Seoul_to

Beautiful...slap, smile and yell....

I was walking down the street on my way to school earlier today. I went to a local 24-7 mart and was still chuckling walking out the door, after a small joke with the counter woman. It's nice, after being here a while, when people start to talk to you, even if it is just a worker at the local "7-eleven". It's not common practice to otherwise even say hello to people you don't know, Korean or otherwise.

Anyhow, I kept on my way to school, after my brief stop and was just about to round the corner to the bank. Two old women (probably 70's or later) were walking towards me as I looked up. It's a crap shoot, so to speak, with older people. Some of them seem so tickled when you bow and say hello. Others just look flabergasted that a "whitie" would dare try to do such a thing. One of these women did look up and looked me straight in the eye. I bowed and smiled and kept walking. To this I got a big slap in the shoulder, as she kept walking smiling. Oh yeah...they playfully hit much more than any older people at home do as well. I wasn't quite sure what it meant this time, but figured it couldn't be bad, as she did it while smiling. I kept walking. I was left in stitches when she turned and started yelling. She kept repeating and motioning to her face and mine and yelling the word for pretty. I couldn't think of anything else to do, but say thank you, bow and keep going. Nothing like getting smacked and then called pretty.

Later on at school, Choi, my boss, spotted me and made a point of telling me that I looked thinner. You'll excuse me if he didn't sound quite as believable as an old woman yelling. He's a nice guy, but just from past experience, the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "What do you want, Choi?" Mind you, this was all said while laughing and smiling. No really....you look thinner and better. Uh.....sure, but really, what is it that you want? Nothing...until an hour later. He stopped me again after the next class and asked me if I would MC a show on Saturday. This was the second time he had asked. Who knows why this sudden interest in me. I had been trying to get out of it, as it's not part of our normal teaching and I don't think I'll get anything extra for it. Plus my excuse of having an appointment (which I actually do) until 2:30pm flew out the window when he said it would start at 4 and not 3, as I originally thought. I agreed, but couldn't help throwing in an inquiry as to what my incentive would be. He said he'd tell me in private. Who knows what that could mean. I guess I'm thinner and an MC now, twice this week, by the way. I just hope there aren't too many other foreign teachers there on Saturday. I will get nervous, even knowing that most of the koreans won't understand everything that I say. It's worse though, when you're peers are there. They don't know me and who knows what they will think, if I make a mistake with anything.

Ah well....I'm beatiful and thin. What else matters?

Seoul_to_Soul
		~ Monday, June 07, 2004 Beautiful...slap, smile and yell.... I was walking down the street on my way to school earlier today. I went to a local 24-7 mart and was still chuckling walking out the door, after a small joke with the counter woman. It's nice, after being here a while, when people start to talk to you, even if it is just a worker at the local "7-eleven". It's not common practice to otherwise even say hello to people you don't know, Korean or otherwise. Anyhow, I kept on my way to school, after my brief stop and was just about to round the corner to the bank. Two old women (probably 70's or later) were walking towards me as I looked up. It's a crap shoot, so to speak, with older people. Some of them seem so tickled when you bow and say hello. Others just look flabergasted that a "whitie" would dare try to do such a thing. One of these women did look up and looked me straight in the eye. I bowed and smiled and kept walking. To this I got a big slap in the shoulder, as she kept walking smiling. Oh yeah...they playfully hit much more than any older people at home do as well. I wasn't quite sure what it meant this time, but figured it couldn't be bad, as she did it while smiling. I kept walking. I was left in stitches when she turned and started yelling. She kept repeating and motioning to her face and mine and yelling the word for pretty. I couldn't think of anything else to do, but say thank you, bow and keep going. Nothing like getting smacked and then called pretty. Later on at school, Choi, my boss, spotted me and made a point of telling me that I looked thinner. You'll excuse me if he didn't sound quite as believable as an old woman yelling. He's a nice guy, but just from past experience, the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "What do you want, Choi?" Mind you, this was all said while laughing and smiling. No really....you look thinner and better. Uh.....sure, but really, what is it that you want? Nothing...until an hour later. He stopped me again after the next class and asked me if I would MC a show on Saturday. This was the second time he had asked. Who knows why this sudden interest in me. I had been trying to get out of it, as it's not part of our normal teaching and I don't think I'll get anything extra for it. Plus my excuse of having an appointment (which I actually do) until 2:30pm flew out the window when he said it would start at 4 and not 3, as I originally thought. I agreed, but couldn't help throwing in an inquiry as to what my incentive would be. He said he'd tell me in private. Who knows what that could mean. I guess I'm thinner and an MC now, twice this week, by the way. I just hope there aren't too many other foreign teachers there on Saturday. I will get nervous, even knowing that most of the koreans won't understand everything that I say. It's worse though, when you're peers are there. They don't know me and who knows what they will think, if I make a mistake with anything. Ah well....I'm beatiful and thin. What else matters? posted by ~B~ at 9:00 AM