Today was a day of interesting encounters with Koreans. And just when I was feeling frustrated with my language skills…though I can’t claim to be good, at least I am able to understand these little interactions that make living here so entertaining!
First, there are my always amusing co-workers. We all had lunch downtown again—an evidently big-deal meal of various vegetables and bean rice in celebration of the first full moon of the new year—but when I asked one of the teachers what we would be having, he told me, “Maybe…rice?” Ok, we only have rice at EVERY meal, including ones that are based on noodle dishes! I don’t know when I’ve ever gotten a vaguer answer.
Then later, as we were sitting down and beginning to eat, my principal, who is sitting directly opposite me, starts a discussion with me about body types. In Korea there’s this concept of an S-line—the curves in a side view of a woman’s body make an s-shape, evidently—and today he told me not only that my S-line was good, but also my V-line and my Y-line, which I’d never heard of before. No one else had heard of the latter, either—sounds like another one of his strange theories to me, much like his sports analogies for dating at various ages given to me last spring. A V-line refers to the shape of the face (Koreans are obsessed with making their faces appear smaller), and a Y-line refers to a rear view. I guess I’m glad he’s not calling me fat or accusing me of having dozens of babies in my stomach, but it’s a little strange to know your old boss is checking out your figure under your lumpy winter clothing.
And then, of course, we get soju. At lunch. I refuse initially, only to have my favorite teacher shake his head at me and say, “No, it’s good! Delicious!” and pour me a full glass. No one drank much at all, so they consolidated the bottles and brought them back to school. God only knows what happened then…probably soju and kim in the teachers’ room. Teaching in the U.S. is going to seem so tame after the antics of my fellow teachers here!
I ducked out of the afternoon meeting to take a quick hike. I was not the only one to have this idea—for about the first time ever, I saw others on the trail—three others! I ran into the first man at the top of the first hill and we ended up hiking together. He was pretty fast for an old guy—or I’ve just gotten really slow in my months off. I could hardly keep up! We talked for a bit (boosting my conversation skills a lot—yessss…), but I guess he knew pretty much all there was to know about me already. He even pointed out my house to me! And then he proposed beer after our walk, but I had to decline. I’m trying to avoid creepy old men these days. Not that he was especially creepy, but…they all seem to get ideas, these guys. And he did tell me I should marry a Korean…