Holiday!

The weekend has been very relaxing so far. Friday night I popped into the Gumdo dojan, to say hello to the teacher and the other black belts. I ended up watching Van Helsing on a big screen in the Dojan, amongst a group of kids.

Saturday, I had my hair thinned, shortened and styled for 8,000 won, (4 quid), which I am slowly growing to like. At least it is not so heavy on my head and neck, keeping me a bit cooler than before I had it done. Paula insists that it looks good, and I trust her judgment. The hair salons here are fantastic; the Koreans, especially my generation are extremely beauty conscious. When you walk into the place you just know that you will come out looking a star.

Went into the so-called town centre and found a post office, which really made my day. Still a trek just to post a letter. Bought some girly necessities which are thankfully half the price they are in England (facial scrub, shower gel, lipstick) in this really nice shop which I think might be the Korean version of the Body Shop, maybe better. Also bought myself a Korean style long sleeved top, which is too big for me but will do when the winter sets in. The tops tend to be one size and you are not allowed to try them on (but you are allowed to try on the trousers..!). I was very surprised to find that it did not fit me, since I am the same size as, maybe slightly wider than most Korean women. Fell in love with this funky flat cap, which Paula insisted I buy. How could I refuse? It is now a permanent feature of my head; some old Korean woman commented that it made me look like a popstar. Discovered that the chips in KFC are better than in England,(perhaps made with real potato), but I will not make a habit in eating there.

We took a taxi back to Paula's. The taxi driver was so proud, he actually stopped the taxi along side another one, wound down the window and shouted at the other taxi driver in Korean that hey, he has 2 gorgeous female foreigners in the back of the car. Paula and I were so flabbergasted that we began to wave and smile at the other taxi driver who was staring at us with a great amount of interest. Here in Korea, because we are different, Westerners are generally perceived to be good-looking. Saturday alone, when was alone in a taxi, the driver could not stop complimenting me: 'beautiful, pretty, lovely.' I pulled the cap over my face in embarrassment.

Went back to Paula's after going into town. Jen, James (Canadian) and Joseph, Jeremy came round, and the six of us squashed onto Paula's king sized bed to watch the Last Samurai, well, at least in theory. Ended up chatting instead. All films in Korea are max 2 hours long, even if they have to cut bits out. I shudder to think what they did to the Lord of the Rings. They stayed until around 2am, and went back to their apartments bladdered. Joseph banged on again about training me in kick boxing and Tae-Kwon-do (he has 29 years of experience), but I explained that I will be starting Gumdo, which I cannot do in England, and besides I do not have time to commit to another martial art. Instead I made him promise to drop by and watch me train, and James is thinking about starting with me. To compensate, I suggested that I go ski-ing with him in the winter. This seemed to do the trick.

I really do hope get to go ski-ing, it will be my first time on snow. Also hope to get some rock-climbing and horse-riding in, as well as travelling. Looks like my time in Korea will be very busy. I wonder if they have some paint-balling and white water rafting somewhere...