Christmas Past Perfect

Can't believe that it is Christmas already- though you would think that the ever increasing crowds in London would have given me some kind of a clue. This Friday also marks the end of my fourth week teaching. Still loving it. After Christmas I am teaching in the mornings so I might be less enthused. We shall see.

I was last in the UK for Christmas back in 2002, having arrived back from my first year in Korea the day before Christmas Eve. The last two have been in Korea. Last one was the best I have spent away from home really. I got more chocolate sent from England than I could possibly have anticipated- enough for me, my students and everyone in the bar that night. We went out for Chinese food and ate more than was strictly necessary. Finishing up in a bar at the end of the night.

This year will be quieter. It has been a strange old year, containing some of the best and worst moments in my life. But I won't go into that now.

So while I am thinking of my old friends this year, I am also pleased that I seem to have made some new ones.



Last Christmas I was with Rory, this year I am with his equally great sister.

Last year I was with my Korean students, a lot of kids. This year I am with students from all over the world

Am trying to think of this time not as the end of a year but the start of a new year.

Happy Christmas everyone!

A Weird Weekend

... but weird in a good way.

As any of you who have met me recently know, I do seem to spend a lot of my time here in London bemoaning my lack of a social life, while all the time being secretly too lazy to leave the house. Well not so this week.

For starters, I have covered two morning classes in the last seven days which has seen me out of bed at times usually reserved for the entering of my nocturnal nest. And, also, I have been quite busy really.

I was out noshing on great Korean food on Monday night. Met Amanda for lunch on Tuesday and nearly got stranded at Baker Street between classes when the Tube stopped running for long enough for me to break into a mild sweat. Thursday night was a workshop in the school after all the students had gone home. But the highlight of the week has to be Friday.

My students had been bugging me about taking them to the pub. Which is not really deemed a suitable lesson plan at my school:

Aims and Objectives of the Lesson: teach students how to order beer followed by teaching my grandmother how to suck eggs...

So I had to submit an elaborate lesson plan to liberate the little blighters for the afternoon. We went on a magical mystery tour around some of the sites near the school. It was a lot of fun. We went to St James Park and to the Horseguards Parade where the students spent quite a lot of time taking photos of each other next to the lifeguards.



Onto Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery- to warm up mostly, we spent most of our time in the gift shop.

Then, and only then, did we go to the pub. Five hours later I left it. I have really been lucky with my first class here in the UK. They are great and interesting and also interested. I now have standing invitations to most of South America and promises of tour guides when I get there. We danced a lot though my memory seems to be telling me that we might have been the only people in the pub doing so. Daniel, the Mexican guy, kept having his photo taken with any pretty girls walking past while Camillo tried to reassure me that there is more to Colombia than cocaine. And I tried my best to answer complicated grammar questions after five pints of Stella on an empty stomach.

It was a fun night and on the way home I saw my first cough-free train.

Our local train company seems to think that it has so many extra carriages running into Central London that they can just squander them by banning people with a tickle in their throats from sitting in them. Being the honest soul that I am, I quietly moved to another part of the train and coughed there happily and unhampered by the rules.

There is also this at Fenchurch St station, though my sister tells me that it isn't really what it says it is. Well, strictly speaking it is but I take the words to mean more than just that they won't charge you to use the ATM.

I spent Saturday with my cousin and her family.

While they were less taken with the cold outside than my students had been the day before, we got a lot of mileage out of the Science Museum.

And in the evening I met up with my mate, Rory's, sister, Isabel. It was almost like being on a blind date but without the air of desperation hanging around us. it was the first time that we had met but I felt like I had known her for longer. We chatted and chatted and not exclusively about Rory either. I hope that I will see her again this week.

And all I really want to know is, who should tell Rory about Isabel's new tattoo, me or her??

Helensville- I can dream

Rent will be next to nothing in Helensville. People will be able to commute to the countries for work, if they so wish, otherwise they will spend their days doing whatever they fancy. No one would be expected to renounce any prior citizenship, as a big fan of a full passport, I would never expect anyone to give theirs up. I had previously imagined Helensville as some kind of a perfect country village- with thatched houses, post office and friendly village pub.

All summer there would be events on the village green and the sun would always shine.

But maybe we should be prepared in the event of a terrorist attack- though the residents of Helensville would never piss people off enough to warrant one- maybe it should be more like Sealand, a Second World War fortress in the sea just off Felixstowe which was declared the Principality of Sealand in 1967.

But whatever shape it takes, the most important thing is that I could just pop round to see my mates anytime they were in for visitors. I wouldn't have to negotiate time differences for a phone call or spend a fortune going for a visit.

I may well be losing the plot though so I am off!

Those Winter Mornings

Now I do know better than to try and get sympathy off you full time workers but it was hard getting up yesterday morning. It wasn't so much the hour as knowing that it was dark outside and it wasn't like I was even gettting a plane or some other good reason for being up so early. But I had said that I would cover someone's class so up I had to get.

In fact, I was even sensible enough to go to bed early the night before. Wow, not always easy and made harder because I was out that night. Having been to Nara Korean restaurant on Friday night with someone who didn't really want spicy food, I had to go back there again on Monday night with someone who did.

When I went to Nara back in May I was thrilled to see dak galbi on the menu. But when I tasted it, I found that it was very much a diluted version and the bitter taste of disappointment drowned out that of the spicy chicken. After seven long chicken-less months, it was a taste explosion in the restaurant on Monday night. If I was a cat, I would have been purring as I ate it.

So even though I had to have an early night, it was a night well spent.

Even if this was what I was greeted with the next morning as the nights hurtle towards the Winter Solistice and the longest of their kind

Yes, that would be darkness at the train station at 7.30 in the am. As from the middle of next week the days will be getting longer again but I don't think that we will be notcing the difference for a while.

Who said that winter can't be glam?

Another Monday morning. Now that I am working I am officially allowed to join in the Monday morning groan, which I have been exempt from since April. So.... groan.

It is a formality really since I actually like my job and don't even have to get up early on a Monday to get to it. This will all change after Christmas when I have to be in Central London just before the sun has to rise. Not looking forward to those dark January mornings waiting on the station platform.

But why dwell on these things?

Friday night I met up with my mate, Cat, and we went for Korean food. I also introduced her to the horrors of bekseju- I don't know what possessed me really- I just didn't fancy soju, I guess. We had a quiet night with lots of catching up to do and finished with a quick drink in the Walkabout in Covent Garden. I got back to Fenchurch St station and, having just missed the train, I had an hour to wait in the cold and dark. Surrounded by drunk people and vomit. Humph.

This obviously did nothing for my cold, as those of you who spoke to me on Saturday know, as I woke up the next day with very little in the way of a voice. I have been told that it made me sound cute, though the coughing, sniffling etc did nothing to enhance my cuteness, I feel. Shortly after speaking to Patrick and Heimi in Seoul to congratulate them on their nuptials (and a chat to Eric too- an added bonus) I disappeared into the first of my naps for the day.

Despite getting a text message inviting me out (thanks, Isabel, hope to see you soon!) there was no getting me out of the house. And after all the complaining I do about London people not being spontaneous enough, shame on me!

The sacrifice was worth it though since I had enough energy to accompany my sister to Southend on Sea the next day. And enough voice to converse for a change.

There is something pretty special about English seaside resorts in the winter. In Southend, people just wrap up and carry on regardless, eating ice cream, candy floss and going on all the rides. We elected to go for a walk along the pier.

Southend boasts the World's longest pleasure pier. Jutting just over a mile into the mist it certainly is a biggy. Pity that the fire last summer has closed the end of it for the time being. We chose to forgo the train that runs the length of it and walked instead.

I discovered that the water was clear enough to see through it is just that there is nothing to see in it. In fact, the tide was out and the water was so shallow that we could see all the way to the bottom, even at the end of the pier.

Needless to say it was cold and neither of us had thought to bring a hat, though the Southendians were much better prepared. After walking around the rides at Adenture Island, to the end of the pier and back it was time for some chips and a burger and home.

And another nap.

The weather

If we English talk about the weather a lot it is only because there is so much of it here. We may not have the extremes of hot and cold but goodness me it is always a surprise when I open the curtains in the morning. Though I had forgotten how wet winters here are- I find myself almost missing the dry static-ness of a Korean winter.

Today the weather is mostly foggy



Two days ago it was sunny as

Whatever the weather I am feeling quite under it today. My cold has progressed during the week and it making me pretty miserable today. But I won't complain because the other reason that I am tired today is that my friends, Patrick and Heimi, got married in Seoul at just after midnight GMT last night and I couldn't sleep while it was all going on- even though I am half a world away.

I guess that as long as I have friends in Korea I will never quite be able to let it go. And some of them are planning to stay there for a while. I spoke to Mona two days ago and she asked me why I would teach in England rather than go back to Korea- fair question for which I have no answer. I feel like I should try living in England for a while but I don't really know why! I got an email from a mate who is off to Goa in a couple of days and I have to say that it hit me pretty hard for me to be the one staying home while my mate swans off to sunnier climes.

I guess that there is nothing wrong with living in country and also having half a mind in another.

And it is not like London is a boring place. There is so much going on here all the time- I had to fight my way through the crowds outside the 'King Kong' premiere last night on my way home. I wondered why the funfair in Leicester Square wasn't open. But I had some photos from the other night



just in case I need my carousel fix or, indeed, if I am missing the chair-o-planes

flying through the air behind the statue of Sir Charles Chaplin who usually procedes over the Square.

Tonight I am going out with a friend to eat Korean food. She seems pretty keen to try soju but I am not convinced that it is going to be affordable in the restaurant- maybe I should smuggle some in with me. We might even managed a beer or two which would be good as I haven't been to a pub for a couple of weeks- after all, what is the point of the bars opening late when I still have to be on the train home by 12?

Stuff and Nonsense

I guess that the large numbers of robins around the local train station is a sign that Christmas is approaching fast. So fast in fact, that I am finding it hard to get any time with my friends who, in the spirit of Londoners through the ages, have been booked up for the whole of December for at least three years now.

Arriving into the country so late in the year and gaining a job a few weeks after that has meant that my invitations to Christmas parties have been a bit scarce. I guess that's OK. But it doesn't do anything to help me get over missing the ease of social life in Gangneung. There, yes I did see the same people every week, but I did see them every week. There was a high possibility of getting bored of the same faces so in Gangneung people tended to paint their faces at night in the bar and voila, more new faces!

I am just complaining for the sake of complaining to be honest, it is me that is too lazy to leave the house at weekends if I can avoid it. And it is getting a little chilly out there so I am happy to spend some quality time with the sea monkeys



We hatched them about a month ago now and they are getting bigger- not actually big in any real sense of the word but bigger

The job is still going well and I am on course to double my hours after Christmas which should help keep me off the streets. Or rather not as I will have a three hour break in the middle of the day- unfortunate but what can you do? Yesterday I enjoyed watching a Columbian lad teach a Korean girl a phrase in Spanish, which she produced quite well, and then the look of horror on his face as she tried to get him to say the same thing in Korean- he just went straight back to Spanish and I laughed all the way back to the teacher's room.

Also, the Mokpo girl asked me what this Korean word was in English and I was pleased that I was still able to remember any Korean at all!

One of the bonuses of working in Piccadilly Circus has to be that I finish work in perfect time to get to the Swiss centre to watch the display.



On the dot of six, the cow starts to move below the clock face and the people follow it accompanied by the bells blasting out such classics as 'Yesterday' and 'Michelle, ma belle'. It is enough to bring a tear to the eye. I am going back to Embankment via Leicester Square at the moment because there is a funfair set up in the square. The other day I saw a group of ladies dressed as Father Christmas singing and dancing on the dodgems track.

London is a weird place and no mistake

Do they know?

I have taught here in the UK now for five whole days. Well, not whole days exactly since I only teach one class a day at the moment but you know what I mean. It has been a fun week really.

I am teaching a pre-intermediate class which would easily be at advanced level if they were in one of my classes in Korea. They have been an interesting class. Of course, we have had our ups and downs, mainly my down actually. I wasn't happy with the class I gave on Friday so have been worrying about today's all weekend. I have found some great exercises today though on One Stop English which I am quite excited about using.

Hum, I guess that this blog has changed a little since I was haring around Vietnam on back of a clapped out motorbike, partying in Korea, whale watching in Oz, shivering at the rugby in New Zealand, lazing on beaches in the Pacific or carving pumpkins in the US. I was going to give it up when I got home but you might have noticed that I am still writing it. Why? Because you asked me to! Plus, what with my three hour working day, I still have plenty of free time. And technically, the money hasn't run out yet since I still have two thousand Vietnamese dong in my purse.

So if you will forgive the more static nature of the blog, then I will carryon with these inane ramblings for a while longer.

But I haven't been stuck in one place the whole time. On Friday night after a gruelling three hours at work (it is not quite as lazy as it seems, my hours will be doubling after Christmas and it does take me 90 minutes to get to work and another hour to get home) I hopped on a bus back to the old homestead.

Christmas lights seemed to lead the way back to Felixstowe. After three years of living in a country that tries to do Christmas but doesn't quite cut it, especially outside of Seoul, I am really into the whole lights and decorations thing. While everyone else on the bus was complaining about how early the lights were up this year or how over the top they all were, my mind was just full of 'Hum, Christmas lights..'

It is not the day itself that I am looking forward to, just the build up that I am enjoying. Mind you, I didn't manage to get an advent calendar this year to my bitter disappointment. Me and Penny went looking on 30th Novemeber but they had all gone. So I am counting down the days on my fingers instead.

I had a great Saturday down in Suffolk. I went out to Woodbridge, through the beautiful countryside, with my Auntie and her friend. Then back to the 'Stowe to meet Linda, my oldest friend, and her daughter. And me and Pen drove back to Purfleet that night.

Yesterday we went to the local shopping centre and gazed at the queue outside Santa's grotto- seemingly snaking all the way to the North Pole. Neither of us have much left to do in the Christmas shopping stakes so we bought shoes instead. Ah the luxury of being in a country where I can buy shoes, will I ever get over it?

So I don't have any photos from the weekend for you so you will have to make do with some of pigeons just outside Trafalgar Square from last week. Just outside because the wily critters know that they can't be fed on the square itself but the tourists just can't help themselves and have to feed them somewhere.

One of the fountains at the Square, they have signs saying that it is not safe to enter the water but there is no recourse when it is so windy that the spray is blown into your face

And I never noticed until last week how weird the mermaids on the fountains are