Maggots

Sally is a fearless and determined little girl. Carving that pumpkin would be hard even for an adult. She did the entire thing by herself. She got a lot of carving rage in her too, screaming : "Die, pumpkin, die", and kept pushing that big knife in the pumpkin's flesh. There was a surprise inside the pumpkin. As soon as the eyes were carved maggots started falling out of them. That was quite a spectacle of truly Halloween proportions. The air got thick with terror because of how cool that was. Nathaniel and I were like wow. Little timid Julie ran away and started crying. Sally grabbed a knife and went on maggot killing spree. Both pumpkins turned out to be nested by zillions of fat yellow maggots. They poured out of the eyes, nose, and mouth of the horror pumpkins. Another cool thing was that the maggots were weird jumping ones. They crawled out of the pumpkin and laid on the newspaper for a while, after that they contracted themselves into tight little balls, and then BUM, this ball stretched like a spring and jumped into the air. So we had dozens of maggots springing into the air. Fantastic Halloween surprise. The girls will remember it for sure.

Halloween with Maggots

Icecaky

After fishing we walk for appr. 12 km. along a wetland park. On the way we meet a man selling icecaky which is a popcicle. Lina gets one for her and takes a picture with the seller.

Fishing with a plastic bottle of COCA COLA

We walk along the mighty Han river, walk until there is nowhere else to walk, sit, take out our primitive fishing tools, put the squid legs on the hooks and fish. We catch some grass and lose one hook.

Happy Nathaniel at the fishing store

I have no idea what he is looking for. His NZ fishing items do not translate in Korean fishing life. The woman in a long dark green old dress with red lipstick smeared all over her teeth is explaining how advanced Koreans in fishing are nowadays, therefore they do not carry the little outdated fish tool we need.

Lina is looking so sad and has a look of a terribly hurt little bird because she is made to translate and help us talk to the woman with the red teeth. I want to leave; the teeth disturb me, judging by the way she is dressed and how she does her hair, it feels that the time stopped in this shop a couple if decades ago. I want to get my camera and take a quick shot of those teeth, but think it is not appropriate.

As we are thinking it is the only fishing shop in the area, we try to get all we need from this lady, so it is taking time. See the contrast between Lina and Nathaniel. She is on the verge of tears because she is being dragged along and made to help us; she is staying in the smelly shop with a ghost like old lady and her son; she feels uneasy. Nathaniel gets a kick out of looking for solutions, as he loves mental puzzles; the more the better. He is excited running around the store, miming, and making the lady read his lips, hands and body. He wants his fish tools of which I know nothing. After a lot of body use, we are told that what we are looking for is a plastic can of coca cola to which we have to attach a string and hook from the lady's store. Apparently Koreans are so advanced with their fishing recreation that they only use brand fishing gear and tool which should cost OVER 100,000 won!

Lina feels better after we leave. As we walk, we find a whole bunch of small fishing shops. In one of the shops we find our outdated tool which costs us 3,000 won for three. The old ghost lady is proved to be full of crap, which we already know. Lina finds a box full of dirt and worms and pokes them with a stick. Nathaniel tells her to leave the animals alone and stop being so cruel.

Open class and feedbacks

Our first open house went well. We got up late last Saturday morning and had to rush to work by 10 a.m. picking up some snacks and drinks for our visitors on the way, both being grumpy like hell. I was feeling sort of disoriented from all the cold medicine I had been taken that week. So with all the mutual pushing, complaining and frequent growling we made it to work and greeted kids and their mothers at 10. There was a small presentation by kids about their projects, and after that two open classes. During the recces we had a small game with mothers and kids for which winners got prizes. The overall feedback after the class was good, so during this week we actually had two more impromptu open classes when mothers just showed up wanting to see us teach. The word about us spread a little. Nathaniel was down after the open house. He felt unappreciated and basically working with people who do not recognize and want the quality we are offering. I know it is true, but it doesn't make me down. It is a reality of being a professional teacher in Korea. Most of the time they do not want what we have to offer. Now I am learning to turn down such customers. I am sick and tired of even listening to what they need, I know it- they want rote learning and endless practice for exam taking. I used to feel helpless because it seems that there are no points of connection between what we have to offer and the market demand. Now I think "oh well, it is not OUR market", they can go ahead and place their demands, and then I go ahead and turn them down, and explain in as simple terms as possible what we are and what we do and how we do it. I am curious to know where all this adventure will take us.

Hala Gorani. What is in the word? What is in the name?

I have no idea if people read my posts. I know that Obaman stopped by. He sent me an email about some of my posts.
I might be on my own all the time though. Which is absolutely fine. I am not doing any connecting and linking. Tastes differ and everyone reads whatever they want to. Most of the time I write to myself, not directing voice to audience.
But now I am writing to people, and I hope some will answer. I have this fascination with this particular name. I think it is the most wonderful name by the way it sounds. When I pronounce it, it takes just a breath in and out; it sort of goes with the natural breathing and the combination of sounds makes me want to say it again and again. Hala Gorani, Hala Gorani, Hala Gorani. I say it and on the days I remember to say it, it even improves my mood. I have been puzzled for a while of why this name has such an effect on me. Why does it attract my attention and I keep remembering to say it. May be it is a person behind the name, of whom I know nothing. But being very inquisitive by nature I would have investigated the person, I am not attracted to the person, but the name.
Here's the proposition for a poll. If any of you has a name that you find soothing, appealing, attractive, fascinating, write a response to this post. Thanks.

Noodles and steamed pork

Lina and I went for a meal on one of the days when she was off school early after her exam. I craved greasy food, so we went to get some buckwheat noodles and steamed pork. The pork comes with sweetened kimchi on the side, chilly peppers, vinegar source, garlic, and some pickled, very salty shrimps. The pork is good, but has way too much fat on it, so I can't eat a lot of it, a couple of pieces do it for me. The other dish is buckwheat noodles served cold. That dish I love. It is impossible to stop eating it until everything in this humongous bowl is finished. Lina and I shared one bowl. The noodles is 5,500, and the pork is 10,000. The restaurant is in Sajik dong, right infront of the Sajik stadium. A few years back it used to be a very small noodle-pork shop where people had to wait in a line outside for a good deal of time. Now, they built a three story building which is always full with customers. I envy businesses like that which make so much money our of something so simple and cheap.

Meet the Couch surfer, what's with the face?!

Ok, ignore the face on the background and give your attention to our couch surfer from Holland, Roos. She has been travelling in Korea for three weeks and will be staying with us for a couple of days. She was cool enough to take the couch in our living room,which is also used as our bedroom. In case you are not familiar wth couch surfing, here's the link http://www.couchsurfing.org. As the name applies, people surf couches in the places they travel. You can find a couch in any place in the world, and you can also offer your couch. It is a great way to meet people.

Bird Hats and Mini mes

The birds are trained, tame enough, and very comfortable being around people, on heads, on hands, shoulders, and fingers. Nathaniel has his little mini him on his head. Apparently, he has birds talks and discussions frequently; he gets a great deal of comfort and support from them whenever he is unfairly attacked by me. I am glad he has such a strong support network. Sometimes I am forced to experience the power ofthe birds hat.

10.10.At10 Open house.

we are having our first open house on October 10th at 10 o'clock. It will be Saturday. The challenge for me is to get Nathaniel help me clean the place and give it a bit decent look. So far every place he visits and stays in turns in a house of chaos and messyness.

Artsy Picture