Thanks to my friends Jason and Stephanie, I now have a list of tantalizingly trivial information in my inbox. I’ve decided to start each new blog with an interesting tidbit. Today’s is “Turtles can breathe through their butts”. There – now don’t you feel smarter already!?

In other news, I spent some time at a PlayStation room today (where my wonder-friend Ken works). I was playing a new game – something about mobsters in London and a car chase. I wasn’t interested in the plot…I was just trying to go for a nice drive around London and try to see some familiar sights. Unfortunately, the mobsters kept shooting me, and I never got very far.

Sometimes you feel like a nut…

Since today is the 1st full moon of the new Lunar year, it is auspicious to eat nuts. I asked my students if they ate nuts today. One bright young man answered “No, I don’t like any kind of nuts. I don’t like peanuts, and I don’t like doughnuts”….but he didn’t realize he was saying anything funny.

In another class, I am stuck with a textbook that is way beyond the capabilities of my 6th grade students. Most of the students in that class just finished a book about clowns, colours, and shapes. In their current book, both the vocabulary and the subject matter are way off base. Consider today’s scenario: The title in itself was incomprehensible “Stereotypes: What are your initial reactions to the following occupations?” right. After lots of drawing and re-phrasing, they finally understood – then we started working our way down the list of occupations….only to be stopped short by occupations #8. The conversation went as follows…

-Students: “Teacher….nude model….what?”

-Me: “uhhhh, like a fashion model, but naked.”

-Students: “Teacher….naked….what?”

-Me: “A person in a magazine – a model – but with no clothes”

-Students: “Teacher, draw!” (often, when they don’t understand a word, I’ll draw it on the board for them. This works well for some things, not so well for others)

-Me: “NO! No, no,no, no. It’s a model. (nods of comprehension), but no shirt, no pants, no …” (the lights go on in their eyes)

-Students: “Ugh – teacher! next question, please, next question!!”

-Me: whew.

I don’t know who chose that textbook for a bunch of elementary school kids, but today’s lesson wasn’t an uncommon one. They’ll be finished at the end of the month, so hopefully their next book will be a little more appropriate.

Two things happened today – one made me remember I was in Korea, and the other made me think I was in Canada.

When I was coming home after work, I could hear the distinctive sound of the instruments the Buddhist monks play. I thought it sounded a little loud to be coming from the monastary on the hillside. I was right. As I approached the intersection near my house, there were about 4 or 5 monks sitting on the corner with about 12-15 women behind them singing and bowing in the buddhist way. That made me remember I was in Korea.

Later, as I was running some errands, snow started to fall. Huge fluffy flakes coming straight down from a black sky. It was beautiful. That made me think I was in Canada.