Rooney Love

Walking around the school, I am consistantly mobbed by children screaming 'Hello, I love you' and 'You are handsome!', both of which are probably exaggerations, but it's certainly going to my head regardless. They also continue to call me Rooney, who I have since learned is Wayne Rooney, a soccer star for Manchester United. This is him (me?):

I don't know how to respond, so I just say thanks.

Well, I have now completed my first two days of classes with the 6th graders, which in actuality consisted of eight classes of exactly the same material- the powerpoint presentation about myself, and the subsequent question and answer session following it. I was quick to learn that each class is a unique organism, and depending on this 'personality' the Q&A sessions ranged from enthusiastic excitement to tedious teeth-pulling. The trick I resorted to was to call out a number, as all students were numbered within a class, and the unlucky kid would have to stand up and ask me a question. These coerced responses were often something simple, like "what is your favorite color?". The questions which were most eagerly asked were often the strangest. They included:

"How much money do you make?"
"What blood type are you?"
"But why is green your favorite color?"
"How did you get so tall?"
"Do you think I am a handsome boy?"
"Who do you think is the stupidest student in this class?"
And... "Teacher, why are you so fat?"

The last one was kind of my fault, because in estimating my weight in kilograms, I guessed 125 kg... which is about 20 lbs too high.... but really, it took me by surprise. I told him is was because I ate a lot.

And on that note, here comes the requisite post about food. Last night, we had samgyeopsal, which is pork belly that looks like thick pieces of bacon which are cooked on a tilted metal grill, with tofu, garlic, and a layer of kimchi at the bottom to catch the grease (the best kimchi ever). The 'sam' in the name means '3', refering to the 3 layers of fat on the pork pieces. This fat doesn't really cook away completely, so it is a very chewy, though delicious, meal. It is also one of the most dangerous dinners I've ever had, with the continuous threat of splattering airborne pork fat hitting me in the face. Apparently there is a similar dish that has five layers of fat, and is much more expensive. Koreans really love their fat, it seems. The night before, Alicia and I split a large sushi plate at a rather Americanizd Japanese restaurant. It is very similar, though the salmon is much better and the halibut sucks. I have yet to experience the famous Jeju seafood, but I hope to do so this weekend.

Of this seafood, there is one that has really captured my interest- sannakji. I don't want to ruin the surprise, because I feel like it will be one of the first videos that I post up on this blog. Go ahead and look it up, if you want, or rent the movie Oldboy. I'm really excited, and now I know where to find it. I will have to go to Seogwipo (other side of the island), but I will probably be there anyway for Chusok (the 'thanksgiving' at the end of September).

I am feeling a bit less nervous about teaching now. I think it helps to have at least an idea of what I'll be doing, instead of being wholly in the dark. I will be teaching 5th graders on Monday and Tuesday, which makes me nervous, but I think I've got this powerpoint presentation thing pretty much nailed down. I now know what the kids find interesting (cowboys, space ships, and barbecue) and what I should just skip over (I still don't know why I put a picture of the Alamo on the Texas slide...). Still, the thing that got them most interested was the fact that the WWE wrestler Undertaker went to my school- they went CRAZY! Maybe he needs his own slide in the show.