Charpie's Travels

My kids watched a little video this morning. When it ended, Maro noticed me Korea-style kneeling in the aisle by the back row. She walked over and, for a moment, held my face in her hands. Then she proceeded to pet my hair and repeat "Oh, good job! Good job, teacher!" I imagine this is precisely the way she sounds when she talks to Acorn, her dog. 

Every day, we spend the last few minutes of third block getting ready for lunch. We pulled out the lunch trays and chopsticks, lined up to wash our hands, and set out to the sinks. Except for Jini. She took her sweet time setting up her tray and cup. When she finally meandered toward the door, something seemed amiss. She nearly made it into the hall before I figured it out.  Half of this girl's clothing never left the back of the room. She kept her white shirt and white tights on, but her pink dress sat in a heap under her desk. If it weren't for the "I'm a sneaky genius" expression on her face, she probably would have gotten out of the room before I noticed. I do love the look of pride these kids have when they think up these things. 

Holly and I set out to find Aveda today. It took a while, since the one for which we had directions didn't seem to exist anymore. But Holly knows everything and, a few subway stops later, we were at a different Aveda. I know I'm in Korea. I know that. But my brain still has this notion that, at a place like Aveda, people will speak English. Not so, my friend. However, these non-English speakers were fabulous. They brought us tea, loaded us up with fashion books and hair color samples, and whisked away Holly's purse to be locked in a safe place. I think they thought I was just accompanying Holly. So while while they started with her, I got a free foot massage. Korea is full of wonderful free stuff. Aveda has an online aide for Korean/English conversations. However, this didn't prove useful enough for Jae Young, the poor guy who was trying to figure out what in the world I wanted done with my hair. After an extended period of confusing questions and confusing answers an...