Squattie Potties... the thigh workout you never knew you could have.

My first squattie pottie experience was in Ecuador. In a tiny little hillside village that couldn't have held more then 15 families at most. We were visiting different family farms and took time to pray with many of them. After about three hours I had to go pee and asked where the nearest toilet was. Of course I was pointed in the direction of a tiny shack that looked like it couldn't possibly house a proper toilet. Once I stepped into the structure of shrunken, holey wood I stopped. There was what looked like the base of a toilet, you know the hole in the ground but no toilet. Moreover, there was no flush and no toilet paper! Hmmm... Ever quick on my whits (actually I just remembered someone mentioning this predicament before), I decided that the bucket that I saw floating in the pool of water outside of the shack must be for flushing. I toted back my bucket, peed and flushed. It was actually quite an experience to liven up the normal bathroom routine. ;)

Now the whole squatting thing can be quite tricky (ladies I know) because if one is, well off aim then disaster strikes! To make sure you are going to get the right aim do a few practice squats before you drop trou. (It's actually a good thigh/bun workout.)

Now the really gross part. Most Americans expect to have toilet paper in the bathroom they use, regardless of if its a Nordstrom's, movie theater, a friends house or a 7-11 toilet. There should be toilet paper right? Nope! People toilet paper is a luxury, not a necessity. Yes, it may seem like the world is ending once you get comfortable on your porcelin throne and there is no Quilted Northern Ultra Plush; but alas you will live if it does not miraculously appear. Asia seldom offers toilet paper for free, especially in Cambodia and Thailand. So remember your own and remember to toss it in the wastepaper basket or next time you will be stepping in what you ought not to due to the sensitive plumbing.

My second experiences with squattie potties were in Cambodia and then again in Thailand. (Just ask Tori or Brad about Ecuador or Andrea about Thailand or Lacie about the Philippines, they all experienced the "joys" of squattie potties as well.)

Now I live in Korea, which mind you is a rather developed country, so I didn't expect to encounter a squattie pottie here. However, my school (which is about 10 years old) still boast the porcelin floor pot. Korean style squatties have a flush though so there is no need to fill up a bucket and wash your business down. My school pottie is pictured.

So if you ever travel to Asia always remember aim smart, bring your own toilet paper, toss your waste in the basket and flush with the bucket.

So thankful

You may or may not know that Korea really isn't my favorite place to be. That statement aside, I am so thankful for my job. My kids are awesome and such.... well... KIDS! Everyday they give me joy and newfound energy for life. They are little inspirations. They are the future space shuttle engineers, computer programers and scientists. My kids have big dreams and the smarts to achieve their dreams. But for now they just have to make it to the next grade. So thanks guys and gals of Mabuk, you make it all worthwhile.

Genius Classes

So every once-and-awhile (literally there is no method or pattern that I have found), I teach the Genius classes. These classes are groups of 4th, 5th and 6th graders from all over Yongin. They are the best and brightest English speakers at their school and thus entitled/required to come to my class.

Those poor little souls had to bear with me last week as I blundered through a lesson that had been laid out for me. (Mind you the lesson was pre-constructed but missing some key pieces. Just like a puzzle that just isn't finished until you have that last piece. Yet they saw the bigger picture and went with it anyways.)

They went along with the oddly worded worksheets and the directionally challenged directions of the supposed "fun" games. Truly they were great sports and such charismatic kids.

It is so fun when the students feel confident in English, because it is then that their little personalities begin to shine through. It is then the English jokes come out. It is then I am corrected for my English mistakes. "Teacher teacher, wrong spelling."

Today I will teach another Genius class as well. This time I am far more prepared and the fun will be rampant! Hurray my little genii, hurray!

B for B-boys.

B is for B-boys: This weekend Bonnie invited me to attend R-16 (one of the most infamous international bboy competitions) with her friends. For those of you who have no idea what a Bboy is let me educate you. A Bboy is a male dancer (Bgirl for a female dancer) that practices breaking more commonly known as breakdancing, an acrobatic style of hiphop dancing. A breaker is the general term used for both sexes.

Bboying started with the Black and Latino hiphop cultures in the South Bronx in the 1970's and evolved from there. In essence, it is all out street dancing. Koreans picked up bboying, along with the influence of the hiphop culture, largely in the 1990's. Apparently while young soldiers were serving their two years military time they picked up bboying. Starting in the year 2000, the Koreans proved worthy to compete along with the international bboys. In 2002, a German audience watched history as theKorean born Expression Crew won "Battle of the Year." From 2002 on Koreans have only perfected their style and innovated new elements of bboying. (There are four elements to bboying: toprock, downrock, freeze and power moves.) As of 2009, Koreans are the top nation in bboying. Top bboy groups such as: Last for One, T.I.P., Gamblerz, Rivers, Drifterz, Maximum and Visual Shock all hail from Korea.

It was amazing to watch the performances at R-16 (an international bboy festival held in South Korea) this Saturday. Watching these masters of style was riviting, and all that the audience can do while they stare mindlessly at the bboys is utter "oooh!", "ahhh!", and "how the..." :) The final performance was what completely captivated me. It was choreographed (unlike bboy one on one battles which are freestyle) to include traditional Korean dancers, bboys, and Taekwondo masters. The piece began with a traditional Korean drum dance, where the drummers have ribbons attatched to their caps and must consistantly rotate their heads to keep it streaming through the air; trust me its pretty great you just have to see it for yourself. The drummers consistant rotation is akin to the perpetual movement of the bboys. As well the Taekwondo masters jabs and hooks can be likened to the popping and locking of bboys. The performance demonstrated why the Koreans have a historical and natural inclination to be masters of bboying.

So... if you are ever in Korea, you should watch bboying. I can guarantee it will be the performance will not let you down.