Amanda Takes Off...

Korean traditions and ramyeon...it's been a busy weekend...

Thursday night's class was...interesting. NewSabumnim had us doing some sort of leap-frogging thing over each other. I was put with Cocky and Tired Guy who are both taller than me. (I swear, when I met these boys they were all shorter than me except for Goalie.) They weren't crouching down, so I feared I wouldn't make it over them.

I made it over Cocky. Tired Guy was another story.

I landed on Tired Guy, knocking both of us to the ground. He fell forward one way, I fell forward another way. NewSabumnim was doubled over with laughter.

I had landed on my chest—hard. I rolled over. "아. 가슴이 아파요." Ah. My chest hurts.

This sent NewSabumnim into even stronger fits of laughter.

Brave hadn't been in class forever and he showed up Thursday night. I was so excited to see him. I made him sit down and we chatted for a bit. I was writing an essay on my home state in Korean, for writing practice. He fixed it for me. At the end of class I looked at it. I had dropped 9 markers (no shock) and made a few spelling and word choice errors, but really, it wasn't too bad. Of course, it was a low level of writing, but still...

I had written that you can walk across the beginning of the Mississippi River with five steps. Cocky, Blue, and Brave all tried to figure out what I meant. After acting out what I was trying to say at least five times they understood; turns out what I'd written was correct, after all. Since it wasn't clear, however, I added a sentence before that saying that at the headwaters the river is narrow. (Page two of this post includes the essay in Korean and English.)

After class I went out for ramyeon with Cocky, Blue, Brave, and Crybaby. Blue had gotten some new manga books from the book/video/DVD store. I was doing a dramatic reading, pleased that I understood, "I don't...want...to die... Must...find strength."

Friday night we played soccer. Fun was had by all and Shy Blue Belt (now with a brown stripe) was there because she'd missed the earlier class. She helped me with my Korean homework.

After class I ran down to the office to ask Master a question. He was busy so I asked his wife. As soon as I said 안녕하세요 his daughter yelled, "Amanda! Amanda!" and came running out of the kitchen, her brother following close behind.

I laughed, knelt down and said, "나도 사랑해." I love you, too.

She looked at me and whispered, "루즈" Rujeu. Rouge.

"네, 있어," I reached into my bag, Yes, I have it. She and her brother dipped into the pot in their normal fashion.

This evening I went to TempMaster's baby's first birthday party (돌잔치). This is a huge deal in Korea, so I knew when I got the invitation that I should go. The 100 day birthday and 60th birthday (Western age) are the two other most important birthdays in Korea. The former because it means you've survived 100 days, the latter because it means you've gone through all the animals and elements of the Chinese (Oriental) Zodiac.

Gold rings are the customary gift, but since I'm not very close to the family and since I can get away with near anything due to my foreignness, I bought the baby three books. I bought three touch and feel books in English—1-10, Dinosaurs and ABCs. Hey, his father speaks quite a bit of English and I'm an English teacher. I also wrapped up TempMaster's Yong-In t-shirt and gave it to him.

I arrived at the subway station but had no idea where to go. I called TempMaster and he told me to wait for Mr. Kim. You know that saying, "Like finding a needle in a haystack?" Korea has "Like finding Mr. Kim in Seoul." I never found Mr. Kim, so I got a taxi driver to help me. Turns out the party was at a wedding hall approximately 30 meters in front of me. "Pin-kuh?" I said, pointing to the sign.

"Nay!" I tried to give him some money for helping me, but he refused.

I got there, found the name on the board and walked up to the third floor. These wedding halls are a strange thing to me. There are sometimes dozens of different activities going on. Unlike weddings, you don't pay your way into the reception. I showed the two people at the reception hall the invitation on my handphone (love Korea!) and was given a green sticker. I walked into the hall and Master greeted me. He introduced me to his parents (I've briefly met his mother) and his wife and then his mom made me go get food.

When I returned, Master seated me at a table with two women. He said, "She speaks Korean." I looked horrified and said, "No, no, I don't speak Korean." A man joined us later. One of the women was a kindergarten teacher, one went to Ewha (where YJ went) and is studying philosophy (!). The man was studying to become a veterinarian or vet assistant, I couldn't figure out exactly which.

They were friendly and patient with my Korean. I gave them all my namecard and the Philosopher said she wanted to introduce me to some other philosopher students.

Philosopher asked if I drank soju and I said sure. She said she wanted some but she couldn't have any because the priest from her church (the same church TempMaster and Sabumnim go to) was there, but she could have beer. She poured me some soju, I poured her beer, we cheered and drank. When the man showed up, we had already been chatting for a bit. The teacher (I think she was his girlfriend) said, "You can drink soju together and become friends," to him.

That remark sums up how Koreans feel about drinking. You drink together and suddenly you're best friends. They define "social drinking" in a whole new way.

He said he couldn't because of the priest, but as soon as the women went to get more food, he peered around and nodded. I poured for him, he poured for me and we began to cheer. "Wait," I said in Korean, "how old are you?"

Guess I've learned the Soju Rules.

참 이슬 Soju

The conversation with the three of them was pleasant. Philosopher asked if I had a boyfriend. "No, do you?"

"Um, we broke up three days ago."

A few moments later she suddenly said in English, "Love is anguish!"

She also informed me that the best way to improve my Korean was to get a Korean boyfriend. I said, "But I don't understand Korean men! I maybe had a date today. But I'm not sure. American men, I sometimes understand. Korean men are complicated. I don't understand them."

She sighed dramatically. "Me too!"

They had to leave before the biggest part of the party, but I guess everyone was afraid of leaving The Foreigner alone, so they got TempMaster's Wife to come chat with me. I told her I was fine, but we chatted a bit in Korean.

While conversing with the three younger people and TempMaster's Wife I realized that I'm still picking out key words and missing other words. So I think they're asking "Where are you from" (America) when they mean in Seoul. Still, I'm improving.

Finally, after an hour and a half, the most important part of the ceremony happened. An MC welcomed us all and did not fail to mention the waygookin in the room. I wish I were kidding, but he actually mentioned me. I just shook my head and smiled, looking at TempMaster.

(As a side note, is it better to be openly mentioned or to be silently wondered about as a single person of a different race would be at an event in the States?)

A big pink…thing came into the hall and started dancing around. The MC made two people (a man and a woman that TempMaster chose) dance with the bunny and then asked if they were single (they were) and tried to get them to exchange phone numbers.

The MC bowed in the family (like we do in taekwondo). We sang "Happy Birthday" and the baby and family cut a large cake together.

Then the MC gave a large platter to the family for the fortune-telling. Traditionally, this platter would have money, a thread, a pen, and a book on it. Although I've been told some different things, these could stand for wealth, long life, writing (or studying), and studying.

This time I could see a bowl of uncooked rice, and a computer mouse on the tray, along with some things I couldn't identify from where I was sitting. Someone said, "Money!" and placed 10,000 won on the tray. Other guests then ran up to give the baby money.

The family then held the tray out for the baby and he reached for what he wanted. He reached into the bowl of rice and picked it up over and over. I found out this means he'll be rich and have a good life.

I left shortly after, thanking TempMaster, his wife, and his parents for inviting me.

I didn't expect to get to see a baby's first birthday six months ago, when Master and I were discussing what sort of training I should do when I couldn't come to class for a month. Even though I was singled out for being the foreigner, I felt fairly comfortable at today's party. Certainly as comfortable as I felt in America going to weddings where I didn't know most of the other guests.

The more Koreans I get to know, even casually, the more at home this country feels.

And the food was delicious!

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