Chopsticks & sprouts, bears, eels & pin ups..

Christmas: Chopsticks and sprouts don't go together. Neither do peas and chopsticks. However, as I had promised my Korean colleagues, I did enforce the ban on cutlery for Christmas Dinner with my family, on the condition that no one was granted cutlery until they had picked up a sprout. Easier said than done, unless of course you adopted the stab technique favoured by my mum... I should also point out that Dad wasn't as drunk as he looks, just an unfortunate picture!

And so onto New Year! No need for chopsticks this time, but went for a very traditional English one in a small village near Chippenham. 20 of us dressed up as various tube stations, much to the delight of the local pub we descended on who had a spontaneous pub quiz created for them, as the locals tried to guess which stations we were. So, being true to my London home, I selected Ealing Broadway (well, true to my home actually would have been West Acton - couldn't think of anything for that!), so I give you... Eel in Broadway! (The Eel is the sock puppet in the hat, rather than the muppet in the hat). Also thought that it as it was my last New Year in my 20's it was about the last chance I could ever wear hotpants without getting arrested...

Paddington also made an appearance, and as we decided to walk back the 2 1/2 miles back in the pouring rain along country roads, Paddington's footwear was considerably better than Ealing's.

Also making appearances were Shepherd's Bush (the bush is not visible in this picture, fortunately) and some Blackfriars, the one visible in this picture must have been a member of that small and relatively unknown sect of elderly friars who carry tartan blankets on the back shelf of their Rovers.

New lookalike: I also have to add that to my delight, on at least 3 different occasions, people said that I looked like Zara Phillips, and although at the time I couldn't actually picture what she looked like, I decided it must definitely be a step up from Meryl Streep who must be at least 20 years older than her. Having discovered what Zara actually looks like, I can conclude that it must have been the trilby and the local ale that caused the similarities, because, alas, I look nothing like her!

And so it was back to work, and although for some this is the worst time of year with post Christmas blues, who could be sad when I got to sit next to a pin up again... sorry Forbes, couldn't resist!

Back to Korea: Just as I was congratulating myself for having no slip ups whilst in the Uk, I got to the Korean Air check in desk. Confident in the fact that I had obeyed all anti-terrorism rules by putting all liquids, cosmetics and kalashnikovs in my hold baggage (last time I inadvertantly risked terrorising the crew & passengers with a mini mascara which was binned at customs) I was foiled by the rule of week for hand luggage at Heathrow. It seems that although you can now carry cosmetics in a plastic bag, examination pencil case style, you can't have more than one item or you will be turned away from customs. I had a small handbag and an A4 case containing my laptop. Great. Carrier bag would solve the problem? No, has to be sealable. So over to the conspicuously nearby bag shop where I bought a bag that could contain both my bag and folder, and took up at least twice the size of both (am sure the check in staff are on commission). Of course, once I got to customs, every body else in the queue had bags, cases, pushchairs, bags and more bags with them with a few extra bags for good measure, and they all went through no problem. Was particularly delighted when a businessman got on the plane with a "hold all" that was so big I could have got into it, and yet a small bag with a folder was too much! I was had even in my own language!

So I arrived in Korea after a peaceful flight, and was just having a jet-lag-free nights sleep when someone managed to set fire to the building next door at 4am, which ensured fire alarms & fire engines, police cars and ambulance sirens, combined with loud hailer instructions in Korean, kept me awake for the next 2 hours (and obviously my extreme concern for the inhabitants). Was slightly concerned that the loud hailer might be warning everyone in the building next door (ie. us) to evacuate, but I figured they would have just set off our fire alarm if that was the case. Luckily it seems that I was right.

Just as I was ending the first day back in Korea, I was welcomed by my team with a Korean-Chinese meal, and a menu with English translation. It would seem, however, that my interpretation of beef is slightly different to theirs, in that I wouldn't expect my beef to come with small, curly legs with suckers...