Amanda Takes Off...

Today's fourth grade classes were great. I taught them the Pinball 12 song from Sesame Street. You know the one. "One, two, three, four, five—six, seven, eight, nine, ten...eleven, twelve!" (That was done by the Pointer Sisters!) So I was happy.

Then fifth grade was just...apathetic. So I was annoyed.

Then I was fed donuts and fresh strawberry juice with my after-school class and I was happy.

Then I "tested" (not really, but really) in taekwondo. Before class, one of the kids from an earlier class opened the door on me while I had a dress halfway over my head and because the latch is broken on the door, I couldn't even pull it completely closed. And the kid didn't apologize. Then, I couldn't break the medium blue bricks with this "harder, but more powerful" stance Master wants me to use. We moved to the yellow (easiest) brick and I still couldn't do it. Then, after class, another kid opened the door on me while I was standing there in my dobok pants and bra and again, I couldn't slam the door closed quickly. So I was very frustrated.

Then the kid apologized and blushed madly, so I actually felt for him. And then in his office, Master called me pretty and his wife called me beautiful because I was wearing a dress. So I felt better.

Then I couldn't get a seat on the subway. So I was annoyed.

Then I found some CDs, some Korean DVDs I want to watch (but only when I can stop them to figure things out), a thumb drive, and a bookshelf for pretty cheap at the store attached to the subway station. So I was happy...

Until I realized I can't carry the bookshelf home because it's too bulky/heavy.

Then I texted that guy I'm meeting for drinks tomorrow night and asked him if he could help me ("big favor") carry it to my apartment tomorrow. He said yes. So I was happy again.

Then...then! I walked past a businessman sitting in a tree smoking cigarettes.

(Poor Quality Photo of)
A Korean Businessman Sitting in a Tree Smoking Cigarettes

And that made my whole darn day.

I met the sixth graders yesterday for the first time (13 Korean age, so the same age as I taught in America). During the last class, this exchange occurred.

Amanda: My brother is a fireman.

Student, with awe on his face: Your brother is Spiderman?

I didn't go to work today because I went to Labor. I am nearly guaranteed to win my labor case since she already has 5 judgments against her in the last six months. That, however, doesn't mean I will actually get my money. Also, why can this woman owe people tens of millions of won and still be in business? That makes no sense.

I had to ink-thumb every signature and page of the document since I don't have the Korean-style name stamp. Actually, I just bought one Saturday in Insadong and forgot to bring it. So now my thumb is pink.

Monday night's class was awesome. It was hot and it was hard work and at the end of class Master wanted me to try breaking the rebreakable bricks. I had tried this once before and only ended up hurting my hand.

Well, I tried the easiest brick and didn't break it. Then he gave me some pointers and my studiomates said, "화이팅!" I tried again and broke it. That felt good because the bricks are harder to break than the tiles.

Last night he had me do the easiest brick again, then try the medium brick. I failed the first time but said, "No, I want to try again." My studiomates again cheered me on and I broke it.

Master asked me to try the hardest brick, and I did, twice, but failed to break it. OK, so that's my next goal.

After class NewSabumnim took several videos of me breaking the medium brick. Over and over.

My hand still hurts.

Last night Master and I had our second English class. I asked him after class if he'd done his homework (which he had two weeks to complete). He froze. During our lesson, I canceled some of his homework, like writing down what he would say when introducing someone, because he did that when he met my parents.

Today I managed to get some picture frames. I asked how much they were and she kept saying the size. Finally I said, "No, money," in Korean and she laughed, "Oh, I'm sorry!" It wasn't a matter of me being the problem, it was just a normal miscommunication. I didn't know the word for picture frame, so I pointed to one in the store and said, "Do you have this?" It wasn't an entirely fluid conversation, but something about getting what I needed without much trouble...that felt nice.

Friday night after class I'm meeting a Korean guy who lived in America as a kid for drinks or dinner or something. We briefly chatted during the break in tonight's class. I've talked to people on the phone during breaks before—men and women, in Korean and English, but tonight the kids paid attention.

I was sitting outside, chatting entirely in English. When I got off the phone, two boys and Ghost were standing there.

"아만다...진구예요? 남자예요?" Amanda...was that a friend? A boy?

Yes.

It is a boy? Where is he from? Is he American? He's not? He's Korean? Oh, oh, Amanda! Yes, Korean! Very good! When are you meeting him? Will he be your boyfriend?

Then, while I was on the phone some Korean man in his 40s just stood at the bottom of the steps and stared at me. I waved at him. He waved back and kept staring.

Yes, dude, a white woman is sitting in a dobok, wrapped with a black belt, chatting on the phone at the top of the stairs in English in South Korea. Get over it.

Master took one look at my face tonight and the first words out of his mouth were, "Amanda, tired?"

The visit with Mom and George was awesome but exhausting, and today was my first day at my new job (went well, I think). We don't do daylight savings time, so while it gets early pretty dark (Mom commented on that), the sunrise was something before 5:30 this morning. Turns out the window in the former bedroom lets in a ton of light. This combination of factors made me tired enough after work.

Then, knowing I needed to do it then because of inertia, after work I managed to switch the positions of the bed and couch, which, considering how narrow my apartment is, took some interesting geometry, Korean-based physics, and taekwondo arms. 화이팅!

Speaking of taekwondo, now that the apartment is set up to practice it, I'd better do it. (The bed is crammed into the bedroom, the door nearly opens all the way before crashing into it. I'm not moving either of those pieces of furniture ever again.) Tonight in class Master started explaining why the moves of 고려 are the way they are. Ahh, it's a beautiful form.

I bought a new book a few days ago, 한국어 읽기 2급: 재미있는. It's a reader put out by Yonsei University. I looked at level one, read three stories and put it down because it was too easy. This one is just about the perfect Goldilocks level.

However, I was having problems with this sentence in a short essay about Chinese-style mandu.

중국에는 '하늘에 있는 젓 중에서는 비행기만 빼고 다 먹는다. 다리가 네 개인 젓 중에서는 책상만 빼고 다 먹는다.'

I recognized sky, China, plane, legs, four, desk, eat. What I didn't know is that 만 빼고 (다?) is a way to except something.

Master explained it and then said, "The Chinese eat anything."

In China we eat anything from the sky except airplanes. In China we eat anything with four legs except a desk.

Ahhh, today was very busy. I saw my parents off (sigh...) then went down to my new city to get the key to my apartment. I then went back to where my friends have been keeping my stuff (a two hour subway ride, and I forgot my iPod, so I couldn't even do my Korean homework) and packed up and moved.

My apartment is a mess and I'm pretty sure I'm going to move the couch into the living room and the bed into the bedroom, even though it will make the bedroom feel very, very small. Why? Because then I'll have room to practice my forms. Besides, I have a bedroom for the first time in ten months and want to feel like it. Since the TV and computer don't really fit well where the couch is, I'll never use that room if I don't move the bed in there.

The last several days with my parents were very busy—fun but busy. I am working on a large photo album and multiple posts, but right now I can't get my own laptop onto the internet, so it'll have to wait a while.

The long and short of the trip is that it was great to see Mom and George, my confidence in my Korean has improved, we were all movie stars, some Korean college students saved our butts on our tea tour, and George got approached by an...interesting woman at Yongsan station.

In other news, I am getting really into Korean ballads—in other words, exceedingly dramatic music where I only mostly understand things like "I love you, I love you, please stay...like this...come back."

This is one of the most famous singers in Korea, 김건모 (Kim Gun-mo) with his song "Scarecrow." My version of the song ends around 4:55. Master gave me a copy of this song. It's also his handphone ring tone.

This one is by SG워너비 (SGWannabe) and is called 내 사람 (My Partner for Life). I can't recall when it became popular, but it is.

It's a good thing my parents are only here for a week because when they're here, they conspire with Master to make me do my pushups.

Yesterday (Mom's birthday) we went to the green tea fields and bamboo forest. It was a very nice—but exhaustinig—trip. And it was my first time using the Korean train system.

Today we went to 창덕궁(Changdoek Palace) and got soaked. Usually this palace is only open via tour to help preserve it. However, on Thursdays you can pay five times the normal price to get in without being on a tour (only 1000 people a day). Even though it was raining, it was nice to go out without being in a tour group because it was very quiet and it was easier to take your time, take photos, and so on.

George and Amanda at Changdeok Palace

Tonight we had dinner with Master and his family. Mom and George had said that they'd like to meet Master and his family again, so yesterday I invited them out to the palace with us today. Master called back and said they couldn't come because it'd be raining, so we invited them out to dinner instead. Master was kind enough to find a Korean barbeque place near our hotel. He made a reservation and we chowed down on various foods.

My Families

Master's Daughter Plays With My Handphone

Master's Children Play With My Handphone

Rawrr!

Master's Daughter Takes a Photo of Both of Them

I was really happy that my parents ate Korean-style, since they'd said before they got here that they wouldn't. (To be fair, they have eaten that way several times, including yesterday with two college students we'd met who saved our butt at one point on our tea tour.) Dinner was pleasant, but Mom was pushing my Korean language skills way beyond my current level. "Tell Kwanjangnim..." Then, as I was trying to simplify and collect my thoughts in Korean, she'd interrupt me. We all know how well that's worked in the past... I was going a little crazy.

Master, Mom and I had three bottles of soju together, Master and I downing most of it.

In Korea, it's a big deal to pay for dinner. Generally the person doing the inviting or the oldest person pays. People will argue—animatedly—at the register over who will pay. I've argued a few times with friends, but one of us has always acquiesced fairly quickly. I have, however, never argued with Master when we've gone out together because I knew he'd never let me pay since he was always doing the inviting, since he's older (even if only by seven weeks!) and since he's Master.

I knew we were going to have to argue over dinner. For months I have occasionally considered how I would argue in Korean if we all went out for dinner together and I warned my parents that we'd have to argue.

As soon as we left the room we'd been eating in (Master had reserved a large room for us), we started arguing. Master had the check in his hand and wouldn't give it up. I started with "No, Master, you always pay, please let us pay this time." Master and his wife countered with "When we come to America, you can pay." This went back and forth while Mom and George immediately said, "No, we're grandparents." Finally Master said, "Amanda, I'm Kwanjangnim!" I said, "Master, how old are you? My parents are grandparents..." Still, I had to mostly wrestle the check out of his hand.

After that much soju, I was happy to agree to coffee when Master asked if we wanted some coffee. We went to Outback (attached to our hotel) and had coffee, kiwi juice, and cheese fries. (We let them pay for the check there. ㅋㅋ)

Somehow my pushups came up. Master found out I haven't been doing them and mandated I do the knuckle position holding for thirty seconds twice, 54 pushups, and 10 striking stances. He made sure my parents promised to watch.

"But you are my friend! You are not 'kwajanjangnim' right now, you are 'Your Name!'"

"No, now, Kwanjangnim!" he teased.

While I was in the middle of doing sojuified pushups, I said to Mom and George, "When are you going home? Because I like it when I can skip my pushups."

George said, "Not soon enough to get out of this!"