Valentine's Day was good and fun. It is Korean tradition for the woman to buy chocolates for her man on February 14th, whereas the men return the favor on March 14th by buying traditional Korean candies which land somewhere between flavored paper and flavored cardboard. I think the men get the best here, and I sure made out like a bandit. As has been the case for many years on Valentine's Day...my mom was the big candy winner spending WAY too much money to ship me a tin of American candy. Thanks mom - Necco wafer Sweethearts cannot be found here. In addition, I got a lovely assortment of candies from my friend Hyunae.
However, the most enjoyable of the Valentine's Day rush came from one of my ex students who has had a shameless crush on me since I started here. Her English name is Agnes...I haven't had the heart to tell the poor girl that no American has been named Agnes from birth since 1943. After classes ended on V-day, I was sitting at my desk with my back out into the lobby of the school (all the white teachers were told to sit where we could be seen by parents). Occasionally we turn and wave or pretend we are trapped behind the glass. We haven't resorted to throwing feces yet. Agnes and her entourage had been loitering outside the door for the better part of 10 minutes shrieking and waving when I would turn. I would wave back, hoping to get them to go away. It would be cool if they were 7 years older. Eventually, they all ran into the girls bathroom for some sort of huddle. When they came back out Agnes was bashfully leading the pack. She came into the office with her head down and hand over her face...gave me a box of chocolates and turned and bolted as I started to say thank you. Wayyy too cute.
