This Little Piggy Went to Market

This little piggy went home.

This little piggy had roast beef,

This little piggy had none.

And this little piggy had a fever, which is usually high (but unlike seasonal flu, is sometimes absent), cough, runny nose or stuffy nose, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue or tiredness, which can be extreme.

-------

The swine flu paranoia has hit my school. Elementary school is shut down. Mothers are pulling their kids out of kindergarten. Everyone is wearing masks. We are sacrificing a boar tomorrow before dawn.


And there are a lot of strange politics at play. We can't really close down because we are a Hagwon, an after school program.. Maybe next month the mothers will not send their kids here. So we have to stay at school and call our students at home to see if they have done their homework. They don't do their homework when they are going to see me the next day. And we won't close the kindergarten down because that would look bad, too. It doesn't matter that this is a disease and  it doesn't reflect anything on the school itself.. I mean, the kids didn't get sick here, they got sick at the elementary school they go to in the morning. But that doesn't seem to matter.


It is an interesting thing. And I know it is a serious disease, and no one is more concerned than mothers are, but it is a very strange way to deal with it.


For Halloween I think I am going to get a pair of wings, a surgical mask and a pig snout. Swine Flew. 

The Inner Monologue of Kevin, a Seven-Year-Old in Orange Class from Monday, October 26th

Evanteacher always says, "Goooooood morning Orange class!!!!" as soon as he walks in the door. I will respond the loudest while pulling on his shirt to win his affection.

Well, I think my enthusiasm bought me about 10 minutes to do some sweet drawings of John Connor and a few Terminators. I have a goal of 25 Terminators per day, and let's be serious, I can't count on anyone else to draw them.

Ok. He is playing the piano again. He always plays the same songs. Then again, I always play the same songs. Song. The theme from Jaws. Everyone loves it.

I always interpret "Nobody touch the piano!!!" as "Nobody touch the piano, except for Kevin."

I really want to help Evanteacher with the snack today. He seems preoccupied with teaching. I will make him an origami frog as a gift and maybe he will let me carry the milk.

Does he have laser vision?!?! I set up both my books as a shield so he couldn't see what I was doing. 

We have communication phrases everyday. Can't he see that I know this stuff already? "Can I borrow your pencil?" Great. When will I need that? I want help with phrases that are useful! "Can I have a ride on your waterdragon?" or "Yes, I would like to travel back in time."


AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Math? I don't think so. More Terminators. This picture will feature a couple tanks, too. Man am I good at drawing tanks.

Ok, he left the room, time to get up and steal someone's eraser. The best part is that I speak English better than everyone, so I can talk my way out of it. Just lots of gesturing and saying "You, Me, Eraser, Me, Evanteacher, You, English, Thank You, Give, You, Me" and then adjust my glasses. It makes me look smart. 


Ahhh, lunch. Time to employ my "chipmunk method" of eating. Jam all the food into my cheeks and pour my soup on my lap.


Allllright.. Lets take a break. I am going to make one of my patented "Live Action Comics" for Evanteacher. First, draw a Terminator. Show Evanteacher the picture, draw a thought bubble above the Terminator's head, scream something in Korean and laugh. Make sure Evanteacher understands he should laugh now, too, even though he has no idea what I am saying. Keep his attention!! Don't let him help other students. Put the drawing in his lap and draw on his shirt!! Now, draw a thought bubble above the dragon, write some words in it and read it to Evanteacher, laugh again, draw lots of missiles from the dragon to the Terminator... thought bubbles above Superman and Optimus Prime... and.. and I think we are done. Another successful Live Action Comic. Nope.. this things needs more blood. Everywhere. Lots of blood.


Theme from Jaws.. I am so money...


Is it time to go already? Awesome. My little brother will be waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. I will hug my grandma while simultaneously slapping him in the chest.. he will never see this coming.


I can't wait to do this all again tomorrow...

Happy Thanksgiving!

This weekend is Chusok, the Korean Thanksgiving. It is a holiday when families get together and remember their ancestors. It should be a few days off from work, also, but I only get one.. and no, I am not bitter at all., and yes, everyone I know gets at least two days off..

It is customary for the employer to buy gifts for the employees. 

Awesome! I like gifts. 

What is that? We get the, "traditional Chusok gift?" I bet that is something fun and Korean!

Ooooh! It looks like food. Maybe some traditional food. I mean, this is Thanksgiving right?

Hmm... a Korean spam set.. 

I like food. This is a great present.  Just maybe... unexpected.

Soap on a Stick

I wonder how you say "slightly unsanitary" in Korean..

The Great Beer Experiment™

One night a couple of weeks ago, my friend Ben and I were lost. Not lost in the physical sense, but in the mental/emotional sense. We needed a purpose. We needed a challenge. We needed to drink more beer.


These three things came together in what I will call The Great Beer Experiment™. This was a test of wits and endurance to categorize the wide range of Korean beer.


Some of you may scoff that we considered ourselves qualified to spearhead such an important study. Please allow me shed some light on our qualifications. 


Evan - 


1) Graduated in only five years with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance 
2) Was once a judge for Bozeman Idol
3) Cannot really smell anything unless it is very strong


Ben - 
1) Is Korean-American. He probably has genes that can detect the nuances put in place by the Korean Brewmasters
2) Claims to have consumed lots of beer
3) Often looks like this:

and anyone who gets a shirt, tie, pocket protector and Harry Potter glasses painted onto his body must be smart.

Our experiment consisted of the following:

Ritz-like crackers -  to cleanse the palate - saltines were unavailable

Water - also to cleanse the palate

Imitation Crab - to be consumed post-experiment, for nothing more than the elation that is experienced when one eats imitation crab

And the beer, followed by its catch phrase

Hite - "Cool & Fresh"

Cass - "Fresh" or "Sound of Vitality"

OB Blue - "The Original Quality Beer"

Max - "Delicious Idea"

We started out by tasting each beer and writing down our description. We didn't look at the other's description so as to not be swayed. No editing was done, all descriptions taken directly from the experiment's notes.

Hite - "Cool & Fresh"

Ben - Strong, but not overwhelming alcohol taste. With a "flowery" taste

Evan - Goes down smooth, very little aftertaste. Doesn't necessarily taste "Fresh" though, and "Cool" is based on your own refrigeration techniques. Taste = Old.

Cass - "Fresh" or "Sound of Vitality"

Ben - Mild tasting compared to Hite, on its own, it has a slight stale taste.

Evan - I will describe Cass as having a "heavier" taste. It lingers a little longer, but not in a negative way. Like a friend more than an acquaintance. 

OB Blue - "The Original Quality Beer"

Ben - Stronger aftertaste that takes a moment to be sharp. Has milder "flowery" taste than hite.

Evan - Hello St. Peter! My tongue just died and went to heaven! I would call OB Blue "Full" and "Robust" slightly "Sweet" but still tastes like "Beer."

Max - "Delicious Idea"

Ben - Maltier taste than the first three. Not so much crisp as a taste that sits on the palate. Okay on flavor overall.

Evan - Max Beer: Specially brewed in your grandma's basement. It could be good if they marketed it as such, but with a name like "Max" it is like your Driver's Ed teacher telling you how "...Everclear (the band) totally rocks!!!" in an effort to look cool amongst 14 year olds. 

We did two separate taste tests where one member poured the beer into numbered cups while the other played games on my iPhone. 

So what were our results? Ben correctly identified half of the beers. Four out of eight tastes he got correct. I identified one. Just one out of eight. I had such high opinions of the beer, also. I hated Max.. but it turns out that I really don't know what I hate. Well, Max is the one I got right, so I guess I can pick that one out. But I really liked OB Blue and I couldn't differentiate that from the other two. Despite our obvious lack of skill in identifying the individual tastes, we both decided that OB Blue is the best. And Max is the worst. 

I also felt the individual tastes of the beer became muddled once they got warm. We didn't plan ahead and have the beer on ice and the tasting took a good hour and a half. And Hite's claim of being "Fresh & Cool" certainly didn't stand up.

Most foreigners here have their own names for the beer: Shite, Ass, BO.. and Max.. I guess.. nothing really funny can be derived from Max.

Maxasshite - My attempt at logo humor

The bright side of the story is that a couple nights ago I found a brewery that imports beer from Canada. Real beer. Real delicious beer. For when Max, Cass, Hite, OB and soju just can't cut it.

And the imitation crab was delicious. 

As it always is.

에반

에반

Insadong is a touristy, traditional section of the Seoul. It is a nice artsy section of town where you can get fans, incense, candles and brushes that will help you remember Korea. I chose to get a stamp.

I am normally not too big on buying souvenirs. I usually end up losing them or forgetting why I considered them important in the first place. I figured a stamp would be different. It would last forever as long as I don't lose it.. And I can use it when I get home. To stamp checks or parking tickets. Or friends who fall asleep.

The booth I went to had a couple guys taking orders and then scratching out the requests into pre-cut stone. I got a little assistance from a woman standing next to me with spelling my name in Hangul (though I was 95% correct) and handed them 30,000 won.


에 - Eh
ㅂ - B
ㅏ- Ah
ㄴ - N


This is as close as it gets, since there isn't a "v" sound. Ehbahn. I think it was money well spent. And now I have a way to sign my posts that isn't cheesy... I hope...

Sports Night in Korea

I watched my first soccer match last month. A friendly between FC Seoul and Manchester United. It was pretty big deal because Park Ji-Sung is the first Korean (and Asian) to captain Man U. The stadium erupted every time he was on the big screen.  Lots of fun and lots of people.

I have started frequenting the Seoul Sports Complex for baseball games, too. 12,000 Won ($10) Gets you a ticket anywhere in the outfield and two beers outside the stadium. That's right, you can bring ANYTHING YOU WANT into the stadium. People bring full traditional korean meals to the games and set up a picnic in the nosebleeds. Plus, the prices in the stadium for refreshments are barely more expensive than outside. No $8 beer here. 


By default I cheer for the LG Twins, who share a logo with the Twins of Minnesota. I may be bad luck though.. they get trounced whenever I am present.


Baseball is great to watch. The cheering is different (organized cheers lead by a guy with a whistle), they don't have ball boys (they have ball girls in tiny shorts and belly shirts), and people eat squid instead of peanuts (although you can order peanut-flavored squid which is surprisingly good), but there is something still so familiar about it. The rules haven't changed, the double plays and home runs are just as exciting... It's a piece of home that I can visit any night of the week. 






Except Monday. They don't have games on Mondays. 

A Retired Korean Shortstop and Me

I met him on the ferry from Gyeokpo to Wido. Actually I met him right after I bought my ticket for the ferry. He came over to me and said:

"NAME! PASSPORT!! NAME!! PASSPORT!!" while violently pointing to my ticket. 

Apparently I needed to write my name and passport number on the ticket. I guess in case the boat sank they could figure out who was on it.

I climbed on the ferry and sat towards the back. He sat next to me, one backpack with two fishing poles and a tackle box. He had been chatting up a cute woman on the dock and she joined us, also. Without my knowing, we had become friends after our first encounter. He impressed me with his english, pointing to his mosquito bites and saying, "Vampire! Ahhhh!!!" He asked if I was solo, and that he was solo, also, so we should stay together. We were best friends for two days.

김덕영 Kim Deok Yeong

We found a minbak (like a hotel, with no beds, just a floor and blankets) just past Wido Beach and headed out to the water to do some fishing. 

But it had rained all day. 

"Too Rainy! No pishy pishy."

There were no fish.

So we walked to a restaurant and feasted on fish we didn't catch. With my Korean-English dictionary on my iPhone I found out that he was a retired shortstop. He played 12 years for the Doosan Bears... I think... With my limited Korean I haven't been able to find career stats yet.

Looking back to our minbak across the bay.

After our delicious meal of fish we were treated with fresh clams when we returned to the minbak. Other guests joined us and we drank soju long into the night.

Our two day friendship ended as abruptly as it started. The next morning he stayed on the bay to fish and I walked about five miles to a beach. I thought we had and understanding that when he left "C" (minback) he would pass "B" (my beach) on route to "A" (the ferry) and we were going to go back to the mainland and head south to another island. But maybe I over estimated my ability to explain the plan. He called me once, I called him twice. Someone else answered his phone and explained they were on the ferry already. 

The strangeness of the relationship is hard to put into words. It is amazing how much was shared without being able to really speak to each other. 

Also, soju is a great translator. It almost seemed like I could understand him at times...

Fooooood

This past week I had summer vacation, so I went south without much of a plan. I will break my adventures up into parts, and the first one will be about food. Only about food. I will explain the towns and people later, so if you feel lost, just know that feeling is OK.

This is the general path I took:
Seoul-->  Jeonju-->  Gyeokpo--> Wido Island--> Jeonju--> Seoul
I say general because there were off shoots to other small places, too.

김치찌개

This was the first meal I had in Gyeokpo, which is a little town on a spur of land out into the West Sea. The big bowl is kimchi jjigae, which is like a stew made of kimchi, tofu and pork. Jjigae means soup, so it is kimchi soup. It is very popular in Korea and is one of my favorites. I had it for supper, and it is often eaten for breakfast, also.  

All this food was for me, the kimchi jjigae, rice and eleven side dishes. I'll start in the back left corner:

The soup bowl is a vinegar/seaweed soup that is eaten in the summer because it is cool, to the right of that is a cooked seaweed, next is pickled garlic and last is squash. The second row on the left is regular kimchi, then a bunch of dried, salted fish which I do not like (but my students eat as snacks all the time), then some sort of other kimchi, and lastly a dried and warmed seaweed. The front row starts with a vegetable omelet, two whole, cooked fish, and finally sweet and sour clam strips. I paid 5,000 Won for the meal, about $4. It was wonderful.

The next morning I had almost the same thing I had for supper, except this was a seafood variety of jjigae with clam and fish. I had a few less side dishes this time because the waitress knew I wasn't going to eat the salted fish. This morning I also got lettuce, which is used to wrap rice and pepper paste and really anything else you choose to eat. 

It rained my first day on Wido, so Young and I spent the afternoon eating seafood and drinking Soju. It was great. I can't remember what it all was, or what specific fish we ate. The big plate in the middle on the left is all raw fish that we dipped in soy sauce, wasabi, and korean barbecue sauce. We had clam soup and krill, also. This meal was 50,000 Won, about $40 between the two of us, but was well worth it on a rainy, lazy afternoon.

And the Winner is...

A few weeks ago I put up an experiment, where I asked you to listen to my students singing a song. I really appreciate the responses. So here is what they are actually saying:

I like oranges,

I like grapes,

I like colors,

I like shapes,

I like hats,

I like capes,

I like you very much.

So, obviously, Jarrod is the closest, based on a very scientific formula that I can't divulge for fear the internet would collapse.

Jarrod has won a luxurious all expenses paid* stay in a quaint, one bedroom apartment on the lower east side of Seoul.

*Transportation and most expenses not included. You also must share the apartment with me. I will make you cereal in the morning, and Arosh in the evening.

A Trim and a Shave

One of the great things about a new country is experiencing something that back home would be routine. Such as grocery shopping, seeing a movie or eating out. Today I went to a barbershop.

My hair had been getting decently long and I had let my beard grow unkempt, as I am prone to do. My friends and coworkers had all warned me about Korean barbers. Sara wanted a trim and they cut eight inches off. Ben got a haircut, and explicitly said he wanted to keep his sideburns and they shaved them up to his temple. But I was prepared to deal with any mistakes. Hair grows back and all pictures are digital, so I can manipulate them to my heart's content.

I asked my boss, Jenny, to write a note I could deliver to the barber telling him I wanted a trim and a shave. Don't take more than 3 cm off, and please, for the love of God, let me keep my sideburns. I think I have had sideburns since the 9th grade and I have no idea what my face would look like with out them. She drove me to a barber that her father-in-law frequents, which is four blocks from my apartment.

I entered the building and wandered around, trying to recognize the characters for "Barbershop." It was tucked away behind a half-dozen dry-cleaners in the south-east corner of the first floor. I walked in and found a husband and wife, flashed them my handmade sign and shared a laugh as they sat me in the chair.

I was the only customer in the small, corner store. I filled one of the two available chairs. It looked like it could've been from Valley City, ND in the 1950's. There were doilies hanging on the wall, Korean cross-stitch and trinkets that their grandchildren had given them.. Collections of seashells they collected on trips to the coast were stacked in corner shelves around the room.

The haircut proved uneventful, which is a great adjective for a haircut. The chair was set up pretty high and there wasn't a foot pedal to raise or lower me and it didn't swivel around. In front of me was the sink, a big, wide sink that belonged in the back room of an upscale hardware store, one where they used porcelain instead of plastic. On top of the sink was a made-to-fit cushion, which was where I rested my legs when I reclined and prepared for the shave. They also provided a mattress underneath my body to help me be comfortable.

At this point the woman took over. This couple performed a well rehearsed duet, both spinning around each other, knowing where they had to be, which towels to warm, which elixirs to set out. She covered my entire face in a medium consistency gel, and topped that with a warm towel. I could hear her mixing the cream in a metal cup; the wooden handle of the brush banging against the tin. It wasn't a labored or rushed process. The preparation was just as important as the job.

She used a thick steel blade and shaved every part of my face: my nose, forehead, neck and ears, besides the parts that actually needed it. It was such a calming, careful situation that I fell asleep more than once. It was a strange sensation of waking back up, almost startled, but being aware of some distant my brain catching my body before it could jerk out of place and send the blade into my jugular.

When she was done, she covered my face in thin slices of cucumber, and I sat for about 10 minutes, drifting back asleep. When she pulled them off, my face felt wonderful. She sat me up and handed my head back to her husband.. like a grocer handing eggs to a customer.

He proceeded to stick my head under a cold tap and washed my hair and face with the vigor one scrubs freshly dug potatoes. He tipped my head back and started to dry my hair and his wife surprised me by jamming Q-Tips in my ears. There were no more than a handful of words shared between them the entire time I was there, but they knew exactly what was next.

I spent about an hour and twenty minutes in that barbershop. When I finished they handed me a Korean yoghurt, which is kind of like a thick juice, and had me sit down while I looked in the mirror. They seemed very proud, too. The entire process cost KRW 12,000 which is right about $10. It was one of the most enjoyable things I have done in recent memory. It was such a great feeling to be that taken care of.

So, if anyone is planning on visiting me, start growing your beard now. It will be worth the wait.

An Experiment

I have my iPhone with me at all times, even though I have no service in South Korea. They use the same CDMA technology that Verizon and Alltel use, so my very convenient, jailbroken GSM phone is of no use here. Decently frustrating, but what it does give me is a a camera, audio recorder, subway map, gaming system, and all around conversation starter, because even though the iPhone is not sold here, every Korean wants to have one.

So I usually have it in class. I recorded some of the kids singing a song they learned. It is short and cute. The person you can hear the clearest is Jennet. She is short and cute also. So, my experiment involves you: try to understand what they are saying, and post your results in the comments. Thanks.

PS - The song is called "I Like." That should help a lot.

PPS - If you can understand it, I taught it to them... if you can't, this song is actually from the lesson before I started teaching... so I will blame their previous teacher...

PPPS - I found Houndbite to host this audio file.. I was just going to put it into YouTube, but I can't upload from Korea. They have laws in place protecting the public.

Peace in the City

Ogeum Park [Google Maps link] is an escape. It is large enough to almost leave the city behind. I find it remarkable how different I feel surrounded by trees. It could be just in my head, but the air seems fresh, almost scrubbed. The park is about two stories above street level. The entrance closest to Ogeum station has a pond that looks out over the city, and is recessed enough to kind of escape the sound of cars.

Recently, I have been going to this park after work. It is a nice place to unwind and let my mind untwist after a day of teaching (see also: yelling, pleading, weeping). The first thing I always do is meander to the reflexology footpath.

This is a happy discovery. The path starts with small rocks, moves to wood laid at the diagonal, large rocks (the size of your foot), rounded stumps and then reverses the process to the end. It does feel great to walk on and it is something that puts my mind immediately on the present. Whatever has happened in the day up to this point is not more important than my walk.



The end of the path leads right into what I will call an adult jungle gym. These are in every park I have seen, and old people love them. There are a number of fitness machines that look like they should be endorsed by Tony Little. There is the Gazelle, a couple twisty discs, and parallel bars. Old people are all over these things! So I am to. If it is good enough for an ajuma, it is good enough for me.


This specific gym has a couple pull up bars, a sit up platform and a bench press. It is a nice, free workout in the woods. I am the only non-Korean there, and a lot of people stare at me, but I am getting used to it.

It is a nice little park and is becoming part of my daily routine.

I will translate for you!

I know a lot of you don't speak Korean. I have been here for two weeks now, so I think I have picked up the intricacies of the language. Occasionally I will post signs from around Seoul and translate them for you, so if you ever come here, you won't have any embarrassing moments!

Translation -

If the doors are closing on you, engage your buzz saw forearms.

Partay!!!

We celebrated June birthdays this past Wednesday. Birthdays turn out to be quite the event at our school and all the classes were invited down to the "gym" for the festivities. Jaewoo turned eight and Wendy turned seven.

But before we go on to the fun, you must understand East Asian ages. Koreans (and many other East Asian countries) count their age from conception, not from birth. So a baby is one year old when its born. Also, Koreans add the extra year to their age after the New Year, not on their birthday. In some cases Koreans are two years older than their physical age. A baby born on December 29th will turn two years old on January 1st (one year for being born and another year for the New Year) and really only be three days old. It can get confusing and a little frustrating, especially when a student is mentally and physically four years old, but they are in class for six-year-olds. But I guess the rest of the class is really five-year-olds... but they seem really young.

Wendy had a special birthday dress, and she was very proud of it. She made me wear the shall, which was fun for everyone. All of the students in Wendy's class brought her presents. They got in line and handed the presents off one at a time and practiced their English:

"Happy birthday Wendy!"
"Thank you, Ryan!"

Then turn and pose for a picture. This one is Wendy and Annie.

There was a big table up front for Wendy and Jaewoo to sit at with candy and cake and watermelon. All the other students sat on the floor around them.




This is Wendy and Jennet. Jennet could be the cutest little girl I know. Notice the V for Victory Jennet is using. The quirky Asian photo poses start at a young age.

Its also known as "V for Victory" over here. Not a peace sign. This was a new phrase for me.










This is Orange Class with my partner teacher, Michelle. Pretty smart six-year-olds. I look forward to teaching them a lot more than my other classes.

V for Victory.
When in Asia...

After the party the kids divided up into red and blue teams and had races. This was all in preparation for the big Sports Day we had on Friday. No class, just fun games and lots of cheering. More on that later.

Overload

I just wanted to update you on where you can get information. On the right side of this page you will find a map of Korea and a slide show of photos. Both should link to their respective information: the map will connect you to a Google Map of interesting sights, restaurants, events, etc... and the photos will link to my Picasa account. Right now you can see where I live and work in the city and also some pictures of some students. Check them out if you get some time. Both will be updated periodically... whenever I go to new places or take more pictures.

My first days in Seoul and a boy named Honey

How many days in a row can I wake up before 4:30 A.M.? I really don't care to set a personal record. I would much prefer sleeping another three hours, but the decision is not really mine to make. I have made some good pre-dawn friends: the man who collects the recycling (who insists on throwing every glass bottle into his truck individually, in 15 second intervals), NPR's Most Emailed Stories of the Day podcast and the sound of rain on my fiberglass awning outside my bedroom. All have become welcome in the time before the rest of the city wakes up.

My apartment is a 14 minute walk from the school where I work, Lingua Teen Kids. The school employs three foreign teachers, Sara, Nate and myself. Sara is British and fresh to Seoul, Nate is Floridian and has lived here for two years. We teach kindergarten kids from 9:45 until 3:00 and elementary school kids from 3:00 until 6:00.

First, let us dispel with the idea that Asia is producing a race of super-geniuses who embarrass America's education system... at least at my school. And that reflects nothing on myself or my fellow teachers. These kids are just as hyperactive and attention deficit as any American, but are even more distracted by the complete immersion of distracting technology. On subways, one quarter of the people around me are watching TV on their cellphones or playing video games or some other awesome thing that I can't comprehend because it all takes place in Korean and this translates directly to the children.

The kids are just fine. Most of them I enjoy and only a handful I would consider locking in a closet for any period of time. The day consists of reviewing letters of the alphabet, reading books, singing songs and coloring pictures. Soon I will start teaching math and science so it will get even better. The older kids, who arrive at 3:00, have already had an entire day of Korean school, and are rarely in the mood to spend more time learning English. Some of these kids I loathe. They yell at me in Korean. They yell at each other in Korean. They play with their strange new superhero/pog/card games and don't listen to a damn word I say. I need to find a better way to teach them and it will come with time. Right now they don't respect me and I just want to drink Soju through their entire class.

The kindergarten kids are (mostly) adorable. They call me Evanteacher and hang on my arms like leaches. Many of them have started calling all the foreign teachers at the same time, using their hands to indicate the increasing height we have... Sarateacher (hands at their ankles) Nateteacher (hands at their waist) and Evanteacher (hands as high as they can reach).

All the kids have English names. Ryan, Alex, Sophia, etc... I don't know where they get these names, whether the school chooses them or the parents do, but they have an English name their entire life. I believe they can change it if they want in the future. Some of them are strange. One girl is named Beronica... a literal translation of the Korean tendency to implode the "v" sound. Another boy is named Honey. Yes, Honey. He reminds me of Flower from Bambi. He also has the strange tendency to surprise me with kisses wherever I am. I will be writing on the dry erase board and I will turn around and he will grab my arm and start giving me kisses on my wrist. Or I will be standing in the hallway and he will come up and start kissing my leg. They are the most kind and tender kisses I have ever had, but they are strange nonetheless.

Every day has gotten better, so I still look forward to work every morning. We will see how long that lasts.