Children's Day

May 5th is Children's Day in Korea. Friday, the 4th, we had a bit party at the kindy.
The morning started out with performances (of a sort) by all of the teachers. I brought in Tokki, as sort of a show and tell. Krystal made a volcano. Stephanie and Miss Young did magic tricks. Jeannie did a song - "This Little Pig". The Korean teachers did a play of the 3 little pigs. As I expected, when the wolf came out, half of the babies started screaming and crying and all of the teachers that weren't in the play had to run in and take the crying babies out (it is a kindy and a daycare, so there are kids ages 2 to 6).

We sent a note to the parents earlier in the week asking them to have the kids dress up. Some came in suits and dresses, some in costumes, most of them very expensive. They were all soooooooooooooooooooo cute.

[Lisa - the skirt of the dress has silk flower petals (pink) and little white flowers in it that move around freely.][Seung Woo][Sarah][SukMin - Captain Hook][Steve][HyunSang and ChaeYeon]
After the teachers' performances, the children then had a fashion show. They went up in groups of 2 to 5 to strut their stuff and pose for a professional photographer. We had them practicing a few times for the fashion show.[YongKyu - Power Ranger (The light is strange in this shot. I think it was at the same time as the photographer's flash.)]
We also asked the parents to send food for the party. There was SO MUCH food. We had asked that each child bring enough for 2 people. They each brought enough for the entire class.

[My class's lunch - sandwiches, kimbap, other rice things, fruit, deep fried vegetables, salad, yogurt, etc. This was AFTER we filled our dishes.]
At the end of the day, all of the kids got a Children's Day present from the school - a cap.

[David - Buzz Lightyear]

Sad.

I am very disappointed now. One of the blogs that I read regularly is finished. The Sandmonkey has decided to stop, for his own safety. There have been too many problems in Egypt with the State Security and the bloggers. Here's his good-bye post:

Done
Today is going to be the day that I've been dreading for quite sometime now. Today is the day I walk away from this blog. Done. Finished.
There are many reasons, each would take a post to list, and I just do not have the energy to list them. As anyone who has been reading this blog for the past month, I think it is apparent that things are not the same with me. There are reasons for that:
One of the chief reasons is the fact that there has been too much heat around me lately. I no longer believe that my anonymity is kept, especially with State Secuirty agents lurking around my street and asking questions about me since that day. I ignore that, the same way I ignored all the clicking noises that my phones started to exhibit all of a sudden, or the law suit filed by Judge Mourad on my friends, and instead grew bolder and more reckless at a time where everybody else started being more cautious. It took me a while to take note of the fear that has been gripping our little blogsphere and comprehend what it really means. The prospects for improvment, to put it slightly, look pretty grim. I was the model of caution, and believing in my invincipility by managing not to get arrested for the past 2 and a half years, I've grown reckless. Stupid Monkey. Stupid!
And speaking of the state of the egyptian blogsphere, it has been pretty depressing in its own right. One has to wonder at some point the futulity of being a keyboard warrior in a country where nothing seems to matter to its people anymore. At the same time, there has been those amongst us who have loved the fame and the attention, and are now becoming the egyptian blogsphere's equivelant of Paris Hilton: They are famous for being famous, peddling the same stories and not really presenting anything of value to the debate. And then there is the fact that we are entering the "Iconogrphy" phase : We are becoming Icons. Too much Media attention, too many american organizations claiming to champion our causes while they are cashing out in donation from people gullible enough to believe them, too much hype generated by us and others, so many of us tooting our own horns and even crying wolf at times has made Icons of us. We now have young bloggers who come up to many of us "Old Guard" and tell us how they are such great fans of ours, and how we are their role models and heroes and how they are starting to blog because of our "courageous example". And there are those of us who are buying into it, taking in undertsudies to placate our big heads, hooking up with groupies to feed our egos, acting as if we are the warriors for change we are made up to be and forgetting why we started blogging to begin with. It seems that we are entering a state of transformation, and we should either 1) evolve, take the next step whatever it is, 2) stay the way we are and risk becoming carricatures of ourselves or 3) quit. Not knowing what the next step is, and needing time and space to figure it out, I chose the only other option that made sense: I quit!
So here comes my apology to those of you who read me: I am sorry. I really can't continue to do this. You guys have been the best readers anyone could hope for, altough there are some of you who made me come close to shutting down the comments section many many times. I love you all for everything you have done for me, for all of the egyptian blogsphere. When I asked for your help, you gave us more than a helping hand. You cared. You gave a damn about a bunch of egyptians who had a dream to be free and stood by us in our houres of need. For that you are my heroes, and I can not possibly thank you enough.
May the day comes when I rant once again….
Love you all,
The Sandmonkey

And a news article that I found:

Egypt’s top blogger hangs up keyboard
One of Egypt’s most prominent political bloggers has decided to call it a day, citing harassment by security services as his main reason to quit. The Egypt-based blogger, known only as “Sandmonkey” - a derogatory term for people of Arab descent - posted his last entry on Saturday.
“One of the chief reasons (for quitting) is the fact that there has been too much heat around me lately,” he said. Sandmonkey - who describes himself as “extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian” — started posting two years ago and has since been one of the main animators of Egypt’s vibrant blogosphere.
The blog offered stinging commentary on the Islamisation of Egyptian society as well as virulent criticism of President Hosni Mubarak’s 26-year-old regime. Sandmonkey regularly reported on the arrests of political activists, police brutality and videos recently posted on the Internet of alleged vote-rigging in a referendum for constitutional amendments, which critics say curb civil liberties.
“I no longer believe that my anonymity is kept, especially with state security agents lurking around my street and asking questions about me, since that day,” he said, referring to anti-referendum protests last month in which he participated and several demonstrators were detained.
Egypt’s bloggers came to public attention during the political ferment surrounding elections in 2005 and have since been targeted by the regime, drawing international condemnation. In April, security forces detained blogger Abdel Moneim Mahmud for criticising the government’s human rights record.
In February, an Egyptian court sentenced blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman to four years in prison for insulting religion and defaming the president, a verdict condemned by rights groups as an attack on free speech. [7DAYS]

Pink... again

Thursday after my doctor's appointment, I went and got my hair done again.I think I've really gotten used to the pink streaks. I love it. :)

Saturday night

I've been in a bit of a slump lately and haven't really done anything other than sit around watching tv or sitting at my computer just looking around.
I did go out last night. My friend Jen (from Ireland) and I went to Itaewon. We started out with a Turkish kebab... sooooooooooo yummy. Next time I'll have to take a picture of the place. There are a couple of places to get them in Itaewon. One is right next to the Burger King, the other is on the street behind it. I prefer the one behind. Even if the kebabs weren't so good, many people would still go, as the man behind the counter is such a character. He never stops talking. So funny.
Then we went to the Wolfhound for some drinks. We sat at the bar as the place was packed, as usual. We were quite amused by one guy that started talking to us when he was at the bar to get some drinks. He started out by asking where we were from. I'm from Canada, Jen's from Ireland. He then went into a big long story about how his parents are from Ireland and he is Canadian. He then asked Jen how she's here. What?? What kind of question is that? She said she is here teaching English, as most of us are. He said, "Oh." And then he said he didn't know how Irish and English and such teach English as their accents are so strong that no one would understand them. What an idiot.
After the Wolfhound, we went to Brickx. I really like Brickx. Later on we went to Polly's. She had never been there and one of my Egyptian friends was there so we went. Jen got tired and decided to go to a sauna at around 3. I stayed to dance. I can dance all night. So much fun.

Congratulations!

And he's here. Aaron's wife just had a baby. They are living here in Korea. Aaron is Australian, and is, well, a giant. I met him in 2003, when I lived in Hwajeong (Goyang City). Then I worked with him for a bit in 2005. His wife, Merina (spelling?) is a petite Indonesian woman. They met several years ago in Indonesia when Aaron was living/working there, and go married in the fall of 2005. The last time I saw them was Christmas Eve. She was HUGE then. I can't imagine how big she got since then.
Anyway, I got a message on Wednesday, the 17th, announcing the birth of baby Tony. A big baby of 4 kg!

The shooting

I am sure that you've all heard about it. It is said to be the worst shooting in US history. The shooter was Korean.
During the 2 hour span of time between the first shootings, in the dorms, and last shootings, in the lecture building, the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, made a video and sent it, as well as photos, to NBC. In the video he said, "You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today, but you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option, the decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off."
Here, everyone is talking about it. It is all over the news. And, Koreans are now worried about the possible reaction that the US might have against Korea.

South Korea's Collective Guilt
Wednesday, Apr. 18, 2007
By Jennifer Veale/Seoul
While Americans were grieving and trying to a make sense of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech, on the other side of the Pacific, South Koreans were shaking their heads in disbelief that one of their own could unleash the worst massacre in U.S history.
Most Koreans don't regard Cho Seung-Hui as a "typical Korean" since he spent the bulk of his life immersed in American culture. Still, a collective sense of regret and guilt was palpable today due to the strong tendency of Koreans to perceive the tragedy in terms of Korean nationalism, in which the group trumps the individual. "It's a notion of collective responsibility," says Mike Breen, the author of The Koreans. When a Korean does something wonderful, the country rejoices, but when one of its own goes off the rails, like Cho Seung-Hui, there's a collective sense of shame and burden. So much so that South Korea's Ambassador to the U.S., Lee Tae Shik, pledged to fast for 32 days to show his sorrow today. "I can smell a collective sense of guilt," says Lim Jie-Hyun, a history professor at Hangyang University in Seoul. "There is confusion [in Korea] between individual responsibility and national responsibility."
In a country where untold numbers of citizens seem eager to travel, work and live in the United States, many Koreans were dumbfounded when they discovered this morning that the "Asian" campus killer was in fact a 23-year-old South Korean citizen. "I was shocked," says Hong, Sung Pyo, 65, a textile executive in Seoul. "We don't expect Koreans to shoot people, so we feel very ashamed and also worried." Most important, he adds, "we don't want Americans to think all Koreans are this way."
Nor did President Roh Moo Hyun, who sent at least three messages of condolence to the U.S. and gathered aides for an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning, once it became widely known on the peninsula that the shooter was a South Korean student who moved with his struggling parents to the U.S when he was eight years old. Roh reportedly called for the meeting to discuss measures to cope with any possible fallout from the massacre — inadvertently stoking fears that Koreans living and studying abroad could be in for a rough ride. "Koreans still remember the riots in L.A., so we are worried about some revenge against Koreans," says Kim Hye Jin, 29, a web designer in Seoul, referring to Korean-owned businesses that were looted during the 1992 violence. "We are really worried about the image of our country."
Some Koreans even raised the prospect Cho's rampage could possibly inflict damage on U.S-Korea relations, including the recently signed tentative free trade agreement between the two countries.
This kind of nationalistic response can have an opposite effect as well — when the roles are reversed. In 2002, when two U.S soldiers accidentally ran over two schoolgirls with a tank north of Seoul, anti-American sentiment was widespread in Korea. Some restaurants even hung signboards reading "No Americans" rather than "No Soldiers Allowed." For weeks, thousands of Koreans staged protests against American soldiers, while some Korean media even suggested that the girl's deaths could have been deliberate.

OUCH!!!

This looks like it would hurt!!!!!Yes, he got his hand back.
National Geographic News

skinny

For the first time in my life, I am being called skinny.

On Monday, one of my students, Annie, came up to me and said, "Miss Laura, you are kinda skinny." Followed by, "My mom is a little bit fat." She just turned 5 years old (6 in Korean age). Usually, Koreans think that all foreigners are fat. I've had some very thin foreign friends complaining about their students calling them fat. Kids just say what they think, what they see. They don't sugar coat things. While I've been in Korea, I've always been told I have a small face, and the odd time I got some sort of reference to me being big.

I've always felt that being big boned is a curse. Since I was little I was generally referred to as being fat, even though it wasn't always so. My friends have often said I am not fat, but big.

Since last June, I've lost around 11 or 12 kg. I haven't tried to lose weight. I suppose the meds I'm on have something to do with it. Since I got sick and started taking anti-inflammatories and pain killers and such, I've lost a lot of my appetite. I do eat, but sometimes just plain forget to eat, as I don't often feel hungry. If I don't make myself eat, I forget. I eat way too much junk food, though. Choco pies and chocolates and sometimes chips. I'm not much of a cook. I guess I feel it is sort of a waste of time and energy to cook for only one person - in terms of time and the mess it makes. Not to mention the fact that everything is sold in large amounts, which is NOT good for one person. I am constantly having to throw food out. I hate it. It is so wasteful. As a result, I am often just eating things that take little or no effort. Cut up vegetables, peanut butter sandwiches, sometimes rice, etc. What ever.This is what losing 11 or so kg looks like. I bought these jeans in February last year, right before I came back to Korea. I set the belt at what I wore it at then. I have had to tighten it by 4 holes. I don't even undo the button or zipper on anything anymore. I don't need to. It is quite a problem really. Almost all of my clothes are so big on me that they look funny. And this is a bad country for that to happen in, as NOTHING fits. Korean clothes are small. The pants, if they do come in a big enough size, are always way too short (usually 30 inches long... I generally need 34 inches length). Shirts are too small in the chest area and long sleeves are about 3/4 length on me. Getting dressed is sometimes a chore as I get so stressed out about it. Almost everything in my closet now looks like crap on me.

birthday parties at the kindy

Last Wednesday was Birthday Party day at work. All of the kids whose birthdays are in April sort of had a party. Basically, it is all for show. The school hires a photographer to come in every month for the occasion. We take the birthday kids downstairs and for a picture of each birthday kid with their teachers and the school owner. Then later on, we take them back down again, with their class and there is a picture of each birthday child with some of their friends, and then getting a birthday card, and then blowing out candles (they use one cake and just keep re-lighting the candles for each student). In all of the pictures, the kids stand behind a huge table of food (well, I think maybe the babies would stand infront, as the table is as with all of the stuff on top, the table is almost as tall as they are).Sarah's picture: Annie, Yong-Kyu, Sarah, Seung-Woo, Lisa, Chae-Yeon.Suk-Min's picture: Hyun-Sang, David, Suk-Min, Min-Young (Steve... but he doesn't know it), Seung-Woo, Yong-Kyu.Seung-Woo giving the birthday card to Suk-Min.
The food and cakes and such for that day are all brought in by the parents. It is up to the parents as to what they bring. There is usually so much food that every class gets some whether there is a birthday kid in it or not. Basically, it is a feast. There is so much food that there is tons left over and I think that all of the teachers have plenty to munch on for the rest of the day, (and the next). This month I have 2 birthday kids. Suk-Min's mom brought in pizza and chicken. Sarah's mom brought in rice cake and fruit.
Everyone ended up eating way too much. Yum.

dragon

This is at the intersection at Samgakji Station (which I pass every day on my way work). It is huge. It is, I think, made of bamboo. I love it. I guess Yongsan means Dragon in Chinese. The area I live and work in is Yongsan-Gu.