SPAG-BOL

I tried to cook spaghetti Bolognese last night, but it's difficult to find the correct ingredients. I couldn't even find minced meat! but it tasted fine in the end.

The best part was trying to eat it with only chopsticks and a spoon! haha

SLEEP

Since I got my Iphone I've been using an app that records my sleep, My goal is to try and get 8 hours of sleep each night... But so far I've been underachieving

ANOTHER LITTLE VIDEO

We made this little video today, it's not very good... but i thought i'd share it anyway:

FLASH MOB

Last weekend we filmed a Michael Jackson Tribute flashmob at 'Shinsaegae Department store' which is supposedly the biggest department store in the world - it has a ice rink, spa, golf driving range, and a whole bunch of things that don't really belong in a department store. It's also right next to our office!

I didn't do a very good job of filming but I think one or two of my shots made it in haha. Anyway you can watch the film here:

CULTURE SHOCK / FATIGUE

This weekend I think I experienced cultural fatigue...

Culture shock sounds like a big smack in the face when you arrive somewhere entirely new and different to all that you have known before.

Culture fatigue seems a better way of describing how I felt. Its all the small things that you're trying to juggle and cope with, all the compromises, all the new encounters, having to be constantly focused and attentive in every conversation - and then try and force your mind and tongue around the language it all just adds up together leaving you very exhausted.

So I worked 6 days, and every day I finished at around 7-8pm (except friday was 11pm!) and take an hour bus / subway back home... but the problem is that when work is finished instead of being able to switch off I have to remain engaged and alert - whether i'm at church or meeting a friend or even just with Eun-mi.

So to save you from the sob story I spent most of saturday evening after work wiped out and anti-social at church, and then sunday I got very frustrated over an incident where Eun-mi was feeling upset and overworked at church. But the good thing about incidents is that you have to discuss them afterward. So i'm feeling a bit better now, I'm going to maybe ask for 2 days off a week instead just the one and see what they say - and on top of that just try stay positive.

I feel like language is the key to all of this, I'd like to begin attending classes if I can.

SYMPTOMS OF CULTURAL FATIGUE MAY BE CHARACTERIZED BY:

• sadness, loneliness, melancholy
• feeling powerless or angry
• lack of confidence
• longing for family

WEDDING REHEARSAL

Korean weddings only last a couple of hours, so it has become customary in Korea to have a 'wedding rehearsal' before you get married - this way you get to wear you wedding dress a bit more and can have photo's and video's of you and your partner in your Wedding attire.

It's quite different form our traditions in England, normally we're not allowed to see the bride in her dress before the big day.

So yes, it's very cheesy and very asian but this is what we do most of in our company: We shoot the couple in a day at a 'Rehearsal Studio' which is basically a studio with a whole bunch of movable and customisable sets (Everything, including the walls have wheels on them), and then we edit it to a cheesy love song. We have several to edit each week. I'm enjoying it so far, I hope it doesn't wear on me tho… or distort my understanding of love / marriage in any way…

 

IMMERSION

When I go to work I speak Korean

When I'm at home I speak Korean

When I'm at church it's all in Korean

When I'm with Eun-mi we talk in Korean

I went to a English speaking church last week and It was so surreal sitting down and having a conversation in English after having spoken only Korean for the past two weeks. I found myself being drawn to Korean conversations elsewhere haha.

I think i'm just really keen to improve as quick as possible, I'm really enjoying using Korean and i'm getting more and more used to it (but I still stumble over words all the time and keep having to ask people to repeat things), My Korean with Eun-mi is by far the best, working in Korea has presented a whole new set of linguistic challenges!

The other side-effect of my total Immersion is that I don't see any other faces but Koreans, so when I suddenly catch a glimpse of myself in an elevator or bathroom mirror I suddenly realise how white my skin is and how far my nose comes out of my face! it's really weird, it's like seeing westerns through asian eyes...

EMPLOYED!

Hurray! I got a job... which means I get a Visa... which means I can stay in korea, and have enough money to live.

So I work as an editor in a small video production company that runs under two separate brand names: 'KnK Media' (commercial)  /  Wipic (wedding and baby videos)

I had my interview half in English half in Korean, i'm actually really lucky these guys speak good english, every so often I just get a bit stuck so they can help me out - and I can keep there english up to scratch.

But I'm just really happy to have a job in my field of expertise, if you can call it that, and it should be really good for my Korean. It's definitely been a big answer to prayer, I hope I can get on with all the guys there and ultimately do a good job.

At the moment i'm at the bottom of the food chain so I'll probably be working lots and not getting much pay but thats the best place to start. Awkwardly though I work slightly different hours to Eun-mi (I finish a bit later), and I'm at the opposite end of the city (our workplaces are almost 1 and a half hours away from each other)... also I work 6 days a week - so saturday is my day off, but Eun-mi has a meeting and then church and then small group and then another meeting on saturdays... so we're going to see how things go! uh-oh

Here's the office where I work:

A LITTLE BABY

Just 4 Days after I arrived Eun-mi's brother (Logi) and his wife (Mi-Yeon) had a Baby! So me and Auntie Eun-mi when to see the new born only a few hours after having been born! It was pretty amazing and quite a precious moment

 

BUSY, BUSY

South Korea, the busiest nation in world. I've begun to experience this first hand since Eun-mi leaves the house at 7:30 (sometimes 5:30) everyday to go to work, and then after work she often attends church or various meetings preparing for church, so it can be quite frustrating feeling (quite selfishly) like "i've come all this way and I still don't get to see her"  - but we've had some good honest conversations about it and actually it's more a case of us needing to learn how to do things 'Together' - things like church we should be able to attend together and therefore not have to feel like it's separate from our relationship. The issue is of course that my Korean, although improving, is not yet up to church standards (understanding all the sermon, or engaging in small groups). But i'll improve, and in time hopefully we'll be more at ease. 

Actually as far as Korean standards go Eun-mi has fairly decent working hours, its just she travels a long way to get to work.

But if you're working until about 7 or 8pm each day - and then you eat and take an hour subway home it's already 9 or 10pm, which means you have about 2 hours before you should go to bed... 

Then I guess my question is "how can you possibly have a life outside of work?" 

Perhaps weekends? but then most people work on a saturday too, but christian go to church on saturday and sunday, which is great - but actually they work pretty hard there too... an unfortunately for me church isn't the easiest place for developing a relationship (which seems very backwards).

Or perhaps holidays? on average koreans get 6 days holiday a year! lets say, in a hypothetical yet common situation where husband and wife are both working... and then have a child, how can a family function at all? when would you have time for each other and not be exhausted? And then the next generation is burdened with the exact same expectation as they are drilled at school and at after school classes - most kids don't get home from school until the evening, and there are constantly exams and tests, everyones ability is measured and put in competition with one another... this is starting to sound like a rant, I guess it just feel like an injustice to me. I  hope the Korean people will one day see it like that too.

KOREA

After having spent sometime in Taiwan, Korea felt warmly familiar to me. Plus there was no Jet lag to get over so I was able to settle in right away.

I've moved in with Eun-mi's family (Technically there are 5 of us living there - but Eun-mi's two brothers are rarely around, oh and there's also 2 dogs).

It seemed that everyone I met that week asked me the same set of questions - which left me feeling quite silly all of a sudden:

How long are you here for?  -  "I'm not sure… I haven't made plans to go home"
Do you have a visa? -  "no… not yet"
Do you have a Job? - "no…. not yet"
Although my situation looked pretty poor and justified only by my emotions, there was something stronger behind it all which kept my fears at bay and let me hope for a way forward - I'd like to call it 'Faith' but actually it's much more like 'Trust'. Trusting that God's with me on this journey, and that actually he's the one that's drawn me in this direction, therefore if he's involved I should have little to fear.
Why did you come to Korea? - "to be with my girlfriend and learn Korean…"

TAIWAN: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

So it's Sunday 13th of May, I'm supposed to be leaving England to go to Korea in 3 weeks time, and I receive an unexpected email from the 'Transition' guys in Taiwan asking me if i'd be able to come out to Taiwan to shoot a music video for them - the only catch is that I'd have to be on a plane tomorrow… In actual fact for me this means packing up my entire life in England and moving out to Asia ( since there is no point in me coming back to England after Taiwan, only to fly back out to Korea a few days later). 

So within the space of about 16 hours I have to pack up my room, buy a plane ticket, decide what to take with me, empty my bank accounts, and say an abrupt goodbye to my friends and family!

That said, a long drawn out goodbye and be equally as exhausting. I think my biggest regret is not having got to say a proper goodbye to my parents.

-----------------------------------

Taiwan was great, I was well looked after by all the guys and very comfortable living at Niall, Hannah & and little Edie's place.

The music video we were shooting was for the Taiwanese Olympic Committee, as Transition had written and given them a song to use as the Taiwanese Olympic Teams's Official Song.

We were so busy rushing around the first few days that we almost didn't get time to even come up with an idea for the Music video, but luckily we managed to have a few conversation before and on the day that formed the general story for the video - something about watching the Olympics on screens, playing in a stadium and having a Polar Bear as a Mascot.

Even though the whole process was a bit rushed, it turned out ok and we had a lot of fun making it.

Here's a simple little making of video:

and you can see the finished product here: