Pimp, Dinosaur and Robot

Korean First: I ate my first squid today. It was grilled but cold and I actually liked it. Shocking.

#6: In Korea foreigners are a little like celebrities. If we travel in groups we need to be prepared to stop at any point while herds of koreans walk around us for pictures. They actual take our picture to show their other friends what Americans look like. They are obsessed with our white skin, our eye shape/color, how we sound, etc. When I got off the plane in Seoul I couldn't understand why all of the teenage Koreans were snapping pictures of me...why every single person on my bus waved at me when they got off...now i know. Oh and the biggest thing about America they like is Barack Obama. They're obsessed. Who knew?

Many of you who know me are aware of the fact that I was afraid I was going to have to name my kids in my head so I could keep them straight. Thankfully in schools like mine each kid is given an English name. Right on. In some cases the kids are allowed to pick, sometimes the parents, sometimes the teachers...it all varies. Usually the parents pick a general name like David, Daniel, Elizabeth...something common. When the kid picks the name you know immediately. I have one girl who named herself Princess. Freaking cute. A friend of mine from another school had kids who named themselves no so cute names. One named himself "Pimp." Yup. That's right. PIMP. I've heard "Dinosaur" , "Robot" and many more. The best part of that is that whoever their teacher may be, they are forced to call them by their English name. "Ok Pimp...pass your homework in." "Dinosaur...DINOSAUR I told you to sit down!" Can't you just imagine. It's amusing as hell...trust me.

In Korea..anything goes!