The blog challenge

A diary is something I've always wanted to have but never found the diligence to create.  Now that I'm many miles away from my friends and family, and in the face of new technology, I have the option to create a sort of online public diary and am running into familiar patterns of neglect and withdrawal.  So, here before you now, I challenge myself to break this silly old pattern and keep my goal of at least one blog a week.  And, even more inspiring, a friend back home is challenging me further by creating a blog of her day to day thoughts for me to feel included in as well.  Now I think I am sufficiently motivated...  read away ~ if you dare!

Market day: Redux  and ...  Teacher's day! 

Today was market day near our school, as is every thursday.  We saw vendors who were both new and ones that we recognized from two weeks ago.  We also saw several new items for sale - which is great because it promises that market day will not always be the same boring items... maybe its seasonal... maybe its like the swap meet and it depends on who booked sidewalk space or who got their first that morning... maybe it depends on if a "farmer" has sold all his crop (or its gone bad) and he has nothing left to sell for a while... who knows?

Today we saw a large swath of garlic.  Made me think of Loree and her dad and the garlic - also the garlic festival i've gone to with my dad.  And, last but not least, the gianormous amount of garlic i've been eating since i got here.  you might be thinking - oh, they put a lot of garlic in food there?  Nah - they make it available though and with all the meat (pork mostly) they serve, i end up eating mostly garlic to disguise the fact that i'm not knawshing on loads of meat like everyone else... garlic and onions... yep - good thing i ain't got a lover here!  har har...

I also saw some chicken which isn't very common, and, from what i understand, expensive.  Last weekend, while Julia, Crista and I ate some chicken, we discussed whether the chickens here are smaller than at home or not and whether that had to do with the hormones pumped into chicken in the USA...  what do you think?

We left the market rather abruptly because an old (possibly drunk) korean man approached us and grabbed a hold of our shoulders and wouldn't let go... we had to run away.  It was terrible and all these other korean vendors nearby were laughing.  However, we did run into our boss buying us little flower arrangements for todays holiday: teacher's day.  (Holy crap - I'm a teacher???)  And she asked what flower i liked, so i got a few lillies in my arrangement for that coincidence..

but, as Jimmy Buffett says, I've got good days and bad days and going half mad days...  and my tuesday/thursday kids are, lets just say, a challenge - and then some.  So, while i did receive a chocolate bar and a rose/wand thing, I also had to deal with a lot of behavioral challenges and general discipline - type stress.  However, spending a full hour singing "head, shoulders, knees and toes" and making it into a simon-says kind of thing where I say "head" but point to my shoulders to see who is paying attention and who's "out" -- that was fun.  But now i have that damn tune stuck in my head.  

Ok, must sleep - its 3 am.  (is that a song?)