say hay boke-mahn he pah du say oh or Happy Lunar New Year. We are now entering the year of the fire dog and Alwyn and I, being born in the year of the metal monkey, are now 27, Korean age. This weekend saw folks from asian countries like China, Japan, Vietnam and of course Korea celebrate the lunar, or "chinese", new year. In Korea the holiday is known as Seol-nal and is a big family holiday. Its a very important day on the Korean calender, but for us foreigners it meant a nice long weekend of doing pretty much bugger all - which I think was very much needed.

For more info on the holiday you can check out http://www.clickasia.co.kr/about/h0101.htm, there is also some info on Wikipedia.

For those interested in their sign on the Chinese zodiac click here.

Friday saw the kindy kids at work get dressed up in there Han bok for New year celebrations. The day was very similar to the Chusok special day we had last spring. Australia day was also a fun little day. We spread the Aussie spirit around school by handing out aussie flags to the kids and I wore my green and gold windcheater that I bought especially for Australia day while we were in Bangkok and Alwyn wore here pink "AUSTRALIA" windcheater (thanks Aunty Norma).

Below are some photos of us sharing the aussie spririt with the children of Korea, thats it for now - back to work tomorrow.

'Mandu Mandu Man'

Yesterday, in preparation for Korean New Year (Seol-na) we participated in the making of mandu with Kindergarten.
Step 1: Take a piece of pastry and wet it around the edges.
Step 2: Place some filling (usually pork and onion) into the middle.
Step 3: Fold the edges in, and press down firmly.
And that's how you make mandu!
After we made the mandu we gave it to the cook, and she boiled them up in a delicious soup that we ate for lunch...
Here are some other photos of our students all dressed up for Korean New Year

HAPPY STRAYA DAY

G'day and Happy Australia day to everyone. I hope its a good one for all concerned however you choose to spend it. For all those lucky enough to be at Sydney's Big Day Out I hope its a good one, if your having a barbie today throw a snag on for me and if your spending the day at one of Australia's fine drinking establishments have a beer for me, and a huge cheers to any aussie ex-pats who may be reading this. Wherever you are today, whatever you're doing have a Happy Australia Day and spare a thought for those spending the day far from home...


AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE-

- T

Apart from myself being a little under the weather this week, all has been well in the dong of late.
Work has been keeping extremely busy - it seems our school has been getting more and more students as each month goes by. Which is great for the director of our hagwon (school) but unfortunately it means our schedules are getting more and more packed with classes as each month passes. On the bright side the past few weeks have seen the temperatures rise to an almost bearable level.

We are approaching the lunar new year holiday, in Korea it's called Seol-nal, which means next weekend will be a four day weekend - WOOHOO to that. Our original plan was to jump on a plane and check out Beijing for the lunar/Chinese new year period, but we later decided that its too cold for travelling and trekking across Great Walls. So instead we've have opted for staying at home, cooking a curry and watching movies. Although I really do hope to see Beijing and the rest of China someday - unfortunately It may not be on this trip.

Tonight will be the farewell of my good friend and everyone's favourite Bosnian, Darko J, along with his lovely lady Jess from Australia's shores as they embark on a European Vacation I'm sure be so mind-blowingly spectacular and crazy that even Clark Griswold would be jealous. To make it doubley important tomorrow is Darko's birthday. The day of my last birthday Darko was kind enough to give me an awesome birthday acknowledgement, and today I would like to return the favour. So to Darko, my former ghettomate - the super cock-rocking Bosnian Kiwi Aussie Motherf***er, the king of the chubb blue undies and facial hair, and the man who put the MAN in MANGINA. Ding dong to you my friend - I have to be honest I'm sad that I'm not gonna see you when I return but I at the same time I am so happy for you and Jess. So - Cheers to Darko, the only man who I could convince to grow a handlebar mustache and to strut his underwear clad arse on a stage in front of his brand new girlfriend (on separate occasions), you're the king - we've shared many a late night together at the pub, or in front of the Playstation, and hope to spent many more. I would give anything to be partying with you guys tonight but all I can do is say farewell, Bon Voyage, Good Luck and Happy Birthday - I know you 'll have a ball.

Have a drink for me,

-T (Bone)

I Won!!!

Last night I was presented with a 20,000 won gift voucher for the Gran Piatto Resturant.
It's Italian food, and apparently good Italian food....so that should be good.
mmm...yumm!
The guy in the photo with me is Nico, he's a Korean guy who has lived all his life in Belguim. Lucky guy!

Well that's about all the news I have atm.... (only 4 months to go!)
-a

THAILAND

We had an awesome time in Thailand. In our time there we patted tigers and elephants, saw the bridge over the river Kwai, chilled on the beach in Koh Samui, visited some amazing old temples and palaces, bought a whole bunch crap that we didn't really need, ate some of the best food we'll ever eat in our lives, enjoyed the cheap and easily accessible drinks (you can buy a beer with your subway sandwich in Thailand) and basked in the altogether warm weather. Tragically, we are now back to work in the land of snow and kimchi, but here are some photographic highlights of our trip to what is known in Korea as Taeguk.

Wat Pho (The Temple of the Reclining Buddha)

Bangkok's Grand Place and the emerald buddha temple

Koh Sahn Rd (Bangkok's Bootleg Clothing, CD/DVD/Game, Fake ID Shopping Mecca)

I couldn't agree more

The Bridge Over The River Kwai (in the province of Kanchanaburi - about two hours from Bangkok)

The Tiger temple (also in Kanchanaburi)

N.B. While it was magical to pat these tigers and we got some great photos; we heard stories from our tour guide of the tigers being mistreated, sedated, and underfed by the temple - while being held for a hefty profit, none of which is going towards giving the tigers a better life. I must say the tigers did seem thin and they were most certainly sedated (I saw kids sitting on them and a drunk aussie pulling on ones tail). I don't know exactly how much truth there is to those claims but it most certainly took the magic of the experience. The tigers were truly beautiful animals.

Maenam Beach, Koh Samui

I'm sorry if I overloaded your senses with so many photos but there's so much we wanted to share. Needless to say, we had a great time in Thailand, my major regret it that we only had 1 week there. I will almost definately return and spend more time in Thailand and south-east Asia.