Spring

(Sorry for the delay.  Sometimes the internet decides not to work in our apartment.)

Spring has sprung, and in Korea that means that the cherry blossoms have arrived. To me, it seemed like it happened over night. On Friday, nothing was noticeably different around town, but on Saturday morning it was like the colour of the whole place had changed. White blossoms are almost everywhere - with the exception of our neighbourhood (bummer) - and it has really transformed the city, and many peoples attitudes along with it (the grumbling about the length of the winter had been going on for a while). I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I promise to get some by next week. Though I've heard that the blossoms won't stay around much past then - a short, two-week beauty exhibit.
So last week I had mentioned that Alisa, my sister, is moving here, but I didn't mention that she's arriving this week Wednesday! I actually didn't know that she would be getting here so soon until late last week. And I also didn't mention that she'll be teaching at the very same school as me! We're going to be co-workers! The idea of her being here with me still hasn't sunk in, and won't, probably, until she gets here. When I came to Korea I never dreamt that a family member would follow. I'm really excited about showing her around Pohang and the places I've been, introducing her to my friends, and teaching her how to survive Poly School. I think she'll like it here.
I'm not sure, but I don't think that I have written yet about my experience eating live octopus. A while ago I joined some friends who were going to a seafood restaurant. There, we ordered and were served a plate of wriggling, juicy pieces of live octopus. It turns out that octopus tentacles continue moving well after they're severed from the rest of the body. Part of the fun was trying to pull them off of the plate - quite the suction they have. The advice is to chew them thoroughly so that they're all the way dead while they're sliding down your throat and can't hang on for dear life somewhere in the middle. It's truly a weird feeling to have something moving inside your mouth - and if you let it sit in your mouth without chewing it, it'll grab your tongue, and that's a crazy weird feeling. It turned out that I didn't think they tasted too great. And, I might be imagining it, but I thought I felt one of them grab my esophagus. So I only had a couple. More recently, I went to another place where we ate eel... dead eel. It was a lot more meaty than I'd imagined, and I liked the taste of it. I couldn't eat too much of it though because it was pretty filling, but I think I'd try it again given the chance.
For an interesting Korean culture fact, I'd like to mention a Korean superstition. In Korea, to write someone's name in red ink is to sentence them to death. I'm not sure what this superstition stems from (as with all superstitions pretty much), but it's possible that somewhere along Korean history they would write the names of the dead in red ink. But this is a hard one for foreign teachers in Korea because often, in North America, a teacher will use a red pen for marking, and writing short messages to students. Which is what I've done here, forgetting that, as I'm addressing my message to her, I'm unconsciously sending sweet little Ellen to her untimely death. Or, when one of my students is acting up in class I'll write their name on the board with one 'x' - three 'x's means I talk to the director. But if, in a moment of forgetfulness - which usually happens when I'm frustrated with a kid who's just not listening - I use a red board marker to write their name, it is met with giggles, gasps, and "teacher.. red.. death". And I have to apologize for condemning them to death instead of simply giving them a warning, and now I'm frustrated and flustered.

Thanks for reading.

Michael