I ate chunky beef soup today. You know, just to see if I could do it. Also, chicken dumplings. Also, breaded fish sticks.
Okay, so the fish sticks were really hard to get down, and I didn't even attempt the fish steaks that were also being served. But the other two were pretty do-able. It was definitely strange to eat something that I've eschewed for so long (12 years, I think), but I wasn't disgusted, and I think a small, hidden part of me actually missed the taste of beef. None of it made me sick, or even gassy.
This doesn't mean that I've suddenly stopped loving vegetables and fruits above all else, and it definitely doesn't mean that I suddenly don't care about the health (both human and animal) problems involved in commercial meat markets, or about the environmental impact of large-scale meat consumption. But right now, learning about and trying different Korean foods, with a special emphasis on being respectful towards the co-teachers with whom I eat lunch, is simply more important to me. When my co-teachers commented on the fact that I had considerably more vegetables piled on my tray than proteins, I told them that I used to be a vegetarian, but that now I ate some meats. They were amazed that I could have grown so tall without any meat in my diet.
Next week, the 1st graders (i.e. 10th graders, in the U.S.) are studying comparisons in English, and I've begun to put together a powerpoint with pictures of myself, Michigan, London... and Mom, Dad, Owen, Sara, and Nora. Merely for purposes of who's taller, stronger, etc. Hope you guys don't mind. The students get much more excited about things when they get to hear about my personal life at the same time. :)
There are two options for how to get home after school: 1. walk in a straight line until I get to a subway station further away from the school (Sadang), or 2. zigzag up and down and across bridges for two minutes to get to the closest subway station (Namtaeryung). Yesterday, I opted for the simpler but longer route; today, I tried to challenge myself to find the closer subway station. No cigar. I was on the verge of getting lost, but I came across one of the eager B-level (the first grade classes are separated into English skill levels A, B, and C, A being the highest) first grade girls I met in class today, and her gaggle of friends. Popsicles in hand, they guided me to the station, succumbed to my plying them with English questions along the way, and waved to me when I got off at my stop.
It was rather fun, but I'm glad it was the eager-girl crowd rather than the rowdy-boy crowd. All day today, in various classrooms, I've been trying to come up with an authoritative way to fend off "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Do you think I'm handsome?" "I love you!" etc. Heteronormativity, you are inexorably approaching. How discourage him (them)?
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2 comments:
First grade there is tenth grade here...No wonder America always does poorly in academic comparisons with other nations. Our seven year olds versus their sixteen year olds. Hardly sounds fair LOL -Justin
Ha, nice try. Elementary school is 6 years (1st through 6th grade), then middle school is 3 years (1st through 3rd grade), and finally, high school is also 3 years (1st through 3rd grade). I teach the high school 1st and 2nd graders.
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