atomic dog

There are a lot of things in Korea that folks in the States would probably find foreign and interesting, but I just take for granted. Then I act like there's nothing to blog about, but there is.

In Korea, they paint their dogs.


(This one would not turn around to show its pink cheeks!)

You see a lot of fluffy little white dogs with pastel ears or tails. Last summer around Kyungsung University, there was also a big fluffy white dog dyed to look like a panda. I never took a picture.

Also, soup. In America, I took it for granted that I could dig into a bowl of soup with a spoon and eat whatever I retrieved. In Korea, one is expected to take out cow bones, clam shells, or half a crab and dissect it at the table before eating.

This soup was pretty good.

sleeping on the sidewalk

I had the brilliant idea of playing with sidewalk chalk down by the beach, but it doesn't seem to exist in Korea. I checked a couple of craft stores and asked my students if they'd ever heard of it, and they hadn't. I didn't give up.

Plaster is a cheap, easy way to make your own, so with the help of the art department at Neungdong Middle School, I ordered a bag.

It was 55 pounds. This seemed like a reasonable amount at the time, until it was delivered next to my desk and another English teacher had to enlist the help of a "very handsome PE teacher" to get it home for me. I have a feeling she was looking for a reason to talk to the very handsome PE teacher.


When I got it home, I mixed the plaster with poster paint and used dixie cups as molds.


Here is the finished chalk in a few colors.


Pete and I took the chalk out on a cold, sunny day at the beach.


We drew quite a crowd, and one fella asked me to draw him while he posed on the beach. It would look better if he was fighting something, so Pete drew a dinosaur.


Lots of kids came up and played with us too. I think this will be more fun when the weather warms up.