A Short Week

The last several days have been normal. Wednesday I slept really late, did some cleaning and laundry, took a long walk, watched TV, and spent three hours typing all that happened on Monday.

The short 2-day workweek went well. Two adults showed up for class: Jennifer and Grace. Grace must learn to listen!!!!

Alvin asked me about my trip to Seoul: "People look at you strange?" No, not at all, barely a second glance. In Ulsan still all-out stares. The girls were telling me about a trip to their grandmother's house, and about how they saw their "big father" and "small father." KIDS!! It's "UNCLE!" Is your father big? In English it's not important, but if you feel the need to specify, you can say "My father's older brother" or "my father's younger brother." Alvin asked me if we call all of our father's brothers "uncle," then isn't it confusing when the whole family gets together? I explained that we add the person's first name with the title. Alvin deemed that "So strange!"

Brandon was his normal self--cheating on the hacking test, speaking constant Korean, and using his classmates as punching bags.

On Friday Sally and I exchanged stories about our trips to Seoul. Her family went to the National Assembly building on Sunday, so couldn't go in. She found it unfair that I got to go in. She asked if I had been to the Blue House (where the president lives) and I said yes, last year. At first she thought I meant inside, but I hurried to explain that I was just in the yard. She complained about how many pictures her parents took of her and her brother and how they were so embarrassed. When her family visited Seoul University there were "so many buildings" but they had to see a lot of them because that's the school her father wants her to go to (she's in the 7th grade now!). At the national cemetery her father asked a soldier something, and the soldier laughed at her father's 사투리 (accent, dialect). Seoul people think Ulsan is way out in the middle of nowhere.

This is a humorous look at the taxes rich vs. poor people pay.

I'll try to finish writing about the last day of Seoul tomorrow, but I'll be on the Ulsan City Tour for most of the day, so might not be able to.