Ma bad for not writing anything in a long time.

This guy here is a thief who had been caught. I think this is why there is hardly any crime in Korea. There were water pistols by the side of him so anyone could squirt him if they wanted and he had SOOOOO much crap rubbed into his hair. Later on one of his shoes went missing aswell. He seemed to be having a thoroughly good time!!

I went for a meal at me co-teachers house yesterday and really was blown back by the food. Jay's (me co-teacher) mum had spent the best part of the day preparing the food for 4 of us to eat and the crazy thing was she didn't even sit down and eat it with us.

We had two huge plates of meat and, maybe 6 side-dishes and in the middle was a huge plate with EVERYTHING on. In the middle were sliced radishes (the radishes here are about the same size as a marrow... or courgette?? The bigger one out of the two) and around the radishes were slices of carrot, cucumber, red, green and orange peppers, sliced prawns, sea-food sticks, slices of radish, thin crispy beef and a load of other veggies I don't know. So the deal was that you get yourself a round piece of radish, fill it with a load of veggies and make a pancake style thing out of it and eat it in one.

HOWEVER

Jay's mum had made this special type of sauce which was made up of crushed pinapple, peanuts, cider, mustard and something else which was dribbled on the pancake and quite literally I was eating until I could eat no more. It was quite possibly the best food I have ever had here. Apparently even Jay's mum commented that I ate a lot AND she is possibly the 5th Korean to say that I use chopsticks very well.... GET IN!!!! Soon I shall be proper native.

So on Wednesday last week it was 'Chuseok' which is a day when the dead are remembered (I think), and most places are closed and it is SERIOUS family time for Korea. It truely is a day for food as well. Meself and Paul went to the city as the plan was we go out in the night, wake up early in the morning and climb the volcano (didn't quite go to plan). So in the evening we went for a meal in a pork BBQ restaurant. Now I remember saying that I'd get some photographs of the food here so I took this picture before we got started. The hole in the middle of the table is where they put charcoals so you can cook the pork in the middle whilst eating other food... now maybe you see why I love this food so much??

Anyway, whilst we were cooking the last few pieces of meat, a big dribble of grease came out of the chimney onto the food and dripped onto the charcoals, creating a good amount of

greasy smoke. Two waitresses came along to try and sort it out by throwing some water on it. As soon as the water touched the fire, the grease spread everywhere and we had a nice fire burning in the restaurant. So what did the waitresses do next? Obviously they threw more water on it. And what was the result? About 8 waiters/waitresses around our table, people stopping on the street and looking in because so much smoke was pouring out and an evacuation of our immediate vicinity. I was laughing a lot, but then I felt as though I should have been embarressed and then I felt as though I should have been very serious because EVERYBODY else was. So that picture at the end of meal was black with water and grease all over it. I was quite upset but it was definitely a Chuseok to remember :D!!

Here is the man of Jeju. These guys are everywhere on the island because Jeju LOVES them!!

Here is the sea infront of our house. The wind was so strong that day; I was standing on the pier and thought I would actually fall into the sea... admittidly the weather does not look that crazy at this moment.

After the meal with Jay last night, we went out with his mates in the city and it was the first time when I was completely surrounded by Koreans and I was the only white guy. It really hit me after the third beverage because it seemed like such an odd situation that I was in Korea drinking with a load of Koreans, but then obviously it made total sense a moment after! All night they spoke English pretty much, even though two of them couldn't speak English at all. I felt quite bad, but was quite honoured by thier respect.

So, talking of respect, hierarchy is so important here. If there is somebody at your table drinking with you, and they are older, then you have to turn around so they can't see you drink (as it's disrespectful to blatently drink infront of them). Also when you 'CHEEERS' with your drinks, the top of your glass must tap the bottom of thiers, bowing is SO IMPORTANT here. You must bow to everybody if you are in thier company and they are older, you cannot burp or fart either (as I found out the other day :S). If somebody leaves, everybody stands up, bows and says goodbye. Also the way you sit is so important; never look relaxed... legs crossed, arms behind your head, sitting side-ways on all massive NO NO'S!! When you pour a drink, do it with two hands, when you recieve a drink, recieve it with two hands, NEVER shake hands with an older person unless the offer first. It is a lot to remember. Jay was saying that if he goes for a meal with his dad in a restaurant then he will not talk at all, until at least he has finished his food.

So with reference to matey here, I was lying and it was actually his birthday. He was not a thief by and standards!! I am never telling a Korean when my birthday is... accordingly this is a regular thing!! Also saw another fight last night and at the end of it the two guys were hugging like mother and child!!