Youth + Sugar = Apeshit

It was my birthday on May 27. This usually isn’t a big deal to me, but my gracious employers here in Korea decided it was indeed a noteworthy event. They gave me a decadent, expensive cheesecake and a $40 gift certificate to a fancy department store. (Good luck finding that kind of treatment from any employer back home). To add to this luxury, my kindergarten students also got wind of my special day somehow (likely from the ‘birthdays’ list on the classroom wall). Indeed, it surprised me when one of my students beamed a smile at me the first thing on the Monday morning and said “Blake Teacher! 2 more sleeps you birthday!” (One tends to forget, post-puberty, that birthdays are the coolest thing ever when you’re a little kid). Perceptive kids. Anyway, on the day in question I was presented with a nicely wrapped t-shirt and another super-awesome cake as a collective gift from the class’ parents. (Sadly, the shirt is a double XL and way too big for me... an understandable mistake given the fact that my body is certainly “extra large” in comparison to your average adult here).


I accepted the gifts with gratitude and happily posed for the requisite photo-op that is standard with every over-the-top birthday celebration here. Then I made a big mistake: I shared the cake with my class. HOT DAMN is sugar ever an energy booster for little kids! I mean, it was nice to be able to just sit back and enjoy the show for a while but holy hell... they could not have been more wired if I’d given them a bowl full of pure Peruvian cocaine. Please enjoy just 1 of the 40 minutes of zaniness that ensued post-cake below. There is minimal commentary in this video but it’s pretty self-explanatory. Little kids... going nuts. Enjoy.