Seoul Hard Rock Cafe And The Seoul Zoo!

The Seoul Hard Rock Cafe opened up last week in Itaewon after a year's construction, so I decided to go and check it out. It was 10 dollars to get in and you got a small glass of champagne included for that price......whipdeedooda!!!!!

Then I ordered a vodka and tonic, which is my staple drink now and has been for about the last 3 months. How much, you ask? How about 11 dollars!!!!!!! What a rip-off.

The saddest thing about the whole place was the type of music they were playing. It is "The Hard Rock Cafe" you fucken morons!!!!!!! There are pictures of Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash and Jimi Hendrix and many other memorabilia from rock 'n' roll stars etc. But wait, the Korean "Hard Rock Cafe" decided to play DANCE MUSIC and RAVE MUSIC and other unappropriate shite not related to the theme of the place.......dumb ass Koreans, let me tell you.......I was so pissed.

Needless to say, I will not be going there EVER again. It was a very well decorated place, but the music lost all the class that it had built inside........phew.....don't get me started........insulting my favourite kind of music like that!!!!!!!!!

Also went to the Seoul Zoo on Saturday, which was great. It is world class and I am going there again. They had every animal imaginable and it is HUGE. It has mini-tram cars going around, like ski-lifts. It is also very cheap and a very well designed place. An all around good visit and like I said, I am going again. Took a few pics and here they are on my blog......haha.

Other than that, not much else going on. I had to mention the smell of my aparment to the landlord. It has been stinking for about 3 months, but I thought it would pass, but not!!!! There is a problem with the drains as I also hear the drains gurgling in the morning when I am sleeping and the other houses above and next to me are taking a shower or whatever. Got to be looked at, so I went tonight and saw the landlord. He is a nice fella and speaks English well. He said he will get it looked at right away. I told him that I had waited months, but now with the summer coming, it would be unbearable.

It has stunk ever since I moved in, to tell you the truth. Paying 550 a month for a one bedroom house, it should not stink like shit!!!!!!!!! Let's see what action is taken.

If nothing is done, I will keep bugging him until something is done or I will think about moving.......seriously, it has gotten that bad now. Maybe it is partly my fault for waiting so long, but I am not going to wait much longer if nothing is done.

Still no teacher at my school. They had better get their arses in gear.....haha. I have finished one year on Wednesday, April 30th. Shit, it has flown by this last year. As I said, I signed for another year as I like the school and have it running the way I want it to now. I like the kids and they are showing improvement all the time.....job satisfaction is truly intact!

Sniffing Clone Dogs In Korea..........Interesting!

Read this very interesting article. Who would have thought?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7359242.stm

A Big Week Looming!

Tomorrow is the big match. Liverpool vs Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. Come on Liverpool, do us proud again and get us in the final and on our way to Moscow for the final!




The last week has been one of ups and downs. Of course the down was Isaiah's mother passing away. The up was the Duran Duran concert, which was absolutely magnificent. The group were fabulous and I was so impressed with their stage presence and their overall performance. A great light show and Simon Le Bon's voice was awesome. The musicianship was great and it was well worth going to see. They played a lot of songs from the new cd and they were great. They played a lot of the old classics as well and I was thrilled with the overall song choice.



I finally finished my 7 days of medecine for my infection, but I am not quite sure if it has completely gone! I am still sniffling and after a couple of days of no colour, it seems to have come back again. Shit!!!!!!!!!



The weather here has turned for the best into Spring weather. The nights are a little cooler still, but overall, the days are very nice and quite hot at times. I have good news at school, too. They are installing an air-conditioner in the classroom.......alleluiah, alleluiah!!!!!!!!!



The school are in the thros of finding a new teacher, which is no easy task. They even asked me if I could find a teacher. The cheeky bastards though would pay you nothing even if you found a teacher. Compare that to when they use a recruiting company who they usually pay about a thousand dollars. Cheapos I call them!!!!!! Needless to say, I will not be looking for a teacher. Number one, it is not my job and number two, it goes totally unappreciated even if you do. I am sticking to teaching and concentrating on that, nothing else.



I have been seeing a Russian girl, Olga, for the last few weeks. I have hung out with her a few times. I went for a walk around a park yesterday and then had dinner and went to a coffee shop later on. She is good company and speaks English quite well, of course. She has her own small clothing business here in Seoul. She buys clothes from here and ships them back to Russia. She has a good sense of humour and I can honestly say that I have enjoyed actually hanging out with her. Quite unusual for me, I must say.....hehe. She is also 39 years old, too, so much more within my age range than usual......again, hehehe. She looks much younger than her age, though. I thought she was about 29 or so when I first met her.

Time For Reflection

Death is such a part of life, but always so hard to deal with. Today, I found out that Isaiah my co-worker, lost his mother, without any warning at all. It certainly puts life into perspective and the "STUFF" that we worry about, really is secondary to the actual gift of life that we are given each and every day!

I wish Isaiah all the strength and courage at this time of need and offer him and his family my deepest condolences. I cannot begin to understand how much pain he is feeling.

I had dinner with him tonight after school and we talked briefly about his mother. She was only 54 or so, but did so much for so many people in this world. She was a foster mother to literally 100's of children, as well as adopting various children throughout stages of her life. She sounded like she was a wonderful woman and the world will miss her kindness and generosity.

Isaiah told me that her hero was Mother Theresa and she had always thought about going to India and helping the less fortunate. She never had the chance to go, but Isaiah said that he might just go and do what she never had the chance to do.

Isaiah was due to have his contract finish at the same time as me, April 30th. However, he will not be re-signing now due to the circumstances and he has no idea what he is going to do in the future, but for now just has to worry about getting home for his mother's funeral service on Monday.

Also on another sad note, I will miss Jason, a friend of mine, who just left to work in China. He was a good friend and quite a character. He will be missed here in Korea, but I have already promised him that I will visit him next year in China. I have never been to China so it will give me a chance to visit him and also to see another good friend, Ben.

I am sad in my heart for Isaiah's loss and also for my friend's abscence, but feel fortunate to be alive and will try to use these life lessons as a catalyst to enjoy each and everyday a little bit more than I have been recently.

In memory of Isaiah's mother: Give to others and give often. There is no better feeling in the world!

Duran Duran Coming To Seoul Next Week!

Duran Duran are one of my favourite bands of all time.......really!

And yes, they are going to grace our presence here in Seoul next Thursday, April 17th at 8pm at the Olympic Gymnasium.

I just purchased two tickets, so I am going there. I am going to take a friend of mine, Caroline who is Korean, but speaks Spanish and that is the link between us. I get to practice my Spanish with her whenever we meet. She spent a year in Guadalajara last year. I also taught her sister, Amy, for about 6 months while she was here in Korea and even when she left for Mexico. Unfortunately, I am not teaching her sister anymore. She was too busy and going to middle-school, which is always a busy schedule for all Korean children.

I am really excited about going. I have never seen Duran Duran, but have every one of their cds and love the group. It is in a really small venue, so it should be awesome. I have started listening to Duran Duran everyday and will continue to do so until I go to the concert. I love their new album; red carpet massacre!

So much has happened since I last did a real blog. I don't know where to start really.

I have been so sick the last few months and trying to shake it off. I ended up going to the doctor on Monday in Bundang and he said I have a nasal infection, eye infection and laryngitis. I am taking medecine now for the next 7 days. I hope that the infection finally goes........ I don't feel too, too bad, but am tired of waking up with sore eyes and a sore throat. Most Fridays, I can't even speak when I first wake up. Due to the nature of my job, I am always using my voice and it has no time to rest. Never mind that I never shut up talking anyway.......hahaha.

One of my friends, Sara, nicknamed me Sir Talkalot, an apt name, I think!!!!!!

Anyway, I am hoping to feel a lot better over the next week or so. If not, then I will go back to the doctor and get more antibiotics. I will get rid of this infection, I am bound and determined, this time.

I have joined a new gym. It is closer to me and half the price of the Hamilton Hotel. It has no sauna, but I don't need the sauna now with the heat of the summer on its way.

It is on the main road close to me, so I can get off the bus and go straight there. It looks quite good and has the same as the other gym; shorts and shirt provided and towels. It has all the machines that I need as well as running machines.

Monday is the day that I get right back into the swing of things. Start going regularly again. The gym is open to 12 at night all weekdays, so I have no excuse for not going.

Liverpool made it into the semi-finals of the Champions League. This will be the third time in 4 years and we get to play Chelsea again for the 3rd time. I think the other semi with Man Utd and Barcelona will be won by Barcelona. I am hoping for a Liverpool vs Barcelona final in Moscow. That would be just dandy!!!!!!!!

Enough for now. I am off to Bundang tonight with Chris to see Dave.Then tomorrow another small city north of Seoul with Jason who is leaving for China to work on Tuesday. I met Jason on a visa run to Japan. We were sitting next to each other on the plane, going there. We have been friends since. I have been promising to go with him for 3 months and kept renegging. Not this time. We should have a blast and I am sure, a crazy weekend.........

Blog Again Real Soon

To those of you that follow my blog regularly, I apologize.
I have been so busy of late that it has been really hard to blog anything as I am here there and everywhere. My computer at school cannot access any blog sites or post anything, so I can't even do things on my breaks there.

I will put a blog on soon, but until then, I hope you are all well and getting ready for a glorious summer. Liverpool made it into the semi-final of the biggest club competition in Europe for the 3rd time in 4 years.........unbelievable, really!!!!!!!

Blind Religious Thinking!

Check out this story. They think she is a reborn goddess.......wow! Get a life!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/08/baby.heads.ap/index.html?eref=googletoolbar