Korea So Far.

Quick update cos believe it or not, I am worked off my feet here!

Arrived in Seoul in a zombie-esque state on Saturday morning. Thank God that my friend Yujin met me at the airport and brought me into the school, otherwise I would have been stranded! Straight into meetings (about 40% of the information went over my head) then back to Dermot’s to drop off me bag and then we hit the town. Supposed to see some Koreans playing Irish Trad music but it was like 20 euros to get in and we were in Korea to save money, so that idea got knocked on the head fairly lively. Just had a pint and headed home cos I was knackered!

Next day hit for the hills amidst the torrential rain and thunderstorms. Our summer camp is based in the Chalet hotel in the countryside 3 hours southwest of Seoul. There is nothing around here for miles. The place is fine and we get 3 meals every day and shared accommodation. I’m sharing with Dermot from Tyrone, so my northern accent will be spot on by the time the 4 weeks are over! I knew Dermot in Dalian. He's a sound lad, likes the geetar and it was he who helped me get this job.

We are very busy here. Working from 9am til 6pm every day and then need to prepare lessons after dinner. Not a walk in the park by any means, but the money is good and I will save a lot here cos there is nothing to spend money on here!

OK, no more time to mess about online. I need to get my lesson plans done!

Update On Plans

My plan is gradually shaping up. Within a couple of days, I managed to get a few offers from summer camps in Korea to teach English for a month. I’ve accepted one recommended to me by a mate. Teaching English to university students and business men who plan to go abroad. Should be good. They should be motivated. Will be different from the Dalian job since the syllabus is all prepared here. Don’t think there is much room for doing your own stuff.

So, I booked the ticket today. Leaving on the 27th. Just about a week left to spent time with family and friends. The time is too short but the only camps that I could find which started slightly later were only for 2 or 3 weeks, so I would just about have been able to cover my costs. With this job, I should be able to save money for China.

After finishing in Korea (near the end of August), I plan to go to Chengdu via Dalian. I can take a ferry from Korea to Dalian and then fly/train it from Dalian to Chengdu. Cheaper that way and also get to drop in on mates in Dalian!

Next job is to sort things out with the university in Chengdu... busy, busy!

A Lovely Little Country

An Irish comedian, when doing a skit on the weather forecast, remarked that Ireland would be “a lovely little country if you could only roof it.” He wasn’t too far wrong.

I arrived home Wednesday night. This was after not getting any sleep on my last night in Dalian due to the Hairy Wang Band’s final farewell and a night in KTV. So I arrived home in a bleary state and the next day I wasn’t much better since my body woke me up at 7am Irish time!

When I come home, there are stages to my reaction. First of all, on the journey home I am sad to leave China, this time maybe more so since maybe I won’t see a lot of my Dalian friends again (but hopefully I can). So, I get home and am still feeling a bit sad and culture-shocked. Ireland seemed so small. Roads, buildings, towns and on such a tiny scale compared to China. Also, I still haven’t got used to the driving on the left thing. Things seem strage!

The next stage is contentment. Ireland is clean, good fun and beautiful. Yesterday, a friend of mine and I went to Thurles, County Tipperary. The countryside in Ireland is so green! The skies so clear, the air clean! However, it does rain an awful lot, hence the quote at the top. It’s only after spending a lot of time away from your country that you realise how nice it is. Well, that’s my case anyway. Ireland is a beautiful country. Yesterday, I was taken aback by the beautiful cloud formations and contrasting colours during the rain - even got a rainbow!



The final stage usually happens when I am about to go back to China. I don’t want to leave Ireland! Having had a nice time with family and friends and becoming Irish again, it becomes hard to go! I till haven’t been de-Chinesified yet. On a few occasions, I have nearly spoken Chinese to people in shops and restaurants. The pleases and thank-yous. I have been using Chinese to say those little things for the past six months! Hard to switch it off. I also nearly answered the phone to my friend in Chinese! I hope I can find some Chinese people to talk to while I am here, to keep the lingo fresh in my mind.

So, at the moment I have passed stage one and am in the middle of de-Chinesification as I enter stage two!

End Of Part One

After nearly two years here in Dalian, I’ve decided to move on. I’ve told the school that I will leave and more than likely won’t be back. I’ve asked them to book a flight home for me for next week.

So, I’ve a week left in Dalian. It’s a bit of a shock to the system. I’ve sort of become settled here. I’ve had a nice time here in Dalian, experienced and learned a lot of things and had the chance to travel to a lot of cool places. 3 years ago, I probably could not have imagined that it would be possible for me to speak Chinese, but now I can communicate pretty comfortably on normal stuff using Chinese! I remember a guy in college saying his brother-in-law could speak Mandarin. I was in awe of him. Actually, it takes more effort than studying French or German, but it is doable. Chinese is actually a simple language with loose grammar and words are sometimes built up using simple building blocks (e.g. yesterday I learned that "dinosaur" in Chinese is literally "scary dragon"! If you know those 2 building-block words, it's simple to remember). However, the writing system, pronunciation and intonation do get in the way and make things more difficult.

I digress.

The plan of action is to head home for a few weeks and then head to Korea (South, not North!) for maybe a month – to earn some cash. Can earn really good money there teaching English in summer camps – maybe 2000 Euro in 4 weeks.

The next step is to hopefully come back to China and go to Chengdu, Sichuan province. Why? A few reasons: the first being I want a change of scenery. I have been living in north China for 2 years. The south is a bit different. The south has more life, especially in the evening time. Dalian in the winter can be like a ghost town sometimes. People stay inside cos it’s too cold outside. Last January, I was sitting outside at 10pm drinking a beer and eating BBQ in south China while the people up north were all in bed! Chengdu has a tea culture, with lots of tea houses and also coffee shops and bars. I’ve also heard that Chengdu has a relaxed lifestyle and I know that Sichuan people have a good sense of humour. I like all those things.

So, I plan to spend some time there learning Chinese and working part-time. We’ll see how it works out, but a change is always good.

I’ll miss you Dalian – with your sea, clean streets, good quality air, non-stifling weather and chatty taxi drivers!