Squid Ink, North Korea and Halloween

Well, I know everyone is probably anxious to hear what is being said in South Korea about the recent North Korea underground nuclear testing. I'm sorry I haven't written about it, but the overall reaction of the citizens of South Korea is that they seem relatively unnafected by it, in other words: they don't see North Korea as a threat to them. To an American living in America it would seem that South Korea is right in the middle of what is going on; however, to a South Korean the whole issue is an issue between the United States and North Korea. They do not believe that North Korea would ever harm them, so the average citizen has little reason to care what is going on, because they don't realize the direct impact that it could have on them. For the most part, South Koreans truly believe that North Korea will never do them harm, whether or not this is true is something that only Kim Jong Il really knows, but let's hope their right! Also, in many ways the conflict between North and South Korea was never their conflict. The Korean War happened after Korea was already divided, and Korea never chose to divide itself in the first place; the decision was made by foreign nations. South Korea seems to dream of re-unification, when in reality if the two countries were to re-unify anytime soon, it would have a terrible effect on the South Korean economy. The South Korean government knows that the only way to re-unify the two Koreas is to help North Korea build up their economy from within, which is why South Korea has had a "Sunshine policy" towards North Korea in the past. The only problem is that now, with North Korea's nuclear testing, it is no longer socially acceptable in the international community to be kind and patient with North Korea. South Koreans do not seem to realize the effect that a successful North Korean nuclear weapons program could have on them, they only seem to see one ultimate goal in regards to North Korea: re-unification.

On a lighter note, last night I tried abilone and boiled squid with squid ink, a very interesting meal. It was me, my co-teacher and three other Korean teachers, all men and about 30 years my senior. First we went and bought the abilone and the squid at a fish market, where they bargained with the vendors and I stared at the wide variety of live fish swimming around in tanks and bowls. They spent $100 on abilone and squid and then we took it to a restaurant where we were charged another $30 for them to prepare the fish for us and for the soju that was consumed. We ate most of the abilone raw, but there was also a sort of chowder with rice in it that we ate at the end which was made with abilone and they boiled the squid, so it turned purple and was covered in its own black ink... abilone is a delicacy here and they believe that it is very nutritious, which it probably is, but it's not soft like the sashimi, rather it's as if you are chewing on a muscle or something. There are parts of the abilone that are very tough and almost hard. The squid was interesting, and I wish I had my camera, because it was quite a sight, the purple squid cut up and covered in black ink. I'm not a huge fan of squid, but it's sort of like rice, hard not to like because it's quite bland. We ate a wonderful meal, complete with plenty of soju (Korean liquor made from rice, similar to sake). From there we went to a nore bang, or "singing room" as it translates to English where I was asked to sing songs like "Let It Be" by the Beatles and "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, songs that I did not listen to in my youth.
Halloween is on Tuesday, so I have been teaching a lesson on Halloween all week, very fun. I start off with a slideshow of jack-o-lanterns, witches, and Americans in costumes, then we play pictionary with Halloween images and finally, I make all the girls say trick or treat on their way out of class, and give them all a piece of candy! It's has been really fun to share such a fun holiday with them!