The conference I'm attending is good and we've been catered for well. I've even managed to sort out some of the vagaries of Korean life. For example, I managed to crack the auromatic bottom wiping system without toilet paper! And the subway system is really user friendly when you know how to deal with the automatic ticketing system. The only problem there is the 19 stops and one change that I have endure! The journey to COEX takes 45 minutes on a good day. You'd never believe the number of people on the streeets: thousands, mostly walking fast somewhere or other. And, on the trains, there might be 100 people to a carriage, of whom 35 are text messaging!
The shopping centre at COEX is vast but strangely reminiscent of the Canberra Centre or similar - many of the same stores and a food court. The banquet last night, and today's lunch paid for by the World Bank (!) both featured Australian beef and comments on it were very favourable.
Oh well, it's nearly 9pm and I'm heading out for a meal. I'm grateful for the air conditioning in this hotel room as today was very sticky after torrential rain and I noticed on the return train journey tonight that the Hangang River is almost in flood. I hope we can get to the other side tomorrow when I'm due to present my paper.
Tony
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Greetings from Itaewon
I said in my last post that things were about to get interesting and here I am in Itaewon. Where's that you say? Shhh! It's the red light district of Seoul in South Korea! A fried of mine attending the same conference as me suggested coming here because the Hotel D'oro where I'm staying is inexpensive and comfortable and was recommended by a UN official.
It's less convenient for my daily destination - COEX - which is about 18 stops away on the subway, but the system is fast, efficient and cheap from what we've seen of it. Itaewon is very cosmopolitan and Michael and I have jsut had breakfast in a French Patisserie. Just at the entrance to the hotel is a Saudi Arabian restaurant and, across the road, is Dubai cuisine. Have you ever had one of those? Sheep's eyeballs were not on the menu I looked at. Abd on the hill-side opposite, rising above a jumble of old buildings, is a very large mosque. Funny that! About 1/3rd of the population here is Christian and most of the rest are Buddhist. As I write this, Michael has returned to be with his wife and son while we wait until we leave for conference registration and a banquet at about 3.30 this afternoon (8 hourse in front of the UK and 8 hours (less a day) behind California.
The trip across yesterday on Asiana Airlines (Korean) was more interesting than the averag long-distance (10 hour +) flight. To start with, I was just about to bed myself down in a row 22 seat (in steerage class) when a steward came up to me and said "would you mind transfering to row 3 in business class. I couldn't extract a reason for this outburst of hospitality, but I've never declined such a request. The service was fantastic: silver sutlery, lovely food (I selected an unknown to me Korean dish eaten with chopsticks), I occupied a seat with a dozen diferent controls for comfort, watched videos on a largish TV screen in front; watched a display put on by 6 hostesses wearing ancient to modern Korean outfits; and sipped whiskey, fortified wines and red bordeaux at no cost. No problems with Korean custons over my portfolio of baby-wear, Australian biscuits, and other items.
What can I say about Korean life as I've seen it. Not many people speak English, and even the hotel staff are a little challenged in that direction. 98% of the signage is in Korean, of which I speak not a word. The wrting all looks like a jumble and quite different from Chinese or Japanese script. However, the lift has a quotation from Geothe in it!Fortunately, the subway has nifty ticket machines with an English language option. Last night, my taxi driver was a maniac behind the wheel and we sped from Incheon airport (about 75km out) into town at some fantastic speeds, swapping lanes and zig-zagging behind slower vehicles. The trip cost only 19,000 won because an Australian colleague picked up most of my share on his expense account (sounds a lot but isn't).
One of the joys of my room is the toilet. I haven't used its full capabilities yet, partly because I cannot read the Korean instructions. Let's just say that its fully automated, to the extent doing away with toilet paper. I gather it washes one's nether regions and then blow-dries them! I won't let language diffulties get in the way of that!
Finally, I must say that the Koreans are charming hosts- very considerate. Pitty I'm here for such a short time.
AS
It's less convenient for my daily destination - COEX - which is about 18 stops away on the subway, but the system is fast, efficient and cheap from what we've seen of it. Itaewon is very cosmopolitan and Michael and I have jsut had breakfast in a French Patisserie. Just at the entrance to the hotel is a Saudi Arabian restaurant and, across the road, is Dubai cuisine. Have you ever had one of those? Sheep's eyeballs were not on the menu I looked at. Abd on the hill-side opposite, rising above a jumble of old buildings, is a very large mosque. Funny that! About 1/3rd of the population here is Christian and most of the rest are Buddhist. As I write this, Michael has returned to be with his wife and son while we wait until we leave for conference registration and a banquet at about 3.30 this afternoon (8 hourse in front of the UK and 8 hours (less a day) behind California.
The trip across yesterday on Asiana Airlines (Korean) was more interesting than the averag long-distance (10 hour +) flight. To start with, I was just about to bed myself down in a row 22 seat (in steerage class) when a steward came up to me and said "would you mind transfering to row 3 in business class. I couldn't extract a reason for this outburst of hospitality, but I've never declined such a request. The service was fantastic: silver sutlery, lovely food (I selected an unknown to me Korean dish eaten with chopsticks), I occupied a seat with a dozen diferent controls for comfort, watched videos on a largish TV screen in front; watched a display put on by 6 hostesses wearing ancient to modern Korean outfits; and sipped whiskey, fortified wines and red bordeaux at no cost. No problems with Korean custons over my portfolio of baby-wear, Australian biscuits, and other items.
What can I say about Korean life as I've seen it. Not many people speak English, and even the hotel staff are a little challenged in that direction. 98% of the signage is in Korean, of which I speak not a word. The wrting all looks like a jumble and quite different from Chinese or Japanese script. However, the lift has a quotation from Geothe in it!Fortunately, the subway has nifty ticket machines with an English language option. Last night, my taxi driver was a maniac behind the wheel and we sped from Incheon airport (about 75km out) into town at some fantastic speeds, swapping lanes and zig-zagging behind slower vehicles. The trip cost only 19,000 won because an Australian colleague picked up most of my share on his expense account (sounds a lot but isn't).
One of the joys of my room is the toilet. I haven't used its full capabilities yet, partly because I cannot read the Korean instructions. Let's just say that its fully automated, to the extent doing away with toilet paper. I gather it washes one's nether regions and then blow-dries them! I won't let language diffulties get in the way of that!
Finally, I must say that the Koreans are charming hosts- very considerate. Pitty I'm here for such a short time.
AS
Saturday 25 June 2011
Not Much to Report
This blog has gone quiet for a few weeks, but that's due to an unusual combination of circumstances. Basically, I haven't done anything my readers would consider exciting because I've been riveted by (i) tracking Ella's progress which is now starting to look very good; (ii) looking after myself after Dot departed for San Francisco (Santa Clara to be more precise), and I don't find sweeping and cleaning exciting; (iii) some dismal weather making for a very wet and windy June (but the last two days have been very nice for winter on 15-16C); and (iv) writing some conference papers and setting up two new externally funded projects.
So it has been all go and I seem to be more tired than usual. Perhaps those two things are linked. Still, watch out for some new posts as things could be turning exciting! Must run and get some tea.
AS
So it has been all go and I seem to be more tired than usual. Perhaps those two things are linked. Still, watch out for some new posts as things could be turning exciting! Must run and get some tea.
AS
Thursday 2 June 2011
Arrival of Ella Castle
I'm attaching a couple of the first pictures of our grand-daughter Ella, but leaving out for the moment pictures of the proud parents.
I gather that she becomes a US citizen immediately, since she was born in Mountain View, California. So, technically, she could become the first US female President in due course, assuming that neither Hillary nor Sarah get the gig first!
AS
I gather that she becomes a US citizen immediately, since she was born in Mountain View, California. So, technically, she could become the first US female President in due course, assuming that neither Hillary nor Sarah get the gig first!
AS
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