I was cordially invited to a dinner to welcome my new principle. Every few years the principal is moved to a new school as are the teachers. It seems counterproductive to keep replacing everyone, but its a law. They decided to incorporate me into the debacle and even asked me to give a speech. I said a few words in Korean like "hello", "nice to meet you", and "thank you" and they ate it up. Most of it was in English, but I received a nice response.
I sat with my co-teacher and some other women. I was handed the tongs and tended to the meat cooking on our table. I was unaware that we were supposed to cut the meat with the scissors while it is grilling. I had a beer and all was well for the time being. The soju was introduced and I had a shot or two with some of the teachers. By the end of the meal, I had done a shot with every male worker in the school. Some crazy talk was uttered about how I was brothers from different countries and that we have the same soul by a department head. I was so wrecked but I kept on drinking. I somehow made it through the dinner without embarrassing myself, although I can't say that about everyone. In total I must have had 15 or 16 shots in an hour. Luckily it is only about half of the alcohol content in vodka.
I managed to make it out that night to my friend's amusement, but headed in before midnight. I realized that night that Korea has three major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, and soju. Since that time I have noticed that the school fridge is well stocked with the beverage and is consumed on occasion during school hours.
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