6. Commentary

2^C

Bright Blue skies but some of the snow still hasn't melted.

Thanks Taji for that insight.

I'll explain some of the pictures to you in a bit more detail, shall I? See when Taji came here then it was a huge deal.. the Principle met him and instantly they got along. Taji invited the teachers and staff to have dinner with us at the Restaurant here, but they politely declined; which Taji wasn't too happy about. It was very difficult for them to say yes because of the costs involved to Taji. So the Principle invited all the teachers and staff to his house for dinner. As you can see in those pictures there were a lot of things served that night. Him and his wife must've been cooking all day to put a spread like that on for us!! He even went as far as buying a box of San Soju, the brand that I love so much; even though he prefers another brand. Taji couldn't stop saying how hospitable everyone was.. how unreservedly nice and utterly welcoming they were. So that was Wednesday.

So that brought about the question of Taji taking them out to dinner. They mulled over it for a while, until I said that Taji would be insulted if they didn't accept his offer (ok so I threw in the.. "in our culture" spiel too). End result is that they agreed and a lot more Soju was drunk. They agreed but still wanted to show Taji a traditional Korean restaurant, so off we went about 10mins out of town to a Tofu restaurant (that's the one with the red sign). Here they made their own Tofu fresh and served a mild Korean rice wine called Makgoli.. and of course we saw through it. They took us here mainly because it'll be cheaper than the other restaurant near my place. I guess this way we were happy and they were happy. And that concluded Thursday.

We went to Yeongwol on Friday night to meet up with Linda and Youngmin and their two daughters (they were my co-teachers last year for all those just tuning in). They took us to a duck restaurant which was pretty average. It was their first time going there too since having two little kids running around makes for a difficult evening out. We downed some Soju there, before heading off to find a motel for the night. As it happened there were no motels or rooms available. Undeterred we went off to Taksabal (the local Friday night bar/pub/restaurant), too meet the boys. To cut a long story short, and I apologise for doing so since I'm still hung-over from this exact night, we met up with most of the teachers in Yeongwol and that meant that the co-teachers wouldn't be too far away. So there were six Aussies there: Me, Taj, Brett, Kurt, Greg, and Rachel (from Taebaek). A few Americans: Mark, Kat, Mel, Blake, and Rach. A pom, Stevo. And finally a Russian, Aleks. Add to that three of my co-teachers from my second school. Take into account Kurts pulling power, which added four Korean girls to the table, who then also invited a few boys. What you end up with is a combined effort of 18 Litres of Beer, some food, and 17 bottles of Soju on the wall. Then we were off to the Norebang so sing out hearts out (and for some to pass out on the couches/floor). The night ended with Taji and I pissed as a panda, catching a reserved Taxi home to Sangdong. So ended Friday.

Now it's Saturday, and Taji and I have just come back from the Restaurant almost cured of our hang-over's (thanks to more beer of course). Taji's having a nap until 4pm and then we're off to Wonju for the night. We'll come back here on Sunday, and maybe have an arvo session with the boys. Then on Monday we're off to Seoul for the night and then Incheon after that. Taji flies out on Tuesday. Now you're up to date!

Taji's language:
Hello in Korean is "An-young-ha-say-yo",
Taji says: ASS-say-yo and thinks he's got it down pat.. just thought I'd share.

There's this place called Sinshigae which is a up-town shopping centre.

Taji saw it and turned it into: SinceYourGay.