Wandering Wednesdays.

So... it's technically Thursday.  This I know, but I also completely forgot about "Wandering Wednesdays" and I'm trying to make up for it here.

While I absolutely adore traveling abroad, I also thoroughly enjoy experiencing all that the good ol' U.S of A has to offer.  In February of 2009, I traveled to to New Orleans with a few of my best friends to experience our first authentic Mardi Gras.  It was a trip.

Mardi Gras was just as I expected it to be, minus the lack of all the cash and prizes.  To be honest, the only people who were showing off their goods were middle aged women clearly hoping for any ounce of attention they could gain.  My friends and I walked away from the Mardi Gras parade with too many beads to handle.  Apparently all one must do to get beads is enthusiastically yell, "Throw me something, mister!" at the floats.  Some of them even threw us bags of beads.  Bags.

My favorite part of the trip?  The food.  Hands down.  Between the po boys, grits, beignets, fried chicken and mac and cheese, I was sure I was going to return home 50 el bees heavier.  Still, it was soooo worth it.

I also enjoyed walking around the city in general.   There were little cafes and beautifully preserved colonial houses.  I loved taking the trolley around while taking in the sights (beignet in hand, naturally).  As we spent an entire day wandering the street of New Orleans I began to notice the water damage left on the neighborhood cafes.  The colonial houses that I loved were under heavy repair and bore the scars left by Hurricane Katrina.  It had been 4 years since Katrina hit, and New Orleans was still in a state of repair.  The more we explored, the more apparent it became that underneath all of the booze and beads was a city going through a rebirth.  

I'd be interested in going back and seeing if anything has changed.  It seemed like it was a city that was slowly inching its way back to normalcy. 

God Given Pockets.

 I'm just going to throw this post into the mix for sheets and giggles. 

They boy was folding laundry earlier today and became slightly ("slightly" in an understatement) offended at the faux-pockets that the majority of my jeans and pants have.  You girls know what I'm talking about.  The "poser pockets" that don't really hold anything but the ounce of humor one has left after buying pants with no pockets?  Or the little flap that looks like it opens to a pocket, but really opens to nothing and makes you look like a glorified idiot when you spend 5 minutes attempting to stuff your hands into the side of your jacket?  Those pockets.

Ahem.  Anyway, the boy immediately began to frantically jab away at his laptop and 7 short minutes later this beauty of a piece found its way onto my facebook wall.  It's only been up an hour but has garnered 15+ comments.  I'd like to weigh in on what everyone else thinks on the matter of pockets, or the lack thereof. 

As a man, who loves a woman, I am angry. I just spent the last ten minutes organizing the laundry. I say organizing because I don't want people to get the impression that I was being domestic.

I wasn't.

I was bringing order to the chaos of my wardrobe.
However while taming the willful army of garments I noticed that Tawny has no pockets. This, I thought, must be a problem for her. I mean, my god, where does she store her pocket knife, or her lighter, where do her keys go? I checked the rest of her pants (which I had starched into obedient ranks.) There too, no pockets. This revelation in and of itself was hard to swallow but it was made worse by the fact that all of her jeans have these faux-pockets. Small dimples stitched into the fabric to give the illusion of function with all the depth of Snookie's new book. Two withered dents that remained in the pants like an appendix, hinting at a time of usefulness long since past. However the pocket has yet to outlast its evolutionary uses.
I was appalled.

Upon further inspection of the useless pockets a whole myriad of truths about her pants came to the forefront of my mind. They were completely debilitating. Clearly girl pants have a smorgasbord of flattering qualities, but at what cost? They are impossible to walk in, make climbing any hill or mountain path impossible, and render the full mobility of a woman to a tenth of its potential. This has been a given fact for a long time. This I was willing to let slide.
The pockets are too much.

High heels, form fitting dresses, and purses are all blatant conspiracies by male dominated garment industries to render women docile.(I learned that at Liberal Arts school) I've always been a fan of a well crafted cocktail dress and the well worn heel. It was not until this discovery of pockets however, did the awful truth of those words sink home.

A world without pockets, God given pockets, is no world worth having. Kangaroos have pockets! Chipmunks have pockets! Sponges, the lowest and most simple form of ocean life (it poops out of its mouth) have areas that work as pockets.

Why can't women have pockets?

Enough is enough I say. I have managed to make Tawny dependent on me through the careful application of charm, flattery, good-natured stoicism, and a brilliant use of cooking skills. I don't need the textile market to help. I've studied hapkido, I can cripple the woman I love on my own.

All of this went through my mind as I looked down at the precisely folded rows of clothes standing at attention. Not all clothes are created equal, but all men and women are.

Busy Bees.

Oooh we've been so busy over here ("bidgee bidgee" as one of my students would say).  Planning a RTW trip is a lot more challenging than I expected it to be.  I thought we could just hop on a plane to wherever and take it from there.  I mean, I guess we still can but now that we've got a budget we've got to plan just a little more carefully.  Budgets.  Gross.

Want to know what we've got so far?  Too bad, because I'm going to tell you anyway.  Close your browser if you wish. 

Well, we're planning on starting off in Seattle.  We leave Korea in May and want to spend some time with our families and friends.  We're hoping that we'll be able to jet off to NYC in June for the NoFF Film Festival then depart from there to Ecuador (or Panama depending on our mood).  We might be able to even get a free trip to Brazil and Argentina if we win Filmmaker of the Year on TripFilms.  (clickity click here to get in your last minute vote for Captain and Clark- we'd love you to the moon and stars)

From there we'll head around South America (after the Galapagos, of course) to deliver whatever letters are addressed around the area.  Once we're finished, we'll hop on a plane and head to EUROPE!  Ahhhh Greece!  Italy!  Spain!  France- oh mon dieu!  It's a shame that this girl has her Bachelor's in French and has never even stepped foot in the country- or Europe as a whole for that matter!  Don't worry- I've been brushing up on my français.  Ahem... Excusez-moi mais... savez-vous à quelle heure ouvre la Louvre? 

I know that Europe's going to be the most expensive leg of the journey (champagne and pain au chocolats on the daily), but we've got a number of friends there and I'm crossing my fingers that we'll have accommodations for the majority of the trip.  (Hear that friends?  I'm showing up at yo' doorsteps) 

From Europe we'll head to India- whether there's a letter addressed there or not.  The boy has been there before and I'm just itching to see the Taj Mahal and experience the Delhi Belly.  Well, maybe not the last one so much, but you best believe I'm going to stuff my face with as much curry and naan as humanly possible. 

After India we'll hopefully catch a flight to Bangkok and spend the remainder of our trip trolling around Southeast Asia.  If we're lucky, and not too poor, we might try to hit up Australia.  Again, the boy's been there but we both want to get our scuba on- Great Barrier Reef style. 

I'm sure there will be a lot of changes made to this "itinerary" over the next few months but it sure is fun to map this whole journey out.  Let us know if you have any advice on what's the best way to go about purchasing our airfare, or any advice in general (like how to make a turkey out of kimchi).  And while I still have you here; check out the latest video that the beau made for the newest addition to our family.  It's so purdy.

Watch more Seoul videos at tripfilms.com

The best way to travel Korea?

Take a TRAIN!

I know only half of you will be as excited as the boy and I were for our first Korean train experience.  To be fair, we're American and we don't really have trains.  Not really.  We have the mini "choo-choo trains" that you ride around Santa's workshop in the malls around Christmas time.  We also have mystery trains.  Those are fun, but not really how one would get from point A to point B.  (Unless those points involve solving a murder)

When we got back from our first cross-country train ride we gushed about it to our friends... who are British.  They were not impressed.  But hey- it's super fast, has a dining car, and is so much smoother than taking the bus.  My name's Tawny Clark and I love trains.

Oh!  And a little tidbit of information for you- the onomatopoeia for a train in Korea is "cheek-cheek-bok-bok cheek-cheek-bok-bok" instead of "chuga-chuga-choo-choo".   I don't know which one I like better. 

Watch more Seoul videos at tripfilms.com

The Final Countdown...

Holy balls!  We only have a little over a week left until the polls are closed for TripFilms Filmmaker of the Year award. 

Have you voted yet?  (Preferably for, you know... us)

And have you seen our competition?!  We were dumbstruck that Captain and Clark was even nominated under the category of Filmmaker of the Year, but it really hit home when we saw all of our competition.  They.are.amazeballs.  No joke.  I would love love love to win the grand prize, but in all honesty, just being nominated was an enormous honor.  High caliber people, high caliber.

But hey, it's not over yet and we'd still like to give our comp. a run for their money.  If you would please donate a few minutes of your time and approximately 5 clicks of your mouse we would greatly appreciate your vote.  And if by some miracle we win, I promise that I'll send you all a hypothetical cigar and/or unicorn.  Unicorns are congratulatory, right?

To vote for Captain and Clark just click HERE.

Our categories include:
Filmmaker of the Year (The big 'un)
Destination Profile Award
Getting Local Award

We really can't thank you enough! 

And this is just for reading... a little teaser of things to come, if you will.

The only Child...

that Chris likes.

Seriously.  The boy in enamored.   Annie has captured his heart and I've never seen him take so well to a small human being.  He normally can't handle little children, but I guess Annie is a anomaly.

Annie is the same Annie that said her eraser could erase my face and that her fist can break things... like my face.  She also told me that I am smart, but not as smart as her.  Her English is nearly flawless and she has quite the personality.  I spend the majority of our class together trying to convince her to stop picking up heavy objects (like her desk) to convince me of how strong she is.

If Chris had a child, it would be Annie.  She told me that she's a "local celebrity" in her town because all of the "old grandma people" think that she's oh-so smart.  To her credit, she is.  She hasn't even started elementary school yet. 

Yesterday, Annie revealed that it was her last week at Langcon.  She won't be able to come anymore since she is starting elementary school and won't have any time.  I told her that she was going to break Chris's heart and she just laughed in my face.

Annie will definitely be missed. 

Is this appropriate?

This picture does not adequately portray "shy".  There's nothing "shy" about this picture.  Embarrassed maybe, but not shy.  I could think of a million other words that this picture would go with.  "Flasher" maybe.  "Pervert".  "Awkward".  "Naughty". "Walk of shame".  But not shy.

I didn't get to review my flashcards before my class of 1st grade girls.  To be fair, they normally don't include pictures of buck naked men.  I was a little surprised when I unwittingly held up the card and all of the girls started wildly screaming and hiding under their desks.

"Teacher!  That man is dirty!  Very VERY dirty!". 

"Teacher why man no panties?"

"Teacher, what that?"

Let's just say that I learned my lesson. I now carefully review my flashcards before I take them to class.

Drinking Games are Fun for Everyone

Even small Korean children. 

Just wait a minute before you go and start judging.  I've actually taken a ubiquitous college drinking game and made it not only fun and appropriate for small children- but also educational.  I've started playing this with my 10 year-olds and they lurve it. 

The game is called Kings aka Kings Cup aka Ring of Fire.

So as most of you know, the game would usually be played with a deck of cards and a few beers.  You have one empty class in the middle and you spread out the deck of cards [face down] around the empty class.  Each card, Ace through King, has a specific meaning and/or action that goes along with it.  For example, the 9 card means rhyme.  I would get to choose a word and we'd have to go around in a circle taking turns coming up with rhyming words. 

Easy peasy, no?

 

I've obviously had to alter the game a little bit.  I don't need my kids running home to mommy and daddy telling them that Tawny teacher made them drink something that made them feel funny and sleepy.  I've been using a point system.  Each student starts with 25 points and I subtract points from there.  The first person to lose all of their points in the lah-hoo-ser.  Here are my child-friendly rules that I implement in my "Korean Kings" game.

Ace: "Ace in your face".  Each child has to take a card and stick it on their forehead.  The student whose card falls off first is the loser and gets -2 points.

2: "Two-You".  The student gets to pick any other player to lose two of their points.

3: "Three-Me".  If you draw this card then you get -3 points.

4: "Four.. uh, girls".  All girls get -2 points.

5: "I have never".  This one's pretty good.  Everyone holds up 5 fingers and we go around saying things that we've never done.  "I've never eaten kimchi".  "I've never been to the USA".  If you have done any of the things you must put a finger down.  The first person to lose all 5 fingers gets -2 points.

6: "Six is for... boys". All boys get -2 points.

7: "Seven Heaven".  (This gives me an appropriate time to teach them about heaven). Everyone has to raise their hands to heaven.  The last person to raise their hand gets -2 points.

8: "ABCs":  The student that drew the cards gets to go first.  They have to think of a work that begins with "A" (i.e. apple).   The next person has to think of a word that starts with "B" (boat).  Sounds easy, but when English isn't your first language it can be a little challenging.  I give the students only 3 seconds to come up with an answer and they have to make sure they use the appropriate letter of the alphabet. 

9: "Nine-Rhyme":  See!  I've even incorporated phonics in the game! The person who drew the card gets to pick a word and we go around in a circle thinking of rhyming words.  The student who cannot come up with a rhyming word loses 2 points.

10: "Categories": The card holder gets to choose a category.  Any category.  It could be "Disney Princesses", "Different kids of kimchi", or "Animals that are pink".  The person that cannot name anything that fits into the category loses -you guessed it- two points. 

Jack: "Jack Back".  You change directions of the circle and the person whose turn it is next loses 2 points.

Queen: "Queen Questions":  You basically go around in a circle and ask questions, but only questions.  If you answer a question instead of ask one, or if you can't think of a question, you lose 2 points.

King:  Whoever pulls a King gets to make up a rule and gets an additional 5 points.  The student's favorite rule is "Moose".  The person who pulls the king can say "moose" (and put their hands as their antlers) at any time throughout the game.  The last person to follow suit loses 2 points.  Another crowd favorite is the "thumb master".  Whenever this person puts their thumb on the table, the last person to notice loses 2 points.

I can't even tell you how much the kids love this game.  It keeps them talking the entire time and it's better than bingo, hangman, or go fish.  It also keeps them thinking on their toes.  Let's just hope that it doesn't dawn on them while at a future college party that "Tawny teacher" taught them this game when they were in 3rd grade.