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Published: February 25th 2009
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Graduation
Parents showing some love. So today was my Kindergarten students graduation. While I've only been with them a week, I'm actually going to miss the lil buggers because they are so freaking sweet. It was one of those experiences where you try and go the whole day without laughing because you couldn't believe what was actually happening, but you hold back out of respect because you know this is how they do things. For example, in between the parents holding up signs like we were at a sporting event, music ranging from the 20th Century Fox theme, the James Bond and Mission Impossible themes, and yes, even the Adam's family theme, I found myself dieing at the sheer ridiculousness of the children's costumes, dance numbers, and their own version of one of my favorite childhood stories, Pinocchio. With that being said, I know it is only because I am a young adult, and would never be caught dead on stage in this situation, but you got to love how in to it the children really were, freaking adorable. I'll attach some video's and pictures to better illustrate my point.
As far as everything else, all is well. I still have no idea what I'm
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My kids rendition of Pinocchio doing at the school but I intend on faking it as long as possible. Today all my students seemed obsessed with penises...In one class we were reading about Emperor Penguins and how the father takes care of the egg while the mother goes and finds food. Well, there was a picture of the father penguin with the egg between his legs and under his belly and while I was oblivious to it at first the kids wasted no time pointing at it and laughing hysterically. Then literally in my next class I caught a boy (the one who sits directly in front of me) drawing stick figures in his work book and giving them little bulges. The were little penises (I think it may be a Korean thing 😊 ) but penises none the less...This past weekend was a blast, I got on the wrong bus going in the completely wrong direction and as I roamed lost and confused around God knows where, two old shitfaced Korean men in the process of hailing a cab called out "waygook" (which is the term for foreigner) and they were CLEARLY talking to me, so I hoped in a cab with them to
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No freaking way.. whatever destination we were going, keeping in mind that not only did I not know where I was, I wasn't even really sure where I lived..Thankfully, we ended up in Itaewon, which is a foreigner district due largely to the fact that there is an US Army base near by. Literally as soon as I got out of the cab I met an Army dude and we started our crawl. I couldn't tell you where we went this night, mainly because the first bar we entered we ran into a couple Korean men that he was friends with and insisted on "initiating" me into Korea through copious amounts of whiskey..however, all in all it was a good night. I didn't get home until 4PM the next day and more or less showered and headed back to town. On the way there some random ass old Korean lady proceeded to pet my face for no reason..she didn't even look me in the eyes while she did it, if fact she stared out the window like IT WASN'T EVEN HAPPENING...I just sat there and took it because, well, what do you really do in that situation? The next night proved to be
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They are going to love photos like this in 15 years.. much better as I met a bunch of wicked cool Canadian's and one BA chick from Nebraska and toured around Itaewon once again. The highlight of this night was definitely at this dodgy ass after hours pub (you know it was shady because the sign on the door said 'Free for military') where we watched two military men pull the shirt off an obvious ladyboy and expose his/her big fake tits and motorboat them like it was no tomorrow. If that doesn't make you excited for next weekend, nothing will.
On another note, I STILL have not figured out how to heat my shower, and for the people who don't know, cold water is without a doubt my least favorite thing on Earth. I don't even drink it, let alone enjoy an ice cold shower. I still haven't really tried any food I don't like yet, despite the disaster that was me trying to cook Ramen..don't even get me started.. I not exactly domestic, in fact, when I attempted to do laundry, I'm pretty sure my clothes are dirtier then when I put them IN the washer..here are a few more Korean dishes I've been able to try:
Dried minnows: exactly what it says. But I destroyed a plate of them. Awesome.
MiyeokGuk: Seaweed soup, it's not something I'll eat everyday, but I won't say no. You get the idea.
Icicle radish: This was actually a side dish at a restaurant, and I'm not exactly sure how they prepared it, but I couldn't get enough.
Gimbap: Korean sushi. Not as good as Japanese, actually, rather bland, but $1 for an 8 inch long roll, no complaints here.
BudaeJjigae: "Army base soup" this is a product of American's presence in post war Korea. It's basically a mix of anything and everything available. The ingredients I know were in it were Ramen noodles, rice noodles, beef, hot dogs, and (even) Spam, and there was definitely a lot more I couldn't place. Despite the excess of unidentifiable flavors and "meats" that I don't really even eat in the States, this shit fucking rocked. It is highly recommended, if not for meal that certainly won't disappoint, then the experience.
Nurungji: This is more or less rice they have cooked in a stone pot, and after you dish out the majority of the rice, you mix the burnt/stuck-to-the-pot
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Dana in her cap and gown. rice with hot water and mix it up like soup. While the taste was nothing to go nuts about, it does an excellent job of removing the permanent spice from your mouth that you get from the excess of red pepper in almost all Korean dishes. With that being said, so far very few of the dishes have been burn-your-pants-off spicy, but maybe I built up some tolerance after my "potato greens and rice" fiasco in Ghana that I may or may not STILL have heartburn from..
Red bean paste pastries: These are my guilty pleasure. I know to most American's anything "bean paste" and "pastry" don't exactly sound good together, but OH MY GOD. I could care less if I turn into Marlon Brando eating this shit, it is so amazing and definitely something I'll miss when/if I leave the Far East.
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AJ
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tee hee
This made me laugh a lot...some how you LOVE being a teacher to little kids...weird. You're doing a good job on these, keep it coming, I'm officially a subscriber. You are my Parez Hilton.