Tis a lesson you should heed: Try, try, try again. If at first you don't succeed, Try, try, try again

Below is an extract from my original post now available on squarespace: maggieblogs.com

Do you remember, in January, I listed all the things I want to do in 2015 (to see this list, clickhere)?I had three things I wanted to accomplish in January : 

• Organise two dates for when I am on vacation and complete them.
• Make bed everyday
• Read more

So, how did I do?

Well, if you look at my reading list, here, you can see I already have read quite a bit. I haven't quite sorted out all the books that I WANT to read over the next year but at least I've started reading again. Why, did I want to read more? Well, the truth is I used to have a superpower. Wait, what? A superpower? Ummm, you are not Captain America, kiddo! Yes, I know, but nevertheless I did. I used to be this incredibly fast reader and thanks to that superpower I used to devour books. I easily read 2 books a day, and on weekends even more.  I could read an Agatha Christie in less than two hours!  I couldn't get enough of it. I also would remember everything I read. However, since moving  to Korea I've started watching a lot more TV and it took me a long time to notice but I lost my superpower. So, a warning to all the superheroes out there - if you don't practice with your superpower every day you lose it. This freaked me out and because I didn't know how to handle it, I retreated from books. Well, this year I am focusing on getting my superpower back. When I read now,  I need to fully commit. One of my favourite motivational blogs, Zenhabits, recently posted an article: The Delightfully Short Guide to Reading More Books and, boy, has it ever changed my life. I haven't followed all the steps yet but using the closet has definitely come in handy as has only reading books I enjoy. I think this last is something I have been struggling with. Reading new books is good but if I am not interested in the subject matter, the genre, or the book itself doesn't draw me in, I tend to plug along until I finish it but it takes me months to do so. Well, no more. 

Click here to read the rest of the post.

Are you sleeping

And on to week three! Wow time flies!  I can't believe this is my third week on this exercise. As you will read below things weren't plain sailing this week:

Friday, July 11th: This was a fantastic evening! Katetastic and I finally had our mushroom and wine night. We ended up out at the local Ministop (which is a convenience store) with some other friends drinking more drinks. Then into the pub for even more in an evening that culminated in Tequila shots. All in all, a great evening. Friday = Success 

Monday, July 14th: I wanted to finish reading my Mistborn book (I was reading Well of Ascension), so I stopped at a local coffee shop, had an iced chocolate drink and read until dinner time when I joined Swaglu, Katetastic one of Swaglu's friends who is visiting from the USA. Afterwards, Katetastic and I sat on the park swings and chatted. As we sat there slowly but surely quite a bit of Jochiwon joined us. I ended up getting a tummy ache so around 9 or 9.30 I abandoned the gathering crowd and instead headed home to sleep. Monday = Success

Tuesday, July 15th: Well, what was a tummy ache has turned into something else and I was dying all day in work. A wee headache, scratchy throat, upset tummy. I got a lift as far as the Office of Education so as I walked home (around 15 minutes), I stopped and bought crispy chicken. I know it's not healthy but the idea or doing anything in front of the stove just about killed me. I got home, made some tortilla wraps with the chicken and some balsamic roasted tomatoes I'd made on Sunday night. It was easy and semi-healthy. Afterwards I  fell asleep for 1.5 hours and then prepared some games and worked on my camps. I did watch TV (or had it on in the background, rather) while doing my work.  Tuesday = Success? Well, only because I was sick.

Wednesday, July 16th:  Ugh. That's all I have to say, well not literally as you can tell by the following epistle. By the time 4.30pm rolled around all I wanted was my bed. My throat was really closed up and all I had eaten to that point was saltine crackers and Chilsung cider (like 7-up). I bought meds, orange juice and a nice big new bottle of water. When I got home I decided some wallowing was in order so I turned on the TV. While it turns out I hadn't been missing much (besides CSI Miami and the movie A.I. There wasn't much on for about 30 minutes and I hate CSI Miami) until Modern Family came on which I thoroughly enjoyed. Good news, I did do half my dishes and my 30 jumping jacks for a July Challenge I'm participating in. For dinner, I ate some fairly unhealthy wraps with the remaining crispy chicken and roasted tomatoes. At 7pm tired out by these really exhausting activities (this is supposed to drip with sarcasm but as this is the internet and I'm not a very sarcastic person, that intent might be lost in translation), I fell asleep and slept relatively soundly until around 6.45am on Thursday. Wednesday = Not a success

Thursday, July 17th:  I bought baguette and some ham, did the balsamic roasted tomatoes again and made a sandwich. I worked on my blogs, did the dishes and packed for the culture trip I was on for Friday and Saturday. And then...to bed. Oh yea, still sick!

Well, I may not have watched much TV but the week was a disaster - no personal growth at all and all projects went to hell.

Oh well, you might think I'm mad but I hope to remain encouraged for next week!

PS The title of this post was inspired by that French children's song that I learnt as a child "Frère Jacques"

Learning how to dance the rain.

A little late, but firstly: Happy 4th July to everyone! My Mam's American so we have sporadically celebrated over the years. I don't remember celebrating as much when we were younger but in recent years we'd at least have some cake! Since coming to Korea, my first 4th of July was negligible - I don't remember doing anything special. Last year my friend, Swaglu, hosted a lovely party with hot dogs, soju drinking games and plenty of chat! This year a few of us shared pizzas, fried chicken and pasta salad on the rooftop of Swaglu's building. It was low key but we did sing the national anthem and some crazy people said the Pledge of Allegiance to a flag cake.

So how did I do this week on having no TV during the first hour home? Well, I got lucky the first two days and the others, well judge for yourself:

Friday, July 4th: Came home, cleaned and then roasted tomatoes and sausages for a 4th July inspired dish, When I wasn't cleaning I just sat and breathed! It was a very busy but also relaxing hour. I then proceeded to eat eat pizza and crispy chicken with some friends until the late evening. Friday = Success.

Red, white and blue warm salad. My contribution for the Fourth of July. The recipe will be on my blog eventually!

Monday, July 7th: When I got home, I heated up some Sunday dinner leftovers (pot roast!) and started reading Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, which was a Christmas gift from my sister for Kriskindle. It's really interesting but after about 10 pages, exhaustion had set in and Ifell asleep for around an hour and a half. Told you I lucked out! Monday = Lucky Success.

It's more than it looks like! That's part of what I feed my co-teachers! I just had the tiniest amount of that for dinner the next day!

The wee glimpse!

Tuesday, July 8th: When I got back to Jochiwon I went in search of some cardamom to make spiced tea. Sadly, Asia Mart didn't have any. So, instead I drowned (ate?) my sorrows with Katetastic at Misoya eating delicious food. When I got home I spent 30 or so minutes working on a drawing on the rooftop. It then started to rain so I went downstairs to finish it off. At the moment the drawing is a secret gift for someone special so I can't show you all of if, but here is a wee glimpse to the right: 

I then was overcome by exhaustion (see below as to why) that I went straight to sleep. I didn't even put on pj's, I just opened the windows and turned on the fan. (Note, in the morning I woke up shivering and discovered I was so cold because I forgot to turn off the a/c! Agghhh dreading that electricity bill!). Tuesday = Success.

Wednesday, July 9th: I was actually really good and got off near the Sejong Office of Education and walked home. It was really muggy and by the time I got to the lovely Liz's place to borrow some cardamom in exchange for some tea (it's that good, peeps, check out the recipe here), I was hot, sweaty and gross. When I got home, I stopped in to buy water and got an ice-cream. Man, was it delicious. I sat outside cooling off in front of my apartment and when I was ready, I went upstairs. I then made the tea and sorted some laundry to wash. I have run out of summer clothes so it was in dire need of being done! Have I mentioned before how much I HATE laundry? If not, well, now you know! While the laundry was washing, I ate chia pudding and a couple of bananas for dinner, worked on a new post for The Sejong Dish and did photo editing for this post and my post on my cooking blog. Wooo! Productive! And after that followed it up with Book Club (my choice - Waris Dirie) and a very important chat with my sister and niece (ok her chats were all giggles and coos, but still really important!). In the end only 20 minutes of TV watching - thankfully I'd already seen the episode of Criminal Minds and the hotness of Jonathan Rhys Meyers aside The Tudors isn't up my alley. Wednesday = Success.

Thursday, July 10th: 

Baduk - a traditional game

Another busy day! As Katetastic and I are are making stuffed mushrooms anddrinking wine tomorrow, I'd to go to Homeplus on the way home for the ingredients. After dropping my things off, I went to Plan B to play Baduk with another friend who is teaching me the game. That was followed up by a Fried Chicken dinner for our Chicken Strutposts on the Sejong Dish. When I got home I baked some brownies for my students and tidied my house, so there was no TV at all. Oh, the brownies? Yeah. Forgot I didn't need to preheat the oven as it's just a toaster one - they were burned and tasted more like a (dried-out) cookie. We'll still eat it! Thursday = Success.

So you might think I'm mad to have let naps become part of my hour but as the weather gets more humid I'm having a much harder time sleeping. This, coupled with nightmares and already terrible sleeping habits, has kept me fairly sleepless over the last couple of weeks. Nightmares? Yes, here I am a mature 31 year old having nightmares! What about? Being late for school, realising that I am then in the wrong school with the wrong lessons planned and having brought the wrong books. It's awful. It's been happening every night for the last week. It also panics me into waking early and then not being able to fall back asleep. Gah!

I have to say, sleep aside, I am really enjoying this exercise in self-control and the eclectic tasks are keeping me entertained! I may not be "learning how to dance the rain" but I am definitely learning how to live life a little more fully. I guess in a way these hours are starting to become the my "mini-dates" which is good because I am no way near to making 12 dates with my self this year! I've only had two more since that first one!

This post is inspired by Take That's "The Flood" (featuring Robbie Williams) and my efforts to have less TV in my life.

Home, home on the range, where the crisps and the tea are had.

So it's official, I'm staying one more year in Korea. I don't think I've ever debated more over whether or not to stay in a place as I have done for this decision. I started debating way back in September and on at least 3 occasions was convinced that I'd be having my last day on 01 June 2014. The fates have intervened though, and I'm staying one more year.  Why? Well for so many reasons;

• I like teaching.
• I have fantastic students (except for, you know, the troublesome few).
• My co-teachers are amazing.
• I have great friends, both Korean and Expat alike.
• I love my apartment, even with all the noise.
• I like being responsible for all my own decisions - from whether or not I just sit down and watch TV to paying bills. Whatever my decision, it's my choice and the negatives are just as much a learning experience as the positives.
• I like branching out and seeing more of Korea and the world.
• I like challenging myself to be better, to work harder, to write more, to read more, to go live more authentically and to make healthier choices. 
• I want to finish my bucket list, as much as possible.

Nevertheless, staying in Korea means one more year away from home and some creature comforts. So what is it that I miss most about my beloved Ireland? Well, number one: my family. Chatting to my parents, playing board games with my siblings, walks, talks and everything else. Taking trips together. Screaming with excitment at a match, especially staying up late and watching the World Cup FinalExchanging gifts on Christmas Eve, doing so on Skype isn't half as fun! My brother's terrible stories on Christmas Eve. Easter Egg hunts, birthdays, laughter and fun. Fighting with everyone. Seeing my nephew and niece grow up. Getting to experience  and partake in their lives.

Number two, are my friends. I really miss them. I miss being able to go to Butler's in the Pavilions for a quick cuppa on the way home. I miss having board game nights and eating at Indie Spice or Acapulco. I miss walking around HESC at lunch time or those quick chats during break time. I miss the long calls to friends who don't work with me any more, drinking wine, eating cake (and cake bakes!), travelling around Ireland and abroad. I miss just hanging out. 

After that I guess everything I miss is related to Ireland itself - whether it's the food, an aspect of the culture or even the environment. To be honest, I can go a long time without a craving for anything, but sometimes, I will get one suddenly and instead of having a lovely King sandwich, I'll eat a packet of these:

Or I will find myself craving some time walking along the Howth cliff walk with a nice breeze and the smell of salty sea air with every inhale. On those days I go for a walk along the river near my house or to the lake park. They don't come close but they are nearby. 

Climbing Bray Head, Co. Wicklow. 

While I can't capture the spirit, culture or environment of Ireland, I can sometimes capture the food and drinks. I recently have spent quite a bit of time browsing online shops to see where they deliver and to get approximate costs. Sadly, a lot of them don't deliver to Korea or, if they do, the prices are prohibitive for me. So, I wait in hope...or for some kindly soul to take pity on me! Nevertheless, I've included some links below - so even if I can't enjoy the goodness of Irish food, perhaps you can.

Howth cliff walk  (Photo courtesy of my sister)

The river near my apartment in Korea

1. While I have loads of Barry's teaat the moment thanks to two trips home and a wonderful mother and aunt, I miss being able to just pop into a shop and buy a box of tea whenever I need it.  I also won't say no to a cuppa Lyons. I was recently sent a box of Barry's tea by my Mam as she'd received a box of 600 teabags! It made me wonder if it had been ordered from here! Lucky Mam and lucky me! Along with tea, obviously I miss Avonmore milk. Seriously! It has taken me ages to make the perfect cup of tea here as the milk is really different. 
2. I miss all the cheap sweets and crisps from Meanies to Animal Bars.  I found some websites recently that deliver to Korea called PennyJellies and Irish Home Comforts, so I want to figure out a way to order these treats from there for my students. Who knows, maybe for a Hallowe'en lesson? 
3. I miss Cheese and Onion crisps and Salt and Vinegar Crisps. Especially crisp butties! For those wondering, I'm a wee bit more partial toKing but I love my Tayto as well.
4. I miss Kingfisher chips, and just being able to go to any chippers. Oh, and homemade chips made in the deep fat fryer on a Friday night, wrapped in delicious bread, smothered in butter. HEAVEN!
5. While Korea has certainly improved on the cheese front as you can get a decent range of cheese from cheddar to goat's cheese in Costco, the Foreign Food Market and even, at times, in Homeplus, there is something to be said for Irish Cheese. I miss Kilmeaden, Cashel Blue and going to markets like the ones in Galway or Howth and buying homemade cheese. This hamper, while it won't deliver to me, could be bought and brought to me? Any takers? Come on...you know you want to visit me (and Korea!)!
6. I miss everyone saying "thank you" when they got off the bus, even if the journey has been long, annoying and uncomfortable. I also really miss saying "excuse me" whenever the chance comes along.
7. I miss Griffith Park. I miss having such close access to green. While our garden at home is the size of a postage stamp we were always really lucky to live 10 seconds away from an amazing park. It's big, really green and has a river running through it. I miss having picnics just inside the gate or up on the hill. I miss playing football or rounders  (even though it's been years since I played), flying kites or just walking around the park. I miss having a place you can go to get out of your head and just enjoy nature.
8. Oh, and how I miss the National Botanical Gardens! Seriously, I live in such a great neighbourhood. I am only 5 minutes away from a beautiful garden with amazing trees, gorgeous flowers, impressive glasshouses and quiet walks. There is something so peaceful about being in there. 
9. I miss the libraries. Again, I live in a great neighbourhood and I was a stone's throw from Drumcondra, Ballymun, Phibsborough and the Ilac Centre Libraries. The amount ofbooks I would consume if I were at home! From Austen to Christie. From Tintin toNancy Drew. I've never been at a loss for a good book at home. 
10. I miss going on day trips around Dublin and further afield. Whether it is Howth in the rain, or walking barefoot down the river in Enniskerry forest, praying that nothing slithers or runs over foot. I didn't take near enough advantage of it when I was home, and now...now I can't. I miss being able to go to water - the sea, especially. 
11. I miss being able to fly nearly anywhere in the world with a cheap airline (and yes, I do try to avoid Ryanair). Weekend trips and long weekends away are harder to do here - I've managed one so far, to Japan.  

So you might think I'm mad to be missing Irish food as much as I do and you might think I'm mad to miss greenery and sea air especially since we have some in Korea. But, that's one of the advantages of being Irish.  You're never far from it. Sadly, though it's not as easy to get to either for me as it was at home...well except for the local mountain. That's kind of cool...and green.

PS The title of this post was inspired by the John A Lomax version of "Home on the Range".

So come on, see the light on your face

My curb - the arrow indicates "my spot" - Image taken from Google Maps

When I lived in Nebraska, one of my favourite activities was to sit outside on my aunt's porch in the morning, having breakfast, reading and soaking in the rays. I've spent entire days on that porch chatting, drinking and eating. It's wonderful and relaxing. When I moved home, I decided (weather permitting) to use the curb in the cul-de-sac beside my parents' house as my  "porch," for the occasional breakfast under the sun. The apartment I lived in, out in Swords, had a balcony and the house on Dorset Street a concrete garden, which were slightly more adequate substitutes for that porch. Living in Korea, however, has meant letting that slide. My apartment doesn't have a balcony and the curb is far too dangerous. Luckily, I live around the corner from a wee park with a playground and some benches. On one quiet Thursday it provided me with an opportunity to have a mini date with myself.

Originally, I'd wanted to do something to challenge myself each date. While I still want to do this, sometimes time and opportunity don't come knocking at the same time. I'd wanted to have my "date" on Tuesday May 6th as I was off for the long weekend and I figured it would be a nice way to round out  what promised to be an action packed weekend (more on that later). However, I found out on April 30th that I'd be off on May 1st. So, impromptu date it was! 

The night before was Wine and Crafts  night at BexC's where Katetastic and I stayed a really long time chatting with our hostess well after the time-frame for the event. It was a wonderful evening filled with laughter, wine and BRD chicken. Tipsiness definitely kicked in at some point as I devoured the chicken as if I'd never had it before. However, due to the night's activities, the morning didn't get off on as promising a start as I'd have liked as it was nearer 10.30 before I could drag myself from bed. 

After a long shower, I made myself a nice strong cup of tea, grabbed my book (I'm doing some self study at the moment) and a banana and headed across the street. In the 30 seconds it takes to get there the amount of looks I got was a little hilarious. One man, who was propped up on his motorbike, dropped his feet to the ground on seeing me trying to not spill my tea everywhere. Even after 10 minutes of sitting and reading he was still staring! The day was gorgeous with the sun spilling down and a gentle breeze balancing out the heat of the sun. 

I love tea...I especially love tea in my new mug!

After finishing my book I headed back inside for a while. As I mentioned above, this was a mini date, so I split the rest of my day between cleaning (boring) and working on my blogs (date time!). Photo editing takes time, a lot more than I realised and even after a good two hours at it, I still hadn't made as much headway as I wanted (I have an upcoming photo post that I am working on). Eventually, I gave up the ghost that was my date (and my blog post) and decided to prepare for my Baduk lesson (it's a board game). Unfortunately it wasn't to be as my co-teacher needed me to sign the form stating my intent to stay another year. She wasn't able to come until nearer 5.30 and we chatted for more than an hour. 

So you might think I'm mad to have tried to cram a date in on such short notice and to have sacrificed my goal to challenge myself for some time to edit photos. I'll be honest I had no idea what my challenge would be for this month.... I was going to wing it. And while I wish I had had a stronger plan, the day I had was really nice and relaxing - which really is what a date should be about, right?  You might think I'm mad to share such a boring date......... no challenges, no funny stories, no deeply insightful thoughts - except that the English language is hilarious! Seriously look at the photo below  - I was in stitches! 

My Grammar and I (or should that be me?)  - Caroline Taggart

So on to the next date and something a little more challenging now that eating by myself in a restaurant and going to the movies by myself is out of the way. Maybe a performance or to go to the jimjibang (not likely)? Any suggestions?

PS This title was inspired by a beautiful sunshiny day and Take That's Shine.

Do all those who lie here know why they died?

The white ribbons are in memory of those lost in the Sewol Ferry disaster, 16 April 2014

As I'm sure you are aware recently there was a ferry disaster in South Korea off the southern coast near Jindo. Many people lost their lives and many are still missing. A huge portion of those affected were students on a field trip. I'm not going to talk about the disaster itself as I believe that you can get way more informed news and opinions about it from the BBC or the Korean Herald.

However, what you may not be aware of is how much this disaster has affected daily life in Korea, especially for schools, students and teachers. Many schools, my own included, have cancelled events like Sports Day that traditionally occur on May 1st. Instead, the students will have classes as normal (for those wondering, it is also Workers Day so I am off). Additionally, many students were looking forward to field trips - some of which were overnight trips and these too have been called off for the foreseeable future. This is understandable, especially considering the huge amount of students who were lost. Parents must be so worried that something might happen to their children. Teachers are probably grateful that they will not be responsible for their students lives so near to this accident. And students? Well, while most of my students know what has happened, I am sure they probably don't fully realise the extent to which this disaster is going to have on their lives: no trips for the foreseeable future, but also in the long run a lot more care and watchful eyes will be on them than was in the past. As Korea reels in grief over this disaster, events that Koreans and expats alike have been looking forward to have been cancelled as joyous festivals, concerts etc are considered insensitive to those who lost their lives and their families. Even events like the lantern festival to celebrate Buddha's birthday have become more low key. 

I think that is the hardest thing about this disaster. It is awfully sad, just like the Malaysian Airlines disaster before it and all the other terrible things that happen in our world from tornados to bombs. Even though we want to mourn, and should mourn, life goes on: children are born, grandparents die, lovers are found and marriages collapse. Even in Korea. You might think I'm mad but I do think that in the midst of tragedy, here in Korea we may be forgetting life.  My students remind me of it though. As my co-teachers wear yellow ribbons in memory and many breaks are spent discussing it, my students giggle while playing bingo, laugh while trying to follow directions blindfolded and sing "Let it go" with all their hearts. 

This disaster will hopefully lead Korea to a better future. A future where seat-belts are always functional and used in the back of the car ( oh, taxi-drivers of Jochiwon), where there are enough lifeboats on each ferry and basic safety is understood by most everyone. Much like when you fly, I really hope that on the ferries (ok I've never been on a ferry so if this already happens, my apologies) safety drills are completed when embarking and disembarking, where disaster drills are conducted regularly and everyone knows what they should do in the case of an emergency (I'm not saying people don't know this already but it is always best to be reiterated again and again). And a future where the captain always goes down with his ship. 

PS the title of this post is taken from the lyrics of the ballad "Young Willie McBride" also known as "The Green Fields of France".  As I read these lyrics, I thought that they were very poignant and relevant for this, and any, disaster where loss of life could have been avoided had the person in charge not been incompetent. 

PPS Whilst I never believe suicide is a good option, the heart breaking reason of the Vice Principal of Danwon High School is probably one of the most tear-jerking things I've ever read:

 "Surviving alone is too painful when 200 lives are unaccounted for... I take full responsibility."[105][116] The note ended with a request that his body be cremated and the ashes scattered over the site of the accident, "that I might be a teacher in heaven to those kids whose bodies have not been found." [117]   (source, Wikipedia)

We [are] sharin' all we've got!

In my second school, my 2nd graders' home room teacher is an older man, nearing retirement. He doesn't have much of a "get up and go" attitude and so when the students come to my class they tend to be a wee bit hyperactive and silly. Thankfully, despite the silliness they are really well behaved and really like to have a chat and participate in class. Granted, much of the chat is held in Korean with a dash of English, and I have to guess what they are trying to say...but we get there!

Like last year, we are concentrating on phonics. At the moment we are reviewing the alphabet but will start reading CVC words soon. Some of their favourite games to play are when they make a line, and I say a sound or word and they have to identify the correct starting letter. They can so dramatic when they guess incorrectly! They try to have two or three turns to guess the right letter! My favourite time is when I give them a word or sound like a BPVF sound (all are very similar in Korean) and it's not a word they know, like fish. Instead I will say something like "Facsimile". It usually takes a few students to figure out the right letter! (So in case you are wondering, they don't need to know what any of the words mean the key is recognising the right sounds.). 

The class is split between 5 boys and 3 girls. And, let me tell you, the competition is fierce! One of the girls and two of the boys really know their stuff. They try to out-do each other all the time. Despite the competitiveness, the kids are really sweet. They help each other out and race to be finished with their worksheets.

Whenever they can they try to use their minimal English to tell me about themselves or whatever is going on in the class. For example, recently, I wore earrings to school for the first time (in case you are wondering, my ears have been pierced since 2001). The second grade girls were completely enamoured and kept saying "beautiful" so I taught them the word "earring". (Actually side story - since I've started wearing earrings to school, I've been called beautiful a lot more often by my students. It makes me wonder what I look like without them on!). The following week, I met them before our class and the three girls started to point out their earrings: Stickers of flowers, diamonds and hearts adorned their ears. As I admired their beautiful earrings, one of the girls gave me my very own sticker for my ear. I was so chuffed that I wore it for the rest of the day. Some of my older students laughed at me but I thought it was really sweet! I woke up the next day and found it still on my ear. Since then I haven't worn any earrings to school and I've had several questions from both the boys and girls as to where they were! 

My beautiful sticker earring.

In my main school, I teach an Afterschool phonics class to 4 students - 2 boys from first grade and a boy and girl from second grade. We are working our way through a book (GHI is currently underway) and supplementing that with games, Starfall.com, and other worksheets. One of the boy's Taesan is this teddy-bear of a kid. He is really cute but really mischievous too. I usually have to remind him at least 3 times each class to sit down, listen and be quiet! Nevertheless, this little charmer evidently likes me and my class as he brought a few of his friends around to meet me last week. These kiddos lined up to talk to me (in Korean) whilst Taesan chattered on in English: Hello Teacher. My name is Taesan. What's your name? How are you! Ah, buh, cuh! Apple, cat!...". Whilst I was trying to control the giggles half the kids lett and 3 of the boys, along with Taesan proceeded to the door to my back to peek out at that classmates. I managed to capture a snap of them. You can just tell they are cheeky, right? Since then I've run across these boys on a few occasions and they now shout out to me "ANNYEONG HASEYO!"  Now....If I could just get them to say hello in English!

So you might think I'm mad but I think that "[I'll] be having twice the fun" as long as these kids stick around! 

PS The title of this post was inspired by the lyrics of "Let's get together" from The Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills. Also, this song always reminds me of my cousin Al, whose mom, coincidentally, was the one who got my ears pierced!

When I get to heaven, tie me to a tree (Part 1)

The lyric in this title is from one of my all time favourite songs from one of my all time favourite musicals - Paint your wagon. It's an irreverent look at gold-mining, marriage and religion. While Clint Eastwood may hate it, I consider it bloody fantastic!

Bookshop in Seoul station, September 2013

Outside Deoksugung palace, September 2013

Changgyeonggung, October 2013

I was thinking of these lines a few weeks ago whilst wanderingaround Hongdae in Seoul.  I love to "roam" on a Sunday morningin Seoul. It's quiet, peaceful and you come across unexpected things from interesting plant holders to beautiful doors.  Whether I am in Seoul or somewhere else, there is always ample time for photos and appreciation of the beautiful, weird and fascinating aspects of this country, no matter the hour!

Cheonggyecheong Stream, November 2013

Sinchon,  February 2014

Changgyeonggung, October 2013

To that end, and I doubt you will think I am mad, here are some photos from my recent times in Seoul from September 2013 to March 2014. I hope you agree these sights look even better looking back!

Shop front, Hongdae, February 2014

Socks galore! Hongdae, February 2014

View of Itaewon from JR's, March 2014

Deoksugung, March 2014

Art in Hongdae, March 2014

St Patrick's day celebrations, Sindorim, March 2014

 By Seoul Grand Park Zoo, October 2013

At The Nutcracker, December 2013

At The Nutcracker, December 2013

Cafe, Hongdae, February 2013

Cafe Light, Hongdae, February 2014

Wall, Hongdae, February 2014

Cocobruni, Hongdae, March 2014

Noraebang 노래방, Hongdae, March 2014

Seoul National Cemetery, March 2014

Plant-holder, Hongdae, February 2014

Deoksugung, March 2014

Deoksugung, March 2014

Rooftop view of Hongdae, March 2014

Street Art, Hondgae, March 2014

Seoul National Cemetery, March 2014

Seoul National Cemetery, March 2014