Pluck Yew

I received this in an e-mail some time back... not quite sure how true it is.

The History of the Middle Finger

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew" (or "pluck yew").

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentals fricative F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird."

IT IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE SALUTE TO THE FRENCH TODAY!

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.

Happy Birthday Ma Stinnie *^^*

My godmother's mum turned 80 last week, and she had a grand party to celebrate the wonderful years of her life. My dad just sent me this pic of Ma Stinnie and her children.

My godmother (Aunty Bonz) is the third and my dad is next to her in the grey suit.
Daddy, you look SMASHING!

General Update...

My mum's been in Korea for a week now. It took a few days to overcome jet lag and to adjust to a whole new culture altogether. Food has been a bit of a battle, as Korean food is an acquired taste.

It rained the whole week-end (a typhoon was headed down south from Taiwan). We spent most of the time indoors, which wasn't too bad ~ Also managed to touch base with a few family members back in SA.

It's the last week of the semester, so I'll be wrapping things up before I begin my 5 day English camp next week.

Have a good week everyone!
xoxox

View from the top

Last week I went up to my school's rooftop... this is the view from up there.

Cooling down

It's been pretty humid here over the past few days. This is near my apartment... This little boy was cooling down late afternoon on Friday. It looked so tempting - I almost wanted to jump in myself ^^

Wrap up of the week...

I've had one of the best weeks ^^* Also, mostly because it flew by, and within 24 hours, my mum will be arriving in Korea. Can't wait.. haven't seen her since February.

Work wise, we wrapped up the curriculum, so for the next two weeks I've planned my lessons to be light-hearted and easy going.

I'm feeling drained and I think I need a bit more of mental challenge, other than my current work. I can't wait for the next 3 weeks to be over... and I'll soon get to see all my family & friends again after a whole year.

All in all, it's been a week of revelation, discovery, joy and tons of smiles. Life's good, isn't it?! :)

할아버지 (Harabeoji / Grandfather's) in the park

Today I discovered a meeting area for "hara-beo-ji" near my place. They just sit around talking, eating and drinking soju.

This man is 91 years old. His eldest son is 73 and a retired principal.