Caveat: Park Geun-hye, Hiya!

Yesterday, an impeachment process was started against the president of Korea, Park Geun-hye (박근혜). 

Perhaps not coincidentally, during my Newton1-M cohort class (4th and 4th graders), after allowing several students to use the Korean-English dictionary on my phone, I found the following message written on the dictionary's search window:

박근혜하야하라 [pak.geun.hye ha.ya.ha.ra]

This means "Park Geun-hye, resign!" (in a very informal register, as used in the recent public demonstrations against the president). 

Note that we were not, in any way, discussing the political events – I tend to confine my political class discussions to my middle schoolers. This was essentially a kind of surreptitious message entered for no particular reason. 

I asked the kids, "who wrote this on my phone?"

Eric raised his hand, sheepishly. "Park Geun-hye, hiya," he said, waving a hand and exaggerating an "English" pronunciation of the name, making it sound like he was "just saying hi." 

I had to laugh. 

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Englyn #24

(Poem #131 on new numbering scheme)

About the rains in Mahhal, you might say
most every day it falls;
Beneath the constant gray pall,
into your sad soul it crawls.

– an englyn unodl union about a fictional place, written by a fictional person

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