Not so Korean

Today was not one of my better days, which means I have something to write about! Haha!

Today it felt like everyone I encountered was out of control. The kids. The teachers. Me, just a little. The morning classes, I got to the point where I made them put their heads on their desk for a little quiet time. As soon as the bell rang, I bolted out to lunch.

Ramen and rice = delicious.

Once fed and thus ready to face the afternoon, I went to mail my packages home, and I guess I didn't choose the correct service because it cost about 2x as much as I had cash on me. Fortunately, I'm not in the United States of America. I'm in South Korea, where I'm basically the only person who looks like me and they are incredibly trusting of people. I walked home, drank some soda, picked up more money and strolled back where they helped me right away. I'm a little concerned, though, because my receipt doesn't reflect payment for my letters and envelopes. So Mom, dad, Molly, Gammy--sorry if nothing shows up in the next week. I was hot and flustered!

Speaking of hot, the highs are still upper 80s here. (Lately, though, I define anything above 83 as "upper" 80s; upper is a relative term.) So I still look fantastic with my hair jammed into a ponytail and sweat trickling. It's so hot here, my mascara still runs--which really is more of a detail than a complaint.

Afternoon classes weren't very good. I had a 12-year-old giving me attitude because she "knows everything." Well, she's in her 4th month of English lessons, so I'm going to go with, "My English is better, and I'm the teacher, so shut up and start learning!" My last class, I ended up just throwing out the problem child, but he was like a boomerang. Just kept popping his head in. "Teachaaa, I sorry! I English only!" His English after 3 years of English lessons is worse than my 6-year-old's.

6:45 rolled around, though, and when I tried to collect the word searches (so the Korean teacher doesn't know... heh), the kids were deeply enthralled and quiet, so I just left them. Slipping down the stairs, I snuck out into the setting sun, thinking, "I am going to lock myself in my apartment and do nothing." I then paused and realized, I'm in another country and should do something adventurous. After ruling out fried chicken (not healthy and not very adventurous), I went to the Chinese restaurant near my house to see what it was like.

When they say "seafood" in Korea, they don't mean shrimp and crab. They mean squid and octopus. Staring into my steaming bowl of miscellaneous seafood and noodles, I counted the legs on some tiny creature, and while it didn't have the pointed head of a squid, it had 12 or so legs. Regardless, I just tried to bury it and eat the noodles--but I knew it was there. I'm still urping over it, but damnit... I had a culinary adventure. Maybe half a gallon of ice cream will get rid of this ... taste.