hospitality (and shower). Nice to see you, Margo, Rebecca, Leanne, Crwys and Chris, hope to see you all in Gangneung in two weeks- yikes!

and thanks to Alan and Eun-kyong for my (slightly controversial) Dokdo T-shirt