Take The Bad With The Good

I think maybe feelings are magnified a bit since I'm on the other side of the world. I'll start by telling you the bad stuff.

Yesterday, I was having a really good day, until two kids got in a fight in one of my classes. I didn't know what happened at the time, but the other kids told me that one kid was making obscene gestures when I was writing on the board, and the other kid wasn't too happy with it.

So I took them to Stacy, the head teach, and told he they were fighting. She said, "Why were they fighting in class? What were you doing?"

Now, I realize that some inflection and meaning may be lost in translation, but Chris said any time something like that happens, it is our responsibility. After she talked to the boys privately, she came to us and said, "Do not let the students fight in class."

Again, I hope something was lost, because she made it sound like I lined them up in a ring and took bets on who would win. We're at a major disadvantage because even when they're talking normally, it sounds like they're yelling. But these kids didn't say a word to each other.

All of a sudden, the one jumped up with his chair flying back and they were on each other. Making it harder was that they were sitting right next to each.

Either way, it all put me in a bad mood last night. I had to leave the building during my break period to grab a snack and clear my head. I'm still not feeling great today, but it's a new day. So I won't dwell on what happened yesterday.

Now onto the good thing:

Friday was just a normal drinking night in Bupyeong. Saturday, however, was a brand new experience. Dan and I, along with one of Dan's Korean friends, went to a Korean wedding. The wedding was for a guy who owns a western bar that the guys all really like. I went there on my first night, and it's been my favorite so far. It has been closed for a month because it's changing locations, but will open again soon.

The wedding was very different from an American wedding. first, when the bride and groom were each introduced to walk down the aisle, everyone shouted and cheered. And there were very points throughout the ceremony where more cheering happened.

Also, it was in a hotel ballroom-type area. The thing is, there were way more people than could sit, so many stood out in the adjoining room and just talked and whatnot the whole time. There wasn't one time when people were actually quiet. Even Dan and I were talking because we were comparing all the different aspects of the wedding.

There was a point in the wedding where the bride and groom went to both families, and bowed. The bride just tilted her body down, but the groom, Rio, actually got down on his hands and knees.

Then, they both yelled something and everyone clapped. Afterwards, everyone Rio invited went up on the altar and got in a giant group picture. So we're permanently in his life, haha.

Afterwards, they had a great spread of food. It was probably the best meal since I got here. Then, we took the party to a bar in the area, where the Korean beer was free, but a Miller Light was $6, haha.

The place had an old fighter pilot's helmet as a decoration, so Dan's Korean friend asked the bartender if I could put it on. Of course, I did it, and was acting like a goof while drinking and chatting in my helmet.

I have some great pictures. The only problem is they're all on my phone. I forgot my camera. So I just have to get the pics off the phone. Give me some time, I'll get them soon.

On Sunday, we were all just taking it easy. A couple of the Songdo teachers invited Chris and I to some fireworks in Onyun-dong. The place was insanely packed, and the show was really great. At any given time there were anywhere between five and 10 blasts going off in the sky.

The weird thing was after 20 minutes, they stopped and everyone started to leave. But then, 10 minutes later, they started back up for another half hour. By that time, half of the people already left, haha. Sometimes nothing they do here makes sense.

Well, fortunately I remembered my camera for the fireworks show. I got some great pics. I'll post them later this evening.

Back to school today for six classes.