Expiration Dates and Extended Mixed Metaphors

I drink a lot of milk. This may come as a surprise to people who knew me as the I'm-allergic-to-soy-so-I-drink-rice-milk girl. But the story behind how I became an omnomnivore is for another time. I have learned that in the Czech Republic, expiration dates are pretty accurate. These are not the whimpy American "sell-by" or, worse yet, "enjoy-by" dates. They are expiration dates. They are, "Don't even bother opening the cap!" dates. When I get milk, I always drink a lot of it the first two days and then realize that I am running out and I don't want to go buy more, so I drink it sparingly, then all of a sudden the expiration date is looming and I know that at midnight my milk will turn into a pumpkin.

Last week, nothing seemed to go right. It was probably some time around 00:01 on 1 November that things started to go south, so I was resigned to considering November a bust. But this morning, I woke up and decided, "Dnes je nový týden. Bude to dobré." Today is a new week. It will be good. And it's all about attitude. I went to school, determined to have a good day, and I did! My boss casually brought up what a good job I am doing, which was good because it had been a nagging anxiety in the back of my mind for a week or two now--since I realized that I am here on a three-month trial period and I didn't actually know if my boss even liked me. But now I know that she thinks I am doing a great job and that the kids really love me. She told me that last week when I wasn't around, Ema was shouting from the bottom of the stairs, "Colleen! Colleen!" and would not accept her as a substitute. I had another parent-child class today and though they make me anxious, this one went really well.

As I was walking home, I was thinking about how this is the first time in my life that what I am doing doesn't have an expiration date. I do not have a planned end to living in the Czech Republic or working at my school. I love them both so much that I am content to think of it as an indefinite situation. But it's the first time when indefinite feels... good. I feel settled. I feel like if this were to be the job I take for the rest of my life, I would be happy. I would probably move to Prague and commute out to Kolín for school, but other than that, I wouldn't change a thing. My life has always gone from one definite ending date to another: elementary school, junior high, high school, college, NYSP, Korea, (okay there was that period of unemployment that seemed interminable but that's another story), camp... all of these things, I knew, would end in the near future. It's nice to not be searching for jobs while working one.

But while I bounced along the path home, on autopilot with dance music playing in my ears, I tried to silence the little voice in my back of my mind that keeps saying, "Visa visa visa!" When I got home, though, I had a message from a Czech friend saying that she spoke to a lawyer for me and they will help me. Everything will be okay! How could I ever leave a country where I've met such amazing people? All of the friends I've made, all of the people I work with, everyone tries so hard to make me feel welcome and happy in this country. And boy howdy do I ever!

Chapter Twenty-Four: Daegu Food Expo

So, this weekend, I ended up at the less-than-thrilling Daegu Food Tour Expo. There were some nice carved gourds, but that was probably the highlight of the day. It was more exciting to me that I was on any adventure at all... and here's how it started:

On Friday night, Chris talked me into going to Commune, where, as it turned out, there was no pub-quiz going on. While I normally have a one-drink-max policy, I was talked into staying out for a few.

I enjoyed a nice pint of OB, which is roughly on par with Rolling Rock.

And then I apparently made friends with this guy here, Zhian. I have not really done much to make friends with other Westerners, so this was a big event. I talked to strangers and exchanged e-mail addresses with Zhian. He reminds me of my friends from Long Island or Smith. He wears huge glasses and cuffs his jeans. Clearly, we were meant to be friends. On Saturday, he e-mailed me to invite me to an International Food Festival he was going to with some friends. We met up outside of Commune yesterday in the daylight and took a cab with two of his Korean friends to this food expo. On the way inside, Zhian joked, "Wouldn't it be funny if this were one of those things where you only get to look at the food and not eat it?"
Ha ha... oh wait.

There was very little in the way of food to be consumed, most was to be looked at. But, at least some was exceedingly pretty! There were a bunch of carved gourds. Anyone else completely in awe of the idea of carving watermelons as anything other than bowls for fruit salad? We believe that the two side peacocks were carved out of radishes.

More radish/watermelon mixed media. Yes, they did glue a face to that mermaid.

Beautifully Asian.

In addition to pretty gourds, there were pretty cocktails--which also could not be consumed.

Wintery themed gourds.

This was my favorite! It's a wat-o-lantern! I cannot explain the beauty of the glow coming from inside this watermelon rose. It makes me really tempted to make a watermelon jack-o-lantern for Halloween next year.

Simple but beautiful.

Korean pride! The ingenuity astounds me.

Beautiful flower and it looks like the pumpkin in the background carefully had those words removed and then pushed back in, amazing!

Oh right, the food. It was frustrating and difficult to get to. Not much in the way of international and... not all that much food to begin with. But this was an interesting kebab place. We had expected there to be a lot of free food at little stands. Instead, you had to pay for it, there wasn't that much of it, and most of it you could just get on any street downtown.

When I first came upon this, I thought. "Ah yes, this is where we stick children behind tables with cakes and tell them not to eat them? It's just like Birthday Party day at school!" After much pondering aloud and noting differences in the cakes, we determined it must have been a children's cake decorating contest. Why they had to sit behind the cakes, I still don't understand.

A sea of small children in chefs hats listening to somebody speak. Also, none of them are messy at all, which I don't understand. Did they decorate the cakes somewhere else? Were they wearing different clothes?

The judges? I assume.

We left the expo, feeling defeated and still looking for good cheap food.
Well, at least we got balloons out of it.

Balloon jousting.

Little balloon Zhian.
We took a cab back into downtown and got the spiciest chicken I've ever had. I was laughed at by Zhian's Korean friends because I would take a bite, then sit with my mouth open contemplating how to put out the fire that was burning from my lips to my stomach.
Nevertheless, an excellent Sunday afternoon was had by all. Also, I think this means that I found hipsters in Daegu, Korea. Who needs Williamsburg?