anyway, i was reading through my "korea: round two" posts and realized two thangs: 1. i was posting pretty regularly through the fall, and much like exercise or binge eating, the more you do it, the easier it gets; and 2. although i was posting regularly, my posts were increasingly bitter and "woe is me." i was only blogging when something pissed me off or confused and annoyed me, something i REALLY didn't want to do. and let's be honest, there are already a retarded amount of expat blogs in korea ranting and raving about the ass-backwardness that is life on this peninsula, and most of them do a way better job of bitching than i ever could.
so i'm turning a corner. from now on, i'm gonna search really, really hard to find that sense of wonder and awe that inspired me to keep a blog in the first place. yes, wonder and awe in seoul. maybe i should rename this shit...
*editor's note; band of horses' the funeral just shuffled through itunes. god, technology can be so intuitive sometimes.
to begin... i teach kindergarten. or more appropriately, i make funny faces and jokes at my students' expense for the better portion of my working day. (and we dance to chromeo, but that's another post.) so, you know, all in all a good gig.
anyway, my six-year-olds (and i cannot stress this point enough) were asked to keep a picture diary. three times a week, they draw a picture and write 5-7 sentences about the picture. mostly the diaries are filled with drawings of princesses and cars and food. (ah, the musings of a six-year-old. terribly... boring.) but last week mandy busted out, hands down, the BEST (and most insightful) diary to date. in it's entirety:
*note: the italics are my edits.
I'm in the Market
Today I'm going to the market. I want a car cart, but my mom says "there are no more." "No there are more," I say. But I say "Mom, can I have a big cart?" "Do you have change?" My mom says. (you have to pay a deposit to use shopping carts.) "Or I will go home," I say. "You don't have a car," My mom says. "I will go with my bike," I say. "You don't have a bike," Mom says. "I will play with a noisy toy," I say. "OK," My mom says. The end.
is it weird that i'm condoning this behavior? probably just bad karma.
how awesome is that?! when she doesn't get what she wants at the grocery store, she presents her mom with a series of ultimatums. mom, ever the Klever Korean Mother, counters each ultimatum with logic. but mandy stays cool as a cucumber and finally decides to annoy mom throughout the shopping trip by playing with a noisy toy. sheer genius! and also, a telling glimpse at the cold calculation that is childhood manipulation.
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