WAY TO GO NEW MEXICO!!!!!

So Wednesday morning Rachel and I made a big egg breakfast and spent hours glued to the TV watching the results roll in from super Tuesday. I was really confused after a couple hours when NM was not even mentioned well after the polls closed. I got online and looked for some sort of results and found something showing only 1% of the results counted(mind you 15% of the vote was for Edwards... he dropped out people!!!) I figured the website was just not updated, but have come to learn that yes indeed it was taking that long to count the paper ballots. In true New Mexico style, there were not enough ballots for the huge turnout, (why you would not have enough ballots for everyone registered to vote is beyond me) so people started voting in whichever precinct had enough ballots. This is why only 1% was counted when I checked, because all of these random ballots had to be verified as registered voters. It also shows why Edwards had such a high percentage, because it was the absentee ballots from people like my sister who voted before Edwards dropped out. Leave it to New Mexico! This is why people in Oregon refer to me as Paco...this is where I come from. I would like to congratulate my state though on their support for Obama who came in with 48% behind Clinton with 49%. Way to go NM!

Remember how I told you men carry purses in Korea? These are just some pictures to show you how common this weird phenomena really is. Enough men carry purses to necessitate a sign warning not only women about getting your purse stuck in the subway door, but men as well. I like that the woman has a pink purse and the man's is black. In reality men here wear far more pink than women. Stalls that sell ties in the subway are a sea of pinks and purples. I kind of wonder what it is going to be like to go home to the boys that are not more girly than I am? I think I will like it. I miss guys emptying the pockets of their baggy jeans of everything they carry with them whenever they reach a destination, all because they don't carry a purse. (I bet they have never been faced with the problem of a purse wedged in the closed subway doors!)

I have not written much lately as many of you may have noticed, my apologies. The last few months were rough and I have not really been in much of a writing mood. Fortunately the tides have turned and I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and feel much better. As far as work, things are still crazy, but I think that is just the Korean way, just another one of the many things in this country that I will never understand.
Speaking of things I don't understand, here is another example. This week is the Lunar New Year so we have a 5 day weekend and our boss bought us gifts. During the holidays in Korea they have all kinds of gift packs. You can buy a toiletries gift pack with shampoo and toothpaste, a wine gift pack, a dried fish gift pack, or perhaps a spam gift pack.... take your pick For the last holiday we all got a toiletry pack, and this time around we were lucky enough to find the spam gift set on our desks after class. "The Spam Gift Set: It is a tasteful gift with full gratitude. It is for you and your loved ones". Not only do you receive more spam than I have consumed in all my 26 years, but also two large bottles of canola oil. Who wants some fried spam for breakfast? This is considered a very generous gift here, and so ofcourse I am grateful, but I can't get past the stigma that spam is disgusting and usually eaten with Raman (another delicacy here) by college students who would rather spend their money on beer than food. Here on the other hand it comes in expensive gift packs... kind of like Goidava Chocolates, except it's processed meat in a can and not decadent chocolates. Luckily I do understand the American ideal that "it's the thought that counts" and can appreciate that I received a gift.
So if anyone has any killer recipes that include spam, send them my way, because frankly I don't really know what to do with the stuff. Maybe the next time one of my students whines about how hungry they are (since they spend dinner time at English school) I will hand them a can of spam. I hate to see food, even processed meat go to waste.