Royal Correspondence
The thing that stinks about signing a year contract and working in a foreign country is you make friends and then they leave. The good thing is sometimes they come back:
My liege,
Word of your return to Korea has reached the wilds of Manitoba. Eight honorable riders sacrificed their lives to bring this information to me and I will not let them die in vain. My self-imposed exile has not been without moments of excitement, but there has been nothing as monumental as our battles against the Vowel-beast or our storming of Namhansanseong Fortress. I have tried to make a life for myself here, trading sheep for whatever wood and ore I can, but I find something is missing. So it is time to shake off the chains of domesticity and return to the battlefield. Prepare your army and yourself for the long fight of winter, and know that when the Hanguk horde crashes against the Gates of Gangnam you shall have my sword at your side.
Your vassal,
Sir Kenneth
Reply:
Sir Keneth,
Do not think that word of your valor and exploits have not reached our ears. Many a long night at the nore-bong, where we have been haunted by the devilish shrieks of the damned and the chorus of Born to Wild, we have wondered when your presence would be returned for us. Finally, that day draws nie, when we will rise up once more and charge the hell-hofs of Seoul! When we will hold back the winters night through flagons of fire water and song! Yes! I feel it, no cultural bridge will be safe upon your return. Tis, time for a grasping of swords and an abandonment of common sense. To this band, you are always welcome.
The Former King,
Nathan of the NoRe
Lots of private joke in there. See how many you can get. Dorks of Korea, unite!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Disco Dancing, English and the Things in Between
The blog's been running dry as of late. I want to post about all the crazy adventures I've been having as of late, the only problem is there haven't been too many crazy adventures. I made a third grade girl cry the other day. That was kind of traumatic for both me and her. I'm big on making kids talk in my class. Every once in awhile I'll call on a student and they'll freeze up. Usually one of the English proficient students will pipe up and say, "But teacher, she doesn't speak English!" To this I reply, "Too bad, this is English class."
I made this specific girl cry by requesting that she disco dance. Whenever someone messes up on a conversion, saying the wrong word or omitting a word I make them strike a disco pose, reminiscent of John Travolta on the Saturday Night Fever poster. This usually makes the kids laugh and hopefully makes them understand it's OK to mess up and do embarrassing things around their friends. With this girl the exact opposite happened. I understand though. It has to be tough when many of your friends understand English but you don't, and everyone is yelling out this incomprehensible stuff, and then people are dancing and your wondering if you've been sent to the looney bin. Then this funny looking stranger with a big nose comes up and says something that sounds like, "Borkdee sporkdee flee dee flem disco!" I think I'd crack too.
It's tough to remember what it was like in elementary school but I remember bits and pieces. I'm disorganized now and it was ten times worse when I was a kid. I remember adults yelling at me for no apparent reason. I knew they were angry, I just really couldn't get my head around why. Now I'm one of those yelling adults. I try not to be but on occasion it happens. The one saving grace is the little third grade girl has forgiven me. I think she totally forgot about the situation. We were playing the ball game, if a student catches the ball they have to answer a question. If they miss the ball they have to disco. This girl missed and struck the biggest disco pose I've ever seen. She is the disco queen. Now, if I could only get her to speak English.
The blog's been running dry as of late. I want to post about all the crazy adventures I've been having as of late, the only problem is there haven't been too many crazy adventures. I made a third grade girl cry the other day. That was kind of traumatic for both me and her. I'm big on making kids talk in my class. Every once in awhile I'll call on a student and they'll freeze up. Usually one of the English proficient students will pipe up and say, "But teacher, she doesn't speak English!" To this I reply, "Too bad, this is English class."
I made this specific girl cry by requesting that she disco dance. Whenever someone messes up on a conversion, saying the wrong word or omitting a word I make them strike a disco pose, reminiscent of John Travolta on the Saturday Night Fever poster. This usually makes the kids laugh and hopefully makes them understand it's OK to mess up and do embarrassing things around their friends. With this girl the exact opposite happened. I understand though. It has to be tough when many of your friends understand English but you don't, and everyone is yelling out this incomprehensible stuff, and then people are dancing and your wondering if you've been sent to the looney bin. Then this funny looking stranger with a big nose comes up and says something that sounds like, "Borkdee sporkdee flee dee flem disco!" I think I'd crack too.
It's tough to remember what it was like in elementary school but I remember bits and pieces. I'm disorganized now and it was ten times worse when I was a kid. I remember adults yelling at me for no apparent reason. I knew they were angry, I just really couldn't get my head around why. Now I'm one of those yelling adults. I try not to be but on occasion it happens. The one saving grace is the little third grade girl has forgiven me. I think she totally forgot about the situation. We were playing the ball game, if a student catches the ball they have to answer a question. If they miss the ball they have to disco. This girl missed and struck the biggest disco pose I've ever seen. She is the disco queen. Now, if I could only get her to speak English.
Fireworks
This past Saturday, Seoul had an international fireworks competition between Japan, the U.S. and, of course, Korea. Japan had an impressive but not overly rambunctious show. The U.S. came out in typical U.S. fashion with a bombastic flurry of light and sound that was akin to shooting first and asking questions later. Korea shot so much fire in the air that after awhile it was hard to see the fireworks for all the smoke. All in all it was the most impressive fireworks I've seen and it better have been because 2 million people showed up for the presentation.
Seoul Sunset
Two weeks ago I had a Monday off so I decided to hike Bukhansan, a mountain outside of Seoul. Bukhansan is inaccessible during the weekend because because there's too many people. In other words you can't go hiking because there's too many hikers. Pictured here is the fruit of my labor.
Our New Toy
The landlord just installed a bidet in our apartment. Now we're living in luxury. I think he might have gone to a seminar by the former mayor of Suwon.
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