Amanda Takes Off...

When I talked to my brother on my birthday (He called me! Good on you, Johnny!) I asked if he'd seen my Vietnam album.

"You have a website?"

"Yes, amanda takes off dot com."

"Oh, that's where you sell your knitting patterns?"

"No," I laughed because I've told him more than once about my website, "That's [my other website] dot com."

"You have more than one website?"

Oh, brother...

Went to taekwondo tonight. (No class this week until tonight, studio was closed for Chuseok.) As soon as I got there Master's Daughter and Son followed me into the changing room. Master's Daughter picked up some doboks, "Is this yours? Is this?" I pointed to my bag and she happily pulled some pants and a jacket out. She stared at the bag, stared at the doboks she'd thrown on the floor and said, "Amanda, two? You have two?"

As I was changing, she made a comment. I'm pretty sure it was about the size of my bust, and then she and her brother broke into a fit of giggles and acted like they were going to open the door. I said in Korean, "[Master's Daughter], don't do that. I have lip gloss, but you must sit down." She sized me up and I repeated myself until she sat down. She yelled, "루즈 빌려 주세요!" Please give me lip gloss quickly!

Then the three of us talked about Chuseok. Hooray for me, I can chat with two and three year olds! (Actually, I just learned the permission and no permission form, so that was nice.)

So I bribed a three-year old with lip gloss to keep her from showing me to the whole class in my dobok pants and a sports bra. Was it worth it? Yep.

At Costco Good Man said to me, "Do you think Koreans don't really care about other people?"

We were attempting treacherous navigation around who were acting (keyword: acting) clueless, bumping into others, walking very slowly, stretched four or five wide across an aisle.

"Yes!" I launched into a brief rant about Koreans. At the end I bit my lip, afraid I might have offended him. "Um, what do you think?"

"Koreans are rude, I just wanted to know if I was right."

I looked at him. He has his trick questions, too.

I am reading a really neat book called Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So by Ian Stewart.

I laughed aloud when I (a philosophy major in college) read this:

Planeturthian mathematicians would like to think that their universe is built from mathematics, but that's only natural, after all. Planeturthian physicists would like to think that the Planeturthian universe is built from physics. Planeturthian biologists would like to think that the Planeturthian universe is built from biology. Planeturthian philosophers would like to think that the Planeturthian universe is built from philosophy. (Let me tell you a secret: it is. The fundamental unit of the Planeturthian universe is the philosophon, a unit of logic so tiny that only a philosopher could hope to split it.)

Tonight the main character (Vikki) was in an infinite space. The population briefly flickered from ∞ to ∞ +1 (due to a birth) before changing back to ∞. The Space Hopper (who explains math to Vikki, a descendant from a family in the original book Flatland) said, "You see, infinity plus one equals infinity, and infinity minus one equals infinity. Infinity, basically, is Where Things Happen That Don't."

Chuseok is normally a huge family thing in Korea. Families travel to the father's parents' home, clean the family grave plots, do ancestor rites, etc. This year Chuseok was Monday through Wednesday. My birthday fell on Monday.

A month ago I said to Good Man, "Are you going to be able to visit me on my birthday?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Are you sure? Because if you aren't, I need to plan a trip." I explained, "It's one thing to be alone on your birthday in Korea when you don't have a boyfriend, and another to be alone in Korea when you do. I'd rather be alone in a foreign country on my birthday if you're not going to be able to see me."

"I will be able to see you. I promise."

I smiled. "Promise to infinity?"

"Yes, promise to infinity."

I thought of what we said when we were kids. "Promise to infinity plus one?"

He cocked his head and looked at me. "Um, Amanda, infinity plus one is still infinity."

Infinity or infinity plus one, he kept his promise.