I made it through my second month in
I bought a printer for my computer so I could send out some actual letters. For some reason I don’t mind doing it. I actually enjoy it. Besides, I do know people who don’t use email. I also know people who drag their women folk around by their hair and who hunt the dreaded and much feared wholly mammoth with hand made tools.
I lost the class with my little Fireplug but I did sub for her class last week and I am now forced to take back all of the things that I wrote about her. Yes, she still has a black belt, but she is irresistibly cute and always tries to teach me bits of Korean. I think that we spent the lesson reading Little Red Riding Hood and she does read well. When there were some words that everyone didn’t understand, she insisted that she write the words out on the white board so all could see (she had to stand on a desk in order to reach the upper part of the white board). I mean, for me to write out the Korean would take hours and she just whips it out like it is her native tongue. Her English name is Julia but I have no idea what her Korean name is and there is no way that I would remember it. I can barely remember how to get home. She tried to teach me the word “friend” but I forgot it. The next time I’ll slip her some candy, just to keep her on my good side. She could be frontin’ for all I know.
Although there are many rackets in the world, I find that the faux holidays that the Hallmark Greeting Card Company has created to be some of the most offensive. Sweetheart’s Day is bullshit. But the Koreans have one better. On 11/11 is Pepero Day. These are long, pretzel-stick like things, no salt, that are dipped in chocolate. They actually more like a flavorless cookie. They vary in size and the deal is that taller people are supposed to give them to shorter people. This means that every teacher is supposed to pass these damned things out. So I go to my first class of the day and BOOM there are hands out and everyone wondering where their treat is. I knew that it was 11/11 but I really didn’t think that it was obligatory. SO . . . I have to leave the class, ask my director to cover while I run to the store, buy 30 boxes of these things and start passing them out. My 30 boxes only ran me about $10 but it was not enough as each kid wants their own box and there are 15 short sticks in a box. After careful rationing, by the time I get to my last class I am down to three boxes of these things and I decide that each student can have four sticks. I have taken attendance, I am down to just a crumpled bag of broken pieces and I think I am pretty much on top of things. This girl walks in late and I hand her the broken pieces and tell that is the last of it and that is what she gets for being late. I mark her in as late and when I look up she is crying. I mean crying hysterically. Like I have gutted her pet in front of her crying. I have no idea what faux pas I have crossed but it can’t be good. Maybe the broken ones represent a curse or some silly shit? The one who gets the broken ones will have a year filled with rotten teeth and poor sleep. The bag is on the floor and she is weeping . . . Once again I leave the class and go and get my director and tell her that some girl is crying because I gave her broken pretzel sticks and she follows me back to the classroom.
It turns out that one of the boys did something to her so he got reamed out by the director for making the girl cry and for sending me into a frenzy. Naturally, the same boy made another girl cry before the class ended and I was tempted to kill his scrawny ass but it was Friday and I just wanted to go home. I guess Georgie Porgie knows no international boundaries.
I also tired to bribe one of my lousy classes with movies and treats. I decided that the best way to get them to do what I wanted them to was to make them answer direct questions. Well, this just pissed them off. I really didn’t mind but I decided that honey might work better than vinegar and I downloaded a bunch of Tom & Jerry cartoons with the idea that they could watch them and then try and retell the plot. So I sprung for some slushies and we watched cartoons and, I suppose this is my own fault, all I got was a bunch of stories about how the cat and mouse were mean to each other. I guess it was worth it but now all they want to do is watch cartoons and they are all pissed off if I don’t bring my laptop to class. Ain’t that a bitch.
I never really like to write about politics as most know where I stand. There are also people like Judith Miller and Bob Novak who do it so well that adding my voice to the fray isn’t really necessary. Once I completed one of those on-line quizzes (Are you on the right or the left?) and I ended up so far to the left that I was next to Chomsky and was moving out toward the point that I was almost a Maoist. I guess that is from reading Sartre and growing up in an industrial ghost town. This week George Bush is making his Asian tour and from what I have read it seems that he is trying to escape those stellar approval ratings back home. On Thursday he arrives in Pusan/Busan which is only a 1 ½ hour bus ride from here. I think that he leaves on Saturday so the protests which as scheduled for Friday will be over by the time I get out of class. I still think I may make the trip as I need to find a sweater and Pusan/Busan is the second largest city in the country. It wouldn’t hurt if I added my voice to those who want to scream.
Other than that there hasn’t been a whole lot to add. I downloaded Roger Ebert’s Greatest Movies list and am trying to fill in the gaps via LIIMEWIRE and cheap videos that I find in the downtown markets. Tonight’s feature is The Bicycle Thief. Now if only I can find some popcorn . . .
Peace,
sh
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