Last-Minute Dinner Plans Suck
Unless it's with people who speak your language

So at 3pm today I'm told, "Oh, we're (6th grade teachers) going out after school today." I hate that. Finding out stuff like like an hour before hand peeves me off big-time. Especially since I never want to go in the first place. I guess it's going to be a weekly thing. At least I know that now. The crappy thing is, I have to pay for it (about $40/mo). That wouldn't be so bad if I wanted to go, but since I don't, it just sucks. There's a new 6th grade teacher, so the meal was kind of for her. She sat next to me and was really nice. She probably spoke more to me than any other 6th grade teacher has. So this meal was more bearable than others. [Aside: I've used dictionary.com like a million times the last 5 minutes. I'm always correct in my spelling, but the words just look weird. Last 3 words I've looked up: demean, rutabaga, and bearable.] I felt kind of bad because it was a seafood restaurant and they know I don't like seafood...so they ordered a special thing for me. Which was nice, but I feel stupid. I guess it's better than having them never go to a seafood restaurant when they all love it. I don't like seafood in the U.S., but seafood in Korea is a billion times worse. Seriously, half the stuff just looks like giant cartilage balls (just looked up cartilage). Giant cartilage balls with a half inch of gummy slime surrounding it. Not joking.

According to the class year schedule I was given, I wasn't supposed to have any 6th grade classes today or tomorrow because they were supposed to be going on a field trip or something. But I get to school today and apparently they weren't on a field trip. Damn. So I found out tonight that it was rescheduled for next Wed, Thurs, and Fri...which sucks for me b/c I don't teach 6th graders those days so it doesn't affect me at all. Boo! I guess they are going to Gyeongju (SW Korea) and some other places that I couldn't quite figure out, but I feel like they're taking a tour of some industry or something. They asked if I wanted to go. The thing is (among other things), I'm going to Gyeongju this weekend with Jaclyn and Charlie. What timing. I wouldn't want to go anyway because 3 days with my students...seriously, I would drown myself by that last day. 3 days of saying, "How are you?" over and over again. No thanks. But I feel bad saying no like they'll think I'm anti-social. Which I am, but that's beside the point. And I really don't want to go on a tour of an industry, esp when it's all in Korean.

So, yeah, I'm going to Gyeongju this weekend. Cherry blossoms are supposed to bloom this weekend so it should be really pretty. I look outside and it still looks dead to me, but hey, if the forecast says they'll be out, I guess they'll be out. I just read an article about how cherry blossom blooming predictions in Japan are super important and it's very stressful for the predictor people. Gyeongju was an ancient capital in Korea and there's a bunch of big burial mounds all over (that look like big hills). It should be interesting. It takes about 4 hours to get there on the fast train thing (I think). I hope it's nice. I think we're planning on renting bikes to get around. Who knows? Not me. I just go with the flow and let those with more knowledge of Korean, etc handle things.

How about George Mason? Man, if I was a George Mason fan I'd be ecstatic. What's the lowest seed to ever make it to the Final Four? Obviously not a 16 seed since they've never won a game (aside from a play-in game). I'm rooting for them all the way. I started off really well in my brackets, but holy crap do they look pathetic now. Sad, really. I went from like the 99th percentile to the 30th the last week. Ouch.

I was tipped off to a hilarious Korean movie called Attack the Gas Station. I loved it and laughed my arse off almost the whole way through. I think it helped that I'm living here now, so everything was that much funnier. But honestly, it's great. And yes, Joleen, it was so totally better than JSA. Btw, did you ever get the sound to work for Long Way Round?

Here's another video of Riley. If these videos annoy you, sorry. I promise they'll taper off. It's just that I got excited and put up a bunch. Then this video was too hilarious to not share. It's Riley wearing a cloth Noah's Ark on her head that looks like an "olde tyme football helmet." Hahahaha!!!