Going Away Party

Last night our school had a going away party for the vice-principal, head teacher, special ed. teacher and the second grade teacher. It's a huge turnover for such a tiny school and the principal admitted to being stress out at the dinner and the room acknowledges his stress with silent nods. Each of the departing teachers then gave a speech and they were a million miles away from the speeches I've heard at other going away parties. When foreigners leave they tend to want to leave ASAP and acknowledge it with a classy, "Fuck you all, let's get drunk" sort of speech.

We went to a sea food restaurant for dinner and the little old lady who owned the place was annoyingly cute. She welcomed our group by standing at the door and aggressively ordering her workers to hurry up and feed us. She then came in and sat among us and asked what the party was for and then spotted me the sole whitey sitting on the floor. She learnt my hatred for sea food and assumed it was because it was spicy. Off she went and brought back with her the same raw fish and mixed vegetables (which I don't hate, I like raw fish) that was on all the other tables.

Mine was different in that my sesame leaves didn't have any of the hot bean paste on them (another food I don't hate). It was nice of her to included a fork to help my clumsy hands get the food onto the leaves. The ajuma then went ahead and prepared my first sesame wrap for me and popped it into my mouth without my knowing it.

All eyes were on me as I chomped away and I desperately tried not to flinch as the tiny fish eggs popped their vile juices into my mouth. Throughout the rest of the night my permed haired friend complimented my eating habits by calling them "cute". I'm not sure what to think about that but she was a great host and I can understand why this place is a popular destination for Koreans.