I Wanna Be A Cowboy

There's another story about this adorable kid, but that's
for another day.

Following our adventuresome weekend, Mr. Rogers and I accompanied Mia Sorella to school for the afternoon.

Now, if we thought we were celebrities before....

The fun started when we first walked in. Mia Sorella had already told her students that her sister was visiting so there wasn't a lot of surprise -- but the stares were present. It didn't help that our "cousin" was over six foot tall and rather imposing.

Mia Sorella's partner teacher -- whom I will call Elle -- was thrilled to see us. And her first class (the youngest of them) was in near awe.

Of course, the introductions helped.

I was her "oni," of course -- her older sister. Nothing complicated about that. And Mr. Rogers, aside from being our cousin, had a much better moniker.
 "He's a cowboy!"

The kids went nuts. One boy's first reaction was to jump to his feet and motion at Mia Sorella. "Teacher! Teacher! Sign?"

Yep. He wanted the cowboy's autograph.

What followed was the funniest moment of the day, as he took a seat at the desk and was instantly mobbed for autographs.

Of course, that was only the beginning. They were big fans of the cowboy, from his height to his not-familiar facial hair. One little boy managed to get his hands on a whisker and wrapped it up in a piece of paper to keep it.

Yeah, I thought it was a little creepy, too.


"He is tall!"



During the third class, there was another funny moment as we answered the kids' questions. At the question of how tall we were, Mia Sorella did a quick conversion.

"He is ... 185 centimeters tall!"

"WHOOOOOOOAAAA!!!"

Then was my turn.

"She is ... 163 centimeters tall!"

"WH ... Oh."

Yeah, turns out I'm the same height as many of their parents. I am, however, taller than Elle when she has to take off her rather high shoes -- which earned a laugh.

We only disrupted three of her five classes, as the fourth was not a good one for visitors. When we left, Mia Sorella was also sent packing -- Elle wouldn't hear of her sending us off on our own.



Playing Sparkle with the second group.



It was a good day overall. We followed school with a little history at the Korean War Memorial -- only the outside, since it was Monday and such places are largely closed on Mondays -- and then a view of Seoul from Namsan Tower as it got dark.

Peace Clock Tower.

Elle bought us dinner that night as well, which was entirely enjoyable despite the fact that she wouldn't let me do anything myself. (She even stirred my rice for me.)

The next day was going to be a rougher one: we were headed to Panmunjom in the morning. But for that night, we just got to enjoy the view.