Time flies an' all that

April 26. This weekend it'll be two months since we left home. I'd love to be dramatic and say if feels like yesterday or like a year ago, but it feels like about two months.

We've been here long enough that we've memorized all of the channels on the TV. We've seen it enough times to realize the creepy old people sitting on the shed outside our window aren't really creepy, it's just a nice spot to have a smoke. We've learned that the market has the cheapest produce, Home Plus has the cheapest rice but Blue Mart has the cheapest dried squid (and the best). We know that rice is called 'bap', unless it has curry on it, in which case it's called 'rice'. We've learned 2 am is not late, it just means it's darker in our hallway and will only cause our neighbor to be louder as he fumbles for his keys, fidgets with his lock and slams his door as hard as humanly possible. Also, just because the six year-old girls upstairs were up until midnight doesn't mean they won't running be down the stairs yelling at 6:00 the next morning. We know now that socks are a great deal from street vendors at only a dollar a pair, but if we go on friday, there'll be a lady selling them for half that price. And on Wednesday Carmen can get capris on the street for $3, but that doesn't always include the front button. The cheapest food is kimbap. The most expensive food is duck. Kalbi is great but only the place next to the hair salon has it for $5. Sweet corn on pizza is normal. Sweet corn on pasta is also normal, but kind of gross. Old men in suits holding hands suggests nothing about their sexual preference, and teenage boys holding hands with their moms doesn't make them any less cool. Green does not always mean go, and red means you should have already stopped. If you're in a hurry, do not hand your baby to the lady behind the cash register when you're buying milk because you'll have to stay at least until she starts crying. When going downtown bring a language dictionary because you will get lost. And always bring an umbrella.

It's been an educational eight weeks.

Last week Carmen spent two days on a (mandatory) retreat for English teachers. She spent a bit of time on the coast and also spent a day in Gyeong-Ju, where she visited the National Museum.
Carmen's birthday is next Wednesday, May 2. You're all invited to the party here in Daegu. If it's too far to travel just for the day it'd probably be okay if you sent her an email or left her a friendly note on her blog.

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