Awkward Korean Family Photos

I've spotted a lot of Olan Mills-esque photo shops around town, starting with the one where I had my Glamour Shot taken my first week here. Many of these establishments display examples of their finest work on the sidewalk, surely delighting the moms of the babies often shown in the photos. On the other hand, the look on this kid's face suggests that he had a feeling his floral pajama-clad likeness was going to end up on the sidewalk of Mansu-dong, where his classmates would frequently walk past and admire ridicule it. I'll be on the lookout for more Korean examples of unfortunate photos; in the meantime there's a website dedicated to helping us revel in other families' gracelessness.

Upgrade

I'm still getting used to the concept of "indoor shoes." Makes perfect sense in one's home, but I still feel a bit strange changing out of my outfit-appropriate footwear to don indoor shoes at work. To make matters worse, my slippers that were once cute had become dingy, stretched out, dilapidated and hazardous. Though I hate to use the L word, they literally had become slippers - I was slipping and tripping up and down the stairs and all over the place.

Now I leave a trail of pink glitter wherever I go, but at least I'm not tripping. Students are paying a bit more attention - who cares if it's just something shiny catching their unfocused gazes?

They Blinded Me With Science

On Friday my classes were rearranged/cancelled because it was Science Day! Despite the gloomy weather, tables were set up around the track to showcase various wonders of the science world. First I wandered between a few stations alone, but felt like a creepy interloper. I was really relieved when (at the station where we put marshmallow choco pies into contraptions to remove the air inside and watch the snack expand) a fourth-grade teacher asked me to follow along with her class. A timekeeper banged a gong and I followed the kids, many of whom had chocolate stuck to their teeth, to the next station.

Bubbles and dessert - two of my favorite things, disguised by a thin veil of science.

Together we played with the cornstarch/water mixture that changes between hard and runny consistencies, made ice cream, assembled necklaces of solar-sensitive beads and made cell phone charms by coloring clear plastic shapes then shrinking and hardening them in a toaster oven. I missed out on slingshots, wind-up rubber band airplanes, bubble-blowing and a couple more. My lack of Korean vocabulary skills prevented me from catching on to the finer points being explained during the experiments (or maybe the instructors were saying "Don't put it in your mouth," over and over), but it was fun to get my hands dirty with the kids. And now I have a handmade, color-changing necklace (on a leather cord!) that someone might be lucky enough to receive for his or her birthday...

Goopy - lots of shrieking here.

Ice cream making balls - also lots of shrieking while shaking & rolling these.

Sixth Month

Oh hey guys, check me out - I've been in Korea for five months now. Really.

What better way to usher in month six than by spending the weekend on the beach? Alison and I bought bus tickets and made the 400 km journey diagonally through Korea to Busan. There we met up with some familiar faces from New Year's shenanigans and I met lots of new faces while hanging out in Haeundae, a famous beach area of the city. As much time as possible was spent on or near the beach playing frisbee, remembering what sun feels like, strolling the boardwalk and people-watching. Metallic gold stilettos and a tiny yellow thong were spotted, but luckily not on the same person.

Though it was a great break from noisy days at school, there was a 14-foot-tall reminder of why Korea needs English teachers:

Among them, is most beautiful it is Haeundae.
There are specially many swimming beaches in Busan.
In summer, national many people used to enjoy the summer here.

Put Some Smoke On It

It was late in a soju-infused school dinner in late February when the seed was planted. My co-teacher Junki told me of his upcoming wedding, and Ann enthusiastically made me pinkie swear that I'd attend with her.  Junki, who had been doing shots of orange soda rather than soju, urged me to think about it because the wedding would take place in Daejeon, 2-3 hours away from Incheon. I thought about it and I wanted to attend. But as the big date approached, I barely heard another peep about the wedding - except for when fourth-grade teachers would make fun of Junki for being 33 years old and not yet married.

Not being sure how direct to be with Korean people and not sure whether I was actually welcome there as a foreigner – yet really wanting to attend the wedding – I waited patiently and kept my Saturday open. Late on the Thursday before the wedding, Ann burst into my office to give me the details: of course I should attend; a bus would leave from the school at 11:30 on Saturday; I didn't need to worry about a gift; I should wear a suit. On Friday Junki gave me an actual invitation (two weeks prior he'd given me a tiny trading card showing him and his fiancee which I thought was the invitation) and I did some wardrobe research (a skirt would suffice).

This Scale is Bored

My scale's box tried to tell me the details of how it operates, but the English translation was getting a little wordy. Anyway, here's what it says:
All weights are approximate having been rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.

Anyway, we guarantee accuracy within +/- 1% + 1 division of applied weight.

New Friend Update Update

And just like that, Darnelius has also flown the coop. I think this adorable rotating cast of characters is trying to teach me a lesson. Two buddies have already finished their contracts and left Korea, and my first close friend here is already leaving at the end of April. Easy come, easy go, right? Hopefully I'll get to see Bill and Ted (left) and Elton (right) in the neighborhood for at least another week.