Long time no write!

Wow- it;s been a fair while since I been on chalkboard. What with a spot of travelling around China with me bro and moving to South Korea it's been a hectic few months. But I'm back with a vengence and ready to bitch, complain, gossip and share the wonders of living abroad.

So first things first. You'll be glad to know that after teaching Kindergarden for 6 months I actually fell in love with the little un's and made a conscious decision to continue teaching Kindergarden whilst in South Korea. What can I say? They stole my heart. What started off as a nightmare turned into a lovely happy ending....

HAHAHAHA. No such thing! Whilst their graduation ceremony (from Kindergarden - yep!) was cute and I may have got a little sad at the prospect of saying goodbye I was more than happy to hand them over to someone else. I feel satisfied that I did my bit in teaching them the ways of the big wide world; "P is for Pig - oink oink oink" and now I can stand back with pride and let them grow into well rounded individuals. Maybe they'll be less of the drooling, biting and kicking now that they have officially "graduated". And maybe Justin will stop smacking women on the bum to show them he likes them, oh wait, boys never grow out of that.

Anyway so I'm now in Seoul in South Korea teaching High School! I teach 17 - 19 year old boys and girls (international age 16 - 18) and absolutely love it! It's 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday which means I can do whatever I like 4 o clock onwards in the weekdays and anytime over the weekends. Already I''ve got drunk at the top of a mountain with my co-teacher and had to clamber my way down with a fair few near death experiences, visited the sandy beaches in Busan, gone clubbing in Hongdae, Itewon and Gangnam, joined the staff Badminton and Tennis clubs, gone on about 44 staff welcome dinners, seen the most incredible firework display of my life and soaked up the culture at the "Hi Seoul" festival, graced the traditional Korean village with my sweaty presence in 40 degree heat, visited a Korean hospital and had my fair share of Korean BBQs, Macaulae, Soju and tried the local delicacy; cows intestines. In the next few weeks I'm going to Global gathering; Seoul style, going up Seoul tower, visiting some galleries to get my culture dose and attending a Korean wedding. 

Seoul itself is brilliant! Everyday my teachers ask me "Sophie, do you have culture shock" as if one day I will wake up and say to myself "Oh. my. god. I have culture shock" and I try to explain to them that If I was gonna get culture shock anywhere I would have most definitely got it in Harbin. There's everything you need here, on your doorstep, 27/7 and at the moment I'm not complaining. Admittedly, after a year of the busy, hectic city life I may long for wide open spaces and a man with a country drawl and a piece of straw hanging out of his mouth, but for the moment its perfect!

The best thing about this place, however, are the people. I have never met a nicer bunch of people in my life! The Koreans are literally amazing! Okay, so a few weeks back I woke on a Saturday morning oh so very ill (not hungover!). I felt so so sick. But I wasn't. The minute my doorbell rings and the internet installation man comes in I'm sick everywhere. So so humiliated! I think seeing one's sick definitely oversteps the boundaries of Korean formality. Anyway, whilst I was busy clearing up he finished his job quickly and left. Half an hour later I was back in bed and the doorbell goes again. I tried to ignore it but then eventually got up to answer. The man was back, all I could think was "what now", when he handed me two packets of medicine! And he totally refused payment! He actually took himself off to the pharmacy and got me some drugs! How bloody lovely! Actually couldn't believe it! That alone made me feel much better. Well, that and the ton of drugs he gave me! But the message is still there.

Anyhow, with that in mind

Thats all folks xx