Blogger Notes

So, The Korean did a post to answer questions about black folks working in Korea. Granted, I've been here less than a year but I felt it was pretty much on point. I was a bit disappointed that the post descended from the topic at hand to something that some weird, trolly white guy wanted to talk about (the flaws of Korean nationalism) as it always does whenever a topic concerning black folks is brought up in a "non-black" forum. This same guy--as per the course--suggests that 'people of color' should avoid Korea in favor of China or Japan. Korea might be an awful place for a bunch of reasons but not in particular for being black...

Here's my full length response to the post since I only left a truncated version there:

[Can we delete all the 'angry white man' comments already?]

Back to the topic at hand...

Dear reader,
Have you been black all your life?

If you answered "Yes", to the above question, you are indeed prepared to face 'racism' in Korea!

What you will experience in Korea is not much different--and in my personal opinion--less annoying, than what you would experience in the United States. Unfortunately, guys like Scott are living and working in Korea, and they've brought all their baggage with them.

Still, unless you're from a multicultural mixing pot like SoCal, NYC or The Bay, you're probably used to guys like him. (Otherwise, you may want to read Expat Jane's post on Ugly Americans to get up to speed.) For the most part, racism isn't what you should be worried about, it's the culture clash you'll have with your employers that might wear you down...

If in fact you do speak a little Korean, people will probably look at you like you have two heads before they break into applause or something equally silly. I once exchanged names with a Korean guy at a club and spoke a few basic phrases (nice to meet you, etc.) and he flat out kissed me. Granted I think he had taken in a fair share of liquid courage before that...but you get the point. Korean Koreans are AMAZED that any non-Korean can speak the language at all. (Perhaps this is because of 'racialized thinking'.) So your efforts will not go unnoticed.

So basically being black, people will have it in the back of their heads that you can sing, dance, play basketball and maybe even rap. (Is that new?) I've been earnestly asked about all of the aforementioned except for rapping...and that was in New England! I'm far less annoyed with ignorant Koreans than ignorant white folks in the US because being in the US, there's no excuse. I don't like playing 'black ambassador' when I'm in my home country. Here, that's to be expected.

As for work options, I'm only aware of one black person in Korea who scored a pretty prominent position at a Korean company, Leslie Benfield who works for KOTRA doing editing. She's fully bilingual. She was on the 'Foreign Beauties' show for quite a while and was made a spokesperson for friendship with North Korea or something or other. At the same time, I've met an Indian guy out here who's an engineer and a Singaporean Chinese guy working in international shipping logistics. I'm not sure whether or not they're employed at Korean companies but those random jobs do exist for those who are qualified.

lol Yeochin to working on Saturdays. My school made up for it by asking me to do afterschool classes 4 days a week. Now that my fragile, American body is run down from 10 weeks of 11-hour days, everyone's freaking out over my "health." he he. Even though it sounded crazy to begin with, I was real cool about it when I first got here. One nasty flu and stomach ulcer symptoms later, I think they'll take my request for fewer hours more seriously next semester.

I won't sugarcoat the fact that more than one friend who works with young kids has had to endure "gorilla," "brown=poop," or "black=ugly" comments. (In none of the incidents was it directed towards the teacher.) At the same time, the little brats have been apologetic when confronted. I remind myself that this is coming from a country of kids who regularly call each other "monkey" and variations of poop are used as 'cute' pet names. Before the US elections, a friend asked one of her elementary students, "Why would you like John McCain to win the election?" to which he answered to her face, "Because I hate black people," and walked off. Well, hot damn! Was that kid raised by David Duke? Those moments do suck. Still, there's nothing about that mindset particularly unique to Korea. I'd more expect to hear something like that in the States.

As for me, when you're out here doing the expat thing, people always ask, "How long are you gonna stay?" At this point, my answer is as long as it's fun. As long as I find the idosyncracies of Korea amusing, it's worth me being this far away from home. When that seriously changes, I'm out. I wouldn't recommend raising brown babies here but neither would I recommend New England or the Deep South. So everything is absolutely relative. This is the piece of the globe I should be inhabiting at this time.

[This is another letter sent home...]

I’m trying to remember why in the world I haven’t blogged about the goofy night I had when I went to see Epik High last month. Can’t think of a good reason, so here goes…

The band was playing at a little place called CatchLight down in Hongdae. We got there around 930—FAR too early for a club in Seoul—which meant we had to wait outside until they actually opened the club around 1030 or so.

Problem #1. While standing in line to get into the club, I saw two of my students! Can I get a “damn?!” Is that not every teacher’s nightmare? Fortunately, neither of my companions was sippin’ on soju, which on so many other occasions has been the case…

Problem #2. Because of the line that formed around the club, we were a little worried about being able to get in. The girls I came with had a hook up for free entry through a club rat they had met a week or so before. Sensibly, I wanted to wait and see what her powers of persuasion were before paying $15 but after repeated prodding from the other two, I paid to get in. Thirty minutes later when the “friend” arrives, security waves me past and offers a hand stamp…but I’ve already paid. *boo*

In Seoul, night goes into the morning since the clubs don’t ever really close which means that in the interest of business, main artists don’t start playing until around 1230 or later. That being the case, I experienced several bouts of boredom with a little dancing in between. The girls I came with like to drink. One of them is the girl you see at parties walking around and talking illogically who will also try to argue you down when you tell her she’s drunk and doesn’t make sense. The other is the type that constantly makes you ask, “Is she drunk?” because you’re never really quite sure if it’s her or the alcohol talking. Our hostess for the evening—Club Rat—was a cute Korean girl who had spent some years living in the States. She’s one of those party girls who lives for male attention and is more than willing to flaunt herself to get it. Alcohol only enables her madness.

The situation was compromised on so many levels…

First of all, I would like to acknowledge all the wannbe thugs in Korea. They are far too plentiful in Seoul. Interestingly enough, Epik High is far more a pop-hop band than hip-hop. (I mean, come on guys. They rap over techno!) Still, their concert attracted a couple of dudes in sideways baseball caps and bandanas around their necks. WTH? Do not get it twisted. These fellas know all the words to the rap songs (but don’t speak English). And they’ll throw a Westside up in a hot minute.

So up until the performance, the little bit of dancing I did do was remarkably engaging for said thugs. I’m not one for the limelight so I found the extra attention when I and “the other black girl” (my friend) hit the dance floor was a little annoying.

Problem #3 A friend called. He was across town but had promised to come hang out in Hongdae. So I'm waiting for this fool to show up and he's still having a good time across town. In the process, I miss the magic moment when my companions are whisked upstairs to meet the band. *BOOOOO* I'm not a total groupie (in this case anyway). I'm mostly intrigued by the frontman's Masters in Creative Writing from Standford. I mean, seriously, Can we be friends? I also read in an interview where he said he wished he had studied film instead/in addition? to what he's doing presently. *sigh*

Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning after said friend had come and gone--I think it was about 4 a.m.--my feet were KILLING me. I only wore 1" heels but I had been on them for about 8 hours at that point. The club had a few tables downstairs near the bar in the non-VIP area so I decided to plop my grown behind down to wait for the kids to be ready to leave.

A few minutes pass and I put my feet up in the seat opposite me. At this point I should mention that I had just been to the salon the day before and gotten a touch up and black rinse. My hair was looking silky smooth and jet black. (Just how I like it!) That being the case, about 10 minutes after I had gotten comfy, some guy walks up to me from behind, puts his hands on my shoulders and leans in so his tummy is resting on my head. I'm like, WTH?!? I leaned my head back with my best WTH? expression plastered across my face. Dear God, the look on that dude's face was priceless!!! He was all, "Oh, soree! Soree!" He said his friend had been there. I couldn't help but laugh. Dude was hella awkward!

So, lo and behold 10-minutes later, the same shiznit happens! A dude rolls up from behind and does the hands on the shoulder thing. I offer the same WTH? expression. He looks genuinely shocked in the way that slightly drunk people are when things don't go quite right. Dude is like, "Soree. Soree." Then dude flips the script, "Beautiful! Beautiful!" At this point, I was EXTREMELY ready to go. As I'm pulling out my phone to see where my girls are. How about this fool grabs my phone and calls himself while I'm beating him on the arm and trying to get my phone back!!!! *straight foolishness!* He looked so proud of himself too...

At this point I stand up from the chair and make a fatal mistake. I ask, "And who ARE you?" in my most sarcastic tone. *Note to self: sarcasm does NOT translate.* Dude says his name, I have no idea what he says. I give a weak smile and say nice to meet you as I attempt to walk off. (Note the word "attempt.") After that, it's, "Beautiful! Beautiful" and then, I got MOUTHED! (Note the word "mouthed.") It would be improper to use the word "kiss" as that has romantic connotations and alludes to a level of technique that was not employed in said action. That was my third, WTH?!? of the evening which should probably be upgraded to a WTF?!? Dude then proceeded to lock me into a rib crushing (no joke) bear hug after which I believe he was expecting another mouthing. I don't even think I said anything though I'm quite sure I had my completely horrified face on in full effect. I was trying to push him away but he wasn't getting the point. Maybe he imagined I was moving my hand toward his neck for a romantic embrace. Actually, I was going for his trachea. The trachea is always effective when a normal push doesn't quite communicate the desired meaning. He finally got the point.

I was super extremely ready to go at that point...

Fortunately, that particular evening didn't have any more bootlegness worth describing. Well, there were a couple more niggling details but I don't have the energy to recount them.

I suppose I'm just trying to figure out why it is that random dudes will seriously think that exchanging names is enough to think they deserve some lovin'!

Ok, so it's been two+ months, right? This email is long overdue since it mostly covers October. Furthermore, it's obscenely long. Consider it gross overcompensation...

In the last few weeks, Seoul has really started to feel like home and that's not entirely positive. I've once again gotten into a work-home rut! I'm trying to think of some inexpensive hobbies to take up. For one thing I'd like to hang out with more Koreans since I'm like, you know, in Korea. Secondly, I'm quite prone to winter depression and I need to stay active.

Since my last email, I had my first "back to America" farewell, endured a noisy parade outside my apt window, went hiking (halfway) up a mountain, was 'interviewed' by some college kids in a bookstore, went to a hip-hop dance battle, my first ever runway show, my first K-pop concert (Epik High) and endured my first Cold War era emergency drill. Those are just the interesting things. Repeatedly sitting on the subway for WAY too long and occasionally taking the wrong bus don't really warrant discussion and hyperlinks...

A recent unfortunate discovery is that being a foreign girl in Seoul is a bit like being the one French exchange chick in high school...having an accent and being from the 'land of love' aren't necessarily the most positive things...

On a more worthy topic, at the moment I feel pulled between two churches. The one, Jubilee, is a bit more my speed---high emphasis on the arts, modern music, lots of singles--the other, Seoul International Baptist Church, has more families, a bit of an older, more settled crowd, and a smaller congregation. The main attraction is that several girls my age I've become friends with go there and a couple they know usually has them over for lunch after service. (The value of home-cooked American food cannot be underestimated due to my present circumstances!)

Bactracking on other things, the parade outside my window was for the holiday where a bear and a tiger in a cave created Korea. (No, I don't know either.) I'm not so much into details but it's like the 4th of July sans fireworks and wonderfully noisy instruments. There's a park down my street where they had performances and activities for kids. They also had scarecrows on display, some of which were...scary.

I was co-opted in to hiking by a coworker who suggested that several of us go "walking" around the Blue House (where the president lives). 'How lovely,' I thought. 'A little sightseeing!' If I were asked the same thing this month, I would have known better. Hiking is Korea's national pastime! So, "walking" actually turned out to be hiking and those of you who know me well know I'm not usually up for such things. Overall it was alright. I made it...most of the way. One of my coworkers is absolutely enamored with mountains--I'm an ocean girl myself--and after getting to what I thought was the top, she asked us if we wanted to keep going. I kid you not, when she pointed out the rest of the trail, it looked like a left-over portion of the Great Wall of China! Part of the area is made up of old military stations. (We could hear the soldiers training and saw a few on our way back down.) I definitely had to pass on that one. Just looking at it made me tired!

The bookstore interview was something I had read about before getting to Korea. Apparently, some professors assign their students an "Interview a Foreigner" assignment and the most 'foreign' looking foreigner wins. :) My (white) friend Nicole and I got interviewed at one of the bookstores in town and within 5 minutes ran into three Korean Americans we knew who had obviously slipped under the radar...

One thing a lot of people don't know about Korea is how much they LOVE hip-hop. I mean Americans love hip-hop. If you were unawares, before I left the States there was a promo on The Golf Channel that used hip-hop and it wasn't even featuring Tiger Woods. ;) Still, Koreans don't have any particular reason to love hip-hop...but they do. As I've been told, there's a hip-hop dance battle happening somewhere in Seoul every weekend. I randomly found out about one through one of the other 400-some English teachers that came this semester. We had only been in town 4 weeks and he was already in the finals for a competition! What surprised me most is how many girls were in the contest. Unfortunately for them, they didn't do it like in the States and have a separate women's category and the judges seemed crazy biased for the guys' style. The judges didn't seem particularly interested in showmanship either. Heck, the judges were whack. Anyways, I posted a few low-quality videos on vimeo that I was able to take with my camera.

So, onto my brush with the fashion world...much like many other major metros, Seoul has its own fashion week. I know, I know. You haven't heard of it but that's what makes it so pleasantly special and private, ok? I had it into my head to do something totally different and decided to head down to a show since the tickets were $7. (Seriously?) I had chosen the one designer I wanted to see and planned to head out after visiting the Baptist church. After hearing about it, one of my friends decided she'd like to come to. Great.

So there we are on the subway, riding an hour across town to see a runway show, something neither of us had ever done. We finally get to the venue, see all the people milling about, know that it's 15 minutes until showtime and go inside to find tickets. When we get inside, we see this tremendous line and have no idea where to go. After asking the big bouncer looking guy, "Where do we buy tickets?" he ushered us into the shortest line leading to the show area. So we stand there...for about 30 seconds. Just long enough for me to take in that the people standing in front of us and filing past us look like fashion insiders, those assistant-y types...Devil Wears Prada and all that. As flattering as it was to be mistaken for VIPs, I decided that rather than get punked by the even bigger bouncer at the head of the line, I would make a spring for assistance. I found a really helpful girl in the press area who spoke English. She lead us to the ticket window only to find out there were NO tickets left. None. Like, wait, did I really ride an hour on the crappy subway to hear you say that? Naturally, I couldn't let that lie. I was too tired not to be American in that moment. "Are you sure? Is there anything you can do? This is the only show I wanted to see! There's only two of us. Can we just stand in the back?"

At that moment, a dapper looking man in my peripheral vision stepped forward, pulling a small white envelope from his blazer pocket. "I have two tickets," he said as he flicked his cigarette and stamped it on the ground. I'm sure my eyes lit up like a kid. He handed us two tickets with shiny gold "VIP" seals and introduced himself as Julien from Fashion Inside magazine and asked how we knew about JuYoung's designs. Very, very cool. It was another one of those, "Thanks God!" thumbs up moments.

I'll spare details about the designs or the seating arrangements but I will mention that I saw one of my favorite Korean celebrities...Crown J! So, back to the "Korea loves hip-hop theme," Crown J is somewhat of a 'Fresh Prince' in the hip-hop world out here...highly visible but not nearly as hardcore as he plays around to be. He's one of the celebs on a reality show out here and also the spokesman for FUBU Korea. (Why are you laughing? Yes, people still wear FUBU...in Asia. Don't hate.)

In other music events, I went to check out Epik High's performance with some friends. They're more pop-hop than hip-hop but they put out some interesting compositions. The front man Tablo has a master's in creative writing from Stanford so that's always been a point of fascination for me. That, and the fact that he looks like a 12-year-old boy when he's 28. The show was good but I have no additional plans to spend wee hours of the morning in a hip-hop club as one of two black girls when all the boys have had a bit too much 'liquid-courage.' *Annoying silliness ensues...*

Last but not least, this letter would not be complete without mentioning the emergency drill. As it is, we always forget that Korea is in a cold war of sorts. That being the case, the threat of attack is always immanent. Now, during the course of my one week orientation, they told us all sorts of useful things about Korea like the whole bit with separating the trash, etc. but no one, not a single, solitary soul mentioned the emergency drills! For the love of God, they happen every month! It might be nice to know that before you're out walking the street by yourself one afternoon and hear tornado sirens---at least that's what I thought they were---going off!

So there I am, on my way to find Costco (yep, that one) when I hear the sirens and an announcement. I'm not one to panic easily. I look around and all my Korean compatriots are going about their merry way, so I do the same. Then I get to an intersection and notice a few workers in neon yellow jackets holding up traffic. A few folks have stopped on the sidewalk to look at the spectacle. "Hmm, interesting," I thought and kept parlaying down the sidewalk. I was doing perfectly well until I tried to pass one of the workers...a middle-aged woman who appeared horrified that I was walking down the street so nonchalantly. She said something then ushered me into an open doorway with the 'grandmother arm prod/shove'---if you've been here, you know what I'm talking about---and I was surprised to find several other 'victims' already standing inside. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I remembered to ask my coworkers what all the fuss was about and they told me that this was a monthly occurrence. The reason I hadn't had this exciting experience my first month in country was because of the Chuseok holiday. Apparently, they're set for the 15th of every month which means I'm due for another one this Saturday. *whoopdie do!*

Well, those are the highlights for the moment. I hope everyone is doing well and taking in all the uncertainty at this moment of American history in stride. I miss you guys. If you're thinking about visiting, don't think twice. Just come out! My air mattress is waiting for you. :)

Love and hugs,
-t.

The comment on my last post and discussions with a couple other girls in my neighborhood really got me thinking about dating in Korea. "Should I even bother?" is quite the question of the hour!

Those who've followed me for a while know that I'm open to entering a serious relationship and getting married. In fact, that's pretty much what I'm looking for. I don't mind having friends of the opposite gender--as long as they're drama-free--but the likelyhood of that being the case among my peers gets slimmer and slimmer as I continue to age. If they were drama-free they'd be married. lol!

While I'm on the topic of married men, I was recounting k-dating horror #1 (Minwoo, aka Project Pat) to a couple of friends when one reels out the, "Let me tell you what happened to us last weekend..."

[Before we go there, this would be an appropriate time to point out that Project Pat actually had the balls to text me the next day. Instead of, "When can we get together so I can give you back your money?" this fool texts, "did you have a good time at the club?" The hell I did! I almost had to borrow money from my homegirl for the cover charge! I really need to let it go. I do...]

My girls headed down to a techno place called Jane's Groove. It caters to the English-speaking crowd in Hongdae. They're having a good time, dancing however one dances to techno, when they meet this Korean dude and his friend. Dude went to undergrad overseas. His English was good and he seemed friendly. No problem.

Some point as the night progressed and additional intoxicating beverages were consumed, everyone stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. Friend 1 admired dude's scooter--very nice, very vintage. Dude proceeds to say how his girlfriend...well, wife, has one that matches it. WTH?! He and his homeboy were chatting my girls up ALL night! Whatevs right? No harm. No foul.

Well, they're pretty much over dude but he's all, "Come on, let's go get some coffee," a fairly reasonable late night/wee-hours-of-the-morning request. With a, "If you're paying," thrown out, off they went.

And things went downhill. Sometime in the next few minutes, "Do you girls wanna go to a hotel?" was said out loud, in public. Whaaaa??? The conversation wasn't even going in that direction...until then! Yes, my girl did check him about his wife and his drunk tail was all confused like, How did you know? ROFL!!! Then he pulls a desperate, "You could just come back and chill with us." (Acutally, it might have been the wingman that threw that one in. Either way...) My girls are like, WTF? Seriously?! Dude was mad bold and tried to defend himself with, "It's Korea. You know how it is." Lawd! Lawd, y'all! People like him are KILLING it for the decent ones. Killing it. Beatin' it dead in the street with a 2x4 on a cold winter's day in front of a hospital and no one's calling for help.

Dudes like that make Future Ex-Boyfriend seem like an angel! Then there's the one cutie at my school who majored in English and is, of course, married. It hurts my feelings. I seriously hear Shy Guy everytime I see him. *sigh* It will be alright though cause it has to. How does this relate to one-armed ladies? Not very well other than both things have been on my mind...

Considering the size and population of Seoul, there should be a lot more homeless beggar-type people out and about than there are. I don't know where they're all hiding out but occasionally they make an appearance and it's a jarringly third-world like experience. As most of my readers know, first-world beggars are quite a problem. For the love of God, they have entitlement issues. Like, "Hello, I live in a freaking first world country, OF COURSE you should give me a dollar!" Anyone else ever been cussed out by a homeless guy? Raise your hand. Heck, that vibe caught up with me all the way in Baja Mexico. It's royally annoying.

Anyhoo, my first encounter with a beggar in Seoul was a man laying on the stairs of a subway with his head covered. I thought maybe he had passed out or something until I noticed his hands were out and cupped together. He had a few coins in them and that clued me in. More than half the time I've seen people begging, they were either blind, or missing limbs. So...when an old Korean lady came walking through the teacher's room the other day, I had no idea who she was. I had seen her come in and didn't pay much attention. At some point though, I was one of the few teachers left in the office. The little old lady comes up to me and speaks in her soft, polite-sounding voice. She told me her name then propped her little black duffle bag on my desk/chair and started pulling out socks. My brain went into overdrive!

Whenever people talk to me in Korean as if I should be understanding them it makes me panic because I'm the sort of person who really tries to make appropriate listening faces. This is virtually impossible when you don't know what the heck is going on! I probably ended up wearing my panic face. I hate it when that happens unintentionally. Seriously. It's embarrasing.

So there I am wearing my panic face when one of the grumpy male teachers (probably seeing the panic face and not wanting to offend "the foreigner") tells the ajumma I don't speak Korean but that doesn't stop her. She keeps doing her little presentation in the super polite voice while he bristles past in a huff. At this point I'm extra freaked out because I understood what he said, he seemed kind of rude which I didn't like, and socks keep coming out of that duffle bag like she borrowed it from Mary Poppins. Geez, I don't need any socks! I'm thinking as they keep pouring out of the bag then I'm like, well I kinda do...but I don't know what I want. And those 'flesh' ones are definitely not my color. *Auugggh!!!* And with that, I waved her away.

And in that moment, I noticed her arm---the one she wasn't using---the shaped sleeve of her blazer that was unnaturally round, hanging straight and...was empty. She slipped the socks back into the bag, bowed her head politely and off she went. In that moment, I felt like a big jerk. Heck, I still do.

I was unnecessarily annoyed and missed an opportunity to make someone's day.

AND...I'm blaming it all on the boys!!! If I hadn't been so preoccupied with the shallow, selfishness of others, I might have been in a more pleasant and readily giving mood. ; )

So back to the question...Should I even bother?

Of course!

I don't really need another pair of cheap socks but it would have given an old lady a moment of dignity and heck, maybe lunch for the day. She would've gotten a smile about the black foreigner girl who bought socks even though she couldn't speak Korean.

As for boys, I refuse to believe that this country is full of jerks. I have no problem however, believing that online sites are populated with them or that dance clubs are or even, that half of the guys who speak English here use it as a calling card for free booty. The same is true of American guys and I haven't quite given up on them yet.

I think of a French-Canadian girl out here and her cute Christian Korean husband and know that anything's possible even though tons of things are not likely!

And on that positive note, I leave you with the song that stopped me in my tracks at eMart. I was about to bust a slow dance by. my. self. After extensive googling, I found it: Good Love by Dynamic Duo with Kim Bumsoo rocking the vocals. I hope these lyrics are, shall we say, appropriate cause some of the babies heard me playing this in the classroom...

So, back to relationships out here in the Wild Wild East...

Being the adventurous girl that I am, I had signed up for a Korean penpal/dating site to test the waters shortly before I got here. That being the case, I decided I would meet up with a couple of the fellas this weekend. Personally, I wouldn't really consider this sort of thing "dates" because I'm psychologically unable to comprehend dating, but I digress. We met.

Sooo, on Saturday, I met up with a dude we'll call Minwoo. His real name was far less cool than that, but moving on...

Basically, I was meeting dude for a little "getting-to-know-you" dinner then going out to a club with friends. Dude is like, "Sure, let's meet up with your friends" BUT didn't have any cash. [Cultural note: In Korea, ATMs are only open until 11pm or so and the subways typically stop running at midnight...except on the weekend (!) when they stop even earlier.]

So, dude paid for dinner with a credit card and when we missed the last subway, he was like, "Do you have any cash?" *hold up! wait a minute!!!* Whaaa?! If I knew how to get where I was going myself I woulda considered leaving his ass behind and told him to call Tyrone. lol.

Then, on the way to the area we're supposed to meet everyone, he starts commenting about how many foreigners are there. He wanted to know exactly who was gonna be there and I assured him one of the girls was bringing her Korean friend and that a few people speak Korean...all this to get to the point where we're finally (1 hour later?) walking to the club and he looks like he's gonna pass out.

Soooo, being the considerate person that I am, I'm like, "Don't feel like you have to come. I understand." [His English isn't that great.] I'm trying to convince him it's all good either way. Finally, he's like, "Ok. Maybe next time," and it's all good. As I was returning the jacket he lent me, he's like, "Um, can I borrow $10?" NO LIE. *What the sam hizell?!?* Yes, this fool just asked if he could get some money to ride home AND, I gave it to him. At this point, I was just like, "whatever." The awkwardness was nauseously palpable.

In retrospect, I have a feeling he was thinking it was gonna end Sex in the City style. *Damn it Hollywood!!! And Snoop Dogg!!!* Basically, dude asked me to ride across freaking town to his subway stop. As I recall, initially when we were deciding when to meet, he had suggested 9 p.m. I didn't think too much of it because there's more folks out in my neighborhood at 9 then there are a 8 in the morning...but I mean, really? Seriously? If you're thinking of making a night of it, wouldn't you BRING SOME MONEY?!?! The primary reason I agreed to meet him in Sadang is because I thought his job was over there--and he had to work on Saturday--not for a whack booty call. *auuurrrghh*

There was definitely some random flirtatiousness which didn't cross the line or anything so it took me a while to process what went down and now I'm like BOOOO to online 'penpals' because the second situation was more disturbing...

Basically, there's very little I can do to describe the guy I met with on Sunday except to say that he was perfectly well-mannered, helped me with my Korean (study date, lol!), and drove an imported convertible. Did I mention he's a doctor? Totally positive traits yet, I had this weird feeling after we parted ways--a weird, very bad foreboding feeling. The last time I had this feeling I ended up dating a guy who refused to comprehend the meaning of "break up". He too had started off well-mannered and wasn't even as polished (or smart) as this guy...

Now, if I was the sort for random, sexual relationships, the second guy would definitely be on my radar. In fact, trying to explain how I felt about the situation to a fellow teacher here proved ridiculously useless. I feel like I've received a warning in my spirit, as we Pentecostals like to say, and I'm gonna go with it. I'm already plotting how to squirm out of meeting with this guy again even though he really seemed like a good teacher. (He's able to explain Korean concepts to me in English and he even knows a little Mandarin. *sigh*) At the same time, I'm reminded of a friend of mine who dated a guy long-distance for around a year, later found out he had two kids and years later, found out he was married. I'm definitely not up for that level of adventure during my stay.

Here's to smarter decisions and better people coming my way!

[Oh yes, as for the coworker that was in my mouth, he finally seems like he's over it. Which is a grand relief. That said, the other teacher in my hall nicknamed him "Future Ex-Boyfriend" which I thought was quite fitting for a situation you KNOW would never go anywhere!]

Korea – Week 3

This week started off with a stunted attempt to go to church. I wanted to visit Yeoido Full Gospel Church an Assemblies of God congregation with the world’s largest membership. For no good reason, the church doesn’t have exact directions on their English website. I guess, like, you know, they’re the biggest so of course everybody knows where it is, right? Right. Cut to act three, even if they do know, they can’t explain it in English if you get off the wrong subway stop! I spent a few hours at Yeoido community park watching people enjoy the summer afternoon. Further attempts to resume next week…

My first week of a real teaching schedule was quite an adventure. I had my lesson plans for the 1^st and 2^nd grades (US 10th/11th) worked out pretty well so those classes went pretty smoothly. However, Monday was my first teachers’ class. Basically, most of the non-English teachers haven’t had to use English since college and they thought it would be fabulous if I led a conversation class for them…except they weren’t really ready for conversation. In an American classroom, you typically jump in and ask people to challenge themselves from day one. Until recently (and still only 50% of the time) that wasn’t the case in Korea. My “fun” lesson plan fell flat. I’ll have something boring for them next week. ; )

I only had three days of teaching the girls this week because of special activities on Thursday and Friday. I think in general, most of us in the West buy into Asian countries’ PR campaign about how well mannered and studious the kids are. This would be a good time to point out that I’ve never seen so many kids going god-knows-where all times of the night on public transport on a weeknight (except NYCity.) I had the misfortune of teaching one of my classes without my co-teacher and quickly discovered that students have no qualms about brushing their hair, chatting and texting during lessons! I’m still deciding if I’m more impressed at their gall or offended that my lesson wasn't keeping their attention…

Wednesday night, Liz and I met another teacher living in our building. He’s a (tall) Mexican kid from Chicago who in four days of living here already figured how to get rid of his trash! While this may be an issue of common sense in the States, Korea has an elaborate trash disposal system a step down from Japan’s, in which food, recyclables (categorized by type) and general trash have to be placed separately. This, in addition to purchasing approved trash bags!

Thursday was my school’s anniversary. For some reason in Korea, that’s a cause for celebration. The girls were off the hook for a day. Students from different programs came up with activity areas. Student art and sculptures were on display. Some classes sold snacks. I spent some “free-speaking” time with the English Club. Some art design students offered nail painting with detailed designs. Japanese class students had a Japanese area. The hospitality industry girls were acting as waitresses and mixing cocktails. Yup, cocktails. Our school is serious about the hospitality! We have a mock hotel reception area, bedroom, ballroom and cocktail bar. (See Exhibit A.)

All in all, it was a pretty wild day at school. The only American comparison I could think of is an afterprom party. I decided to go ahead and leave at 415 or so. From what I understand, I missed the dance team, cheerleaders and teachers’ performances! Maybe next year. lol!

Friday was physical fitness day. Anybody else remember those horrid Presidential Fitness Tests we had back in the day? Same concept except they only have to run 50 meters! Once again, I had no classes. I spent most of the day hanging out with one of my co-teachers and occasionally timing the girls as they did push-ups. Since it was the day before Chuseok, the most major Korean holiday all year, we had a half day.

My super cool thirty-something coworkers treated me to lunch at T.G.I. Friday’s (again!) Thank God I love that place…then off to the movies to see Mama Mia. I was beginning to get a sore throat but I still felt ok.

On Saturday, I traversed down to check out a palace and be touristy. It was…touristy. Basically, there were very old buildings. And a conservatory built in the 1800’s or so. The most interesting thing to me was observing how the modern city of Seoul has built up around the palace site. Directly across the street is a large private hospital. Around the corner are several convenience stores. The contrast was notable.

Other than that, I spent Saturday warding off a flu/cold combination and wishing I was out having fun! I’m (95%) better now but “I was sick” was pretty much my resounding refrain for “What did you do over the holiday?”

And on that note, I’ll wrap it up. ; ) More to come!

Love and hugs,

-taryn

Ok, the truth is, I can’t really break it down like I want to in the emails I send to my parents and former coworkers. I mean, some stuff everybody doesn’t need to know cause it just sounds petty…or ghetto. Take your pick.

With that out of the way, I gotta admit, I haven’t felt homesick yet. People keep asking me if I’m homesick and I’m not. Not at all. I wish they would stop asking because it’s making me feel like some sort of social anomaly, an emotional handicap, a rootless nomad…all of which could possibly be true…so let’s stop talking about it already.

In other random news, I’m beginning to thing the words, “pretty”, “beautiful”, “sexy”, et al. have no meaning in Korea. Sorry, call me shallow but ain’t no way some of the folks I’ve heard called “beautiful” out here would get the same back home…myself included.

While I’m on the subject, it would be worth pointing out that the concept of “sexual harassment” hasn’t been introduced in my lovely land of residence. I’m not even mad about it. I’m hella amused. For some reason, nobody’s told the babies that yelling, “Teacha, sexi!” while complementary, isn’t really appropriate in the classroom. lol!

Also, every other native-born Korean I meet thinks they’re a personal matchmaking service. One way or another, they try to find out if you have a boyfriend and insist that they know the most decent, available guy that you should meet. This includes students.

Just today I got, “You should meet my middle school English teacher. He’s a very good guy.” and “My P.E. teacher likes you,”—which, unfortunately, is probably true. Lawd. Lawd. I’m not even trynna go there with workplace romance! Dude’s 39, which is already too much going on AND according to Mr. Paek (a.k.a. My Korean daddy), dude has a girlfriend!

Come on now! I’ma need him not to be in my mouth like he is. I’ve watched too many K-dramas and Bollywood films to know that a guy who offers to carry extremely light objects for you—light as in, 7 pieces of paper and a miniature shopping bag—is trying to do more than welcome you to the neighborhood. And he know he’s wrong cause when Mr. Paek stopped me in the hall, he conveniently dipped out!

Right, so Mr. Paek, rocks. He’s 50, hella old school and every now and again he drops some necessary knowledge, such as the girlfriend thing. He always asks whether or not I’ve eaten, whether or not I called my family, whether or not I have someone to go do this or that with me…He’s like my real dad only more willing to have a conversation. What’s not to like?

I’m digging the traditional culture and am SO glad my mom was pretty strict about enforcing the “respect your elders” thing with us. Thus far I’ve been able to avoid any major faux pas.

I’m daily amused or interested by something. We’ll see how long it lasts but for now, I’m just trying to make it to payday!

I had intended to start another blog once I actually got to Korea but I think this one will serve its purpose well enough.

Basically, there will be both the friendly letters that I send home to family and "what I really think" a.k.a. All The Things You Don't Feel Like Explaining To People Who Don't Get Your Sense of Humor and/or Don't Share Your Point of View.

Good times.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, shall we continue?

[This is a copy of an email I sent to family and friends back home.]

Korea - Day 14

Week two was pretty light. I'm SO fortunate to have a school where I was encouraged to do planning rather than be thrown into teaching on day one.

The first couple of days were filled with greeting: greeting the principal of my school and our sister school, greeting the other teachers, greeting the students, meeting the church pastor.

I also had to get a health check (as per government requirements). It was nothing physically invasive but answering, "Do you have any communicable diseases?" etc. when the little man who was asking the questions looked like he was embarrassed for me, was quite an experience.

So far, I've only eaten cafeteria food once and that only for posterity's sake. (I get the feeling the principal had something to do with that since he asked what I thought of it!) Every other day so far, one or more of my coworkers has taken me out and treated me. I think I'm going to owe a lot of people lunch when I get paid!

I'm still adjusting to my small living space but I'm hoping it'll teach me how not to accumulate useless stuff. Liz (the other teacher in my building) and I met up with a couple of other English teachers in our neighborhood for dinner a couple of times last week. One of the other girls is having a tough time with her head teacher and it reminded me how truly blessed I am.

On last Wednesday, Liz and I were invited to an orchestra concert by one of my coworkers. His daughter was performing. Unfortunately, what we thought would be a 1-hour subway ride turned into nearly two hours of transport! We were extremely late to the concert (45 minutes) and after watching the performance on monitors for 15 minutes, we decided to make our way home since it was already after 9pm! That's when things got interesting.

I should point out that our neighborhood is pretty calm for a major metropolis. We actually have tree-lined streets and a little park with hiking trails around the corner. Downtown Seoul is a completely different story. We transferred trains to one of the most central lines at around 1015pm and experienced rush hour traffic!

Liz and I missed the first two trains that came by because we chickened out. Basically, the train was like that video of rush hour Tokyo without the professional pushers. After the second train, we bolstered up, got near the front of the line and got shoved all the way into the train! We rode shoulder to shoulder with random strangers for 15-20 minutes before the train emptied out enough where we had some room. Still, we were standing up until our next transfer.

All in all, my second week in Korea was interesting but mostly uneventful. Shopping has been quite a challenge because of the language barrier and made worse by limited selection. Trying to stock my apartment with basic necessities feels like a part-time job most days. (At this point it would be appropriate to mention that after being so excited about my local KyoChon chicken, they did duly disappoint. Seriously, their chicken wings were winglets! I think they killed the little guys before they hit maturity. *sigh*)

My school has asked me to spend 4 of my working hours doing an afterschool English club in addition to 3 hours of teachers' conversation class. They're definitely trying to squeeze out every penny's worth of work from me. I feel like a one woman English academy! Various teachers randomly stop me in the hall to ask for correct pronunciation and grammar, no joke!

Next week (the week I'm writing this) is my first week of teaching so there'll be a few more interesting details then. Sometime between now and October 1, I'll be settled in [and begin to finish tackling my screenplay!]

Hope everyone's doing well.

Love and hugs,
-taryn

p.s. Just thought I'd include the photo of my bathroom for kicks. Yes, you too can wash clothes, take a shower and use the toilet all at the same time, courtesy of a connection from your sink---that is if the mildew and gaudy mirror decor don't attack you first! :p

[This is a copy of an email I sent to family and friends back home...]

Korea – Day 7

I finally got my apartment. I won't lie. It's ghetto. Fortunately, I've had worse accommodations so I'll be over it soon. It's basically a dorm room with a tiled area functioning as a bathroom.

The cool thing is my neighborhood. Downstairs there's a Dunkin Donuts, 7-11, KyoChon chicken shack. Up the street there's a park with a walking trail, badminton nets and exercise area. Last night there was an open air concert but I missed it because I went shopping at Nonghyup Hanaro Mart for groceries instead. The subway is one minute from our apartment door and the bus stop is maybe two minutes. There are some things I don't like but overall, my impression is favorable.

After I landed in Korea, I was whisked off to the Hyundai Learning Center where I and 200 other foreigner teachers were held for training captive for the week. The area is beautiful and had a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains. Being with English speakers all week was a bit more like being on a guided tour than actually experiencing Korea.

We had all sorts of training exercises and workshops about our future lives as public school conversation teachers. Most of it was useful. Some of it was actually interesting and engaging. The highlight was getting to meet other folks in the same position as newcomers to Korea soon to be immersed in the culture as full-time teachers.

With that in mind, I have to give testimony to a little miracle God performed. As some of you know, I missed my initial flight. I was scheduled to fly out of the states on August 23 and to arrive in Korea on August 24. Try as I might, I woke up later than intended the morning of my departure and was further slowed down by my precious mother who insisted that we stop along the way so she could give me some travel money. At 6 a.m. the line to check in was atrociously long. I was stuck behind a 20-person group booked on an international flight in addition to a few stray folks behind them.

I had only slept 2.5 hours the night before and was definitely cranky. I had been waiting nearly an hour and was next in line when a lady cut me. She parlayed right up to the front and was like, "Oh, I didn't know you were next." I didn't even get a chance to say anything because my mom and the lady behind me took her on. lol! Mind you, this was just minutes after another woman had attempted to storm the front of the line and got fussed out by some people that had been waiting since 5 a.m.

That said, miracle #1: vindication.
The lady that cut got checked in and was on her way a good 10-15 minutes before me. I tried to stay calm. I let her pass and figured everything would work itself out. When I finally got to the boarding area (after nearly losing my passport), who's standing there but Cut-in-Line Lady? The plane is parked but the walkway was pulled away. She and her daughter were trying to convince airline staff to let them on the plane. While they pretended not to see me, I couldn't help but chuckle. I was quite amused until I remembered that my luggage, like theirs, was on the plane…without me.

After calling my family back to the airport to pick me up and starting over the next day in the same outfit (eww!), I began my travels again, this time with the international portion booked on Korean Air rather than Delta. That was a mini-blessing in disguise. Korean Air stewardesses actually work for their money. They're so attentive it's mildly frightening.

Then comes miracle #2a: Having missed my flight the day before, my two pieces of luggage and 52-lb cardboard box made it Seoul at the same time I did. No delays. No problems.

Miracle #2b is the kicker: After getting off the plane, making my way through customs and loading my luggage on a free—rental cost $3 in the US—rolling cart, a girl turns to me and asks, "Are you a teacher?" I guess my style doesn't really say 'military.' lol. She then asks, "Did you come with Footprints?" which is my recruiting company! With both questions answered, we agreed to stick together, since we were in the same boat.

The two of us clicked pretty well and we're only 2 years apart in age. During orientation week, we were just down the hall from one another and were worried that after becoming friends, our chances of being 'stationed' together out of 200 other teachers was quite slim. Fast forward to the end of the week, not only are we stationed in the same district, we were placed in the same building and our schools are across the street from each other!

Naturally, I had been preparing myself to go it alone and to face the mental and emotional exhaustion of trying to communicate far beyond my Korean language ability. As it so happens, my fellow teacher is Korean American and was SUCH a big help when we went shopping for home items yesterday. I'm really blessed to have a friend and language helper.

Miracle #3: I'm teaching at an all girls Christian school! I didn't know that there were single-sex public schools in Korea and I had certainly had no idea that public schools in Korea (heck anywhere) could be Christian! Having grown up with 2 sisters, if there's one thing I know, it's girls. I'm excited. All of the coworkers I've met so far are really nice. We have chapel on Wednesday mornings. And my classroom is AMAZING.

Next week I'll write about my first week at school. I've been told I won't have to do any teaching this week but I certainly want to be prepared for next week!

Love and hugs!
-taryn

Just got to Korea today.

I have a week of orientation before school starts.

More info to follow!

I've been in LA for a bit now taking a screenwriting program so I haven't had the energy to blog. That said, I'm reposting this email I sent to friends back in N'ville:

Hi everyone!

I'm sure you were absolutely (not!) holding your breath for my first update, but here it is anyhow. In the first 10 days here in California I:

* attended a 3-day retreat in Pacific Palisades (near Malibu)
* was outwalked by a woman who was at least 60 years old
* impressed an old Chinese man with my language skills
* rode the only "honor system" subway left in the free world
* took a Korean class
* went to a black megachurch (West Angeles C.O.G.I.C., Bishop Charles Blake)
* shopped at the infamous Trader Joe's
* bought groceries at a 99¢ Store
* saw Taming of the Shrew outdoors at the biggest Catholic Church ever
* had eight straight days of classes!

Today, I spent 10 hours in classes. Tomorrow, I will have 7 hours of screenwriting during the day, go to the Korean consulate on my lunch break and have 2 hours of Korean language class at night!

*****
Day 24
Since I took so long to send this out, I need to add a few more items:

* ate at a Korean chicken shack (KyoChon)
* discovered a love for public transit
* saw a French film at the super cool LACMA museum
* saw Wall*e at the Magic Johnson in Crenshaw
* took a Bikram Yoga class (105 degrees in the room folks!)
* have almost filled my Lollicup boba tea frequent buyer card. 2 more to go!
* got my visa for Korea
* had fried plantains twice in one week
* came home to a police chopper shining a spotlight across our street
* had my script idea chosen at a “pitch session” (out of 11 other stories)
* survived an earthquake from the 16th floor of a skyscraper!

Good times abound!
Of course I listed all of the most interesting things. Every day here has been interesting even if only because of the amazing teachers we have in our program. We heard from the writer of Will Smith’s new film Seven Pounds, a writer/producer for Home Improvement, a writer for 24, Lost and yes, the new Knight Rider. Next week we’ll hear from the writer of Déjà Vu (starring Denzel Washington) and today, I’m off to the Santa Monica pier.

It’s been fun but exhausting. I have 10 script pages due on Tuesday and I won’t have any notes to work with until Monday. I’ll watch the executive students pitch my story idea on Wednesday (hopefully, they won’t butcher it) and pitch a new story idea myself on Wednesday.

The Act One community is wonderful. It’s a very nurturing environment for developing writers and there are quite a few success stories from folks who’ve been through the program and stuck it out through the hard times here in Hollywood.

Until next time…
-t.

Lawd, lawd! So here I am on the Arirang website trying to pull down some more episodes of Let's Speak Korean only to discover that the links no longer work. The website is still there but the videos are disabled. For two days I'm like, What the heck?! until I randomly search the pull down menu and see "Let's Speak Korean (Season 4)". Um, ok. I'm not sure why you need a new season to teach the same thing again or why that means the old season has to disappear...


Lisa Kelley is still the host but this season she's joined by Kim YoungChul, a really wacky comedian that I could sware I've seen before but don't remember where. In other news, it appears that this season will include a mini drama called "Homestay Story" and we all know I love me some drama! It's terribly corny but I'll probably remember the vocabulary better. Here's to starting over...again...

Y'all, Spring Waltz is SLOOOOOWWW.

I'm talking try-to-do-the-Running-Man-in-3-feet-of-water kind of slow.

It is so painful that after two episodes, even Daniel Henney can't keep me coming back for more.

Watching his 30-second Bean Pole commercials in repeat for an hour would be far less irritating.

*sigh*

My favorite:

No. 1
This movie was weak.

No. 2
This movie was weak.

No. 3
Lee Dong Gun still looks like a Korean Lance Bass.

No. 4
This movie was weak.

The most interesting part of My Boyfriend is Type B is how LDG managed to look so innocent while being such an ass. My friend was dating a guy like that once. It took me a bit to realize what an absolute moocher he was. They broke up and got back together over and over for about a year or so before she gave him his walking papers. Like the character in the film, she hadn't really had a boyfriend before and she was a traditional Asian girl accustomed to doing whatever she was told to do.

That premise alone is enough for the movie not to resonate with me even if it had been a little better written. (There was hardly any conflict much like Seducing Mr. Perfect in which Daniel Henny was the only saving grace.) Characters who refuse to stand up for themselves always grate my nerves. If it wasn't for my inability to not watch something with Rain in it, I wouldn't have made it through Full House for precisely the same reason...

Sooo, one of my major concerns about moving to Korea is not if but how I'm going to bring my dog along.

Sammy is a chunky 11.5-lb Pomeranian I got nearly six months ago from some foks on Craigslist advertising him under the heading "Free Pomeranian." Now, common sense says that any full-breed dog offered for free has either physical or mental problems. Sammy falls under the latter category. He's a "little off" but in a way that makes him all-the-more amusing.

Since I got him fixed, he hasn't bitten me viciously like he did in the past (2 times). He can still work himself up into a froth if he runs into an unneutered male dog while we're out and about but since that one stray dog bit him, he's been a little more cautious in picking fights. ;)

None of my friends/family can keep him for me since he's such a crackhead and at the same time, there's no guarantees as far as my living arrangements in Seoul are concerned. *sigh* He's gotten better since I've had him and I'm sure he'll get better the longer I keep him...

What am I gonna do with you Sammy?! :(

Sooo, the fact that I'm crazy busy isn't really encouraging me to spend more time studying Korean. The Survival Korean book is a little frustrating in that there's no transliteration at all. I can understand separating the romanization from the hangul but not offering it at all is quite a strain for an absolute beginner!

Even so, I've taken a liking to Arirang's Let's Speak Korean series from '07. Each segment is 10 minutes long and admittedly, 5 minutes of each is pretty much foolishness. Still, I suppose the relational elements help keep the learning lighthearted.


Hopefully I'll settle on a method soon enough. Until then, no worries. I have my SMOE interview on Sunday. If that goes well, I should be all set! *fingers crossed*

So, if you haven't already heard, the promised danceoff between Stephen Colbert and Rain finally went down on TV last week. It was cheesy but fun. Colbert can't dance and Rain can't speak English. What more could we expect?

The first vid is a teaser preview from early in the show that mentions Speed Racer.



This is the segment where it all goes down:



Nice.

It's that time of year again:
Time for Rain and Stephen Colbert to face off on the Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People list! Basically, the magazine editors compile a list and "the public" votes online for a second list. Basically, it's a popularity contest. I don't even know how Rain got on there, but he's not disappearing any time soon.

Last year Colbert made a video decrying his 2nd place status to a mere "pop star" and this year, he's squealing, "Oh my God, Rain knows who I am!" ROFL! [video below]

It all makes for some entertaining television. Let's just hope our boy has learned enough English to make an appearance on the Colbert Report.

I don't know what else to say about this commercial other than. *Um, wow.* I really, really don't need my bathroom experience to be this exciting.

After a few more episodes of SangDoo, I realized the sunsingyim bomb is getting dropped everywhere. The teacher is sunsingyim. The doctor is sunsingyim. The principal is sunsingyim. I'm just going to think of the word as meaning "honored person." Hopefully, sometime in the near future, I'll get to the bottom of it...

Then there's ajumma as a greeting, ajumma as an entreaty, ajumma as a title, ajumma as a description. I feel as if I've learned the two most useful words in Korean even though I couldn't properly define either one if I tried!

So, in a moment of boredness, I hit up my old friend Crunchy Roll for a fix. Since I've already seen Full House, I decided on Bi's other drama, Sang Doo! Let's Go To School.

In addition to all the excitement of the drama's storyline: baby mamas and gigolos y'all!--I'm on episode 3 and this beats Full House hands down--I've discovered that even my nonchalant study of Korean has enabled me to understand a few words other than "yes" and "no."

The first is sunsingyim. I know I didn't spell that right but point being, in a Pimsleur Korean lesson, I heard the word used as a substitute for sir or ma'am as in, "Excuse me sir." (shile hamnida sunsingyim.) In the drama, I hear Bi screaming it to describe his long lost love's profession. SHE'S A TEACHER! Nice.

The second one that stood out was the highly fabled ajoshi and ajumma. I had heard mention of both as if they were distinct species but this was the first time I noticed either word being used to address someone. The first was ajoshi. One of the kids sees Bi in the hallway and addresses him as ajoshi. I'm like, Can he do that? I mean, dude's clearly under 30. I get ticked when little kids call me ma'am! Later, in an obligatory scene, Bi takes his love to a love motel where he addresses the woman in charge as "ajumma." It seemed much more appropriate on that occasion because the woman was obviously middle aged.

While I'm glad to know my soap opera watching has some value, I really wish I could shake the impression that Lee Dong Gun looks like this Lance Bass. It's both distracting and disconcerting.