I gave my scheduled run tonight the ol' one finger salute and instead headed to a section of the city I'd never seen before for some beer with a coworker. HEY! Don't freaking judge me! It may not have been the best decision for my plan to be the Universe's most awesomest jogger who occasionally picks up the pace enough to be considered a slow runner, but it was good for my mental health. A few beers, some greasy, fattening food, a shared crossword and much, much name calling and I no longer want to rip out all of my boss' hair strand by strand. That's gotta count for something.

Know what else counts for something? We had a field trip today, and except for the part where my 6th grade boys practiced their extortion skills on my 4th grade boys, it went as smooth as could be expected. I'd even go so far as to say that everyone involved had a good time - except maybe the polar bear, who ate the Capri Sun juice container a student "accidentally" dropped in its' cage. I was fairly angry about it, but my Korean teaching partner thought it was kind of cute, because it was an accident. An accident? He would have had to practically stand on another kid's shoulders to reach over the glass divider to "accidentally" drop it in the cage. Sigh. This was the same boy I had already had a discussion with about how zoo animals don't eat people food, because I busted him throwing potato chips and cookies to the elephant. "I know, Teacher. Accident, Teacher. I won't do again, Teacher. Sorry, Teacher." And 10 minutes later, he feeds a plastic container to an endangered animal and gets a big hug for it. But hey, far be it for me to bring a little social awareness to their young lives. I'm just here for the kimchi.

ANYWAYS - the rest of the field trip was great. Each kid had been assigned an animal they had to research for homework, and when we got to that animal they had to present their material to the rest of us. This was my favorite:

Student: My animal is the lion. They live in Havanna.
Me: They live in Cuba? There are lions in Cuba?
Student: Teacher? Lions don't live in box. Even I know.
Me: Not cube, CubA. It's a country.
Student: Oh. Yes, Teacher. They live in Havanna.
Me: Are you sure you don't mean the Savanna????
Student: Teacher, I don't know. My mom did homework. I just read to you.

I'll post pics later - I got some good ones of the monkeys doing dirty deeds to each other, so make sure you stop back cause you definitely won't want to miss out on them. Right now, my book (The Inheritance of Loss) is calling me, so I need to go get a few chapters in before the ol' ball and chain gets home from work. :-)

This morning, about halfway through my second cup of coffee, I finished "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running," by Haruki Murakami. It's been out for awhile, so many of you have probably read it, but if you haven't you should think about picking it up. It's a quick, enjoyable read with lots of profound statements to get you really thinking.

Kind of like this blog. HA!

I picked up a book by Margaret Atwood without really bothering to look at it, because it was on sale and it's Margaret Freakin' Atwood so it has to be great, right?!?

It so totally and completely sucks. I'm not even going to finish it.

*sob*

I always feel so let down when an author I love puts out shitty work.

Ms. Atwood, I know you're reading, and you owe me $7.95 U.S. for tricking me into buying the worst book ever. I'm finding it hard to believe you even wrote that stuff. Are there 2 Margaret Atwoods?

And now, for your reading enjoyment, 25 books that you all MUST read!! They are in no particular order (A Prayer For Owen Meany, which Ant is reading now, is my favoritest of my favorites), they are just the first 25 books that came to mind when I thought about books I love, love, love. I highly recommend you check them all out, and don't say I never gave you mofos anything!



1. Pride and Prejudice

2. A Prayer For Owen Meany

3. A Confederacy of Dunces

4. Nineteen Eighty Four

5. Catcher in the Rye

6. Everything is Illuminated

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns

8. The Great Gatsby

9. Anne of Green Gables

10. Lolita

11. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

12. The Five People You Meet in Heaven

13. Horton Hears a Who

14. The Blind Assassin

15. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

16. A Passage to India

17. The Watchmen

18. Goodnight Moon

19. Vernon God Little

20. What is the What

21. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

22. Villa Incognito

23. Brokeback Mountain (No, watching the movie doesn't count)

24. Me Talk Pretty One Day (actually, any David Sedaris book will do)

25. Aquariums of Pyongyang

One of the nice things about living in the middle of nowhere in a country where I dont speak much of the language is that I spend an enormous amount of time reading (and doing soduku puzzles - I'm addicted!!). I've always been a huge reader, but regular life and actually having to communicate with people often sucks up my precious reading time. Now, between tons of time at home, a small amount of insomnia, and long subway rides to get anywhere, I'm flying through books!

I was just browsing some online book lists to get some ideas for my next trip to the bookstore. I don't know who makes these lists, but many of them seemed to operate under the assumption that the longer a book is, the better it is. Also, listing The Harry Potter Series is actually 7 books, not one. And The Complete Works of Shakespeare feels like it should count for more than 1 book, even if they are all stuck together in the same binding.

I think I'm going to start working on my own 'Must Read' list. Feel free to offer suggestions. :)

Sunday night, I started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, by...I forget his name right now but it's the same guy who wrote The Kite Runner. Last night I finished it. It was UNBELIEVABLY good! It's been a very long time since I've read a book so good that I felt compelled to stay up all night reading the end. Everyone should check this book out!

I've been suffering from an extreme case of boredom lately. I'm sick of spending my days wandering around the city alone. I've seen the museum exhibits that I want to see. As my ever-widening ass will confirm, I have tried out enough cute little cafes, coffee shops, and bakeries to last a lifetime (well, there's always room for more coffee). My boredom is not the type that motivates me to get out and find something to do. It has become a bit crippling, causing me to waste enormous amounts of time doing...nothing. I'm still running, but only short distances and even that is feeling a bit boring lately. I don't do well with boredom, or with lots of free time. I tend to think too much and accomplish too little. I was NEVER bored in Seoul, never had a lack of things to do, but here boredom has become a very common state of mind for me.

I need a change of scenery. I am in the process of making that happen, but for now I am stuck in limbo. Barely working because I won't be here long enough to make finding a "real job" worthwhile. Not making any new friends because I'm leaving soon. It has occurred to me lately, though, that there will be things about the city that I'll miss. If you had asked me a few months ago what I would miss about this place after I left it would have been near impossible for me to come up with something.

The silver lining? I've been able to read a ton of books. I'm really enjoying Mating, though it's taking me a long time to get through it. The book was given to me by a close friend, who said he saw pieces of me in the main character. I see them, too. This is the first book I've read in a long time that feels "challenging" to me. I've had to look up quite a few words. Earlier today I finished a beautiful memoir by Thad Ziolkowski called On a Wave. Luckily I had Ant to help me with some of the surfing terminology, but even if I hadn't had him to teach me what a roundhouse cutback is, I would've loved the book.

This weekend marks the annual Hueco Tanks/Tex-Mex roadtrip. Man, what a difference a year makes.

Alright, enough whining. I'm gonna head outside for a run and some beautiful sunshine. Be good.