email: all hail canada

Subject: hail canada
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:26:09 +0000
dear mom and dad,

it's mad raining today! has grandma still been praying for me? b/c the weather was so gorgeous these last few days and then BOOM thunder and rain this morning. please ask grandma to put in a good word for me to her special connections.

you know i really like kimchee. not as much as everyone around me, but for sure i eat it when it's served as a side dish (which is with every meal). and you know, i've not noticed the smell! maybe b/c i dont have any at home, i've only had it when i eat out. ive been told it stinks, in fact when you move into a place there are often 2 refrigerators: one for your food, and one for kimchee. i dont have a second fridge. if i did, i would of course use it for coke zero. hey, doesnt bagoong stink too? b/c i love that with mangoes but it's some smelly stuff. mom, what else do you eat bagoong with? i cant remember. hey mom, please know that i think of you every time i eat, b/c i use chopsticks and laugh about how you cant use them at all :)

a couple of my classes will be cancelled this and next week, as well as everyone else at my job. the kids have exams at public school, and they'll be studying and not have time for hogwans. they are diligent students, it seems, every one of them. they'll shush each other during class if they're trying to listen to me and someone else is making too much noise. if a student isnt listening and keeps bugging the kid next to him for help, i'll hear an exhausted sigh and a "Please listen!" it's too too cute.

there are so many canadians here at my job. really, i thought canada must've been a made up place before i got here. "Canada? Yeah right, there's no such place as Canada! I've never met anybody from Canada!" :) i think half my coworkers are canadian. i learned this b/c i noticed that all the men stopped shaving this week. when i asked, they told me it's b/c it's the hockey playoffs.

the candaians all come in wearing caps when it's cold. pointing to it they ask me, "What's this?"
"a beanie," i answer.
the canadians will look at each other and say "they just dont get it." and sigh and shake their heads. they explained to me that what i call a beanie or skull cap is called Toque or Tuke in canada."A beanie has a little propeller on top. really, i googled it." the canadians gloat.


hmm. ok. all hail canada, b/c they sure know their hats!