Notes from a Walnut Cake bag

The actual notes on the walnut cake bag are from my trip to Daegu and Haeinsa this weekend, but before I get to those, a few tidbits from the Monday that, at the time of writing, has not happened yet for you, Dear Reader.

--My co-teacher, Terrie, is reading a Bill Bryson book. It's translated, which makes me curious how much of the original flavor is retained, but it cheers me nonetheless. The bit she related to me today was about the French, and how they queue to get on a bus, but when it arrives, they mob the door, pushing and elbowing. Terrie was musing over how Koreans do this also, and wondering why they bother standing in line in the first place. This is why I like Terrie.

--I'm now a Costco Korea member. Stocked up on bagels and cheese, got some "marine crackers" to snack on at school, and snagged myself an industrial-sized pumpkin pie (and even managed to carry it home without incident). Also violated the "you don't get more dessert than you had dinner" rule I usually impose on kids, chasing a single slice of pizza with a huge cup of soft serve. Holly, my mentor, came with me, reminding me that, as the Holly Hobbie pencil case I had in 1st grade observed, "two is much more fun than one".

--I've been looking for a thin jacket to wear at school, since the distinction between inside and outside is really too fine a point to quibble over. I like my winter jacket, and I want it to last for many years, which it won't if I'm wearing it constantly for 4 months. I decided I wanted to pay about $30 for the new jacket, realizing that for that price, I may as well just ask Santa to bring me one. On the way to Costco, though, I passed a store called Crocodile (although I am SURE they're not trying to make you think it's Izod), with a rack on the sidewalk of fleecy, inside-out-Muppet style jackets. And, in a layer of miracles too thick to comprehend, the jackets were all of the following:
-colors I like
-warm, but compact
-sturdy and well-made
-NOT size 6X
-NOT covered in patterns reminiscent of 1970s upholstery
-$29
So I bought one. And have been wearing it around the house all evening. In fact, I like it so much, I think I want it to last for many years, which it won't if I'm wearing it constantly for 4 months. So maybe this will be my new spring/fall jacket, and I can wear my current, cheap, ill-fitting fleece jacket at school until it falls apart. Or I freeze to death anyway.

--I got a completely unexpected package today. One is never too old to be excited about receiving mail, especially when it is full of good things to eat and a really cool crepe turkey.

--Also got a formerly-expected-but-now-given-up-on postcard. It was mailed with a twin, which arrived last Monday, and after a week of ransacking the mailboxes, I'd decided it had been eaten by one postal service or another. These are the mysteries of the universe which we are not meant to understand.

--Taught a class today, for the first time in ages. Actually, "taught" is overstating it significantly. The 3rd graders had finals last week and have abandoned any lingering vestiges of diligence. Anticipating this, I planned to do a game with them this week. My one success with this was in annoying the co-teachers, who hate games; the kids were even less attentive than in the past, a feat which deserves recognition for pushing the boundaries of imagined possibility. For the 1st & 2nd graders who did speaking tests last week, I'm planning to teach them some animal-related idioms...ants in your pants, raining cats & dogs, horseplay, chicken, etc. This lesson does NOT want to come together, and I head into Tuesday with the PowerPoint only half finished. I think it'll be ok, though, and I have Terrie's support with this one.

--I have at long last begun reading "Blue Highways", which I bought at the Cortez library in June and have toted with me everywhere since. I love it. William Least Heat Moon is a gifted writer, expressing things so effectively, succinctly, originally, and delightfully, I feel like rolling on the floor speaking in tongues. I'd like to think I could learn to write like that, but if you have to work at it, you ain't got it. This is a book that demands to be read with pencil in hand, but is none the less enjoyable for that. As suspected, it's got me dreaming of the open road again. I'm once more plotting my madcapitals, 48-states-in-48-days journey of insanity, and, having left my travel notes & notebook at home, I'm creating the itinerary for at least the dozenth time. I've really got a winner, though, worked out on the interminable bus ride from Daegu last night.

Speaking of Daegu, at some point this blog was supposed to segue into weekend chronicles, but I've once again managed to clog up cyberspace with digital diarrhea...tune in next time to find out what was REALLY written on that walnut cake bag!

Time to crawl into bed with my road atlas and succomb to the bliss.