Caught In Action

As foreigners in Korea, we get stared at . . . A LOT!  It's not just the occasional glance, but standing and full on staring.  It used to weird us out.  But, now we are pretty much used to it.  And then there is the touching.  Mostly it is done by the older Korean women known as the "Ahjuma".  They love to touch the kids.  They touch their hair and their faces mostly.  Ethan used to get so mad that he started hitting anyone that got near his face.  They really find it fascinating that the kids have different hair and eye color than they do.

Well, I finally caught more than the Ahjuma on camera.  One of the requirements of parents at the kids' school is that we serve lunch to the kids in their room.  I really enjoy going and sitting with them.  They are not used to a foreigner in the room since it is an all Korean private school.  So, here I am, sitting at the table with Ethan, eating lunch.  This little girl next to Ethan just couldn't stop bothering him.  She was snapping his cheek, tapping his shoulder, and patting his head.  I watched as he rolled his eyes at her, looked at me and said, "She does this to me all the time."  Everyone loves running their hands over Ethan's head, especially since he got his buzz cut.  And, here this little girl was doing it in front of me.  I whipped out my phone and caught this picture of her.  As I did, the little boy sitting on the other side of Ethan got his hand in on the action, too.  We finally got a picture of what poor little Ethan goes through on a daily basis.