I'm about to announce the winners of a copy of English Toss on Planet Andong, and it is definitely time I started the book myself. Which I did last night. Slyly funny thus far, I'm really enjoying this.
From the blurb:
"'Don't you realise you can get by without other people? They're the ones who make you sad. They're the ones who let you down, who disappoint you. And a troubled heart's such a chore.'
Every year, thousands of people travel to faraway lands to unleash English as a foreign language. The fools. Once such expat is Paul Taylor, a heartbroken Aussie looking for a fresh start in a South Korean classroom. The lack of training isn't much of a help, but it's the baffling natives and unhinged flatmates that really start to convince him he's crash-landed in another galaxy.
And on Planet Andong, no one can hear you scream."
Opening Lines:
"The red dragonflies reversed, zipped forward and hovered outside the hagwon window. Paul Taylor stared at the sexually conjoined insects, their wings a furious blur, wondering what it'd be like to fly and fuck at the same time. No doubt more fun than filling out student evaluations, a bi-monthly task that again needed completing. He glanced at the unmolested pile of one hundred and fifty or so papers on his desk, each one representing an individual human being whose young mind he was supposedly dedicated to nurturing."
'Don't you realise you can get by without other people? They're the ones who make you sad. They're the ones who let you down, who disappointyou. And a troubled heart's such a chore.'
Every year, thousands of people travel to faraway lands to to teach English as a foreign language. The fools. One such expat is Paul Taylor, a heartbroken Aussie looking for a fresh start in a South Korean classroom. The lack of training isn't much of a help, but it's the baffling natives and unhinged flatmates that really start to convince him he's crash-landed in another galaxy.
And on Planet Andong, no one can hear you scream.