The parentals

The parents arrive in town today (put that in on purpose!). I’m looking forward to showing them my life and my world here. I think it’ll be nice for them to see things at the Lake that I talk about. I’m looking forward to doing a few touristy things with them and I can’t wait for them to meet the people who have been more than kind to me ever since I arrived.

But let’s not forget, while they are under my roof, they’ll abide by my rules.

[Actually I should be fair here, my parents never once said that to us growing up…we just knew to abide by their rules. Ok, so it was more rip the piss out of them til they changed them. Like the time my dad decided he didn’t like the word ‘fart’ and told us we couldn’t use it. David had the genius idea of saying ‘art’ instead. Yeah, that ‘rule’ didn’t even last a teatime.]

Catching up

I feel like I haven’t written on here in ages about the day to day mundane life stuff. This week there hasn’t been much news on here, last week was all about Korea, the week before was Korea etc etc. So here’s an update:

• St. Patrick’s weekend was good craic. Nice to celebrate it sans politics, but like home, very much avec alcohol. I also enjoyed knowing that I was pretty much the only true Irish person around all the impostors.
• Worked on Saturday just passed, yet I still feel like I’m not getting done what needs to be done.
• Had snow at the weekend. Yet last weekend I was wearing my flip flops and sunglasses. What’s the deal?! Yesterday it was gorgeous here, 19 degrees!
• Went to Waffle House for lunch on Saturday. Imagine a small Southern greasy spoon diner and you’re there. Yet actually very nice and very cheap. Also some of the finest mullets I have ever seen on women. Seriously, Wal Mart had nothing on these.
• Finally made it for an early walk around the lake on Sunday. Not because I made it out of my bed, more because I didn’t make it to bed in the first place. Don’t think I’ve pulled an all nighter since the legendary Park sleepovers circa 1994. Good Christian girl I am, I still went to church, and not St. Nighty Night’s Church of Bed either, proper church.
• Still scared of the ducks round the lake. Now it’s filling up again and they are back to being on the paths. On Sunday I didn’t see two on a wall beside me. They saw me however and swooped right across my path. I screamed. I was lucky I wasn't served with an ASBO. Bally ducks. (Used this in tribute to Jools’ ‘bally dogs’).
• Went to Greenville on Tuesday night for Engage, a young adults’ thing Jose et al go to. Very good, very funny speaker.
• Discovered that Britney, my 17 year old ear piercer was right. You do need to clean your ears. Left ear oozing pus. Nice.
• Realised I am slipping in little Americans here and there. Most worrying of these is my use of ‘y’all’. Oh dear. But at the same time I like it. I never say ‘yous’ (or try not to – awful grammar). Saying ‘you all’ seems like better grammar and yet also conveys the message than I’m saying ‘you plural’. I did also catch myself on to saying ‘Monday through Friday’ and ‘in town this weekend’. The small glimmer of hope I’m clinging to is that I have yet to drop the –ly on things being really good.
• Been really enjoying listening to Christopher Moyles this week. Very funny.
• Downloaded the new Embrace and The Kooks song. Love them. But still at the top of my play count on iTunes is a country song (Trisha Yearwood – She’s in Love With the Boy). Tina-Sue is still here!

Call off the search

I just came into the office to update my virus protection stuff on my computer and get the free music downloads of iTunes (a personal highlight of Tuesday is when the new songs are released!) and get a few new podcasts and so I thought I would take this opportunity to say it's ok, I am alive and well. Thank you for your concern. I didn't blog for one day, you don't do badly out of me so get over it!

Oh, you are already?! Ok then.

There was no funny or interesting reason for the lack of blog yesterday, I was not in a grump (my previous other reason for a lack of a blog) or away somewhere exciting (Michigan, Seoul, NI). Sad as it is, I was working. The day escaped me and then I had to leave so there was no blog.

Tonight I have taken more work home with me to try and clear the backlog and so if I get the chance I'll maybe fill you in on what I've been up to the last few days.

PS Pam and Nicky are great, they sent me post which I got when I came back from Korea but failed to sing their praises publicly. Thanks girls!

Further away than ever!

Your clocks went forward at the weekend and ours didn't! Sad as I am, I always wondered if they happened at the same time. Now I know.

Today has been hijacked by pointless emails and stupid phonecalls. I got none of the stuff I had planned to do done, or even close to getting done. They didn't actually appear on the radar of getting done. I am ever hopeful that tomorrow will be better. Shame my office looks like an explosion in a paper factory, I'll have to tidy that first. Arse!

Korea photos (actually)

Perhaps the strangest collection of photos ever compiled:


I had my very first taste of room service. They only brought me chop sticks to eat it with. But I was so hungry I didn’t want to waste time by asking for a knife and fork to be sent up, so I perservered. Why using two sticks to eat your food ever seemed like a good idea is beyond me. Some thing to cut meat with and something to spear it with is so much more sensible.


There was so strike on outside one of the hotels we’re using in July. I really wish I could have understood what was going on, they seemed a bit militant. Lots of clenched fists in the air. And it was arctic so sitting on the ground was a brave move, they’d have to be keen.


Are you kidding me?! There’s not a 7 Eleven in North Carolina but there’s tons in Seoul! No Slurpee machine though, that really would have got me mad!


I’m not entirely sure what a Chan Ba is but I know I don’t want to drink its wee.


Didn’t I break your heart? Seriously, everytime I passed one of these shops I would sing that line. [As Chris Moyles would say ‘target’!]


I was fairly brave when it came to new taste experiences. This is some kind of omelette thing with fried rice, shrimp and various indeterminable foods inside. You can also see a bowl of soup and kimchi, a Korean version of Sauerkraut only hotter and much more gross. Seriously vile stuff but served everywhere to the delight of Koreans and the abject horror of westerners.


They’re greeeeaaaaattt around the the world!


I went to the market one day. Never in my life have I seen so much sellotape. Not even in Wal-Mart.


Yummy!


I always wanted to know where ice dancers got their costumes from.


We went to a traditional Korean meal and dance night thing. These were some of the dancers. Dinner was quite good, once you picked your way through all the octopus and kimchi. The music and dancing is best summed up by Virginia’s comment during one of the pieces ‘it’s amazing what constitutes as music around the world’. No, really, it is.

Ah but sure you love them!