American Food & National Day

(can you tell what it says?)

(that's a likely story)

I find myself craving American food right now – anything: potato chips, cheese, etc. Just now, I was nibbling on some Trader Joe’s trail mix that I brought over from the States. Then, a carpenter ant plopped down from nowhere, and I thought “f-you, ant” and I crushed it with my index finger. What I really think about every day is the crunchy texture of beef flautas (notice the type of meat) and the oniony flavor of guacamole and nachos. Salsa. Where are you, Taco Miendo? Salmon sushi with a faint flavor of soy sauce and wasabe. Sakura rolls. (Wait a minute, are these American?)

I haven’t resorted to actually trying to make the food I like yet though. Cafeteria food is enough for lazy me. It’s not bad, just starting to taste the same every day. I never thought the day would come when I would seriously consider learning how to cook, but that moment may be approaching. Today, the cafeteria served ice cream popsicles for dessert. The kids went bonkers, trying to smooth talk the food service staff into giving them seconds, eating the bars before anything else. I observed them while doing lunch duty, eating an ice cream bar of my own. Then, I went and ate lunch.

Not to mention, I finally found out what was causing my stomach pains and GI problems. It was a stomach infection. But yay! I can take medication and stop the suffering! It never stopped me from pigging out though.

Anyway, this blog entry is supposed to be about National Day which was Wednesday, August 15th. The whole school celebrated by taking the day off and having a flag raising ceremony and a mini-feast in the quad. India celebrated 60 years of independence, and Korea celebrated its freedom on the same day as well. Everyone wore nice national outfits. The men wore kurtas and the women wore salwar kameez’s or sari’s. My students were gorgeous wearing their various dress from India, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Thailand, and Nepal.

(lining up for food in the Quad)

(Anna, Kelsey, Jeanne - go Mt. Herman!)

(showing off the outfits)

(revealing our MC Hammer pants)

(my students and me, I'm on the right)

(these are mostly Korean outfits)

Questions from Chris D:

So who exactly are these students at this english-speaking christian school in the mountains? are they indian kids whose parents want them to learn in english? or international kids who are in india for whatever reason? They are international students whose parents for various reasons, send their children here. (Aka, I don't know. Every answer is different.) Many parents know this is a great school and have the resources to pay for it, while other students are on financial aid. About half are Indian nationals, and the other half is from wherever. Some national and non-national parents live somewhere in India, some parents don’t. It seems the majority are Indian and Korean (super Kool, with a capital K). About half are Christian. I think using/learning English is definitely a perk, and many have aspirations of attending American or UK colleges.

That's crazy that you can give them hard labor! What kind of things do they have to do? Yes, it’s true. We can. I don’t know what the labor is, but there is plenty of brick laying and ditch digging to do around here!

Do you think they behave better because they know that's a possibility? I think the students are just super motivated because those are the kinds of kids they are and the kinds of families they come from. Many students already have an education and career path pre-selected for them. They often struggle between wanting to make their parents happy (not getting disowned) and following their passions that are further fostered by attending this liberal arts, multi-passionate school.

Here are some pictures of my friend Rover2 celebrating National Day in my bathroom:

(Wassupppppppp???)