Weekends in Korea

#20: Koreans use their hands when they talk so much more than Americans. In Korea if you tap your index finger on top of the other index finger it means no. If you make your arms into an X that means no. I make those motions probably 20x a day. The kids understand that it means no and to really send your message home you repeat the motion over and over again. It has become such a way of teaching that the foreign teachers find themselves doing it even when we are not teaching.

#21: When Koreans speak to other Koreans they sound pissed. Really pissed. Like someone just had sex with their wife pissed. They talk really fast and the combination of hand motions and loud voices makes the foreigners take notice. I have seen a few who can talk calmly but the majority of them just can't do it.

Saturday was our very first Pohang Beerball League (AKA PBL) game. Yes we call it PBL. We're really cool like that and it's ok to be jealous. After more than an hour in a taxi trying to find an open field which included our driver yelling out the window at random passerbys, cabs, cars and teenagers on bikes for directions. Cabbies here love to yell and use their horns. alot. Ours was definately no exception. 1 hour later we finally found a field that was perfect. After splitting up the teams the game was on but we had a little problem. Part of the team was from South Africa or England so therefore did not know the rules and part of the team was sloshed. Definately made for an interesting game. We rounded out our first game with zero injuries so I would consider it a smashing success. We are still in the process of finding appropriate names for each team and until that happens our current name will not be found here. Let's just say it's a little vulgar for certain readers. It's definately "Colorful" as my mom would say.

This weekend was exactly what I needed. It was relaxed and let me really unwind for my first time here. I did my first load of laundry (yes I can do my own laundry Mom), tried a new kind of rice (ended up being purple) and spent time around Pohang with new friends.

Tonight we are going to see Alice in Wonderland (again) and hit up the town for some of Korean's finest food. Ok maybe not finest but better than what I can do in my shoebox of an apartment. Not a bad Sunday afternoon.