A few people have asked me about my job. I’d almost forgotten I didn’t come here to go walking. Well, when I arrived, The British Council was in the process of moving out of the main centre they’d been in for some time and into two new centres. They had also decided to split the Adult and Young Learner programmes so that each centre only taught one of these groups and the teachers specialised. I chose adults so, for the first time in 18 years, I’m not teaching children. Although I miss some of the songs and silly games (or was that games and silly songs?) I played with the children, I’m very pleased with my decision and really like where I work; the adult students are wonderful and a lot of fun to work with. I also have a more academic challenge, especially with my Upper Intermediate academic writing group – their level is very high and they make me think every lesson. Like the children though, adults occasionally bring their teacher presents. One student brought me a chocolate bar the other day. It was green.
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The other day, I asked my Upper-Intermediate students what they listen to or read at home.
One said ‘The BBC News’.
Another said, ‘TED talks’.
The next said, ‘Big Dick’.
I don’t think my students noticed, but I nearly laughed. ‘Err … what was that?’
‘Big Dick,’ she said again.
I had to work really hard to stifle a snigger now: ‘Err … could … (gasp) … you … spell … that …’
‘B-I-G T-H-I-N-K,’ she told me.
I was greatly relieved. Here it is, should you be interested. It looks good: http://bigthink.com/
I really must do something about her pronunciation …
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Having
failed to learn Polish or Vietnamese to any decent level, I’m working hard on
my Korean. I’m pleased to be able to say (at this stage) that it’s fairly easy
to pronounce – after Vietnamese, anything is – and the grammar so far seems OK.
I’ve worked on learning the alphabet (see below) and some phrases. Of course,
one thing you need to learn as soon as you arrive in a country is ‘Where’s the
toilet?’. Usually, when you don’t know how to ask something, acting works well
but that is a bad idea in this case so I made sure I could say it from the
outset. I now have a bank of useful phrases and I’m building my vocabulary.
Hangeul - the Korean alphabet - might look like Japanese or Mandarin but it is in fact, much easier and can be learned in a few hours. Unlike the other languages, in which there are thousands of characters, each representing a word or idea, Hangeul is an alphabet and can be built into syllables like English. I'll do my best to teach you a few things about the language over the next few blogs. Here's lesson 1 ...
콜라 This word is made up of two syllables. The first is a stack of
three sounds:
ㅋ sounds like ‘k’
ㅗ sounds like the ‘o’ in ‘owe’
ㄹ sounds like ‘l’
The second
syllable is two sounds next to each other:
ㄹ ‘l’
ㅏ sounds like ‘ah’
Put all that
together and you get kol-lah, or Cola to you and me.
Korean has
borrowed a lot of words from English and other languages and adapted them to
fit Hangeul. Once you can decipher the symbols, you find they are often
familiar words. Here’s another one:
바나나
ㅂ sounds like
a cross between ‘p’ and ‘b’
ㄴ sounds like ‘n’
So we get
pah-nah-nah, or banana.
I am
surrounded by print of course and try to make sense of it. This sign is about a
bank. I at least know the word for bank:
은행
Some signs rather helpfully write a translation underneath. I love the last line on this one – a whole line to say ‘No pets’.
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I catch the
bus or underground almost everywhere these days. I have come to the conclusion
that the 143 bus that takes me to work is the best bus service in the world. I
rarely have to wait more than a few minutes for it at most times of the day.
The buses get a bit crowded at peak times but I never have too far to go so
that’s OK. As well as that, people tend to be very helpful; on two occasions,
when I was carrying a lot of shopping but had to stand, someone who was sitting
took my bag onto their lap. I have never seen that before.
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One problem I have is that in lots of cafes and supermarkets they play Korean rap, hip-hop or whatever it is. LOUD. It sends me nuts. Must be my age. I made the mistake of sitting in one café to have a coffee and then realised that I would be deaf before I finished it. However, I came across this place on holiday and it was playing soft jazz. Felt I deserved free coffee here ...
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I have
continued to go walking of course, concentrating my efforts on Buchansan, the
mountain to the north of the centre of Seoul. I have now criss-crossed it from
several directions and I’m getting to know the area reasonably well.
Autumn was
a lovely time to be in the hills …
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The Koreans
have to be commended for their commitment to keeping fit. The mountains get
very busy at weekends but what is unusual is the number of outdoor gyms. They can be
found everywhere in the city but also in the mountains. In some cases you have
to walk into the hills for at least half an hour to get to them. That’s keen. They
all have the usual step machines, weights, bars etc., but I came across this
contraption too. Any doctors out there who can explain the benefits of being
inverted?
These hula
hoops (one with bumps on to presumably give you a massage at the same time?!)
were left lying around for anyone to use. Not sure they’d still be there in
Britain.
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I’m currently on holiday in for a week in Sokcho, on the north east coast of Korea. It has the advantage of being right next to Seoraksan, a mountain range.
I came
across these three girls on a staircase between the hills. They were having a party,
complete with coffee, beer, soju (a bit like Japanese sake but not as nice) and
snacks. I chipped in with biscuits and Doritos and tried my best to communicate.
As ever, when a camera is pointed at them, girls in Asia love to put fingers up
– usually in a V sign. I’ve explained to my students that one way of doing this
is seen as rude in Britain and they find that really funny!
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There are no
interesting bike pics to take here alas, so I’m switching to ‘Food photo of the month’
This is
Bibimbap. It comes in many forms but this one is vegetables on rice, with a
fried egg and seaweed on top. It arrives at the table sizzling away. You mix it
all up and munch. It’s very tasty.
As with all
food in Korea, it’s best to check how spicy it will be when you order. Koreans
love spicy food and I’ve had my tongue burned out a couple of times (it grew
back).
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That’s all
for now. If I don’t speak to you before – have a lovely Christmas.
