A Surprise Belting

My tae-kwon do master, in all his randomness, awarded myself and my fellow self-torturers, Irene and Angela, a brown belt last night, after we all rather shambolically completed tae guk oh jang. And apparently that means I will be getting my red belt before I go home, which is only two belts away from black - black and red, then the belt which I had previously thought only people like Jackie Chan, or Jackie Chan's son could achieve. A black belt! How impressive does that sound? I shall ahp-chagi you all, and you will like it! On a more serious note, I'm sure that my technique is fine and I know that my strength and general fitness has improved, but it wouldn't actually be that much use in the big bad world, unless my opponent stood stock still, or could be manoevered into a more suitable position.

I was telling Mike this morning about the people that would hopefully be coming to see me at the airport and he hit back with, which I shall quote in it's entirety:

'Well, I shall be met by a family of beavers and a celebratory dam'
'How can a dam be celebratory?'
'It has little flags on it'.

Genius. I imagine that he may also receive a reception from some smartly dressed Mounties carrying a wreath of wisteria and pine cones, whilst Celine Dion sings sweetly in the background.

I spent a gorgeous weekend in Seoraksan National Park, about a four hour bus ride from Seoul, in the illustrious company of co-workers and friends Lorraine, Muireann, Irene, Melody and Mike. That's right, Mike had to share a youth hostel floor with five girls at various stages of the monthly cycle. He often disappeared, returning with beer, snacks, or even a look in his eye that implied that he wanted to leave again. The scenery was stunning - we were there, along with half of Korea, to witness the autumn colours. And it did not disappoint. We saw beautiful waterfalls, countless bondeggi stands, people climbing mountains in their high heels, a cable car which we did not get to ride...the joys of mountain obsessed overcrowding. Mike and I climbed up Ulsanbawi, a sheer granite peak with only steep metal stairs to climb up which was, quite frankly, terrifying. Even worse was when we had to perch on these stairs for minutes at a time because there were actual queues at the top of the mountain. Some Koreans used this waiting time to practice their English on Mike who was almost as terrified as I.

I have report cards to write now but they are the second last batch of report cards that I will ever have to write! Time continues to heave along in an ungainly fashion.