The Carruthers family has just grown in size (and no it’s not animals)

I’ll never forget the day they arrived. Actually it was in the middle of the night: 1:15 AM. I usually claim to be a night owl, but lately I’ve been finding 1:15 AM to bear an uncanny resemblance to 4:15 AM. In college I’d see 1:15 and wonder if Vito’s Pizza was still open.Today I see 1:15 and I just want to punch that jerk in the face. But not this particular night. I was excited to discover the two new members of our family. Yes, they are human, though they’re not babies, and they’re only with us for two months. That night, Boxing Day 2015, my son and I stood at the Saint John airport and for the first time met Steve and Simon. Two young men (14, 12) from South Korea.

They are here on a kind of “Canada Camp” where they experience living here for a short time either as part of their English language education  or in preparation/anticipation of coming here for a longer period of time for even more English training. It’s barely been two weeks, but here are some adventure highlights:

• I gave Steve an “all dressed” chip and the look on his face will be etched in my memory forever. If you hear me snickering in church, it might be because I just remembered this moment. He needed water, and fast! But then they eat noodles in a hot sauce that can melt your esophagus and turn another part of your body into a molten volcano. 

• Speaking of food, they’re not crazy about pizza, but love to eat kimchi, which is a snack made of cabbage. Yes, you read right. Cabbage.

• They love it when I dance and lip sync to awesome songs like “Party Rock Anthem,” “Uptown Funk” or the Charles in Charge theme song. My daughters would do well to learn from them. I AM cool when dancing, and even cooler when lip syncing.

• My daughter walked by the bathroom and out walked Simon. Eating cereal. Not sure what that was about.

• We have a cat named Twila. Perhaps you’ve heard of her. She’s vindictive and hostile, but hey, we love her. She hisses at everyone outside our family, yet she’s especially hissy with the Korean boys. Like super hissy. All they have to do is look at her and she gets downright nasty. Can you believe it? My cat is a freaking racist!

• I never bring up Kim Jong Un. But sometimes I want to. Like as in, “So, that Un guy. He’s a real tool eh?” But even though I’m sure South Koreans would agree, I don’t want to be all tacky and what not. Besides, if I travelled to South Korea the last thing I’d want to do is talk to people there about Donald Trump.

• They have trouble speaking English, but they communicate with Luke easily about popular music, video games and WWE.

• They enjoy meeting up with friends at Tim Horton’s. And get this: they don’t mind walking there to do it. They’re more Canadian than half the population of Sussex.

There are more great stories to tell, but I’ll save them for later. Plus, I’m sure there will be plenty more where they came from in the next month and a half.

Guess I need to make a connection to the movie of the week. Well, Korea is a country that borders China. China is the setting for 2010’s starring Jaden Smith, the young man who plays Christopher in this week’s movie. That works.

Congratulations . This is your week.

Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany in Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook in Best Quote: “You lewd, crude, rude, bag of pre-chewed food dude..” — Peter Banning (Robin Williams) in Hook.

By the way, though we have some differing taste buds with our Korean visitors, bulgogi is one of the greatest dishes you will ever eat. It’s like a Korean party in your mouth and everyone invited.

Movie of the Week