Field trips FTW

A few weeks ago we had a field trip to "Bugs Camp," a pavilion out in the middle of about nowhere (next door to soon-to-be-soup dogs in cages) displaying lots of dead bugs and two live types. Our driver got pretty lost along the way and made a harrowing 17-point turn around in a crowded street.

Once we got there, it was awesome. The presenter had a bin full of Japanese rhinoceros beetle larvae, giant maggotty-lookin' things as big as my palm, and a cage full of the beetles, which are popular as pets in Korea. (boooo-ring, imo.) From the moment they saw them, the girls did not stop screaming, and I couldn't stop laughing. It's a lucky thing the Korean teachers kept everyone in line, because I was too much in stitches to be of any use.

The presenter held up one of the larvae and talked about it, then offered the students the chance to touch it. They recoiled and began volunteering the teachers, myself included. *Shrug* What the hey? So I reached out to touch the nasty wriggling thing, and just as the tip of my finger made contact, the presenter jerked his hand to scare me. The kids were howling. Smug bastard. Later one of the girls kissed one.

Next he pulled out the beetles for the same routine, this time putting them on students' shirtsleeves. I wore a jacket, so I was game. Then the beetle peed on another teacher, leaving a wet stain on his only shirt. As much as I ought to have felt sorry for him, I was only glad it wasn't me.

Lunchtime was the best part of the day. The students' moms all pack their lunches for field trips, but each mom packs enough food for her child to share with two or three friends. So 25 to 30 students multplied by food enough for 3 is a whole lot of cookies and fruit that their moms don't want to see come home.

The native teachers are used to going out for lunch since being banned from eating at school, so we had brought no provisions. Luckily our director had provided us with fake crab salad on soggy white bread sandwiches. We gave up after a few bites and the Korean-American teacher declared it time to steal food from the kids.

We started by trading them our sandwiches and soon progressed to asking nicely, taking food when they weren't looking, and finally taking food from their hands because they thought it was funny. And so did we.

Next week we're going to Everland. I'm not sure how since it is 2 hours away without traffic and we only have a 5-hour time slot to go, but that's not my problem. I just show up and get on a bus. I'm really psyched for it.