Lessons and Mean Girls

Lesson 1: don't eat expired ice cream. Stupid, stupid Andrew gave himself 24-hour food poisoning yesterday and is slowly getting over it, although he had to miss school and taekgyeon practice and spent most of today in bed.

When I did haul my butt out of my apartment around noon to get lunch at school, my co-teacher took one look at me and said, "Wow, Andrew, your face looks half the size of your normal face." I blame throwing up twice last night. After lunch, I got permission from the VP to go right back home.

Santa's Little Helpers from Mean Girls

Lesson 2: Mean Girls is a hit with my students. I showed the endlessly-quotable comedy to my second-year high schoolers over four days, knowing that the boys would be drawn in by the likes of Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, and Amanda Seyfried (they all love Amanda Seyfried) but might also learn a moral lesson or two. We did about twenty minutes per class and discussed slang, cultural differences, and the perceptions of American high school it gave them. Although I was hesitant at first because of some of the vulgar words in the movie, well, I trust my students and I think they got more out of the movie than a few new insults to use.

I gave them a homework assignment to tell me what they had learned after watching the movie, and here are the four best responses I got:

"There's no one Queen, all girls are Queen."
What I learned from watching Mean Girls is How to react to Group like "plastic". in movie, first, Cady became mean girl, and resisted to Regina. of cause, this way is effective. but this way can ruin own life. because people who use this way can accustom, and do like bad people. Cady became Regina because she do like Regina. so, she treat her like on out cast. at last, Cady reflect on her conduct, and in Spring fling party, she broke her crown, and shared piece of crown. there's no on Queen, all of girls are Queen. I think this means all are equality. plastic was made from discrimination. who are beautiful, who are ugly, who are cool, these think come into conflict. so, to solve like this problem, no do like, awaken they are equality. this is what I learned from watching Mean Girls.

"Math is the most important subject."
I was laughed many time while watching this movie. So I think something while watching this movie. First, I need a tool that math. Math can use many things and math is the most important subject. Second, talking behind can make fight. In the movie, many fight caused to many talking behind. Finally, Regina spread all contents of Burn Book and this make large scale battle. This is my finish.

"My middle school life was similar to Mean Girls!"
At the mean girls, i feel that i'm not strange about that situations. Because, my middle school life was similar to mean girls! It was very funny. If i can go back to middle school life, i will do like cady heron. I think it's not bad.

"I will be a considerate girl and not a plastic girl."
I watched Mean Girls in English class. I saw this movie before in my home, so I know all this movie's story. But it is gratifying. I studied about clique in English class. When I saw the movie, I understand that clique is very important to America's students, and I don't know what I would be a clique. I have a lot of things is clique parts. When I think about what is the best valuable part in high school, I think that friend is the most important thing, because main actress Cady was depressed when all students hate her. I will be considerate girl and don't be plastic girl.

The Flu

It was after a long and fun day of travel and skiing that disaster struck. Well, not disaster. But it did seem like bad news bears when I woke up at about four in the morning just about ready to hurl. I was nauseous for most of the night and made several trips to the bathroom to empty out everything I'd eaten that day, including that delicious Domino's pizza that my friends and I got to celebrate our skiing success. Fortunately, I neither woke up my roommates nor passed on whatever bug I had to them.

Ammy, Anna, and Katelyn, the snowboarding triplets.

But the next morning, which was supposed to begin day two of my ski trip, I still felt weak and slightly nauseous, and I wasn't sure if I'd be up to ski. I guess what pushed me into strapping into my boots was the thought of not making use of the lift ticket I'd already bought, the notion of sunk cost notwithstanding. In the end, I did do a few runs in the morning, and I even took two lifts up to the peak of Deogyusan, where the view was quite beautiful. But I only lasted for a few hours before I gave up, had a bowl of white rice for lunch, and then went over to the resort's 찜질방 to try to restore myself before the day was over.

It was very relaxing in the jjimjilbang, but I didn't stay for long before Anna and Katelyn came to find me and helped me snag a bus ride back to Seoul. I'm really thankful for how they and Ammy took care of me that morning, making me drink a lot of water and letting me take it easy. They thought it was kind of funny because I was fatigued, sensitive to light, and just generally out of it; to any outsider it would have seemed like I was just hungover (NB: I've never been hungover, but now I guess I know what it feels like...).

Skiing at night at Deogyusan, on fresh corduroy (the night before I got sick).

It took several hours to bus back to Seoul, and it was 9pm by the time I reached my hostel. I was feeling better -- less nauseous -- after having rested, but it had been a really, really long day, and I was still ready to pass out as soon as I checked in. Instead, though, I hung out in the common room of the hostel (I've stayed at the Hongdae Guesthouse 2.0: Yellow Submarine several times, and I'm friendly with their staff).

So... I got the flu. It was not fun being sick while abroad, while traveling while abroad, and while trying to enjoy myself. The residual symptoms actually lasted for about a week, following me across the ocean to Taiwan. But do you know what's nice about being sick while on vacation? You can do anything and everything you want or need to take care of yourself. I'm reminded of Katie, a friend of mine from college, who once told me that when one is sick, healing immediately becomes the highest priority and all other things (i.e. studying) must be put aside. I argued that work was more important... and for that reason, I often stayed sick for a long time. But now that I'm out of school (and also on paid vacation... that helps), I have time to let my body rest as much as it needs. This is a good thing.

Next up: One short day in the Emerald Special City with new friends from France, and then two weeks in Taiwan!

A personal update: Happy February! I'm based in Seoul for the duration of this month, taking Korean classes and chilling with friends. If you're around, let me know and we'll find good food to eat together!

Welcome to Taiwan! Here, have an earthquake.

I've been traveling around Korea for the past week, dabbling in such curious exploits as bare-hands ice fishing, skiing backwards, and going to college reunions in Seoul. I was having so much fun that I didn't have the time to write any posts or upload photos! However, I've since left the peninsula for a two-week stint in Taiwan, and now that I'm comfortably settled into my grandparents apartment in Taipei, I'll have time to gather my thoughts and describe the past whirlwind of a week with the attention it deserves. I will also spend the next day or so recuperating from a nasty stomach bug I caught a few days ago. Taiwan is all about food, my friends, and if I'm not well enough to make the most of every meal here, I'll regret it most ruefully.

Although I proudly call Taiwan my mother country, I've never lived here for more than a few months, and I've also never set foot on the island during the winter. Normally, say my grandparents, it's not that much colder during the koa thi than any other time of the year, but today in particular brought a sudden chill and dismal drizzle that is quite different from my usual welcome: a blast of hot, humid air upon exiting Taoyuan International Airport.

But other things haven't changed. The first thing I did when I got to my A-kong and A-ma's place was take a nap, and a few hours later I was woken up by a small earthquake. Typical. And my grandparents are still as lively and overly-concerned about my health as ever. My younger cousins are still adorable. And I got a mosquito bite within a few hours of settling in. Welcome to Taiwan, indeed!

푸에치!

The disadvantages of having to teach when you've caught a cold (감기) include being unable to think on your feet quick enough, breaking out into cold sweats (식은땀) in the middle of your overheated office (교무실), and having your students not take you very seriously because you are noticeably loopier than usual and forget items you need for class three times in one period. Heck, even you can't take yourself seriously because you've already sneezed all over your pants once.

One advantage of being sick a miserable in front of an audience of Korean students, however, is that at least one of them will take pity on you and draw you this.

푸에치 is the Korean equivalent of "Achoo!" I'm totally keeping this forever. Look at my shiny bow tie. Look at it, I tell you!