Thanksgiving??? Ohhhh....American Chuseok!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'd like to sappily and cliche....ly (mmm not a word, and i hate the word cliche, which is ironically a cliche word to rant about...) start this post by giving thanks to the things that make me happy (tis the season right?):

- first and foremost I'm thankful the Internet is working!
- my family, sans Bryce n Marit, are all together in Delavan right now, makes me happy and sad (obvi); I miss you guys and hope you eat my usual portion's worth for me; and if you play 'couch', maybe toss my name in the hat for good measures?
- I'm thankful I didn't have to teach the last class of today; kids got unruly and the teacher laid the hammer down (or is it the fist?) and made them sit in silence for like 30 minutes; I'll tell you who wasn't upset, this guy
- I'm thankful that my Pops does some business in China; without that Eastern connection he wouldn't be touching down in Seoul for the weekend of December 11th; I'm pumped Daddy-o!
- I'm thankful for all the great people I hang out with in Korea; you guys make the weeks fly by; before we know it we'll be digging our toes into Thai beaches, which brings me to my next point....
- I'm thankful my debit card works abroad; just purchased my one-way ticket to Malaysia; Julie, myself, and many other great UWers will be taking a 3-week vacation into SE Asia starting in Kuala Lumpur and working our way north into Vietnam and Thailand; it's gonna be sweet
- I'm thankful that the Badgers and Packers are having great seasons even though it's a little bitter sweet that I'm in a foreign country but now I may have just jinxed them but the fact that I'm acknowledging the potential jinx should nullify it (right?) but I'm still going to knock on wood as a precaution.......moving on
- I'm thankful for living in a great suburb south of Seoul, in a small-yet-nice apartment, in the same building as my wonderful girlfriend, teaching at a great school with well-(*cough*) behaved boys and very, very friendly co-workers
- I'm probably thankful for many, many more things but since I want to cover other stuff, we're gonna keep this turkey train rolling...

Since today is Thursday in Korea it's technically, you guessed it, Thanksgiving. But since everyone in the country where it's celebrated is out at the bars celebrating Blackout Wednesday (well not everyone; Mom and Dad I'm lookin in your direction), it didn't quite feel like Thanksgiving. That, and the fact that I was with only Koreans today eating kimchi and mandu, it really didn't feel like turkey day.

My only consolation was in teaching hundreds of kids of the course of the week about Thanksgiving. It was quite the paradox. Most of the kids knew what Thanksgiving was. Some, however, looked extremely puzzled until I mentioned that T-giving is the American Chuseok. What's Chuseok you may ask? Exactly. You wouldn't know what it was (unless you're Korean, living in Korea, or reading my blog and actually paying attention). It's Korean Thanksgiving. Fascinating right? No?! I've had too much coffee? You're probably right. Moving on...

This weekend a bunch of us are getting together for our own Thanksgiving celebration. We may be ovenless, and therefore for turkeyless (it's overrated anyways, nooooot) but we WILL have a surfeit of potato dishes, pumpkin pie, wine, board games, comas, and outdoor activities. It'll have to suffice.

Love you and miss you Mom, Dad, Bryce, Marit, Adam, Tonya, Sigrid, and the greater Hubertz and Vieth families. Happy Thanksgiving! Don't forget to take the turkey out of the oven or to put the computer on the table so that my digital self can hang out with y'all...

Playing with fire, North Korean-style

As I'm sure many of you have already heard,  our wonderful neighbors to the North attacked a small South Korean island yesterday afternoon. The North fired dozens of shells at the island of Yeonpyeong, killing two of the South's soldiers and further blossoming the bitter tensions on the Korean peninsula.

But rather than tell what you can read on any news site, I'll tell you what it's like to be living here right now. According to many major news outlets, there is a sense of panic and anxiety sweeping the peninsula. I just got to school a little bit ago and no one has showed the slightest bit of worry. No one has even bothered to mention it to me! (which is surprising because they think I'm very incapable at many things, and I'm sure "reading the news" is on their list).

This is all very new though and I'm sure there will be further updates. I will try to keep you posted on the local news and opinions. Who knows what will culminate from this caveat? The South Koreans that I encounter never seem to be very worried what their northern siblings are up to. They are known to be very optimistic on the matter, using words like "when" they will reunite and not "if." I personally am not too worried, but we'll see what happens from here.

For some really great photos from all of this check out The Big Picture on boston.com.

Pepero'd out on 11.11

Apparently, "Hallmark holidays" are not secluded to just The West.  In Korea, "Sweetest Day" is called Pepero Day (I originally thought it was Korean Valentine's Day but I later found out they celebrate that like the West does).  For those of you who don't know what Sweetest Day is, congratulations, it's a concocted holiday by confectionery companies in like October or something (I'm pretending not to know) where you unwillingly buy candy for your loved one.  Pepero Day on the other hand is the time of the year when you give chocolate-covered sticks to your significant other, friends, and family.  Being a classic shallow holiday, the more sticks you give someone the more you like them.  And if you don't get sticks, well, then you're not cool duh?!  Pepero Day is held on November 11th because, write this down Hallmark, 11/11 resembles 4 pepero sticks.  And with Korea being the land of monopolies the way they are, only a couple companies get to rake in the massive profits won off these delectable chocolate-covered goodies.  It's rather ingenious, really.  Can you imagine Seven Eleven having "Seven Eleven Day" on July 11th?  Everyone has to go out and buy slurpees for those closest to them.  Stupid right?!  (Note to self: e-mail Seven Eleven)

My Pepero Day wasn't too crazy.  Other than the fact it was at an all boy's school.  I've seen a fair share of man love in this country already, e.g. Korean men embracing each other after the bars, receiving free beers from seemingly straight guys while our female friends play second fiddle, etc., and Pepero Day didn't disappoint.  Boys were giving more piggy back rides than usual, kissing each other on the cheek [more than usual], and brown-nosing the crap out of teachers (that sounds wrong) in the form of, you guessed it, pepero. Luckily I came to school prepared and gave peperos to all of my favorite co-workers (when in Rome) and received, other than giggles and blushed faces, peperos in return. By the end of the day, I had stockpiled enough chocolate-covered sticks to start my own edible dessert chopstick company (note to self: google 'edible dessert chopstick company start up').  I knew I took many teachers off guard because the following day, the teachers who didn't pepero me brought stuff to share with me.  I received a vitamin C drink, a ginseng energy drink, 3 tangerines, a donut, and a homemade rice cake (note to self: bring gifts to teachers more often).  All in all, it was a great first Pepero Day experience.  I still have some left over though.  Any ideas what I can do with them?

Blograstinating

Where has the time gone? Not only did I call in sick yesterday, it seems my blog has been calling in for almost a month too. Where has the time gone? Anyways, by the end of this week I hope to add 30 new posts! Ok lets not get too ahead of ourselves. Hopefully I can add Halloween, Pepero Day, and the Yang Yang Surfing Festival by the end of this week. When it rains it pours. And I'm still behind on my School Festival and Lotte World posts. Someday, blog, you will get my full attention. Someday. If you thought this was going to be an actual post and not me blaming my blograstinating lifestyle, your bad. For now I leave you with a taste of Halloween. They were taken by the official Silent Disco website.

For more check out silentdisco.co.kr