The ice on the streets is melting, so I might take my bike to work tomorrow. I've been down with a pretty miserable cold the past five days or so. I actually was teaching some classes on Thursday and Friday with no voice. That was real bad. Now I'm just coughing up my life every time somebody makes me laugh.
Thus, because of the sick, this weekend was really uneventful. But I've been practicing some Korean vocabulary, conjugation as best I can, and watching my favorite shows--Private Practice, Greys Anatomy, Castle. They're back from the long grave that is the "Holidays", which drives me nuts. The last thing everybody wants on the Holidays is to have their favorite shows disappear. Boo!
Anyway, now I'm eating Campbells Chicken Noodle and whistfully thinking about green, dancing trees on Minnehaha Avenue. I've been trying not to think about the relaxing summer days in my apartment, right after graduation, when the most I had to do was wander over to the park and read a book--and then occasionally go into work. I really miss the flowy green trees. Sigh. Then again I miss them every winter. Little home things just get to me every once and a while. Little things that you don't think about. Like trees, and the sound of the wind in them.
On a different note, today my Taekwondo teachers gave me food with a completely new twist. It was a creamy white soup, and I asked what it was. She replied "It is... ah, Cow Spawn soup!" .... I took this statement in stride, because I KNEW that it couldn't be true. There's no way. So I just tried to memorize the word she gave me in Korean, which was something like kong-guk, but I don't remember too well. They put some salt and pepper and onions in it.... and then we ate it with rice and it was pretty bland. (So I stuffed tons of kimchi in it.)
At work I asked a teacher friend if she understood what it was, and I asked her "this is what I thought she said..." and she replied "Yeah I have no idea, because we don't eat that..." Anyway it was one of the weirder things that has happened to me here so far. But now I'm going to be trying to figure out how anyone mistranslated something into COW SPAWN. (Especially when the soup itself tasted nothing like any kind of meat.) I was thinking it was some kind of milk soup.
Anyway. Who knows. Weird story for the day/week.
It's very easy to get down and lonely in the cold, drab winter especially when you don't know too many people, can't speak the language well and teach a bunch of rich brats. Hang in there, girl. I'm glad your meeting friends and learning some language. Your supposed to have 4 or 5 careers (don't believe that crap those guidance counselors tell you)and many of them won't require more school. That's what gives you a full and exciting life!
ReplyDeleteYuck!! I mean, milk is sort of "spawned" from cows, right? In a sense?
ReplyDeleteRight! But... why not just say Milk? I mean, that word almost everybody knows! So confused.
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