Smells fishy to me

One of the things I love and hate about Korea is the snacks. I love the healthiness of the snacks (some of them, not the sugar coated balls of the many varieties that abound here) but I hate the snacks themselves.

For example, what would be the ideal snack to have with some beer? Crisps? Pork scratchings? Small dried fish??

Korean bars often err on the side of the small dried fish. I have yet to see a foreigner eat them but have seen many different versions of 'get the small dried fish in the other person's beer' game- lob the fish over, sneak it into the glass using sleight of hand and the all time classic, wait until the victim has gone to the toilet and then release the fishy into the beery goodness.

As for the kids. Imagine the look on a western kid's face- honey, do you want the lollipop and incredibly nasty for your teeth candy or would you prefer some dried squid legs to chew on? I like the fact that Korean kids often plump for the squid legs but I HATE the smell of the squid.

I want to encourage the kids to eat healthily but I don't want the squid anywhere near me. Even after I banned the food from my classroom I would wander to the teacher's room only to find the teacher heating up squid on the gas heater and sharing it with the kids.

So my message to the kids is eat healthy food just don't do it near me!