Last night saw temperatures hit -13C. Fabulous. However, what was not so fabulous was the ice on the inside of the bathroom window, nor the ice on the panes of the washing room window or even the icicles that formed on the inside of the bedroom window. Koreans dont believe in insulation. The styrofoam between the walls and and the windows of my school testify to that.

Temperatures increased for a while today, so I decided to finish my Christmas shopping in snowy conditions. It actually felt like Christmas here with snow covered streets, everyone dressed in hats and scarves and the Koreans who seemed to think a blizzard was coming direct from the Himalayas with their ski ensembles.

Christmas shopping is more or less complete at this stage and there are fine amount of presents under the horrendously cheesy tree here. It is a flagship for over tinselling and overlighting. I love it.


In other more fasinating news, the Korean stem-cell researcher, Hwang Woo-Suk, has been accused of falsifying his "pioneering" work. Koreans are not too happy to hear about this, but he is determined to prove his work, despite being bombarded with accusations of carrying out his research in unethical ways and ultimately publishing untrue facts. Generally, Koreans are still supportive of Hwang, with some feeling that the attacks on him are down to jealousy beacause Korea is the leading nation in this field. Sour grapes perhaps