When Amy met Soju

Spot the difference anyone??? 

Oh yeah, one is a place where you go to watch cute dolphins jump through hoops and the other is where you eat them!

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I get spam on my front door EVERY day.  I think most are takeaway menus (oh, to understand what they said), but I haven't a clue what the others are.  A strange, yet I assume effective, advertising method.

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This type of animal cruelty, I am sad to say, is something I have seen very often over the last week.  Do you think this dog (which is probably a he) LIKES having a strawberry dyed into the fur on its left butt cheek?? I think not.  Please also note the pink dye spots on its cheeks (face cheeks this time) and the fluorescent orange and pink dye on its legs... don't even get me started on the jacket!!

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Trees wrapped in straw... I guess it's to keep them alive during the winter or something, but I really don't know.  Any suggestions?

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Pretty teapots in Gangnam, Seoul.

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Me, Ellen and the great potato spiral.  Deep-fried spud with tasty sprinkles of cheese, onion and chili salt. mmmm....

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I survived my first week as an English Teacher!!!  I feel like a bit of an impostor standing up there at the front of a classroom... I'm paranoid that at any moment someone will realise that I shouldn't be here - given I can hardly speak the language myself let alone teach it to people who are paying good money to learn!  I'm particularly nervous since I discovered that on of the girls in my kinder class is the daughter of my boss...  I wonder what type of feedback a 5 year old can give her parents???  

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Anyway, I'm having a great time and I'm learning so much along the way! Like, did you know that when choosing an English name to go by, approximately 33% of boys in Korea choose Kevin?  Ok, well that is an entirely fabricated statistic, but I sure seems like just about every boy I teach is called Kevin... Perhaps the Wonder Years has made a comeback in Korea?

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On the topic of names, I think I've caused a bit of damage with a few kids and wouldn't be surprised if they come to school sporting new ones tomorrow... On Monday I told a student (Eric) that he had the same name as my grandfather and as a consequence he has been taunted by the others about being an old man for the entire week.  Obviously I don't say Peter like the Americans do and therefore it sounds like Peeta, and when I speak to a student named Hans (it's 'Germany' he tells me), I say it like 'Han(d)s' instead of 'Hahns'.  I know accents can be funny at times, but geeze, I feel terrible that mine has caused a case or two of bullying! I've never heard kids chant mockery quite so loudly before...

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On Friday night after work I went out with a couple of other foreign teachers.  That's when I met Soju.  We were introduced by a mutual friend and were immediately attracted to each other.  We went out on the town and spent the night together, then woke up in the morning and didn't like each other anymore.... I guess that now would be a good time to mention that Soju is a Korean alcohol made from rice (sorry if I scared you there Mama).  It tastes similar to vodka and has much the same effect - possible side effects of soju may include dancing, singing, slurred speech, lack of balance and impaired motor skills.  If I told you that the night involved a) many games of twister, b) hours spent in a Norabang (karaoke room), c) a 5am dumpling run, and d) the most painful, nasty headache in the morning, could you guess how many of these side effects were in action? Yes, all of them.  Good times.