Korean customs

We had a class about manners abroad the other day in one of my classes. As homework, I told the kids to write down some things that are considered rude in Korea.
Apparently you shouldn't chew gum in class.
Using red ink to write is bad because it's like using blood (this was interesting to me because I was told to use red pen to grade homework and tests by the principals).
You should not only take off your shoes when you enter a house, but you should point them towards the door you came in to be extra polite.
Number 4 is unlucky here. When you look at the elevator buttons in my building, there is no 4th floor.

If I remember or learn some other things, I'll write them down. One of the book series that we use is written at Oxford. It is hilarious to me to listen to someone who is clearly British try to do an American accent. There are people who can pull that off - I didn't know Hugh Laurie was British until he won an Emmy for House. Hugh Jackman can do it too, although he's Austrailian. How cool would it be to have Wolverine read the lessons.

Anyhoo, sometimes the books write things that just make me laugh because they are so wrong. In the manners class I was just talking about, one tip to follow in America was "you should eat your hamburger with two hands. eat it as fast as you can. Don't talk until you finish eating the whole thing." I started laughing when I read it to the kids and told them it was wrong.

Another lesson had a little kid telling things he liked and didn't like. One line from his speech was, "Tea? I'm American, I hate tea." And he sounded all offended that the interviewer even asked him the question. I've never thought about it before, but now I wonder if kids books in our schools make fun of the British in a similar way. I don't even remember learning about British people until history classes and the Revolutionary war.

Lastly, I got paid today. I still don't have my alien card, so I still don't have a bank account, so I got a huge wad of cash in an envelope. My boss said don't lose it as he handed it to me. Right now I'm hiding it in my apartment so that I try to save some of it. Although I am tempted to dump it all on the floor and roll around in it first. But I won't.