Chestnuts anyone?

So my blogging has been a bit slower due to my neighbors catching on that the American in room 1113 is stealing their WiFi and are quickly putting security blocks on their internet networks. Damn smart Koreans. All those lovely networks that once were open and free to steal now all have little lock symbals next to them. Thus I have broken down and decided to actually pay for my own internet connection. It trully breaks my spirit when I think about it

In other news, I am covered in mosquito bites. This is not a delicate few, this is like, I have been living in a swamp in the middle of July for a week. If I didn't remember my chicken pox experience like it was yesterday, all those great oatmeal baths and calomine lube ups, then I would seriously think I had come down with them. Fall is slow to come here this year, so something about the lingering summer heat has created a mosquito infestation in my neighborhood (we are really close to a tributary of the Han river...low lands). It doesn't help that my studio doesn't have screens and I'm trying to save on heating/cooling bills by keeping my windows open. But regardless, I look like a freak.

This weekend, covered in red bites, I am going on a mandatory sweet potato and chestnut picking adventure with my school, in an effort to bond all the teachers and staff..... got to love Korea just for the sheer bizarrness in their bonding activities. I don't really eat either food. Honestly does anyone actually eat chestnuts in the states? I thought they just sound pretty in songs, "chestnuts roasting by an open fire" etc, but I don't recall anyone actually munching on them. Here it's a different story- Korean people love them and make some kind of soup out of them.

To throw in a little historical tidbit, until the Korean war in the '50s Korea was considered the poorest third world country in the world. So much of the food that is eaten today in traditional Korean restaurants is a product of this poverty. Soups, kimche, pickles, rice, and fish were all cheap and easy to make for large families with minimal amounts of money. The older people who grew up around this period are similar to the same war time age group in the states when it comes to eating everything on their plate and being very economical when it comes to food. Attaining free food, is still very important to them, this is very evident at grocery stores and cosco like places where they give out free samples. The etiquette in the states is to take one free sample for yourself... nope, not here. It is like a scene out of national geographic the way these people push each other out of the way for a free sample. And they don't just take one, they take the tray, eat them, then hover around until the next batch is ready to be served. My favorite example is when we were waiting in line to get a cosco hot dog we saw people taking full plates of onions, pickles, ketchup and mustard to accompany their hot dog. They didn't have to pay for it so regardless of whether they were going to eat it or not they wanted a whole plate full.

More later, a few students just wandered into my room early. "Teacher, teacher, teacher, what are you doing? Teacher is a fast typer. Teacher can I braid your hair?" I have to mentally prepare myself.