By the Power of Grayskull...

Today is Sara's birthday. Let me tell you a little something about Sara Marunde. I've known this lady for my entire life, and for my entire life she's been busting my balls about something. But, I know it's because she loves me and wants me to be happy. I remember when we were kids and she'd say, "Hey, let's go play baseball. If you pitch for me first, I'll pitch for you." Then I'd say, "Duh, ok," and we'd go outside and I'd pitch to her and then she'd walk away and not pitch to me. And when we'd share the TV and the Nintendo, changing rooms every week or whatever, she'd never let me play the Nintendo when it was her week, so I snuck into her room all the time and played anyway when she wasn't there. I'm such a rebel. And playing on the jungle gym. And swimming in the lake. And sending boats down the creek. Ah, childhood. Anyway, Sara. She's smart, talented, ambitious, and passionate about what's important to her, and I'm glad to have her as my sister. She's got panache, she's got a great family (I mean the family that she made. I'm not trying to subtly say that I'm great, but the family she came from is awesome, too), and she's got the cajones to stand for what she believes in. So, happy birthday, Sara! I'm sorry I couldn't be there for it, but you know I'm thinking about ya. Enjoy drag brunch.

Also, Sara, it's very fortuitous that the kids are learning about birthdays in my school right now, so I had them sing "Happy Birthday" to you. I'm sorry I didn't get it on video. It all happened so fast...but feel good at the fact that 30 Korean kids sang specifically to you from halfway across the world while you slept last night.

Ok, enough about Sara. Let's talk about me. This is my blog. So this week, my coteacher has been out with the pink eye, and I've been teaching with a substitute. She's a little younger than me, so we just chatted, listened to music, and exchanged Korean/English lessons all week. It was really nice and refreshing. Among the things I learned were:

• the rampant problem of Koreans getting plastic surgery. They all want to look more "Western" so they get eye lid surgery and nose implants and stuff. Really bizarre.
• the amount of competition there is for getting a good job (I knew this already, as I iterated to you in a previous post, but she put it a different way). She explained how colleges work and all about exams.
• how the Korean language is really goddamn hard. But I expanded my knowledge anyway.
  
• I am really lucky to be born into an English speaking country. You all are, too. You can go anywhere and get a job somehow. How much demand is there for Korean speaking people worldwide?
• why Koreans find me so handsome. It comes down to this: I am not short, I am not Korean, I have white skin, I have big eyes, a big nose, and skinny face (comparatively to Koreans). This combination puts me in the "Brad Pitt/Bruce Willis/Wentworth Miller/Tom Cruise" category (yeah, I've been told I look like all these people). I resemble what Koreans want to look like. What a bunch of weirdos.
  
• how the Korean retirement system works. Unless you're a government employee: you better have an awesome savings account.
• Koreans think it's funny when we say things like, "Man!"
• what Koreans pay in yearly taxes takes into account how much they spend, too. If they spend a lot, they get money back. When you go to a store and spend cash, you can ask to give your phone number and the money you spent will be accounted to you for your annual tax purposes.
  

Ah, tomorrow's Friday. Here's a poll for you. And I want answers. Is this a functioning sink?