Halloween and Turkish Toilets

Yesterday was a momentous occasion for me. In the nether regions of a Seoul subway station, annoyed and embarassed at letting woman after woman take my place in line to use the toilet, I finally marched down to the end of the stalls and locked myself in with a squatter. It was a ferocious face-off, and I was determined to defeat my long-time foe. I should think congratulations are in order. Now nothing stands between me and world domination!

Ahem.

On another note, shopping in Seoul is enough to send me scuttling under my funny little bed. Apparently Americans of my stature are not supposed to try anything on. Or perhaps it's more to do with fashion sense than size. I'm not sure, as the few phrases I've learned are insufficient to ask. If I had to describe the fashion here, I might peg it somewhere between late eighties/early nineties American, eg. Blossom, and modern hipster sensibilities, intellectual rapper/punk. Now that I've cleared that all to mud...

At school, we have begun preparations for Halloween. I will be a vampire stationed at the face painting booth. Fortunately, I have several festivals-worth of experience at kids' face painting. Mostly, I remember requests for butterflies and snakes. There is also a decorating contest with a monetary incentive for the teachers. My theme is ghosts. I really want to put a big Mario on one wall staring at one ghost that's covering its eyes. Behind him, I'd put a flock of other marshmallow ghosts. We'll see if I can bribe my older students to do some artwork...