English Encounter

Up until recently I have only seen foreigners in Jeju (on Mt. Halla and coming out of the theatres), but never had the chance to speak with one of them. This weekend was my first opportunity to actually meet another foreigner who was a native English speaker.

With some of our fellow teachers from the other schools around the island, we arranged to meet at one of the teachers' home in Seogwipo. We started out the evening with some dinner, and to my surprise and delight, it was pasta. Served up with sparkling champagne and some baguette bread, it was as fine a meal that I could dream of...



After getting to know one another a bit more, we decided to head out to downtown Seogwipo for some batting practice and games. There was this interesting soccer ball kicking game where the score was determined by how hard you could kick the ball...a good way to clear your frustations, or break your foot.



Spending a few hundred won I got my chance at bat. I wasn't very good to start out, but I blame the low balls the machine was throwing. There were a few different cages to choose from, each with various heights and speeds. For my first time, I think I showed a lot of improvement and it was definitely a lot of fun. For such a cheap price, it's worth considering coming back again and even possibly making it a part of my weekly schedule.

Our next stop was the bar for some refreshments...During conversation I mentioned that I had never tried Soju before and so they decided that now was as good as opportunity as any. Soju is a Korean alcoholic beverage made from rice and is clear in colour. It tastes somewhat like vodka and is generally around 20% in alcoholic content per bottle.



After some quick drinks we decided it was time to move onto some more fun activities, so we found the nearest pool hall. Billiards is just as popular in Korea as it is anywhere, but there are a few significant differences.

Our standard pool table, refered to as "pocket ball" here, turns out to be typically a women's game. The game played by most males looks absolutely ridiculous and I have no idea how to play it. There is no pockets and there is only four balls on the table at any given time, sometimes less. From what I can tell, it has something to do with striking one of the two cue balls and hitting one of the other two red balls. It looks like there is an abacuss behind each table, possible used to keep score.



My team didn't do very well and I would say that I'm probably to blame for our loss. In Korea if you scratch on your cue or sink the opponent's ball, you have to put one of your own balls back in play. So its a double whammy if you sink their ball by accident, something that I probably should have learned before we started. After billiards, we finished out the evening with some ice cream and then....karaoke.



I was brave enough to sing a few favourites...some Neil Young, John Lennon, and of course The Doors. We finished up the evening pretty early, in Korean terms at least. I didn't know this before, but apparently there is no close time for bars in Korea. So it is quite possible to stay out all night and into the next morning drinking, but I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon.

Today was a much less eventful day for me. I managed to find some live broadcast of HNIC (Hockey Night In Canada) and watched the Bruins take on the Habs. The late game was the Redwings taking on the Flames and was just as entertaining. The only Canadian team that won however, was the Senators in their 4-1 victory over the Rangers. I managed to do some laundry in the afternoon and then decided I would go check out the Mandarin Festival down by the stadium. Unfortunately I was too late, and by the time I arrived, they were already packing up...