Pass the Colgate

Well, I don't want to speak prematurely, but I think we have finally settled on our new home for a year! After much deliberation we have 98% decided on the very crappily named Britain School, located in Ilsan (formerly Goyang City). Ilsan is considered a suburb of Seoul, and quite a high-end desirable place to live, as it is very modern and lively without the overcrowding and pollution of downtown Seoul. It is also known as a city of parks and green spaces, as illustrated above in the picture of Ilsan Lake Park, which will be 10-15 mins from our apartment! The suburbs, while providing an excellent area in terms of living, can be somewhat lacking in action and nightlife. However, the subway system acts as an umbilical cord linking Ilsan directly to Seoul, so it will not be too far for some hardcore partying at the weekends.

Another plus point, is that while we are on the outskirts a little bit, we are in the NorthWest corner, meaning we are closest to the nightlife district we consider to be more "our style", Hongdae & Sinchon. This is a sprawling university district, frequented by artists, musicians and eccentrics, where you are most likely to catch live bands, and something just a little bit different to the ubiquitous nightclubs and hip-hop DJ's rampant in Korea right now. And definitely preferable to most Westerners "name-drop", the "American Ghetto" of Itaewon, a hellish concoction of U.S. Military, sleaze and violence.

Worryingly, after speaking to a lot of recruiters we have gone through the one who speaks the least/worst English, so we could be getting screwed over big time. A sample sentence from Peter "Fantastic" Kim is...."Oh yes, fantastic contract, fantastic position, fantastic area,....ummmm fantastic position,.....fantastic!". So if the contract we sign mysteriously doesn't match the contract that greets us in Korea, I'll not be massively surprised, but shit happens.

Finally, in the preparation before leaving I braved a trip to the dentist and had to have a tooth pulled. It was fucking horrible, and I resolved that from this day forth I will brush my teeth properly and use the sand timer that Lynne's ten year old brother used. Depressingly, his teeth-brushing skills have since progressed, so this helpful tool was handed down to me. The dentist was kind enough to capture this moment for posterity (extracted wisdom tooth out of shot). Bye for now!

***DISCLAIMER - Some people actually believed they were my teeth, so now I feel the need to point out they're not!! ***