Amanda Takes Off...

Spiderman (left) and His Friend

My birthday is next week. Next week we have Monday through Wednesday off for Chuseok. Thank you, Korea! So today after lunch, my vice principal threw a little party. We had real cake (not rice cake cake), eaten with chopsticks of course, juice, soda, and I got a bunch of little cards and some small gifts. I thought that was very nice.

I said, "And next week we have three days of no work. Yay!" in Korean.

My married female coworkers all groaned and said I was only happy because I wasn't married. Daughter-in-laws have to cook so much food for Chuseok, every Korean woman I know dreads this holiday.

I said, "But I am not an ajumma, so I am happy." The women nodded and told me I was lucky.

(When the coworker, out of the blue, told me to never marry a Korean man, she said that they were too traditional, expected women to do everything, you had to see their parents too much, etc. I said to her, "Any Korean man who would marry a foreigner can't be that traditional." Her face lit up and she said, "Oh! Then you would be very lucky!" If I married a Korean guy, I still wouldn't do the Chuseok cooking. I'm not Korean.)

When I got to my last class of the day, my coteacher had gotten the students to decorate the room. I was so surprised! I thought it was very sweet.

Sixth Grade Girls

Sixth Grade Boys

Sixth Grade Goofball