Farmboys old Studio Apartment in Daejeon

No amount of google searching and forum scanning will ever give you a real depiction of the kind of place you are gonna be living in when you get to this jungle of wireless internet and stupidly small cups of nasty coffee. So I thought I might aswell add to the variety by posting what my home looks like. From what I gather I think this is generally what most of the 2010 teachers got, with an extra free bar of soap here (Citygirl) or a 40inch HD plasma screen there (Dan), being the only difference. I'll post more about my actual area soon but this will give you a rough idea of the place where the decision that effect the world are made.... drum roll..... trumpets.... Citygirls triangle..... I give you my "Studio".

Here is the Basic layout of the place...
I have a nice bit of kitchen with a two plate gas stove. My bathroom is a shower, toilet and sink all in one. That means you have to hide eveything when you shower so i doesnt get wet including loo paper!

My home is divided into three sections by big sliding doors and these are really cool. Allows for alot of light and manages to trick me into feeling like Im not in a small space.

All in all, not a bad place to live.

The place I call home.

No amount of google searching and forum scanning will ever give you a real depiction of the kind of place you are gonna be living in when you get to this jungle of wireless internet and stupidly small cups of nasty coffee. So I thought I might aswell add to the variety by posting what my home looks like. From what I gather I think this is generally what most of the 2010 teachers got, with an extra free bar of soap here (Citygirl) or a 40inch HD plasma screen there (Dan), being the only difference. I'll post more about my actual area soon but this will give you a rough idea of the place where the decision that effect the world are made.... drum roll..... trumpets.... Citygirls triangle..... I give you my "Studio".

PlAy BuRgEr

Play Burger

It's right next to Yurim Park, which is in Wolpyong, opposite the road from the HomePlus. Just cross the bridge after Yurim Park and turn right, it's about 10 metres down the road...about 20 metres before  KAIST.

The biggest, most delicous burgers I have ever tasted...

I've had a few burgers in my time, and I am ashamed to say that Whimpy and MacDonalds held my heart for ages...that was until I tried one of these burgers :) and at only W7000 their a steal...as well as free refillable drinks, a must if you are in the area. And even if your not, these burgers are worth the trip!

PlAy BuRgEr

Play Burger

It's right next to Yurim Park, which is in Wolpyong, opposite the road from the HomePlus. Just cross the bridge after Yurim Park and turn right, it's about 10 metres down the road...about 20 metres before  KAIST.

The biggest, most delicous burgers I have ever tasted...

I've had a few burgers in my time, and I am ashamed to say that Whimpy and MacDonalds held my heart for ages...that was until I tried one of these burgers :) and at only W7000 their a steal...as well as free refillable drinks, a must if you are in the area. And even if your not, these burgers are worth the trip!

"Gom" Espresso Bar

One our favourite places to go for coffee is this very cute little Espresso Bar in Gwangeadong, where FarmBoy stays.

The atmosphere is great, amazing service and even better coffee, and you dont even have to pay and arm and leg!
Their menu is in Korean, but there are pictures on the wall to help you out :)

"Gom" Espresso Bar

One our favourite places to go for coffee is this very cute little Espresso Bar in Gwangeadong, where FarmBoy stays.

The atmosphere is great, amazing service and even better coffee, and you dont even have to pay and arm and leg!
Their menu is in Korean, but there are pictures on the wall to help you out :)

School Lunches~yummy??

As we are here to teach, and thus spend the majority of our days at school, I thought it would be appropriate to put some pics up of our typical school lunches. These aren't my pics, but they might as well be as the caffeteria food here is pretty much standardised!

So first things first:

bottom left ~ rice

bottom right ~ soup of some kind (usually brown in colour) The soup tends to be the most stable element (apart from the rice) and I am always able to at least eat that

top left ~ veggie mix (usually spicy)

top middle ~ KIMCHI (which is fermented cabbage...i still haven't got used to the taste so i politely delcline this option)

top right ~ meat of some kind

yogurt drink (very yummy sweet drink...not with every meal)

*This is the usual menu for each school, sometimes you might get a nice surprise and have some fried chicken/yummy curry/stir fry's/ but this is what you will come accross on most days :)

You get used to it, and then come to really appreciate the staff dinners you will have to attend, especially when you get taken for duck...its delicious...and of course all the yummy snacks in your staff room.

School Lunches~yummy??

As we are here to teach, and thus spend the majority of our days at school, I thought it would be appropriate to put some pics up of our typical school lunches. These aren't my pics, but they might as well be as the caffeteria food here is pretty much standardised!

So first things first:

bottom left ~ rice

bottom right ~ soup of some kind (usually brown in colour) The soup tends to be the most stable element (apart from the rice) and I am always able to at least eat that

top left ~ veggie mix (usually spicy)

top middle ~ KIMCHI (which is fermented cabbage...i still haven't got used to the taste so i politely delcline this option)

top right ~ meat of some kind

yogurt drink (very yummy sweet drink...not with every meal)

*This is the usual menu for each school, sometimes you might get a nice surprise and have some fried chicken/yummy curry/stir fry's/ but this is what you will come accross on most days :)

You get used to it, and then come to really appreciate the staff dinners you will have to attend, especially when you get taken for duck...its delicious...and of course all the yummy snacks in your staff room.

My English Room~Kyochon Elementary

So today a whole bunch of teachers & other VIP's are coming to have a little squizz at my English Classroom. I have become used to random important looking people strolling in during my lessons, snapping away with their camera's and my Principle grinning like a cheshire cat. Aparantly we have one of the best English rooms in Daejeon, im not so sure about that...but it's a nice thought :)

I thought I would post a few pics of it so everyone could get a chance to see what all the hype is about (i see no reason for getting too excited) but I must admit is is awesome! The reason I feel I am able to boast about this particular classroom is becasue on a monday & tuesday, I teach at another school, a country school (Hakha Elementary). Now Hakha, being a country, or rural school, is very basic. Whereas here at Kyochon all the kids come to me for their English classes (all +300 of them), ay Hakha I go to them, (all 20 of them). So you can see what Im getting at. Here I have all the perks, like my own little "Native Teachers Room" which doubles as the 3D interactive portal, I can customize the class and move the desks & chairs around however I (we~me and my co-teacher) feel like.

At Hakha, at the beginnning of every class, I am stepping into their territory...so this obviously has its disadvantages for me. The kids are a lot harder to control and of course as LOT harder to motivate, and because its their space, they go a little crazy!

But here at Kyochon I almost have the other extreme, my older classes (6th grade) are very reserved, and the atmosphere can feel a bit sterile. To combat this I have tried putting things up around the classroom to make it look a bit more inviting, but alas, my principle instructed my co-teacher & I to remove them because she thought they "didnt match the rest of the room"~ but thats exactly the point! Anyways,  I have to rely on my skills as a super Native teacher to get the kids iexcited about their English learning :)

My English Room~Kyochon Elementary

So today a whole bunch of teachers & other VIP's are coming to have a little squizz at my English Classroom. I have become used to random important looking people strolling in during my lessons, snapping away with their camera's and my Principle grinning like a cheshire cat. Aparantly we have one of the best English rooms in Daejeon, im not so sure about that...but it's a nice thought :)

I thought I would post a few pics of it so everyone could get a chance to see what all the hype is about (i see no reason for getting too excited) but I must admit is is awesome! The reason I feel I am able to boast about this particular classroom is becasue on a monday & tuesday, I teach at another school, a country school (Hakha Elementary). Now Hakha, being a country, or rural school, is very basic. Whereas here at Kyochon all the kids come to me for their English classes (all +300 of them), ay Hakha I go to them, (all 20 of them). So you can see what Im getting at. Here I have all the perks, like my own little "Native Teachers Room" which doubles as the 3D interactive portal, I can customize the class and move the desks & chairs around however I (we~me and my co-teacher) feel like.

At Hakha, at the beginnning of every class, I am stepping into their territory...so this obviously has its disadvantages for me. The kids are a lot harder to control and of course as LOT harder to motivate, and because its their space, they go a little crazy!

But here at Kyochon I almost have the other extreme, my older classes (6th grade) are very reserved, and the atmosphere can feel a bit sterile. To combat this I have tried putting things up around the classroom to make it look a bit more inviting, but alas, my principle instructed my co-teacher & I to remove them because she thought they "didnt match the rest of the room"~ but thats exactly the point! Anyways,  I have to rely on my skills as a super Native teacher to get the kids iexcited about their English learning :)

Manifestation...

So the inevitable has finally occurred and the inner South African can no longer be suppressed by Kimchi and lesson planning. And there has been a mass manifestation of ZA's in the shape of crazy braai's and awkwardly sweet and inappropriately placed dance moves all over the city of Daejeon. I have heard rumors of braais happening on rooftops all over the place and I predict that this is only the beginning. As can be expected due to there potent awesomeness these events have drawn the interest of various other people from outside South Africa and it will lead to this ceremonial style of meat cooking spreading further afield to other nations. If one was to be highly optimistic at this point then we could possibly hypothesize that in the not to distant future we could see the traditional braai displacing its ugly cousin, BBQ, from its adorned pedestal in other nations and we will be one step closer to world peace and a wholesale racial reconciliation.

I consider myself a scientist, not the greatest but still notable, and with this reputation comes my duty to provide clear empirical evidence on which to base my above pontifications. Ladies and gentlemen I give you case 1: Gummi Bear.

Manifestation...

So the inevitable has finally occurred and the inner South African can no longer be suppressed by Kimchi and lesson planning. And there has been a mass manifestation of ZA's in the shape of crazy braai's and awkwardly sweet and inappropriately placed dance moves all over the city of Daejeon. I have heard rumors of braais happening on rooftops all over the place and I predict that this is only the beginning. As can be expected due to there potent awesomeness these events have drawn the interest of various other people from outside South Africa and it will lead to this ceremonial style of meat cooking spreading further afield to other nations. If one was to be highly optimistic at this point then we could possibly hypothesize that in the not to distant future we could see the traditional braai displacing its ugly cousin, BBQ, from its adorned pedestal in other nations and we will be one step closer to world peace and a wholesale racial reconciliation.

I consider myself a scientist, not the greatest but still notable, and with this reputation comes my duty to provide clear empirical evidence on which to base my above pontifications. Ladies and gentlemen I give you case 1: Gummi Bear.

Busan chill time.

Hi you might not remember me as its been ages since my odd mutterings were seen on this glorious little bloggedy.

Well this past weekend Citygirl and I glided on down to Busan and had a look at what was up for grabs down on that side. To say the least it was great. The adventure started off with a sleepy taxi ride at 6 in the morning to Daejeon station. The sleepyness was soon replaced with hunger, this was deftly settled by some incredible little french toast, cheese and bacon snackaroos that my princess apparently whipped up at about four that morning! Can I hear a "Good job!". Anyways we got to Busan pretty early and found our cute little backpackers with its Christian little bunkbeds and its heavinly air-conditioning. Once we had found our roommates Huke and Lolly we jumped on the subway and headed for Haeundae beach. Well we knew that we were in the right place because my keen sense of smell picked up on the sea air and my dul left ear was forced to hear the yacking of three score other "westerners" A-CHEW-mericans...

I could feel my very soul being drawn to the ocean and once I had pushed my way past three buggers tossing a football and one white (T)- string wearing korean guy I was in that sea like spice on Kimchi. And man it was great, flipping cold but really great. We spent most of the day there chilling in the sand looking at all the odd combinations of people, children, clothing and pink dyed pets. Its a really nice beach but it was pretty crowded and google images indicates that it only gets crazier as summer moves along.

We also went to a cool little spot called Fuzzy Navel and chilled there and had something to drink. We then went and had sun downers on the beach and had some good laughs with all sorts of interesting people. The nest day we woke up to Huke swiping at mosquitoes with blood stained hands, Lolly snoring away in the corner and the annoying sound of drizzle on the window. But we decided to go to Gukje market and also go and watch the new Robin Hood movie, both of which were pretty great. Really enjoyed the street food we had for lunch, it took some effort to get Citygirl involved but eventually she admitted to liking it.

Basically the rest of the weekend consisted of rain, rain and more rain. We had some good laughs at H & L when their umbrella kept inverting due to the 200knot gail force winds. But somehow the thought of Toblerone and a warm bed at Blue Backpackers made it all bearable. Something which is worth extra attention is our visit to the Shinsige Department store. This is the place where I (Farmboy) went ice-skating for the first time ever and also mananged to purchase some good looking english books. Really cool place and I especially liked the human lung chandelier at the front entrance.

Anyway thats pretty much what the weekend was about. And after almost missing our train home, making a child cry on the train, discussing our future bookshelf and arguing with a thief of a taxi driver, we were home safe and sound.

Ah another great weekend in this fascinating place. So glad I have Citygirl here to make it exciting.