Thinking Pink

It is breast cancer awareness month, and I've never been more aware! My mother is now in complete remission, but my own health has me concerned. My grandmother, cousin and mom have all been diagnosed, and the doctor says I am at high risk. He also said I need to get a mammogram as soon as possible. I don't think I would feel so bad about this if I was in Canada, but trying to deal with my health in Korea is very stressful. Tomorrow I will venture into a women's health clinic, where I'll awkwardly ask, "Do you speak English?" This will probably be followed by, "Doctor? ENGLISHEE?" What will happen after that is anyone's bet.

There are lots of little things to think about too: Does birth control effect my chances of getting estrogen based cancer? What about drinking soya milk? Should I give it up just in case? And how many other things should I be avoiding? No, this is not the time to tell me some quote about living your life in the NOW. Yes, I know that stress causes cancer too..

When I was a kid, I was totally obsessed with singing the "Hi, My Name is Joe" song. I recently taught it to one of my classes, and they too fell in love with the button factory. Here is one of my favorite classes performing one of my favorite childhood chants:

Today I had a student salute Hitler in my class. for some reason he thought it was going to be hilarious, and I think he was quite surprised when I threatened to kick him out. When I asked the kid why he thought Hitler was so funny, he said, "Hitler made war!" Why do boys daydream about going to war? What makes them think that blood and death are such awesome subjects? I obviously don't understand, and that's probably a good thing-wanting to be a princess is far more sensible anyways. My classroom will continue to be a war free zone as long as I'm a teacher. I might even install an invisible metal detector for all the invisible guns my students like to carry. And as for Hitler? He'll have to learn English somewhere else.