Monthly Review: Month 1

We've been in South Korea one month as of today, and it has flown. I do wonder what it feels like for you guys back home though - does it feel like I've been gone a while? Or has it not been long enough yet? Probably not every month will pass so quickly. I've just read Lionel Shriver's Double Fault (which I heartily recommend), and there's a passage where she muses on the rhythms of a prison term:

The beginning went surprisingly fast. The early middle was the worst - the routine already grown tyrannical, an appalling preponderance of servitude to go. The vast middle-middle was almost restful, with no tempting parole in view; the walls of any cell must evolve to the walls of the world. The killer was glimpsing release...it is said that a convict may experience his final weeks of captivity as longer than the rest of his sentence.

No I don't mean to sound like I'm comparing this place to a prison (though some of the rules are a little tyrannical) but maybe that's how time will pass here. Right now all is novelty so it goes fast. And before I left a few people told me that homesickness hits the worst after around three months, so that's the 'early middle' I guess. Time will tell. Anyway, everything's going well. I'm enjoying it and have few complaints. We're still waiting for the laundry room to be done. Apparently the laundry room is to double as a classroom (why we need a laundry-themed class escapes me, but whatever), but it seems the builders didn't know about the dual-purpose of the room - they thought it was supposed to be just a classroom, so they put in the washers and driers as planned - they just didn't both to sort out any plumbing for the building. Apart from that everything's in order. Ok, well maybe they could sort out some proper drainage for the place, but apart from that... I was going to celebrate this milestone by going into Suyu (our local district) for a night of kareoke, but since we don't get paid for another week, everyone's broke so don't think they'll be much of a turnout. I could afford to go, but I could not afford to get drunk first as would of course be strictly neccessary. Instead I'm gonna have beer and chocolate alone in my room and watch the next few episodes of Lost which I've downloaded. Yes, it's another hardcore Friday night at Seoul English Village. Which makes me realise: I haven't been drunk, or even what you might call tipsy, in a month. Don't woory, this will be rectified many times over when we finally get paid. Finally, here's some random pictures for your enjoyment while I get back to my beer: I don't know what this first one is but it's pretty. You get the strangest juxtaposition of old and new buildings all over Seoul. I don't know if this is actually old, but the point is, it's right by the main road, just outside a bookshop. I couldn't get any closer to find out what it is as just as I was taking this picture, me and Emma had a bit of a spat and she stormed off down into the subway ahead of me. Apparently in South Korea, there is an official 'Teacher's Day' every year when the kids shower their teachers with presents. But that's at proper schools. The grand total of my gifts so far is: one candy, two pieces of bubblegum, one cup of coffee bought for me this afternoon from a vending machine, and this origami rose: If the city weren't permantly covered in a layer of smog, this view would be stunning: Goodnight y'all.