Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, March 3

1. Started work at 11:20am and so I started my morning by watching all those that had to work early scurry to and fourth downtown. They looked like ants on an ant hill in that they all looked like a massive confusion of people going every which way but they all had a destination and purpose in mind. And my purpose for the morning was to watch them... hahaha.

2. My two listening and pronunciation classes today were packed with freshmen students and so I amused them with my Korean slang and Konglish jokes. It's always interesting meeting brand new university students. Many of them are so excited to finally be in university and so they bring a sense of hyperness and freshness to the class. Obviously university life is so new to them but some of them seem so eager to experience it, so eager to jump right in it all. It's quite refreshing too for me to stand by and be a witness to it in my class.

3. My first class today consisted of microbiology majors and my second class were all chemistry majors. "Wow... high IQ students, I love it!" I laughed out.

4. At the end of my class I asked the students if they had any questions and one boy put up his hand. "Are you really a professional boxer?" he asked me. "Yes, I am. Any more questions?" I replied. "I want to see!" he noted. I wasn't sure on what he meant but then he added, "punch me"... hahaha. Talk about a strange challenge. I wasn't too sure on how to react or respond to that so I just laughed and said, "I don't fight for free."

5. Have you ever had one of those people enter your life that you instantly got a down-in-the-gut feeling that a certain person is one of those people that is so true to the core, so real... so great, and yet you may not even know a thing about them. You can just sense it though. I'm sure we all have felt this but for me some of these people have been students in my life. Every week they attend my class, sit in their usual seat, answer my questions, and yet they have no idea of how great I think they are. Sometimes I catch myself looking at them and just wishing I could tell them that I think they're awesome.

6. One of these particular people I'm talking about is a particular student who searched me out on campus today. I've taught him for a couple of semesters now and he and his girlfriend, another student of mine, are the cute little C.C. (Campus Couple) I adore. On the 24th of this month he'll be entering the Korean army and so he came talk with me one last time before he prepares for the army. The three of us, he, his girlfriend, and I stood for some time talking but I didn't know how to say goodbye to him and so I ended our conversation by telling him that I'll look after his girlfriend (she's in another one of my classes this semester) and I told him that I look forward to seeing his new "s-line arms" he'll acquire in the army. But really, how do you say goodbye to someone when it's not good to see them leave and you know you'll probably never meet again due to the circumstances?! What's so good about goodbye?!!!

7. This is reality, I know. People come and people go, and in a year I'll be the one going and saying the goodbyes. I guess I never really thought about it like that until today.

8. Stumbled across a wicked website called ARK, Animal Rescue Korea. It hosts a fanfare of links and info about numerous things: pet sitting, training tips, health information, and so forth. I was particularly interested in the volunteering opportunities. Apparently in the neighbouring city of Asan, there's a massive animal shelter that hosts some 50 cats and an estimated 250 dogs. The shelter is called "Jane's Grandpa's Shelter" and word has it that every Saturday a group of expat volunteers visit the shelter to help out, play with the animals and show them all a little bit of love. So it got me thinking, maybe this is exactly what I should be doing, volunteering at Jane's Grandpa's Shelter. Q's agreed to go with me but, and I'm asking this honestly, do you think I'd come off as a bit strange, leaving my dog at home so that I could spend a good chunk of my Saturday with some other dog (dogs actually)?

9. Browsed the ARK website to see if I could self diagnose Mi Nam's current problem that has left me choking and gasping for fresh air... hahaha. Yup, Mi Nam is having a bit of a flatulence problem. Actually, "a bit" doesn't quite describe the situation. It's more like a incredibly big problem that use to only be noticeable at home but today I took him downtown and, while waiting for the light, he clearly let one rip and the people around us definitely smelt it despite the cool evening breeze... how brutal is that?!!!

10. NOTE TO MY FELLOW CHEONANITES: My dog is not barbaric and does know how to control himself, despite his inability to control his gas that is, so he won't bite your head off or try to dry hump your leg. And the reason why he acts nervous around strangers is because 70% of Korean girls scream when they see him and 30% of Korean guys pretend to bark at him. So please, it is OK to pet him and say hello. If anything, I would really appreciate it. On average, I'd say only two strangers a week willingly show affect to him and that's brutal considering I live downtown Cheonan where everyday the streets are packed like Christmas Eve in Canada. Yesterday I ran into a foreigner who petted Mi Nam out of pity after he witnessed a whole crew of school girls scream their heads off when they saw him. Mi Nam's got a bit of a complex and uneasiness with strangers as a result, can you blame him though?! So please, if you see me with my dog do me the favor and pet him. It'd be more than appreciated, thank you.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why are people continually scared of a little dog who's at least 1/5th their size, if not more?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.
-- Samuel Butler