3 Things...

These are a few things I've been meaning to write about that make me chuckle a bit...

1. Facial Lotion

A few months ago, on Teacher's Day, I received some facial lotion from one of my students in Seoul. I've been using it regularly along with other facial lotion I already have. One of my new coworkers came over to my house last week to see how the move-in was going. I had all the bathroom products spread out right outside the door because I had been deep cleaning the bathroom. My coworker had this puzzled look to her face and she grabbed this lotion. Then she asked me why I was using a 'bleaching cream.' My first reaction was, "WTF Jienie!!" [the student who I received the gift from]. So I think this explains why I've noticed that I'm more pale than usual. Here I sat thinking it was because I had not gone on a tropical vacation this summer. I don't know if I should be mad at Jienie and her parents for trying to make me 'white' or if I should just think of it as a nice gesture. In Korea, 'lighter skin is better.'

2. "This area is famous for..."

One of my coworkers speaks English alright. She has been trying to show me around and explain the daily routine here. She has trouble expressing herself sometimes. She'll usually start on a thought, then I come in and try and finish what she was trying to say. She tends to use the phrase, "This area is famous for...." quite a bit. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense at all. But I just nod politely to let her know I understand. There were two instances when I kinda couldn't help it but to laugh when she used this phrase. The first time was when we were having lunch and a crap load of flies attacked our table. She instantly used the phrase and said, "This area is famous for flies." I didn't know how to really think of this quote. I know she didn't mean it in a way where please from all over the world come here just to be attacked by flies while trying to enjoy lunch. I'm pretty sure she meant to say something more along the lines of, "damn, so many flies in this joint." The second time she used this phrase and made me laugh was a day she came over to my house to check up on me. It was a hot/windy day and had just rained. The smell of manure from the cows across the street was pretty strong. I saw my coworker make a face of disgust followed by, "This are is famous for cows." I lulzed because I KNEW she wanted to say something like, "Damn it hella smells like shit!" Oh that Kim Hae-ran teacher is pretty funny.

3. Name Change
On my first day at Cheonbuk, I was pretty surprised to see how much power the principal actually had. Not gonna lie, just talking to him kinda intimidated me from the get go. He didn't seem like such a nice/caring person. But whatever, I just wanted to make a good first impression... I even wore my "Republic of Korea" t-shirt! As soon as I introduced myself, he said, "What??" I wasn't mad or anything and so I went ahead and introduced myself again. Apparently he still didn't get it. He said it would be too hard for the students to pronounce. I was like, WTF >__< So then I suggested he called me by my middle name. The conversation went like this...

ME: Hmmm. Ok, you can call me Alexander.
PRINCIPAL: Ehhh...Uhhh Allle??
ME: ALEXANDER! My name is Alexander.
PRINCIPAL: Alex-uh, ahhh yeh yehhh Alex-uh. OkOk yehhh. Alex-uh.
ME: *sigh* Hmm, yeah.... hello my name is Alex-uh.