80 Cents to Make Danny Happy

As much as the humble raconteur of this poorly edited blog loved being unemployed, opening his eyes when he had had enough sleep, having no schedule, calling no man mister and working only 4 hours a week timing 3 year olds run the 100 meter dash, and drinking growlers of local brew on any night he chose, he think that he might have made a good decision flying far west to the Far East. The author's friend here in Korea, Rosie, thinks he might like talking about himself in the third person. Danny would like to conjecture that she's full of it. 

So I do enjoy working, I really do. The hours can be long and the kids can get tiresome but classes are 40 minutes and soon they are over and I hope they have learned something and that they will someday choose to respect me and my ability to rock the English language in ways they only wish they could. Some of my kindergarten kids will be fluent soon. I suppose you could argue that they already are but they make a mistake every once in a while... I am so jealous of their abilities to speak so confidently in English. I never have to remind them not to speak in Korean-- just to zip it for speaking too much in English. They even bicker in English. At times I might forget that they are Korean and not little American children.

Apart from work I have been having plenty of fun-- in some cases maybe too much fun. Careful with the local water, Soju, it can be tricky and still there in the morning. The last two nights I have been to two different noraebangs (noraybongs) which is the Korean version of karaoke. You are entreated to a private room so that no one but your singing companions can hear you sing butchered versions of Nirvana or Snoop Dogg. Very fun and a lot less embarrassing than the karaoke I have done in the past.

I have been eating so well here. I wish I had a camera (coming soon) to document the what can only be described as ambrosia that you can purchase for between 80 cents to $10. I have eaten seafood lasagna with shrimp and squid, tempura shrimp, tempura squid, tempura octopus, tempura hard boiled eggs, spicy spaghetti with squid, fish on sticks-- not to be confused with fish sticks, curries, kimchi, and 13 other things that I can't tell you what they were but they were not in anyway not delicious. I have yet to go to a restaurant where they have fish tanks out in front filled with live crabs, lobsters, small squids, fish, bottom feeders, eels, sea cucumbers, snails or their younger sibling the street cart with fish tanks filled with the smaller but still very much live sea creatures. I love this country.

A note on kimchi: kimchi is fermented vegetables that have been lathered in hot sauce and left for different amounts of time in clay pots, the most common of which being the cabbage variety. I eat all my vegetables here. I would have eaten all of my vegetables in the States if they were spicy and lip-smackingly crazy good. I don't know why no one in the US ever introduced me to the wonders of kimchi before. If you knew about it and didn't tell me then we can't be friends anymore. Shame on you. I had to eat lunch with "D class" all week and the kids kept complaining how spicy their kimchi was-- but ate up every bite of it. Kids eating their vegetables... 10 points for Korea.

Apart from eating delicious food I am slowly picking up some Korean but I can now say bathroom and have used it several times! I need to learn numbers next; I think I have most of the alphabet under control except for the 10 different yuh/yah/yeh/yoh/yyuhh sounds masquerading themselves as useful and distinct letters.

I think there was something else I had wanted to add but I think this was sufficient information and hopefully still entertaining. Please comment! More comments will get me to post more and I'm pretty sure that you don't have to register with anything to do it, so just leave your comments and I will be very happy to read them.

And yes, I yell at my kids in Spanish to get their attention. Nothing easier.

Adios and please get that health care thing passed! I am sick of hearing about it on the news podcasts I watch and would really appreciate healthcare when I get back if I can't get a decent job right away. So call or write those representives and senators and utilize that democracy thing us Americans are always so quick to defend but reluctant to practice!