Turns out the fire was on the school's playground. Fire drills were always fun when I was a student.  It usually meant at least a few minutes out of class.  As a teacher, they were a bit more inconvenient.  Chances are it would happen right when you were saying something important, or a student was REALLY close to understanding something. If you are not familiar with an American fire drill,  let me briefly explain. At sometime unknown to students (but usually the teachers knew)a bell would ring during classes.  We would all line up quietly at the door, and walk outside usually to a field.  Then we would stand in line for a few minutes watching everyone file out.  The goal was just to practice evacuating quickly and smoothly.  Then a... Show more

Time. Koreans can be terrible about it. I have been stood up more times than I'm happy to admit, but not by dates, but by Koreans. Oh sure, times are changing... but historically, Koreans haven't faired well with keeping appointments on time. It's not their fault. Maybe it's my fault for being punctual. Maybe I make too big a deal of this. I mean, all other Americans think similarly (only we aren't as homogeneous as Koreans and thus, many Americans are remorselessly late too). Maybe I never really questioned it until now? Those of you familiar with Mexican culture will know that MexicoTime is about +1 hour past the time agreed upon. By comparison, KoreaTime is usually +15 minutes past the time stated. Not bad. But there must... Show more

Drinking. Look at that - I didn't even have to add the word "alcohol" and you knew what I meant. So why is it such a taboo in America when compared to some other countries? A relatively small group of emigrants from England bound for America calling themselves the Puritans yearned for religious freedom. They set up in the New England area and proclaimed that their society would become a beacon of light for the world to see. Some time into the 17th century their power declined but their influence has remained in the prevalent thought of Americans ever since. It is because of these persecuted Brits that Americans are so squeamish with alcohol consumption in general. And nudity. Thanks guys. This isn't to say that what the... Show more

Occasionally I will get a strange phone call. If I don't recognize the number, I always answer in Korean, and usually it's someone who dialed the wrong number. Sometimes, just hearing my 안녕하세요 is enough to make them simply hang up. Other times I'll hear something along the lines of "김민수 헨드폰 안이에요?" Isn't this 김민수's phone?) Anyway, I recently received a strange text message, so I responded...here's the transcript. I left the Koreans messages exactly as they were, so you can get a feel for the oddities of txting in Korean..and any mistakes I made ^^ 그녀:안녕하세용ㅎ싸이에서봤어용ㅎ친구하자해성ㅎ Her: Hello, I saw you on Cyworld, let's be friends 나: 근데 누구시죠? Me: But who is this? 그녀: 컴터하다싸이에서봤어용..ㅎ;;은국?! Her: I was using the computer and I saw you on... Show more

Shoes off. You could ask an eight-year-old what's the difference between Koreans and Westerners and receive one of two answers: 1) 몰라 2) You have to take your shoes off inside. It's funny to me because this seems so simple. Just take them off. But perhaps there's more to it. Oh there's about a million blogs, polls, forum posts, wikipedia articles, and freshman-level essays on the subject and history of taking shoes off, but what about the dilemma of when to take them off? Is it possible to offend someone by taking your shoes off when it is simply not necessary? Oil and wax papered floors are gone. Steam carpet cleaners are in. Why do we still do it? For that matter, flip flops are also a hot little topic, aren't they?... Show more