Rocketing in the ROK

In defense of the North Koreans testing out their missiles last week, Friday was rocket day at school. Kids build and launch their own rockets to protect the ROK (Republic of Korea for those not in the know). We do this every year and it's a day the kids get all excited for and as an innocent bystander I love to watch it. It's basically an afternoon where the kids build rockets out of old pop bottles. The bottom half is half full (half empty?) of water and you then connect the rocket to the air pump where it's pressurized and once ready you release the rocket by the hand held bicycle brake. Winners in each grade then get to compete city wide of the title of best rocket. Here, Jung Hui and Tae Hoon wager money on the winning rocket. The fourth grade class missed our after school English class for this. (I'm not complaining.) My favorite class in the school are the sixth graders and their teacher had me take a million pictures of them. They have a special yearbook made up at the end of the year and need pictures of everything they did in them. Third grade students looking cute but minutes earlier they held my phone and camera hostage after I passed it on to them while I beat up a kid who tried to "dongshim" (stick his fingers up my bum) me. The only way to get it back was to promise to take their photo. They are on the right path to becoming Korean women who never pass the opportunity to have their picture taken.