20 weeks!

As usual, there is much to talk about. Funny how that happens when I let almost 2 weeks go by between posts.

Today's musing is, what's with the word "story" for Koreans? I noticed a shop called Pizza Story on the way home today. One of the major rice cake makers (and rice cakes are BIG business) is Story of Rice Cake. There's Hair Story, Storyway, and at least a dozen others I can't call to mind at the moment. Methinks maybe there's some misinterpretation going on. I might have to ask someone. Another question: why, when you ride to the last stop on a subway, do they always tell you to be sure you have all your belongings? Is leaving something on the train ok when it's on its way elsewhere?

"June", one of my new co-teachers, is very good about explaining things to me. Good thing, since my 'caretaker' is on maternity leave, and her substitute hasn't plucked up the courage to talk to me yet. I continue to learn about English as well, from answering my colleagues' questions. Issues I've fielded this week: "sure" and "no problem" are indeed acceptable responses when someone says "thank you", while "don't mention it" makes you sound like Cary Grant; "I like that you enjoyed your vacation" is awkward, but "I like that he took a leadership role" isn't, for reasons I haven't yet unraveled.

I'm nearly through Bill Bryson's "The Mother Tongue: English & How it Got That Way". Lots of interesting bits...why does the US Postal Service deliver the mail, while the Royal Mail delivers the post?...myriad reasons why English is so inconsistent: we're a mix of Anglo-Saxon vocabulary and Latin rules, when adopting foreign words, we tend to preserve the spelling but not necessarily the pronunciation, etc, etc. Though he has little to say about Korea, his frequent mention of Japanese difficulties with English are all too familiar. Another place he fails to mention is Newfoundland, which I would think would be a gold mine for a linguist, as it seems to be a bit of a time capsule--at several points, Bryson details archaic pronunciations and obsolete rhymes that I've actually heard spoken on The Rock.

My lesson this week was about Easter. Korean kids know about eggs, but that's it. The Easter Bunny was a new concept even for the teachers, while the kids got a big kick out of children "dyeing" eggs. They also were very impressed that Peeps are made from marshmallow (I don't know why), and were mostly convinced that the coconut-covered bunny cake I showed them was made of rice. Thinking about it now, I should have made "jellybean" a vocabulary word, but too late. The lesson was fun, but after 20 repetitions, I'm glad to be done with it. This coming week, I start differentiating lessons, so I've got 3 separate plans in the works, in addition to 2 for tomorrow's EEP classes (yes, my first stressful Saturday). I even started working on them early in the week, but my head is still spinning trying to keep track of it all.

Speaking of head spinning--or perhaps swimming--I may have mentioned this before, but WHAT is with Koreans and onions at Costco?? Last time I was there with friends, we resolved not to sit near the onions in the dining area, but I realized this time that proximity to the dispenser is largely irrelevant. EVERYONE gets themselves a giant plate of diced onions, stirs them up with ketchup and mustard, and then--this is the amazing part--EATS it. But not before the stink gets all over my jacket. I guess it's the Korean garbage plate (though that term could be applied to so many things here), but the name is so apt, it loses the wry element.

I'm going to a Passover Seder tomorrow. I'm excited--I've never been to one before. It's a potluck, which is a real bear...potlucks in general are a trial here, since I don't have the ingredients/equipment to make my usuals, but add the Passover food rules, and I'm totally lost (this is the holiday where I once had a parent, when I was babysitting for a full day, tell me "it's probably best if you don't eat anything 'cause you might mess up the plates"). I floated a few ideas past the host, who either shot them down or suggested expensive, needle-in-a-haystack ingredients as substitutes, and finally got the brilliant idea to just make applesauce. I hope there's nothing wrong with cinnamon.

I scratched a major itch this week by walking around Deokso. Back in the fall, I was making a point to go exploring every week, and one strategy was to pick random subway stops and see what's there. I'd chosen Deokso early in March, and penciled it in at least 3 times, but was always thwarted. This week, I finally set out. It seems to be located on some kind of lake, which was neat-looking from the subway, but Koreans like to put major roads along water, so you can't just walk up to it. I did find a drainage ditch to walk along, which was nicer than it sounds. The full moon was coming up, in rather sinister color, and there were cranes (I think) fishing in the water. Hardly a nature preserve, but much more satisfying than my neighborhood. I didn't bring my camera, and it was dark anyway, but I wish I had a picture of the airplane church. Someone's taken an old 747, raised it up on stilts so it's about its own height off the ground, and turned it into a place of worship. I'm half tempted to go to a service. The plane was oddly eerie, jutting out of a hillside. I've heard that the essence of scary is putting ordinary things where you don't expect them to be...worked in this case.

Also in the "where's my camera?" department: FAG company (no idea what they make), and a bus from BS Tours.

Someday (theoretically), I'll post about my Temple Stay last weekend. Pretty touristy, but pretty cool.