New Teacher Fever

So another week has flown by, and I've succumbed to 'new teacher fever.' The problem with having 50 kids climbing all over you every day, is that they are diseased little bast***s, and they inevitably pass their diseases on to you, so I've been feeling pretty rough, but I'm just about over it now. In time for the weekend!

So last weekend I went to see the mighty Suwon Samsung Bluewings play at their Big Bird Stadium (a World Cup 2002 ground). They battered Gongwan FC 1-0, in a good comedy game. I particularly liked some of the Korean rituals that I've never seen before. Before the game, first the ball boys stand in the centre circle, and bow to the fans, then the officials come out and bow, then both sets of teams. And at the end of the game too, both teams first go to the away fans, bow to them, then their own fans, and bow again. Very polite! The Bluewings fans also all had blue plastic bags, which they shook over their heads when the team scored, which was quite a sight! 

On the Sunday, I walked round Hwaseong Fortress, which is the walled fortress at the heart of Suwon and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its about a 6km walk round the whole thing, and you can actually walk along the walls, and look out over the battlements, which is pretty cool. Then there's a couple of places where you can have a go at archery, ring a massive old bell, or watch the changing of the guard or some other performance. I saw a display of 24 martial arts. Now I'm not sure what all the different martial art styles were, but they all seemed to involve hacking up some big sticks of bamboo. So if any pandas were thinking of visiting, well these guys can cut up your food for you. Which is nice.

I also started night classes to learn Korean this week, and was able to say to the taxi driver who took me home after class "I'm studying to speak Korean." (I said it in Korean obviously.) Which was foolish, as he then proceeded to rattle away in Korean for the rest of the journey, and as its pretty much all I can say, I just had to sit there and smile and nod along. Still, its a start!

The plan for this weekend is to meet up with some friends and play a little baseball. I'm hoping to play in the Seoul Baseball League which starts up next month, and I'm playing in the draft game in a couple of weeks in the hope I get picked up by a team. Now I have never ever played, or even seen, a game of baseball before. But like all British people, I did play rounders a couple of times at school, and I am a cricketing superstar. I mean, its just hitting a bat with a ball (and/or vice versa), how hard can it be? I'm about to find out . . . . .