GOING INTO HIDING

This week has been insane with 'intensives' (which are also in January, it's when public schools get out for one month and the parents just send their kids to more English private classes so we get slammed with 7 or 8 (or 10) extra classes in a week). But also next week we have Tuesday-Friday off, which makes that the longest break we have all year. So I some stuff planned, no trips to far away places but museums, baseball games, and other touristy stuff.

I'm not saying that I'm King Updates here, but I'm just saying I am going to be relaxing and enjoying my break with hopefully minimal concerns and maximum activities so there might be some radio silence. I probably won't even watch every Padres game, which is a drastic change of pace but that's what vacations are for!

Will be taking pictures along the way of course! Talk soon, take care everyone.

TRANSLATIONS

Keeping it mellow this weekend, so thus far this has been the highlight of my Saturday:

I bought a 5 dollar lid to my frying pan, I was having second thoughts, by then I got mind-convinced by the blurb at the bottom, check it out:

That's right, I'M CHOSEN!!

Similarly lost in translation was when our in-class assignment was to draw what you wanted to be when you grew up. This was one 8 year old's interpretaiton:

I used to hate that question as a kid so I just let him keep on wanting to be some sort Lightning King with a day dream of being a building/parking garage with out any hassle from my end. 

Lastly, I also got a second set of silverware as well tonight. It was 3 bucks for one knife, one spoon and one fork. But when I opened the knife I realized that 'knife' might not have been the exact term for it.

That above is where, in traditional and generally accepted cutlery fashions, the blade should have been located. Instead it's just a continuation of the flattened piece of metal theme established at the handle. I think what made it more ridiculous was the thick steak on the cardboard cover; that knife would have about as much affect as a match in a blizzard against a steak like that one. Dollar not well spent but ah well, get em' next time.

DUKE CLASS TAKES FLIGHT

 SPREAD WINGS

 ENGINES ON.

LIFTOFF. 

CHICKEN FEET ALMOST KILLED ME

We took out our new co-worker last weekend and it was a great time. However instead of doing the American tradition of hitting up a Denny's or a similar pancake-and-or-grease-specific place after the bars closed, we decided to head out and have chicken feet.

The feet are the deep fried things in the moddle, served with cold soup, egg loaf and rice/seaweed mixture.

The texture was fine. I wasn't too worried about it being gross or anything (they remove the talons and deep fry it) but I ate a few pretty quickly. But what no one told me was that chicken feet are notoriously one of the spiciest Korean dishes. It was devastatingly spicy. It almost ended my ability to feel tongue feelings. I had to walk it off. I had to re-think my whole 'liking food' notion. I stuck to rice and noodles after that.

SKEPTICAL EUGENE

HE'S SKEPTICAL. 

I don't know why Eugene started making this face all day, but he'll start giggling and then in a blink he'll switch to this face, hold it for a few seconds, and then start giggling again. This made my day.

NEW ARRIVAL

Blog I'd like you to meet my new best friend,

My fan. I'll add on to that the fact that it's humid, about 85 degrees during the day and it's been pouring rain the last few weeks with an exception for the aforementioned day we went to the farm. So I needed a fan. I took the trip out to CostCo. after work today. It's open till 10 so I went a little late to avoid the rush, also I had this for dinner so as to completely avoid the shopping-while-hungry curse that has let to so many past instances of expired items:

That's from the Japanese restaurant around the way. I think I've posted the breaded fish fillet with rice, salad and tatertots before, but this time I added a plate of 3 tipes of sushimi and two little rice pouch things. Meal still only about 8 bucks. Anyway, after that I grabbed my umbrella and headed to the world-famous wholesaler.

FIELD TRIP (PART 2?)

Got a little sun burned today blog,

The kindergarten took a field trip to pick the potatoes that we planted a few months back. I am assuming that I took pics of the last trip and posted them but I can't find the post!! Pretty good blog administration huh?

PICS FROM THE PAST WEEK (part one: mostly cooking)

Happy Monday, blog! Think it's some date in early July but I forget if it has significance.

Not much happening, one teacher is on 1 month vacation back in the states and we have 2 new teachers (one foreign and one Korean) roaming the halls. They both seem (after 1 day) great. Tomorrow we have a field trip to a farm! So I'll report back on that. I've gotten rained on a lot. Turns out, you need to own an umbrella in Korea and my San Diego 'nah I have a hoodie' attitude will not suffice. Oh, it will not suffice.

We'll lets get a'picturein' eh?

There is one class at 7pm with 12 and 13 year olds, I don't teach the class but every time I walk by I make this face in the window. Mostly because it's 7pm and I've been working since 9, but also because they seemed to like it. Then my school put up this poster, an advertisement for a movie at which ECC students get a big discount, and they students came running up to me saying that I was on the poster. Do you see the resemblance??? Also now they call me Angry Bird Teacher.

This one of the Big 3 (different meals I cook myself). I have a rice maker on loan for the month, first off. Then I grill up onions and some green peppers that are really popular and cheap here, throw some of that (low-carb!) sweet and sour sauce on there and wrap them in some sesame seed leafs. Pretty delicious! Those leafs are also less than a dollar for about 20. Problem is, what am I going to do with 20 leafs? That's one of them fancy 'good problems'.

OH but also on loan from my co-teacher who went to the states is a toaster oven. He also gave me some fancy pants mustard. So I bought some cheese and made this:

Alright it's not the healthiest meal, and, yes I put grilled onions and those green peppers in everything I cook. I think the fancy mustard (called A L'Ancienne - Old Style Dijon Mustard (!)) makes this so tasty.

I have more pics but I'm pretty beat, update again soon. Hope everyone's 4th is safe, miss you all!