Amanda Takes Off...

Today I had my first real "I want to cry (about Korea)" day.

It is summer here in Korea, which means everything changes. Kids are out of school and thus all of the private schools (hogwans) have "summer camps." So there was no tae kwon do on Monday and the schedule is weird for one month. I thought tae kwon do was from 6 to 8 pm. It's really from 6 to 7 pm or 5:30 to 7 pm, I'm not sure which.

I work until 5:30 and have to take the shuttle home with the kids, which means I don't get home until 6:45 or so. So today I was late (although only a half hour late since kids were missing from the shuttle) to tae kwon do. Master told me I was late and I told him I had work and eventually he called Jason (translator extraordinaire) and we three chatted back and forth and Master decided to change the whole schedule so that class starts at 6:30.

Oh no, no, no. I asked Jason to please tell him not to do that. I told him I didn't want to be the random 미국 (American) who messed up 24 other schedules just because I have work. He talked to Master.

At the end of class...it got changed.

Of course, the shuttle still isn't getting me home until 6:45. So I called Jason and asked him to talk to my big boss at the admin meeting tomorrow, because the whole schedule got changed and yet...I'm still going to be late. Jason pointed out that it's Master's studio and he can change things, but I know it was changed for me. Jason said he'd talk to everyone else at school. Hey, if I'm going to get special treatment one place, I guess I'll ask for it elsewhere... I'm already getting permission to take a taxi home tomorrow rather than riding with the kids because I have a belt test tomorrow. Oh, and normally belt tests are on Fridays but since I don't come Fridays, mine is tomorrow.

Pyeong Ju and I walked home together and I told her I was horrified that everything had been changed for me and she reassured me that it was OK. We stopped by the grocery store and we got these fabulous pomegranate ice cream bars (석류) for 250 won each! No nutrition labels on them. After destroying Michael's life by reading the nutrition label on the 돼지 bar (lit. "pig"), I don't even want to know...

I really am trying to be gracious, but I would hate for the other students to resent me. What was it I learned in anthro class? No matter how hard you try to be an observer, your very presence changes the situation.