"The Ddakkboki Innovation"

As a $0.50 bribe of one of my middle school classes to get the girls to stay quiet, I proposed offering one randomly selected quiet student "oh bek won" ($0.50) at the end of the class if their name wasn't written on the board for talking. The students all want this money because it's exactly how much Ddakkboki, a popular spicy rice cake snack costs at the street food vendors.

One of the students quickly had her name on the board, although she had a warning or two beforehand. Instead of quietly accepting her ddakkboki-less fate, in between classes she wrote this on the board, lighting the fuse for what had come to be known as the "Ddakkboki Innovation:"

"It's a Ddakkboki Innovation.
The Ddakkboki Innovation is scary.
So I will go Brian's class.
Result will be shown next week.
I'm your father."

She had come to my class from Brian's class a week ago, and now, with the sudden promise of rice cake evaporating before her very eyes, she was threatening to go back! Although thus far it was to be only a one-woman "Innovation," I was still shocked to see such revolutionary zeal all over the chalkboard upon returning to the class.

I told her she probably meant "Revolution," not "Innovation. She asked me what the difference between the two words was and I told her that Revolution suggested a violent reordering of the establishment while Innovation suggested a new improvement over the old way. She thought about that, wrote Revolution on her paper, but ultimately drew a line through the word and changed it back to Innovation because, she said, "This WILL be an improvement!"

Her best friend was threatening to walk out next week with her, but I may have broken the back of the Ddakkboki "Innovation" when, after a tense and somewhat rigged round of Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Moe, it was her best friend who won the 500 won!

We will see the results next week, as she so ominously predicted.

When I returned to the teacher's lounge, there was a Ddakkboki Manifesto intricately folded on my desk. It read as follows:

"To. Jonathan
It will be recorded
'Ddakkboki Innovation began sacrifice of
friends and passions of 500 won.'"

That was all. Next week, we will see if the Revolution succeeds. I will keep you posted, assuming I survive with my neck!