Cold Days and New Year's Days
What is with all this static electricity? Given much more of this and they might as well shut down all of Korea’s nuclear power stations and replace them with me. My fleece blanket fizzles with electric when I shake it, I can hardly get out of my house before my skirt is stuck to my tights, if I try and get close enough to give my friends a friendly peck on the cheek they are repealed backwards with a resounding crack and the other week I was so electric that when one of the students tried to give me a piece of candy it was thrown across the room with the shock. I won’t even go into what a nightmare my hair is at the moment. And this is the least frightening aspect of winter here in Korea. My skin is so dry that I find myself admiring the complexion of passing bulldogs. My fingernails just manage to teeter over the edge of my finger before snapping off in the cold.
But the worst bit, worse than it being too cold to drink all night outside the convenience stores, more scary than the prospect that every wintry day brings me 24 hours closer to my thirtieth birthday, more chilling than a day sitting on the beach in January, has to be the introduction of the winter schedule at work. The kids have just started their two month long break from school and we are the people responsible for keeping them off the streets. Since that pesky rival we call school is temporarily out of the picture the kids are free to come in earlier and study more than ever. Hence my horror- my start time has been brought forward to roughly one hour before the time that I usually get up (admittedly this is still only 10am and therefore I am not realistically expecting much sympathy from you nine to fivers).
But let me stop with the whinging for a moment and tell you all about the festive season here in Korea. What there is of it, that is. I think that I told you before that there is not much of a Christmassy buzz here (I have escaped the whole season through without hearing a Cliff Christmas Classic- old or new- and am yet to hear a Slade number from any speaker in this country). The kids never really got the hang of the advent calendar- I was having to glue the 24 door shut at the start of every day- it was a wonder they still managed to prise it open each day but they are determined little so and sos. My Christmas cards finally made it to my desk this week (ie. in January) and not a drop of sherry or a crumb of a mince pie was to be found anywhere. But we still did our best to enjoy the day. A group of us got together for dinner on the day (and I had had the best part of a bottle of wine to myself before heading out to try and take my mind off missing the Christmas ‘Only Fools and Horses’) which was a buoyant affair. After dinner I was finally able to negotiate the time difference and speak to the folks back home which was good. And English girl brought some crackers to the bar so we were able to tell rubbish jokes and wear paper hats which is basically Christmas for me.
A few Long Island Ice Teas later and it was all over. I went home and didn’t have to work the next day so had time to slob around and do nothing. By Saturday however the appeal of not doing anything at all had started to wane so Sunday saw me getting on a bus and heading over to Seoul. Had a couple of pints of Stella in Itaewon before heading off the nori bang (singing room) and a jjokki jjokki bar (chain in which I used to earn frequent drinker points last year in Mokpo, or would have had such a scheme existed). Monday was shopping day though it only took the usual four minutes or so of being in the vicinity of a Korean clothes shop (where the shop assistants run in horror upon laying their eyes on me and selflessly throw themselves onto the racks to protect the doll size clothes from being corrupted by my presence) before I had had enough. Time to go to the movies and the most Christmassy part of the festive season for me- that was a very happy two hours spent watching Christmas in London through the medium of ‘Love Actually’. It was a friend’s last night in Korea before heading back to Canada so we went for barbecue before the nori bang and a different jjokki jjokki bar. Limping home (Sam’s home that is) at 5am it was a wonder that we were able to get up at all the next day to help Danielle get her bags to the airport.
But we made it in time and saw her on her way (well, through the entrance to the departure gates anyway which, despite what a hundred Hollywood movies may show, is as far as you can get without a boarding pass). That night saw a well deserved pizza and quiet night in. The calm before the storm you might say.
Wednesday was, of course, New Year’s Eve. Wow. And we had big plans for the night. But first me and Sam had something VERY important to do. Rushing to Jongro, we found the correct office, got stacks of cash out from the bank downstairs and picked up our tickets to HONG KONG!!! Oh yes indeedy! Heading to China for Chinese New Year, very VERY exciting indeed. We are flying out on 21st January for four nights and five days of shameless gasping at fireworks and unadulterated admiration of the dragon parade. Not to mention a sup or two at the nearest English theme pub. But more on that closer to the time.
We made it back to Sam’s and she managed to find someone to bust open the bathroom door that had ‘mysteriously’ locked itself just before we rushed out in the morning. We got ready and headed into town for the HUGE Carl Cox New Year’s Eve celebration at the Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel (scenes of such depravity as me and Sam giggling in the casino with some dutch DJ that Sam had told a little white lie to earlier in the evening, many moons before). Stopped on the way for Mexican food and to pick up a few friends and off we went.
The promises of a free bar until 1.30am were, thankfully, totally with foundation though it wasn’t so much a free bar as a table covered in Heineken and Smirnoff which you just went up to and helped yourself off- all you could carry! And good for me because it allowed me to pretend that I was a student again and ‘babysitting’ unminded drinks. In fact, the event had been sponsored by so many purveyors of sin that it was almost a hassle to get through people throwing free cigarettes and lighters and drinks at us in order to get to the main arena. But we fought the brave battle and took a night of dancing as our reward. And what an amazing night it was- starting with a kicking bass line as we approached the door shortly after 10pm. About ten minutes before midnight the big screens beside the stage echoed the smaller pictures scattered across tv monitors all over the stage as they all proudly displayed the countdown to midnight.
All too soon it was midnight and amid the screaming and shrieking and general hugging (got my first kiss of the new year from our lovely gay friend, pleasant but hopefully not setting a precedent for the year!) the sound of drums began to become more forceful. Unnoticed before midnight it was difficult to miss the huge traditional Korean drums now being pounded within an inch of their lives by women in traditional Korea dress- the refrain being picked up by men on smaller but no less impressive drums on a walkway suspended over the dance floor. It was a totally awesome way to start the year. And things only got better about ten minutes later when Carl Cox finally hit the stage. A predictably euphoric period of dancing followed. Our joy knew no bounds as Mr Cox lived out my Christmas wish and put ‘Born Slippy’ on as fake snow was sprayed into the air and me and Sam jumped up and down in childish delight. Of course, I lost my friends part way through the night but what would New year be without a small moment of panic?
We finally burnt out around 6ish and got into a cab about half an hour after that- after freely distributing my phone number to a surprising amount of men (ok, I admit it, two but it sounded good, right?). Limbs so tired that we couldn’t feel them anymore got us from the cab to Sam’s house and that was the end of that. I went home to Gangneung the next day, via Itaewon again for a subway sandwich and a couple of cans of tomato soup from the dodgy little western food store there (I never thought that I could be so happy to be lugging tins of food around but it is amazing what you crave when it is not easily accessible. Though I should mention at this point that I had Cadburys chocolate for breakfast everyday over the New year thanks to Caitriona!). I collapsed into my bed and didn’t move again until the next day when it was time to start the winter schedule at work.
And that is roughly where this email started so a very neat place to finish it, I believe! Thank you to everyone who sent me cards (strangely not the same people who received them from me!) and emails telling me what you have been up to. Everyone seems to have made their new year’s resolution that they will write more emails. I am making mine to take up less space in all your inboxes- or not, you let me know!
Love to everyone and personal emailing will resume soon- promise.
Helen
xxxx
But the worst bit, worse than it being too cold to drink all night outside the convenience stores, more scary than the prospect that every wintry day brings me 24 hours closer to my thirtieth birthday, more chilling than a day sitting on the beach in January, has to be the introduction of the winter schedule at work. The kids have just started their two month long break from school and we are the people responsible for keeping them off the streets. Since that pesky rival we call school is temporarily out of the picture the kids are free to come in earlier and study more than ever. Hence my horror- my start time has been brought forward to roughly one hour before the time that I usually get up (admittedly this is still only 10am and therefore I am not realistically expecting much sympathy from you nine to fivers).
But let me stop with the whinging for a moment and tell you all about the festive season here in Korea. What there is of it, that is. I think that I told you before that there is not much of a Christmassy buzz here (I have escaped the whole season through without hearing a Cliff Christmas Classic- old or new- and am yet to hear a Slade number from any speaker in this country). The kids never really got the hang of the advent calendar- I was having to glue the 24 door shut at the start of every day- it was a wonder they still managed to prise it open each day but they are determined little so and sos. My Christmas cards finally made it to my desk this week (ie. in January) and not a drop of sherry or a crumb of a mince pie was to be found anywhere. But we still did our best to enjoy the day. A group of us got together for dinner on the day (and I had had the best part of a bottle of wine to myself before heading out to try and take my mind off missing the Christmas ‘Only Fools and Horses’) which was a buoyant affair. After dinner I was finally able to negotiate the time difference and speak to the folks back home which was good. And English girl brought some crackers to the bar so we were able to tell rubbish jokes and wear paper hats which is basically Christmas for me.
A few Long Island Ice Teas later and it was all over. I went home and didn’t have to work the next day so had time to slob around and do nothing. By Saturday however the appeal of not doing anything at all had started to wane so Sunday saw me getting on a bus and heading over to Seoul. Had a couple of pints of Stella in Itaewon before heading off the nori bang (singing room) and a jjokki jjokki bar (chain in which I used to earn frequent drinker points last year in Mokpo, or would have had such a scheme existed). Monday was shopping day though it only took the usual four minutes or so of being in the vicinity of a Korean clothes shop (where the shop assistants run in horror upon laying their eyes on me and selflessly throw themselves onto the racks to protect the doll size clothes from being corrupted by my presence) before I had had enough. Time to go to the movies and the most Christmassy part of the festive season for me- that was a very happy two hours spent watching Christmas in London through the medium of ‘Love Actually’. It was a friend’s last night in Korea before heading back to Canada so we went for barbecue before the nori bang and a different jjokki jjokki bar. Limping home (Sam’s home that is) at 5am it was a wonder that we were able to get up at all the next day to help Danielle get her bags to the airport.
But we made it in time and saw her on her way (well, through the entrance to the departure gates anyway which, despite what a hundred Hollywood movies may show, is as far as you can get without a boarding pass). That night saw a well deserved pizza and quiet night in. The calm before the storm you might say.
Wednesday was, of course, New Year’s Eve. Wow. And we had big plans for the night. But first me and Sam had something VERY important to do. Rushing to Jongro, we found the correct office, got stacks of cash out from the bank downstairs and picked up our tickets to HONG KONG!!! Oh yes indeedy! Heading to China for Chinese New Year, very VERY exciting indeed. We are flying out on 21st January for four nights and five days of shameless gasping at fireworks and unadulterated admiration of the dragon parade. Not to mention a sup or two at the nearest English theme pub. But more on that closer to the time.
We made it back to Sam’s and she managed to find someone to bust open the bathroom door that had ‘mysteriously’ locked itself just before we rushed out in the morning. We got ready and headed into town for the HUGE Carl Cox New Year’s Eve celebration at the Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel (scenes of such depravity as me and Sam giggling in the casino with some dutch DJ that Sam had told a little white lie to earlier in the evening, many moons before). Stopped on the way for Mexican food and to pick up a few friends and off we went.
The promises of a free bar until 1.30am were, thankfully, totally with foundation though it wasn’t so much a free bar as a table covered in Heineken and Smirnoff which you just went up to and helped yourself off- all you could carry! And good for me because it allowed me to pretend that I was a student again and ‘babysitting’ unminded drinks. In fact, the event had been sponsored by so many purveyors of sin that it was almost a hassle to get through people throwing free cigarettes and lighters and drinks at us in order to get to the main arena. But we fought the brave battle and took a night of dancing as our reward. And what an amazing night it was- starting with a kicking bass line as we approached the door shortly after 10pm. About ten minutes before midnight the big screens beside the stage echoed the smaller pictures scattered across tv monitors all over the stage as they all proudly displayed the countdown to midnight.
All too soon it was midnight and amid the screaming and shrieking and general hugging (got my first kiss of the new year from our lovely gay friend, pleasant but hopefully not setting a precedent for the year!) the sound of drums began to become more forceful. Unnoticed before midnight it was difficult to miss the huge traditional Korean drums now being pounded within an inch of their lives by women in traditional Korea dress- the refrain being picked up by men on smaller but no less impressive drums on a walkway suspended over the dance floor. It was a totally awesome way to start the year. And things only got better about ten minutes later when Carl Cox finally hit the stage. A predictably euphoric period of dancing followed. Our joy knew no bounds as Mr Cox lived out my Christmas wish and put ‘Born Slippy’ on as fake snow was sprayed into the air and me and Sam jumped up and down in childish delight. Of course, I lost my friends part way through the night but what would New year be without a small moment of panic?
We finally burnt out around 6ish and got into a cab about half an hour after that- after freely distributing my phone number to a surprising amount of men (ok, I admit it, two but it sounded good, right?). Limbs so tired that we couldn’t feel them anymore got us from the cab to Sam’s house and that was the end of that. I went home to Gangneung the next day, via Itaewon again for a subway sandwich and a couple of cans of tomato soup from the dodgy little western food store there (I never thought that I could be so happy to be lugging tins of food around but it is amazing what you crave when it is not easily accessible. Though I should mention at this point that I had Cadburys chocolate for breakfast everyday over the New year thanks to Caitriona!). I collapsed into my bed and didn’t move again until the next day when it was time to start the winter schedule at work.
And that is roughly where this email started so a very neat place to finish it, I believe! Thank you to everyone who sent me cards (strangely not the same people who received them from me!) and emails telling me what you have been up to. Everyone seems to have made their new year’s resolution that they will write more emails. I am making mine to take up less space in all your inboxes- or not, you let me know!
Love to everyone and personal emailing will resume soon- promise.
Helen
xxxx
posted by Helen @ 10:43 AM
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