THE DAYS MELD INTO ONE ANOTHER

I suppose that means that I’m in a routine, or just bored, or have no life. I’ll have to work on that one.

Here I am in school again killing time. I had 2 classes today. In 1 hour Min Kyung and I go to another school to view an “open class”. What is an “open class”? I guess the best one word answer would be “bullshit”. It’s an English class that other teachers, parents, school board officials, or anyone else can watch. I’m absolutely sure the children will be talking up a storm and being themselves in front of all these people. I think not. What’s the point? It’s just another dog and pony show. Min Kyung and I get to do our own dog and pony show in October. I’m thinking of teaching the kids a song filled with 4-letter words to see who catches on. At least it will be interesting.

I went to Starbucks last night with Yoon-soo. We drank coffee and chatted for a couple of hours. The time we spend together goes by quite easily. He never seems to be at a loss for what to say, and I manage just fine. He told me that Koreans are known for their impatience. A Chinese man who visited Korea 3,000 years ago wrote that Koreans are impatient people. At least that explains the drivers and running the red lights. I gave him his Texas Longhorn figurine and he appeared to like it which pleased me. Just one more to give away and that will be later today.

When I got home from school in the afternoon the bathroom floor was filled with water. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from and then I noticed it was coming from the side of the toilet where the flusher is. I panicked a bit because how was I going to let the office know about this problem. I called Yoon-soo to see if he could call them for me, but he didn’t answer his phone. I decided to go to the office prepared to play charades or whatever it took to solve the problem. I get there and the first thing I say is, “Does anyone speak any English”. And lo and behold, there was a man working there who spoke excellent English. I explained the problem, he came back to my apartment and looked, and then called an engineer to come and replace a washer. That was easy. It’s nice to know that I can find English at the office when I have an apartment problem.

When I got home last night I had a call from Mee Kyung. She wanted to know if she could change our date next Monday to today. So we did. So when I get home, I’m going out again and meeting her and we’re going hiking. I’m crazy. Hopefully it won’t be too strenuous and I have no idea how hot it will be. But I most do some exercise once in a while, even if it kills me. I’ll be able to give Mee Kyung her Longhorn so I hope she likes it. The pressure of worrying if your gift will be liked is quite the burden.

Robert is coming up on Saturday for a visit to see where I hang out. One of the things we’ll do is go up to the DMZ for a tour. I’m looking forward to that. I’ve never seen a North Korean. Are they men, or are they myths? Time will tell.