More Couples Paraphernalia

Couples. . . where to even begin? It's well known now, how hilarious (and odd) I think the couple culture here in Korea is. In some earlier posts I was able to show you pictures I took of Korean couples walking down the street, and at Everland. Now I want to bring you, what I think takes the cake as the weirdest piece of a couple's outfit. . . couples underwear. That's right. At any store here that sells underwear, you can find a nice set for couples. In fact, almost every underwear window display shows couples underwear.

This is one riddle I just can't crack. I can't figure out if you call your boyfriend/girlfriend in the morning to make sure they wear theirs? Do couples get a kick from knowing that extra layer is matching and no one else can see? I thought the whole point was for people to see! Couples underwear has me completely baffled.

Korean dating has its own barriers too. Here most people live with their parents until they are married. It's too expensive to move out, and chances are you wouldn't move very far anyways. So when Korean couples are dating they both have parents to go home to at the end of the night. It's one of the reasons why "love motels" are so popular here. There are also places called DVD-bong (bong means: room) where they have a lot of movies and you can rent one and watch it in a room there with a large screen. All my Korean friends have told me those are big places for Korean couples to go. The rooms are VERY private.

I still can't figure out where the couples underwear comes in. I feel like there must be no spontaneity in many Korean relationships. If you're wearing your couples underwear, then you're hoping to see the matching pair, right? I just keep picturing a couple going to a love motel thinking "I can't wait until be both get down to our underwear and we match!" What is that?! I don't get it! I also can't imagine being 25, 28, over 30, going out for a date and knowing first you'll have dinner, then you'll get ice cream, then you'll go the love motel, but you can't be there too long because your parents are expecting you home. All eloquence gone: that would suck.

Anyways, I wont say anything more because I coule rant about couples for hours. You all are in luck thought, because I have pictures of couples underwear. I felt like the creepiest person taking these photos, but I think it was worth it. Enjoy:

 Couples phone charms.

The most modest couple pajamas EVER. I feel like if you ever get to this stage in a relationship, it's time to re-evaluate.

Graduation

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. For the last week or so blogspot wasn't working so I could write anything. What I've been meaning to do is write about Graduation. Graduation was on February 22nd. I was preparing for Graduation since December. Each class had to perform a song and dance. For my class I chose I'm On My Way by The Proclaimers. I taught the kids the words, and made up a dance. We practiced every day. My kids were one of the oldest classes too so they each had to give a speech (which I wrote). I used their ideas for the speech but it was definitely outside anything they could come close to writing. Their speeches were about what they wanted to be when they grew up. I had two pilots, an artist, a nurse, a chef, a energy scientist, and a police officer.

Graduation was on a Wednesday but the Director's wife didn't check the dances until the Monday and Tuesday before. I didn't get it because she mostly looked disappointed and made changes to a lot of the dances. Luckily mine was okay (but she still didn't smile). I also taught an afternoon Drama class so I was preparing their performance too. The class is loosely called Drama because while we did read a play, there was no acting involved. They just had to memorize their lines and step forward at the right time.

Before Graduation there were no dress rehearsals. We picked out the costumes from a magazine a couple weeks ago and they ordered them. The magazine/book had some of the most ridicluous costumes. Half the time the boys looked like girls. I'll try to find it and take some pictures... The day before Graduation we had one last rehearsal and the Director's wife looked stressed and upset the whole time. At that point though, there was nothing we could do.

Graduation itself was held at a community center nearby. There was a small auditorium with a stage and maybe 150 seats. The costumes came, in all of their ridiculous glory, and graduation went pretty well (I thought). Not all of my kids knew their speeches entirely, but I was told that the parents would work on them at home. The costumes were a little small but my kids still looked adorable. Even drama went pretty well. Here are some pictures from Graduation (getting ready backstage):

 Ready to accept their diplomas!

Ready to accept their diplomas!

 In their costumes for I'm On My Way.

In their costumes for the school song We're All in this Together from High School Musical. 

The beautiful flowers my kids gave me! (I don't know what the one in the middle exactly is)

Graduation was a great day, but also it was sad. My kids were 7y-2 so they were actually graduating and going on to Korean First Grade. I was very proud of how hard they had worked. Luckily, they all came back for afternoon classes at LCI so I still get to see them!