Going Gangnam SLP Style

It's been a couple of weeks since I made a post here, as I've been busy settling into a new life in a different part of Seoul. At the beginning of this month I finished my year contract with YBM ECC in Gwangmyeong, and moved in with Angela to work as an afternoon teacher at Gangnam SLP. It was a bittersweet moment. I was sad to say goodbye to the students I've come to love at YBM, and as burned out as I was with that school I couldn't help but feel a certain nostalgic, emotional connection with it: YBM helped jump-start my life in Korea, assisted me in getting my visa, flight and housing, and provided an unforgettable year of teaching that has given me useful work experience and many fond memories. For these reasons I'll always be extremely thankful.

The students I'll miss the most: Lisa, Jenny and Vicky.

An adorable goodbye message from Vicky.

That said, I was thrilled to be out of there! Being a morning teacher was strenuous at times, with long hours, few breaks, and all sorts of extra responsibilities (phone teaching, open class, hosting parties and celebration days, etc) that just made it a pain in the arse. I was also sick of teaching from YBM's textbooks: English World, English Playground, English Carnival...these books become really monotonous after a year of teaching them, as they all follow very similar, repetitive lesson structures. Most exciting of all was the chance to spend four months living with Angela. The two of us were sick of having to make an hour commute across Seoul to see each other, so we were both excited at the prospect of getting to share our own space together and see each other every day.

My new school: Gangnam SLP

Two weeks in, and things are going swimmingly. My new position as afternoon teacher is much more relaxed, I have more breaks, the kids are generally nicer and more well behaved than the ones I had to deal with in Gwangmyeong (not to mention with higher standards of English), and I actually have time and energy for my own personal pursuits, like writing. Best of all, Angela and I are loving our life together, especially the evenings, during which we have been snuggling up and watching movies and TV shows, something I didn't have much time for before. It's also nice seeing each other at work during the day, even if we don't generally have much time to chat.

We actually live well outside central Gangnam, in a district called Daecheong. It's much more quiet and traditional than the bustling, futuristic avenues for which Gangnam is well known.

There's this really pretty park right outside our apartment. We often wander through it on the way to get dinner in the nearby food district.

Our local supermarket.

Near our school is another pleasant park called Maroo Park.

This is the teacher's room in Gangnam SLP. It's usually much busier but this was during lunch break.

This is one of my favourite new classes. I teach them mostly science but we also read storybooks and newspapers. They are super-smart and really sweet kids. Front row: Tae-Woo, Jonathan, Jackie and Jessica. Back row: Alice, Jenna, Elva and Amy.

Here I am with them.

This is another one of my favourite classes: James, Tae-Hoon, Lisa and Alice. I teach them debate, which involves reading a news or opinion piece and then discussing it and answering questions. These kids are the smartest and most mature kids I teach, and it's great hearing their opinions on different subjects (recent topics included Korean reunification, inter-cultural marriage and the possibility of an Asian Union). 

My cutest class are these young beginner students. I've had a lot of bad experiences with pre-school age beginner students in the past, but these are such well-behaved, sweet, adorable kids that I always look forward to teaching them.

Of course, as well as new students I also have a bunch of new colleagues to work with. I got to know them already through Angela, but it's cool to actually be working with them now. Here we are drinking at Woodstocks bar in Gangnam.

Eating delicious Thai food in Itaewon.

That concludes my introduction to my new life in Gangnam. Things feel pretty good at the moment. The only thing left to dread right now is the Korean winter. Once we make it through that, it'll be time to start the next phase of our life abroad: backpacking across Asia. We're trying to save during our remaining months. I don't know how successful I'll be at that, given that there's dental treatment I need to get, as well as pre-departure travel costs that are bound to eat into my earnings. But in any case, we won't be doing as much sightseeing for a while, and I may only make a few posts each month, if that. I'm planning to bring my laptop when we go travelling though, as long as it survives that long (its screen is on its last legs and continuously turns black without warning). Hopefully there'll be lots more stuff to blog about once we depart for our adventure. Until then, life in Gangnam is going well for us both!

To end with: a photo collage we made using a machine at Gangnam Station.

Busan Fireworks Festival

Last Saturday marked my one year anniversary of arriving in Korea. It's been a long, exhausting year, but I feel tremendously lucky for all that this incredible country has given me over the last 12 months: unforgettable experiences in countless places I never previously knew existed; tons of cool new friends and acquaintances; adorable children who I've come to love but must say goodbye to; a profound love for kimchi, soju, Korean barbecue, and those little vitamin drinks they sell in 7-11; an incalculable appreciation for how easy I had it in the British education system growing up; and of course, last but by no means least, an amazing girlfriend who's been with me for most of the ride and made it that much more incredible an experience. On Saturday, I celebrated my year's anniversary at Busan Fireworks Festival with Angela and some friends, immensely grateful for my time in Korea so far, and hopeful for my remaining four months here:

When we arrived at Busan's main station we had a quick look at the nearby Chinatown.

As times it felt more like Slavic Town, since there were a ton of shops with cyrillic script.

There were also some Russian sailors walking around.

As we went further down the main street, however, the Chinese influences became more evident.

We later took the metro to Haeundae on the other side of the city, where our hostel was located. After settling in there we headed to Haeundae Beach, possibly the most famous stretch of beach in Korea.

While we chilled out at the beach a crowd gathered around this magician. Strangely enough we'd already seen this guy perform before in Gwangmyeong, my local district of Seoul. Turned out he lived in the same area as me, and he came here to Busan at the same time as we did. Not only that, I was chosen to be magician's assistant!

Popping coins into his bucket from various parts of my body.

The floating table trick.

After leaving the beach we headed down a traditional market.

Near a bus station we found The Little Prince, a character we've encountered numerous times in Korea.

After having a few beers back at our hostel we headed to Gwangalli for the Fireworks Festival. The streets were closed to cars and instead filled with thousands of pedestrians heading to the beach.

Catching some early fireworks on our way to Gwangalli Beach.

The beachfront was extremely crowded and it was hard to find a good spot to view the fireworks. Angela and I ended up shuffling around various tight spaces. At one point we followed a bunch of Koreans onto a prohibited platform of trees but were forced off by security guards.

The fireworks begin over Gwangalli Bridge.

The light of people's cell phones and cameras was almost as bright as the fireworks!

During the finale the fireworks seemed to fill the entire length of sky along the seafront.

After about an hour the fireworks finished and the crowds began to disperse.

We drank beers on the beach for a while.

Some people let off their own fireworks, which looked a little pitiful after the display we'd just seen.

After a meal we headed to Kyungsung University area to celebrate Halloween. Some of us forgot costumes, but fortunately Matt and Kimmi brought a lot of fake blood to help us improvise.

Near one club there were a ton of westerners dressed up for Halloween.

The next day we relaxed before heading to the station for our train ride home.

A bridge we saw from the train station.

Gwangmyeong KTX Station.

A montage Angela made of the fireworks festival.

If you're planning to visit the Fireworks Festival in Busan, I really recommend getting to the beach very early, as it was difficult for us to find a decent view of the entire bay. Also, we got pretty frustrated with the pushy ajummas ploughing their way past us and stealing our spots. It was an impressive display for what it was, but I think if we went again we'd try to view it from the mountains overlooking the city instead.