Springtime!

They say that springtime is when a young man's fancy turns to love. They also say that it's the time when the majestic grizzly bear comes out of hibernation and starts chowing down on roots and grubs (they is David Attenborough). I say it's the time to put Ron's classroom up onto the roof of the school.

Couldn't really give you a reason why; it was just time. Totally worth getting up at 6 am. Ron took it well, though the principal allegedly said some naughty words when he saw, and then made Max and I move the whole thing back downstairs.

Spring is also the perfect time for Korea's Own America's Favorite Pastime: baseball! The Kia Tigers may not be the best club in the 8-team league, but they're from the 'Ju, and by gum, they've got heart. They also have a mascot who drinks our beer (photo recycled from an earlier post).
A few differences in Korean baseball:
1. Everyone is so polite! Never is a nasty thing said about the opposing team, and only twice have I heard anyone offer a mild constructive criticism to the umpires. There go my plans to flip a few cars and set them on fire: I don't think I'd be able to handle the disapproving looks.

2. The mascot drinks our beer. Did I mention that yet?

3. The seats are each about the size of one buttcheek the day after Yom Kippur. And it's not that Korean folk are that much smaller than Americans; I guess they just don't mind a little snuggle.
4. Those inflatable thunder sticks say "Fighting!" which is what you yell instead of "Good luck!" or "Break a Leg!" (Konglish hasn't quite mastered the imperative verb tense yet). I like it because there's no letter "F" in Korean, so you're actually yelling "P'whaiteeng!" which gets me really all amped up.

5. The fans' cheers may have been taken from the tee-ball handbook. First of all, everyone's name is three syllables long, which makes every cheer a nice one-size-fits-all (just like Korean T-shirts - no, I'm not kidding; they're all the same size). The most popular is "An-ta!" which means "base hit!" Hey, at least it's a realistic goal. Then, if someone bobbles a pass or gets struck out, it's "kwenchana!" which means "It's okay," but in a really enthusiastic sort of way. I swear I heard someone yell "Good stop!" when the second baseman dropped an easy grounder last week.

6. There are lots of kids. Which means that I took pictures of lots of kids.
There is one important even missing: This little guy spent a good chunk of the game with his pants down, peeing into a 1.6-liter beer bottle held in place by his mom. It happened 4 or 5 times. I felt that a photograph would be inappropriate at best, felonious at worst. I'll just let you imagine the expression on his face.