Sports Day Whoo Whoo

Today is Sports Day.  This means a day filled with music, races, parents, cotton candy, balloons, and an entire-school Gangnam Style dance bonanza.  I forgot my camera. However, I do intend to get some snazzy iphone footage of the socutecanitakeyouhomeplease first and second graders running around.  Maybe get a shot of the 5th grader wearing the "ATHEISM COMMUNISM AND FREE LOVE" (Reed College motto) shirt.  That's a lot of worldview statements for a 10-year-old to be sporting.  To be fair, he wears it with a big smile and lots of energy.  In Korea, Sports Day doesn't just happen.  You spend a week practicing for it/making shirts for it/thinking about it.  On Tuesday, classes were cancelled...

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Sarcasm, Autism, and free rides

Last Thursday I finally realized that sarcasm doesn't easily cross language barriers.  Unfortunatly, I discovered this while being broadcast on classroom TVs across our entire school.  Let me explain.  Twice a week, I oh-so-slowly read a children's book on camera, and am broadcast live to all the students in their homerooms.  Three fifth graders are in the recording room with me, interacting with the story by listening and repeating and answering questions like "How many fish do you see?" I am currently reading "Brown Bear" to the students, which is a simple book aimed for native speaking four-year-olds.  It goes like this: "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?  I see a red bird looking at me.  Red bird, red bird, what do you see? ..."...

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And now for something completely different

One of the most cliche blog posts is a blogger apologizing for not blogging in a while and vowing to get back on it. I'm not going to apologize, or make such a vow here.  But I will say that it is paramount to consistently maintain a blog (no, I don't know why I use words like that.  sometimes they just come into my head), and I find that I have slacked in my duties on this one. Me with a Chicken Coke.  There's a little tub of chicken at the top of the coke.  These are amazing.  Here's the deal: I write a lot.  On here, on word, in emails, on paper.  I try to compartmentalize my writing, particularly in this blog.  I wanted to maintain a tone, style, and type - it's supposed to be a travel-based...

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