"Pighting!"

Today I ran my first race in Korea! They sure are different here than at home. One time I ran one with Beth and it was downtown Ann Arbor. There were bands along the side of the road, people cheering everywhere! Beth and I joked that we felt like we were Rocky, running up the stairs with theme music in the background. Here, all I got was about 5 people saying, "Pighting!" I'm not really sure why, but they always saying "fighting!" to the runners, except most can't say the "f" sound :) Anyway, no one cheers and it's not even very exciting to cross the finish line :( It was a little exciting though, cause I got first place for the girls! BUT, don't be impressed, I must admit all the Korean girls walked after about 5 min., so it's not saying much...haha! It was still fun though! Maybe I'll do another race before winter.

These days I'm discovering that our natural tendency is to be mean. Sad, but true. I don't have to look long at my kindergarteners to see a prime example. This week they've been bringing in posters in which they have traced their whole bodies, colored on clothes and answered questions. When I say they, I kind of mean their mothers ;) They looked so cute though!! The first girl's was awesome!! I thought it was going to be hard for the others since she set the bar so high. The next day, another girl came in, very upset. She relecutantly unrolled her poster and as I was admiring it's beauty, she pointed out some scribbles in the corner. She said her 2 year old sister did it. She was really upset, because hers didn't look as good as the other girl's. After some convincing, I told her that I would tell the class that her sister was just "helping" since she's not old enough to write words yet. The girl seemed satistied.....then the class came in. Of course, one of the boys, right off the bat said, "Ugh, it's ugly. Look at the scribbles!" Shoooot. Kids are so mean. I don't think they mean to be, they just say whatever is in their head. Needless to say, I launched into an "everyone is different" speech, trying to explain that just as our posters are "different," so are they...yada, yada, yada... I was interrupted by one kid picking his nose. I considered ignoring it, but figured it's too gross to let go. So my speech was cut short to fetch a kleenex. When is it that we as people learn to be nice? We all have to work at it. Maybe we're still learning!