an exam day, the western coast

first I grilled the (raw) trumpet shell, then I pulled the spiral-ed flesh out from it, then I cut it into bits and ate it.

I'm actually laughing hysterically, not throwing up in my mouth.

EAT THE CLAM

EAT IT

We were supposed to go to a mountain that day, but we got lost, drove to the western coast of Korea instead, and had a clam bake-out. Then Park Mi-Ran, Young-Gyung, Im Kyung-Hwa, and Shin-Jung ate ice cream while I bought men's swimming trunks and swam in the Yellow Sea (and for the record, the sandstorms are the reason it's called the Yellow Sea).

It was my first time swimming in salty water. I am, apparently, what Park Mi-Ran would call "a brave swimmer."

walnut ice cream popsicle

things I eat now that are different from things I ate before, the walnut baked into the sweet breaded crust of my red bean snack

sometimes I desire to set myself on a stage in front of all of my school

while I eat a bowl of spicy noodles with chopsticks.

It's just that, you know, you'd think that everyone would have all discovered a long time ago that I can eat with chopsticks. Really, what did you think I've been doing in the school cafeteria all this time? We've been to the cafeteria together, we've been to fancy staff dinners together. I have not tried to hide my eating habits. Why is it still a novelty that I use chopsticks well?

As part of my application to renew my contract here, I had an open class yesterday (with my principal, vice-principal, all of my co-teachers, and the English department from a different school all watching me). I haven't gotten any official news yet, but so far the feedback seems to be favorable.

Next, I have an interview. Then I'll sign a new contract. Then I'll get a new health check. Then I'll renew my visa.

I'm pretty sure I'm happy about the prospect.

you know, I've always hated april fool's day.

1. new Korean English teacher at school. I HOPE SHE'S COOL

2. I AM A LAMINATING MACHINE

3. health, happiness, joy (a butterfly). It's like you have all four seasons on your pencil case.

4. STRAWBERRIES, prune tea

5. teacher. TEACHER. I LOVE YOU.

6. I LOVE CHOCOLATE.

7. GIVE ME CHOCOLATE.

8. no. NO. we're taking a fucking speaking test.

bikini tribal

disco thong sandals! (RIP)

Obligatory photo of La Casa Rosada.

BALLZ

[the corpse of] Ulises' grandfather is in here.

Alexi's roommate (left) and creepy-ass landlord (right).

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

kiwi licuado, SO GOOD

KY gel valentine's day heart-shaped balloon.

tourists are welcome here?

jesus guarding over the children('s playground)

IT WAS THE BABY

doll/dyke

dyke/doll

THE FUTURE

pam-mom meets pam-mom, suckles tits

for papa, from agus and mama

choripan of DOOM

at the Eloisa Cartonera collective, we painted books.

I painted this one. Obviously.

then the city FLOODED. THRICE.

ewwwwwwwwwwww

skype 3-way

audra and ulises at the outdoor milonga near feria

el caminito in la boca

SHE'S FUCKING THAT HORSE

what would lar-bear say.

red cow-print tango shoes!

pupation

If, after the last post, you are wondering what a silk-worm pupa looks like, here is a pretty accurate visual of the brand of pupa I consumed:

KoHo, you LIED to me.

They do a funny thing here. They call a thing a mountain, when it's really a miniature mountain range.

Which is to say, when I talk to Park Mi-Ran next week, I will tell her I climbed 수리산 (Suri-san) today. But the truth (as I see it) is that I climbed 4 mountains today. Because Suri-san has 4 peaks, and we couldn't just climb ONE.

The trail itself was not difficult. In fact, I was doing pretty good right up until we started the descent of peak #3, at which point I decided I wanted to die. Then we cooked lunch on our propane stove and drank makkoli (rice wine) with hot ramen, and I wanted to die less. Then we climbed peak #4, and I wanted to die again. But there was more makkoli to be had at the top of peak #4, so I didn't want to die anymore for a brief span of time. But the descent of peak #4 was a shitstorm. The whole thing took about 7 hours, including our lunch-break. Which is to say, we climbed those mountains FAST.

But I made it, I guess. Apparently KoHo's hiking club is impressed with me and wants to teach me how to rock-climb this spring.

Other accomplishments of the day: not losing my T-money card, peeling a clementine in one fell swoop, eating a silk-worm pupa (part of our mountain lunch) while being knowingly scrutinized by every member of hiking club, and keeping my gag reflex successfully in check. In fact, I've found that it really helps me eat something gross if there's someone staring intensely into my eyes while I'm chewing.

For dinner, we had smoked pork, and somehow they made it taste like cinnamon applesauce. It was delicious.

But both cinnamon-applesauce-pork and silk-worm-pupa would definitely have made me gag in private. (Also: no one forced me to eat that silk-worm pupa. Is it strange if I am purposely taking advantage of the absence of my gag reflex in public to try eating animals that I have never eaten before?)




Sitting at home now, and my hips feel like someone murdered them. My body is going to hate me tomorrow, and I am going to love it a little.