Deja Poo

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go."
- Dr. Seuss -

Without trying to sound like one of those 9 year old pretentious overachievers on Reading Rainbow, I would like to learn you a book I read recently. It's called Le Petit Prince and it's a fairly convoluted tale of imagination and observation that delves into the psyche of the protagonist, the Prince. Not the artist formerly known as. The little prince is supposed to remind us of our own child-like curiosity. The never ending quest of finding answers and looking at complex problems from the simplicity of a child's mind.

Actually, the copy I have is all in French, so I'm not quite sure I've translated that correctly. But, the book sure does have some neat pictures! My friend from France gave me his copy as I have always wanted to read Le Petit Prince. The book actually was a nice little reminder of how beautiful the French language is and how much I hated studying it. Or, not studying it in my case.

In any case, it's time to update my blog. I've been on vacation for the past several days. We're celebrating Chuseok here in Korea. It's equivalent to Thanksgiving in the U.S. However, instead of eating horribly disfigured birds and celebrating a win by the Dallas Cowboys (that's for you M.M.!), the Koreans get together with family to give thanks to their ancestors and eat a lot of traditional Korean dishes. I enjoyed my days off as it allowed me to hang out with friends, visit Seoul and Taegu, and eat some amazing sea food. Lots of sea food. So much so I think they started serving mermaid after I demanded more fish on my plate.

An ajumma selling her goods. With her fish sprawled out in the sun all day, the ajumma splashes them with cold water to keep them fresh. Consequently, passersby are also bathed in this splash with the unapologetic ajumma not even looking up. It's like being in the splash zone at Sea World, I find. Quite fun, actually.

Skinned, bleeding, and very much still squirming (read: alive), how can one say no to this delicious Korean cuisine.

After hours of endlessly ogling questionable sea food, my friend and I finally settled on fried and barbecue fish that came with an endless array of healthy side dishes and a large pot of fresh sea soup. Total cost? $12 US. Really cool.
In coming fishing vessel that brought forth more yummy sea life. Get into my belly! says this guy.
Hmm, that looks like a mound of hot fudge sundae covered in whip cream, says the potentially fat Filipino living inside of me.
Galaad found one of his favorite French director's hand print. Busan is actually known for their international film festival, which is actually coming up next month. Pretty excited about it.
Me and poor Frenchie who endured the harassment of being European in Korea. "Where you are from??" asked an excited Korean. "France," replied Galaad. Korean dude looked at me with a confused look on his face. "Fuh ran suh," I translated. Ha ha. If you don't say it in Korean, they don't know what the hell you're saying.
I also find it wise not to brag about having studied French for two years in Uni with a Korean who grew up in France. They'll test you by saying something complicated in French, and my only response would be "Oui. C'est merde" which translates to "Yes. That's shit." A constant reminder that I almost failed French II.

In world domination news, I've been thinking about flying into a small isolated island after my contract is up in Korea. I plan on living simply and wearing nothing but palm leaves and coconut shells. I will befriend the natives and become their king. Thus defeating the need to go to Graduate school. In actuality, I'm pretty excited about the prospects of getting another job and / or going back to school. I've primarily targeted jobs overseas and so far I've found some potentials in Italy, Japan, the Philippines, and Canada. However, I can't apply for these positions, because they might just call my Korean boss, who'll fire me on the spot, duct tape me and ship me to North Korea. I'll have to wear a rice sack and perform for Kim Jong Il. "Dance," he'll command of me.

And nobody wants to see that.