Niall’s back!

Regular visitors will notice that I’ve been plugging the blog of Niall [username and password both “nevnev”], who I went round Eastern Europe and the Middle East with in 2001, and who got me into mullets. He returned just a few days ago from teaching English in South Korea, and I’ve been really enjoying his blog about living and working in a new country and learning a new language. It was really funny most of the time, although he sort of got bored with updating it latterly. Around the time he started going out with a girl, it seems…

My own dabble with Korean came when I received a parcel from Niall a few weeks ago and had to sign something and post the contents back, meticulously copying the return address from his parcel on to my own. Apparently it was flawless and Niall was most impressed with my Korean script. I’ve no chance of matching Niall’s grasp, however – he apparently frequently surprised and impressed Koreans with his command of the language and will no doubt become much better when he returns later this year.

But first he has a few months of catching up with Scotland again, and I’ve decided I will go through to Aberdeen next weekend to meet up with him. I can imagine Niall’s delight at having his first pie in two years from Thain’s 24 hour pie shop on George Street. It’s only been a couple of months for me, and I’m gagging for one already…

We’re considering a trip to Shetland in the early summer, somewhere I am a big fan of but Niall has never been to. If that comes together, it will be a chance to relive our old travelling days – hopefully without the fly-infested tent, Swedish murderers or hellish overnight buses.