“It’s pho-nom-nom-nom-inal!”
…unless you get food poisoning, then it’s scary.
Our trip to Vietnam was absolutely jam-packed from the start. My friend Kelsea and I visited 4 different areas in Vietnam, and each destination was a completely unique experience. Instead of trying to tackle the whole country in one go, we decided to boil it all down to Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Long Bay, and Hoi An. As much of a bummer as it was to leave out Ho Chi Minh City, I’m glad we made the choices we did. We were busy the moment our feet hit the pavement.
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Dedicated to the real life Earth angel I met one stormy day on my way home from work.
As an EPIK teacher, I have to teach two weeks of English camp every summer and winter. This isn’t the type of camp that I was used to growing up as an American kid, though. There are no blobs, there are no campfires, there are no s’mores (unless you’re a glutton for punishment. Made that mistake once), and there’s definitely no sleeping here–contrary to what my students believe about me. I think they call it ‘camp’ to make it sound like something the kids will want to do.
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Last year, during Halloween, I had a really good idea to carve pumpkins with my English club. It took us the larger part of one afternoon to find them, but we finally gathered enough from the market behind our school for what I thought would be an awesomely successful lesson. After getting my students really pumped with an explanatory PPT, my coteacher and I handed out carving tools (tiny utility knives *shudder*) and the kids went to town. About halfway through the carving, most of the kids had given up because the blades kept breaking off inside the pumpkins. Not to be beaten by those tiny problematic blades, I finished carving each of the pumpkins for them. The kids were all really happy with the results, and were able to take them home to show their families. I even seasoned and baked the seeds and brought them to school the next day.
+10 teacher points
Needless to say, I was a little surprised to hear that one of my students had eaten his jack-o’-lantern that same night.
I guess that’s one use for a really wasteful pagan tradition. Hobak soup is pretty delicious, so I don’t blame him one bit.
The Korean peninsula is split into two countries along a dividing line referred to as the 38th parallel. This 155-mile division is padded by an area called the DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone). Neither North nor South Koreans are able to cross this line, unless they’re officials meeting in the JSA (Joint Security Area). This area was planned specifically to bring about talks between the two Koreas, and is still seen as a symbol of hope for reunification. Read More
Sometimes I forget how strange it was as a kid to see teachers outside of school and in normal clothing. Maybe I’m using the word “normal” incorrectly here. Whatever, those pants are ridiculously comfy.
