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...