The 3 most common things Korean teenagers shout at me out of windows

Greetings Peasants!

It's been about a week, so I thought I'd better sit here on a lovely Friday afternoon and churn out another blog post for you. News in brief,

• I only posted this post to beat a friends miserable record of 2 blog posts in a year! (You know who you are, Martin).

• I'm growing a large beard, which, as usual, is going very well. Some of the students love it, 'Ruud Van Nistelrooy', others not so much; 'you dirty face'.

• I plan to go hiking tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to immensely. There is a monkey school in a national park. My Rough Guide tells me I will not like it. Well, it hints at it, it says it 'features dressed up simians balancing on balls and riding around on little bikes.' Sorry, bad? Which part of this doesn't sound absolutely amazing? The only thing that disappoints me is that they don't know how to juggle. Expect some fantastic pictures next week.

• I got drunk with the teachers at lunchtime on Tuesday. They kept on offering me Soju, so I kept on drinking it. Everyone ate and got drunk, then we went back to school. Business as usual!

Right, on with the topic at hand, the 3 most common things Korean teenagers shout at me out of open windows. And it's sometimes ANY English that they know. If it makes sense, it's a bonus. The general approach is that something must be shouted at all costs. And loudly.

My favourite is a school girl who said 'hiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee', paused, tried to think of any other English, then said 'good luck' and ran away. I've never seen her since.

Anyway, my top 3;

1)'Handsome guy!'

It's because I'm western. Without doubt. They say it to everyone, and there's certainly no other Westerners that live near me, so I'm treat with interest and excitement. Outside school it's the same, with possibly a tinge of scepticism and racism. But that's OK, because you know what? I have no idea what they are saying!;)

'Fuck off home.'

'No its OK, Thank you, Goodbye.' (complete with slight nod)

Imagine how annoying that would be! Just for the record, I've experienced no (known!) racism here. People stare, so what, I'm almost used to it by now. And I do look different, so I can understand that.

2)'Teacher, big, size.'

'Teacher, Big Size'. I'm 6 foot 4. That's straight forward enough, I mean its just 3 English words whacked together, but you know what, I get it. And also, when I speak Korean I probably sound awful. 'Me, Teacher, school.' 'Me, UK, from.' I believe 'Conversational Caveman' is the term.

3) 'Hows the weather?'

My personal favourite.....'Hows the weather?'. I'm not sure if this a American English thing, or a translation of a Korean greeting (suggestions welcome), but this one stumps me every time. I always get flustered and blurt out.......

'It's, erm, cloudy. Hows the weather?'........

I ask THEM the question back. Even though I've just told them what it's like. I feel like an idiot, but they are happy about how this particular conversation is progressing. So, I ask, and they answer my question, telling me the weather again. Which I know, of course, because I've just told them, and were both stood next to each other. Outside.

Most of the time that's the end of the conversation. Usually they say good-bye, sometimes they just run away.

Right, I'm off to play with the Monkeys. Not metaphorically, literally!

Peace

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