Friday, February 24, 2006
Soju and saliva
Miss me?
I thought as much.
So here I remain in Sokcho, plodding away. The days are tiresome, the nights drowning in soju. In answer to your question, Zane, soju hangovers are random and have bugger all to do with how much you drink. 3 bottles causes memory loss though. To the uninitiated, soju has a completely different effect on you from other booze. You can have whole chunks of your previous evening's partying missing but still conduct yourself pretty reasonably (this obviously is less true if you drink more or mix it), merely appearing slightly merry to the untrained eye. If your memory is blanked due to soju consumption, you can safely assume you went to a karaoke bar and then went and ate some kamjatang (spicy pork and potato soup - yummy) before going home in a reasonably civilised manner. Any bizarre new Korean contacts mysteriously added to your mobile can be attributed to one's stumbling attempts to communicate with random Koreans while under the influence of soju. Great stuff if you get used to it.
I hope that answers your question Zane. I have been very inquisitive about it on your behalf.
A quick note about work. My students are getting dumber. My new kindergarten class has a child in genuine need of ritalin (he's currently immune to education and/or discipline) and a 5 year old who wears a bib all day because of his constant uncontrollable drooling. They say a bad artist blames his materials, but really, people are actually expecting these two to be speaking English in a few months. I'll post up photos at a later date. Another class I have is even younger. Incapable of going to the toilet unsupervised as they have trouble with buttons (and even velcro). That's provided they remember to tell you they need to go. Waaaaaaaaay beyond my job description. I want toilet-trained students. If they're not housebroken, I don't want to teach them.
Not doing it.
No way Pedro.
Good thing the Korean teachers take care of it. Maybe that doesn't make me a "New Man" but they're not my kids, so wiping, zipping, and changing soiled clothes are not my job. Didn't sign up for that.
I thought as much.
So here I remain in Sokcho, plodding away. The days are tiresome, the nights drowning in soju. In answer to your question, Zane, soju hangovers are random and have bugger all to do with how much you drink. 3 bottles causes memory loss though. To the uninitiated, soju has a completely different effect on you from other booze. You can have whole chunks of your previous evening's partying missing but still conduct yourself pretty reasonably (this obviously is less true if you drink more or mix it), merely appearing slightly merry to the untrained eye. If your memory is blanked due to soju consumption, you can safely assume you went to a karaoke bar and then went and ate some kamjatang (spicy pork and potato soup - yummy) before going home in a reasonably civilised manner. Any bizarre new Korean contacts mysteriously added to your mobile can be attributed to one's stumbling attempts to communicate with random Koreans while under the influence of soju. Great stuff if you get used to it.
I hope that answers your question Zane. I have been very inquisitive about it on your behalf.
A quick note about work. My students are getting dumber. My new kindergarten class has a child in genuine need of ritalin (he's currently immune to education and/or discipline) and a 5 year old who wears a bib all day because of his constant uncontrollable drooling. They say a bad artist blames his materials, but really, people are actually expecting these two to be speaking English in a few months. I'll post up photos at a later date. Another class I have is even younger. Incapable of going to the toilet unsupervised as they have trouble with buttons (and even velcro). That's provided they remember to tell you they need to go. Waaaaaaaaay beyond my job description. I want toilet-trained students. If they're not housebroken, I don't want to teach them.
Not doing it.
No way Pedro.
Good thing the Korean teachers take care of it. Maybe that doesn't make me a "New Man" but they're not my kids, so wiping, zipping, and changing soiled clothes are not my job. Didn't sign up for that.
# posted by Stuart Reid @ 12:13 AM 
