October 2007

Learning to Fly

I'm back in the skies above Korea resuming the paragliding course I started over three years ago down in Changwon.

Making the most of my part-time hours between now and January I should be able to knotch up quite a few flight hours.

I've already done about an hour of solo flights and despite the odd nerve-testing moments of turbulence when the glider goes all but smoothly I'm eager to join the rest of the club's members in riding thermals up to the clouds and travelling cross country to other cities.

July 2007

CELTA in Ljubljana

A month of intensive teacher-training that was made a pleasant and enjoyable experience thanks everyone else involved in the course and the great Slovenes I lived with.

June 2007

Terrible Weather

The torrent of brown water rushing by soaked Roi is usually a calming trickle of clear streamwater.

This June is likely to be the wettest June on record in the UK.

April was the warmest, driest and sunniest April on record, but since then the weather's been awful!

Shearing Sheep

As the weather turns summery, it's time to shear the wool off the sheep before it falls off naturally and makes a mess on the fields. It's also breeding time for flies, which lay eggs in the warm and sweaty wool of unshorn sheep, where the hatched maggots feed on the live meat. Not a pleasant sight.

The wool is handed over to the Wool Board, who'll pay for it some time next year when this season's wool for the whole country has been sold and the exact average sale prices are known. It's a pitiful sum which often doesn't cover the cost of shearing.

Here's a still shot from a video of the annual shearing.

A Weekend in Kilkenny, Ireland

I took the ferry over to Ireland for the weekend, where I and a few mates went out and about in Kilkenny, competed in our own karting grand prix, and watched our first hurling match.

Here's a shot from Sunday's hurling semi-final between Offaly and Kilkenny in Portlaoise. The Kilkenny goal keeper and defence fail to keep out an Offaly penalty toward the end of the first half. Kilkenny did, however, win the game and progress to the final.

May 2007

4-day-old blackbirds

October 2006

Autumn in North Korea

Back in October, I spent a weekend at the Geumgangsan (Geumgang Mountain) resort area in Gangwon Province, North Korea or the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) as it's more properly known.

As it was autumn the scenery was beautifully coloured and the stream waters flowing crystal clear, making some very good photo opportunities.

Some of Kim Jong-Il's words of wisdom - Geumgang Mountain is the DPRK's spirit.*
*From the numerous meanings of 기�, I think spirit is the most likely. Please let me know if you do.

Unfortunately, there was a problem with my camera's lens, so I couldn't take any photos. However, I was able to film video.

I've edited what I captured into about 12 minutes of uncommentated footage covering pretty much everything I saw while I was there.

It's ready for your viewing on the new DPRK page. Click here. <-조 /�한 비디오