Bless me blog for I have sinned 

It has been more than two weeks since my last update… My mother always said that there was a catholic in me somewhere. Time has been going by very slowly.  I am quickly realizing that we are working a great deal of the time.  Even our weekends aren’t a sure thing all the time.  This last Saturday, Rachel and I both had to get up and head on over to the school for makeup classes.  The entire day wasn’t a bust, but it did kill our morning and afternoon. 

The real reason why I haven’t come to talk to you blog is that it has been really very boring.  Without a whole lot of time, contacts, or cash we haven’t really been able to do anything.  Now don’t get me wrong blog, I have had some great fun with a few people, new and old alike.  But it isn’t the same as going on a trip, or adventuring somewhere.  You want specifics?  Well we, Becky and Nancy (one person I knew from Michigan and one new face) all went out for Russian food on Becky’s birthday.  I had never had Russian food before.  A new experience!  And I do have to thank all those years with my brother were he listened to Russian language tapes in his old truck.  I allowed me to at least say thanks to the waiter.  After successfully finding a chocolate cake, did we realize that we didn’t have any plates of silverware.  However with my trusty improvisation skills I managed to cut apart the cardboard box for plates and steal some Baskin Robbins sample spoons, and did we manage to enjoy a small portion of the cake before passing off to German business students (who accepted our most vehement assurances that the cake was not poison).   

After weeks of trying to see Liz and Andy again we were finally able to meet up again.  One of the biggest obstacles to meeting up is the subject of my next topic: Getting sick in Korea.  As of today we have not yet received our alien registration cards.  That means no legal status, no national insurance, and no state ID.  So when I told boss that I wasn’t feeling well, but not sick enough to miss class (A very rare thing on this side of the world.  You would practically have to have limbs missing for that to happen), my boss responded with “why don’t you just go to the hospital and get some medicine”, slowly realizing the futility of that suggestion.  In a more than generous gesture, my boss offered to buy me some medicine.  An hour later I had a small box of bills with good instructions, a bottle of Chinese herbal stuff that I shall now refer to as hoodoo.  The hoodoo smelled something like celery, honey, and dirt.  I know it may be difficult to fathom those three flavors working in concert, but they found a way.  Swallowed a pill, chugged a bottle of hoodoo, and somehow 10 minutes later, I’m feeling a lot better.  I don’t care if was a placebo or not, but the hoodoo worked.  After that I was ready to face the music of my classroom. 

Now over the past few days and weeks Rachel and I have amassed a few interesting stories about our classes, and our students.  Rachel tells me funny stories about how she managed to teach her class the Vulcan hand sign and “Live long and prosper”.  I know she is amazing, isn’t she?  Later on she tells me that she had a writing exercise about musical instruments for a mid level class.  What follows is a series of questions and answers that I can only describe as epic. 

Question: What is your favorite musical instrument?

Answer: A cannon

Question: Why do you like it?

Answer: It is powerful. 

Question: Do you play this instrument?

Answer: I will!

Question: What musical family does this instrument belong to?

Answer: North Korea

Question:  Where is this instrument played/ where do you play it? 

Answer: North Korea

On a side note another student answered similarly but with nuclear bomb instead of cannon.  

Now some of this can be chalked up to simply being silly, but it can go both ways.  In one of my more advanced classes, we somehow got on the topic of fast food and health.  One student started talking about chicken nuggets and I could tell that he was trying to explain the process of mechanical separation.  Now, I could tell where he was going with it, and the class way trying their best to stay English only.  So I took it upon myself to finish the explanation.  First, I had to explain “wood chipper” to the students.  They picked it up quickly, but still had a look of confusion as to why I was talking about wood chips, when we were just talking about fast food.  Now with phantom miming and sound effects included, I then demonstrated how chicken nuggets are made and what relationship they had with a “wood chipper”.  The expression that the students gave me back was priceless.  Rachel’s expression when I told her about this was priceless.  And before anyone has anything else to say about this, keep in mind that there is a Korean dish called “Fish cake” which is the ground up bones of fish and then fried.  My students then said that they didn’t like that food either.  So, I scored another point for Morgan Spurlock.  

Anywho not much else is really happening at the moment.  We will be getting paid soon (I hope) and then we will have more stories to tell, but for now blog please forgive me for not spending the time with you that you deserve.  I know that I have a responsibility to honor and keep you, but aside from some of the students it has been really boring.