August 11, 2008
PeroozinÕ the new issue
of Vogue Girl (Korean TeenVogue) I discovered that
I could read 90% of the
text. What?! When did that happen? Understanding
fashion magazine copy is
the unofficial benchmark of my proficiency in a
foreign language, and
incidentally the reason that I have never felt compelled
to study French.
Anyway, with tests over
with and my summer winding down, this seems a good
place to leave off. See
you in Japan (that is a threat not a promise)!!!
August 10, 2008
How did I spend the
afternoon before my Korean final? First I ate some
pizza. Then I danced
around in humid, 95 degree heat for an unhinged video.
Then I exercised at
Seoul Club and finally I returned to my room and read,
in one sitting, a detective
novel called P is for Peril.
August 9, 2008
Did you know that by
reading this blog you are partaking in time travel?
Somehow I am
communicating to you from 4 days in the past (or 5
depending on your gl0bal
coordinates). I do not know where so
much time
was lost.
If pressed to give a
census of Seoul based only on my daily flaneuring, I
would break the
population down into three groups:
10% young men in
clothing with skewed, screen-printed text
10% chubby middle school
boys in basketball shorts and sleeveless shirts
25% old ladies (아줌마)
25% old men (아저시sp?)
30% 20-something girls
with mushroom hair (버섲 머리) and high heels
This canÕt be accurate
– for one, cranky old codgers donÕt comprise a whole
half of the population.
But the above subcategories of Korean people are
the most visually
consistent, and so most visible to a superficial weenie like
me.
August 8, 2008
Actually, there is one
role for me here: English teacher. Most people I
meet assume IÕm here in
that capacity, and when I do teach I Ōm
empowered not only by
the job itself but by its validity in Korea.
I have a new pupil, a
tall shy 9th grader named Gonmin (William) who
hates communism and
wants to become an ear/nose/throat doctor. His
mom is one of the sweetest
ladies I have met all summer, although today
she told me she had put
lots of honey in my tea so that I would gain weight!!
August 7, 2008
One good thing about the
lack of roles for a Western girl in Korea is
that there are no real
expectations of me in any dimension. I can do
almost anything within
reason and remain the same constant, low level
of offensive. Without
the explicit expectations of Yale or New York, I
donÕt know how to behave
and so end up following my own demented
ideas without
consequence.
I imagine myself as a
piece of Silly Putty, released from a mold and only
slowly returning to a
more natural shape. What will I turn into? A whole
Ōnother year to find
out. (I am guessing the Nickelodeon splat shape)
August 6, 2008
The acupuncturist works
in the deep green shadow of a mountain,
where zoning laws keep
the buildings low and the surroundings lush.
He was trained the old
way, under a master, rather than in a school
with proper
certification, and so runs his practice out of a Buddhist
temple where the
government canÕt get him. For this same reason he
does not charge anything
for his services.
He is very charming, and
it is impressive that he is so benign given how
much anyone would want
to believe him.
I did not flinch when I
was (acu)punctured, although the needles in my
finger and toe hurt very
much. Unfortunately they were no long-term
remedy for the problems
diagnosed: very weak heart, very weak liver
(this apparently
explains my nail biting, which falls under a broader
category of
liver-ailment-symptoms: putting things in your mouth all the
time), and a tendency to
eat cold things (so true, so true).
