Purple Orchids

Well, Tonight we went to dinner and we had a great time with some of my parents' friends. It was just my Korean parents, another couple and me. We ate Kalbi, which is the pork meat that is grilled right at your table, a very common dish for eating out in Korea. When we finished our meal, we got up to leave and went outside. The friend smoked and my Korean mother and I drank coffee in the parking lot while everyone chatted with the owner and his wife. (Usually when you go out to eat in Korea you go to a friend or family member's restaurant; this could have to do with the fact that there are soooo many restaurants, it's good to support a friend. Also, Koreans are big on connections and loyalty.) Anyways, as they finished up their conversation all of a sudden I watch my host father go into the restaurant and emerge with a four foot tall plant in a ceramic pot. It most definitely looks like an orchid to me, but I still haven't gotten used to seeing them everywhere I go. The friend is saying, "for Jennifer; in her room" and I'm thinking oh my gosh; it's beautiful, but will it really fit in my room? Where am I going to sleep? That is a slight exaggeration, but my room really is tiny. In my head I thought it was some sort of a joke, because it just seemed weird that they would give me this huge plant; I had still not even met the owner of the restaurant and the plant clearly came from the restaurant. I thought that they had just given it to my host parents and it was the friend's idea that the plant go in my room. I only had one option at this point, the most common option, which is to wait and see what happens. Sure enough, when we got home my host father marched right into the house, into my room and placed the enormous house plant on my desk! He told me to water it three times a day, and I still feel as though I'm a little over my head in that regard, because it's such a beautiful plant that if it dies under my watch I will be devestated. Anyways, as you can see from the picture it really is beautiful and it will be a treat to wake up to it every morning. As for my weekend, it was really nice. I am growing increasingly busy with social engagements with teachers/friends that I work with, my family and co-teacher from school, not to mention the other Fulbright ETAs on the island that I rarely see anymore. I find myself booked up almost every weekend which is really nice, because I enjoy spending time with Koreans more than any aspect of my time here. In school I have had some small discipline problems to deal with; the main problem is talking while I'm trying to teach, which can get way out of hand really quickly with forty students in a classroom. On Wednesday I will start my Halloween lesson which should be fun, because the students work so hard, so we can play games and I will pass out candy!