As Busy Days Go

So today I sent seven letters into the ether.  One was quite literally into the ether, as I had to e-mail a copy of the various university forms I must fill in every day.  I am honestly surprised it's so difficult to sign up at university, everyone is so cash-light at the moment that I half expected that I fill in credit card details first.

The other letters are winging their way to England and Korea.  My old boss is getting a letter, I started off at odds with her, but when nan died she did quadruple back-flips to ensure I got back to England in time for the funeral - from this point I realised that her heart was in the right place (I'll put the earlier disagreements down to cultural differences.)  Family will get the rest.

The only problem is that I wrote half a dozen messages over the course of six weeks, all failing to adhere to typical chronological structures.  They were a nightmare to piece together, and none of them read like a logical, coherent being wrote them.  They look like the beginning of a P.K.Dick novel.  In essence, indecipherable.

More embarrassing, I'm pretty sure I wrote about une fille charmant (my old housemate taught me how to say that around three years ago, thanks Josh.  Just remembered it for some reason) who is rather endearing, as they tend to be.  Alas, if that letter ends up with the wrong recipient, I will simply die of shock (in a desperate housewives voice).

However, in general, when I write letters I set out with an agenda, and then abandon it three lines in.

Much the same as this blog, if I'm honest.

If you're reading this Ria, this is both how to write a blog, and most certainly how not to write one.  Take inspiration/heed from the messages within!

So today was busy because I had to rush out at lunch to dispatch letters on a combined journey of around 20,000 miles, madness when you think about it.  50 pence each.  Utterly bonkers, but I imagine you can fit a large number of letter in a 747.

I also bid farewell to a pair of pants in the mail, but that is most certainly a story for another time!

My lunchtime finally over, I worked the final two lessons of the day, afterwards heading off to pay my insurance bill - only to find that they close at 4pm.  Bearing in mind no one works after 9 am, or finishes before 5 here; just as in England.  Opening at 9 am and closing at 4 pm is like driving an ice-cream van in front of a fat kid, just fast enough that he will never reach the infinite bounties held within.  Needless to say, as I was the fat kid in this scenario I was not amused.

I am that kid.  That poor, poor child.  As the expert commentator says, 'Ice Cream Denied.'

I'll have to think of something tomorrow.  Fat kids are devious, after all.

Talking of fat kids.  In a month or so, one of the teachers at the mountain school is having an open day for parents and teachers alike (it really is the smallest school) involving ice cream and fruits.  While I'm not too keen on the fruit idea, I'm all over the ice-cream.  Alas, it's being held on a Wednesday, which would require rejigging my schedule.  Now, obviously speaking, I'm all for that; and there is a precedent with such events.  The teacher at the middle school who proposes such matters is part of the anti-fun league, Japan chapter.  To be frank, he probably founded the organisation.  He's so typically Japanese in that sense, and his general demeanour, and his look, and his habits, that he's basically a racist stereotype of Japanese office workers.  Therefore, I doubt he'll grant leave, just for fun.  Being the devious fat-kid-at-heart that I am, I will think of something.  ICE CREAM, YES.  Fruit, meh.

That's all I can think of for now.  If you're family, expect some mail.  It (probably) won't be lethal, it's okay.

Korean TV and Other Things.

So Korean television is primarily nonsense, just as in England.  This is compounded by the (seeming) relative lack of funding their television programs receive.

A typical show in England will be a talent show, in which all entrants are welcome.  They host the show in a big studio, with a respectable budget pushing proceedinngs.

The Korean equivalent will be hosted in a shed, by a washed up celebrity paid in his or her addiction of choice.

There is however, one shining light in the cesspit of television.

That shining light adheres to the same monetary constraints as other shows; but overcomes their weaknesses with bags of charm.

Hosted by a jolly man who goes  by the name Kang Ho Dong, this show follows the single simplest format I've ever seen.

The show is called Two Days, One Night.  The premise is this:  A group of comedians and celebrities, (around six or seven of them) travel to a predetermined location, and compete to earn their dinner.  If they fail in a task, they go hungry, or have some unknown forfeit.  One forfeit, for example, was having to eat their entire dinner in under a minute.  After the minute the food was (in some cases) forcibly taken from them.

They then stay the night in a famous  location within Korea (or somewhere particularly hospitable - hence why they've never been to Geoje) and compete in a challenge the next morning for their breakfast.

They usually compete to decide where they sleep too.  During one episode they failed to complete a challenge and were woken up every hour, driven to a bizarre location and forced to sleep there.  (Of course you can't force someone to sleep, but a couple of  days with no sleep will render most people comatose, so it worked surprisingly well).

This particular forfeit resulted in them sleeping in a side-street at the crack of dawn, as many people meandered past beginning their daily routines.

Priceless.

To show the simplicity of this program, here is one final example.  In order to obtain dinner during one show; they had to push a car that was in neutral, with no brakes, to a spot marked on the ground.  Imagine curling, but with a car.

I don't know why I love this show, but it's amazing.

In other news, I tried a couple of new cakes over the weekend.

 The panda seemed to enjoy this one.

Out of ten, I would rank this cake nine.  The extremely high score is attributable to the entirely chocolate bow on top.  It was a delicious addition, and was clearly not american chocolate.

I think this is the first time in a while that I've had chocolate that's not american in nature, and it was good.

 This is a close-up to show the exquisite decoration around the side of the cake.  Most, if not all of the cakes I purchase have this decoration, and this particular brand of chocolate flavouring  is delectable.

 This is the second dessert I partook of this weekend.  Not technically a cake, but close enough that I don't mind being incorrect on this particular matter.

 

 The ice-cream/cake pictured is an extremely fatty blend of cream, chocolate chip ice-cream and toffee with peanuts.

Obviously the peanuts detracted from what would otherwise be a perfectly acceptable combination, but such was my ice-cream deficiency at the time, that I couldn't have cared less.  In hindsight I should have opted for something without any fruits or vegetables.

This alternative view highlights the toffee cylinder of ice-cream.

There was a copious amount of chocolate sauce in the pictured chocolate cup; fantastic.

 Just to prove that it was, in fact, less healthy than I've previously tried to convey - here is a side shot of the chocolate sauce drizzled on straight cream, with the chocolate cup filled with chocolate sauce in the background.

This was enough for two days, believe it or not!

 Even though it looks small, it packs a chocolatey punch.

Take it from someone who can (and regularly does) eat his own bodyweight in chocolatey desserts; this thing is not to be trifled with (sic).

It looks like a few bites in, but this is no ordinary dessert.

It's the dessert that keeps on giving!