Amanda Takes Off...

I should have known better.

When I was 9 or 10, I read Charlotte's Web. I cried at one part, which I remember clearly because I arrived at my grandparents' house sobbing.

I picked up 샬롯의 거미줄 this winter, even though when I tried to read the first page, it was too hard. Recently, I tried the first chapter and understood most of it, so I decided it would be my next book to read.

Yesterday, Charlotte hinted to Wilbur that she was getting tired and old.

I cried.

Good Man stared at me. "Why?"

"She's going to die!"

"No, she's just getting old, that's what it says."

I wailed, "She's being Korean! She's talking around it! 'It seems like I am getting old...'"

"You are strange. You are like my mother, you cry a lot."

This afternoon, Charlotte told Wilbur she really wasn't going to return to the farm with him. She had a day or two left to live. And Wilbur begged, begged, begged Templeton to get Charlotte's egg sac.

I cried.

Good Man stared at me. "It is book!"

"I know! But Charlotte's Wilbur's best friend, and she's going to die and he's going to be stuck with the mean old rat!"

"She is laying...how many?"

"Five hundred fourteen."

"Five hundred fourteen eggs!"

I shook my head, "But they won't be Charlotte!"

"You are 울보," Good Man said.

"I am not a crybaby!"

"Then you are cryadult."

Tonight, Charlotte died. All alone. And Wilbur watched all but three of her 514 babies leave. He asked them to come back, to stay, but they left. Wilbur did befriend the three who stayed.

And I cried.

Good Man just looked at me. "If roach did magic, would you cry?"

"Roaches don't make webs."

Good Man pointed to the wall in the bedroom where our house spiders live, "This is why you don't kill spiders! You read when you were kid and now you expect spiders to do magic!"

"Of course!" Then I started laughing. And crying. Because I sounded ridiculous. But isn't that the joy in reading children's books? Believing in magic?

"If you care about fake talking spider in book so much, then you should never kill spider, roach, grasshopper, ant..."

"I'm not Buddhist," I said.

"Why don't you join PETA?"

"I eat meat."

Good Man shook his head, "And you are crying over spider in a book! I am just pointing out your paradox..."

***

I was on-track for my Korean goal and then Mother's visit, the end of the school year, a weekend at the beach, ten days in Canada, and having a hard time getting through multiple books all set me back.

But, onward and upward. I've finished "소나기" and 샬롯의 거미줄 since my last update.

533,300

"[굳멘], 노력 '력' 하고 적응력 '력'... 도같아?" [Good Man], effort "력" and ability "력" are the same root 력?

"응." Yep.

"난 똑똑해. 똑똑한 부인 있지? 나 같이 사는 것이 어려워?" I am smart. I'm a smart wife, huh? Is it hard living with me?

"아니. 내 밥 그릇 더 켜." No. My rice bowl is bigger than yours.

According to Good Man, if you say you someone has a large [rice] bowl it means they have a large ego, or very big ambitions and goals.

***

Trying to describe to Mother the way a woman was talking to me, I muttered some phrases in Korean. I finally settled on "거시기, 거시기."

Good Man figured out what I meant and said, "Oh, 어쩌고 저쩌고."

Eo-jjeo-go jeo-jjeo-go.

Koreans, please. Why couldn't you have something easy like "blah, blah"?

***

I've really been struggling with my 1,000,000 characters goal lately. First, I started reading Little House in the Big Woods. Vocab was too hard. Switched over to Alice in Wonderland. Too weird/strange/hard. Switched over to a book of Greek myths. Too boring. Tried Romeo and Juliet in manwha (cartoon) format. Not in the mood.

I have been reading a lot! I just can't seem to get through a book.

To that end, I'm reading a short story ("소나기," a very well-known Korean story). It's part of a larger book, but I figure if I can get through one complete story, I'll be back on track.

And hell, if that doesn't work, I'll read 삐삐 again. I do love Pippi!

"I'm a little nervous about this new job," I said to Good Man last night, "because I am going to have so much more freedom in my teaching. And it's a new school, new grade..."

"Be like a roach."

I looked at Good Man. "What?

"You know, adapt to your environment."

"Can you please tell me to be a dandelion next time instead of a roach? Do you remember what 'dandelion' is? That yellow flower that gets white poofy seeds that you blow off. It's a weed. It lives everywhere."

"Oh, 민들레. But it is Korean saying."

I shook my head, "I don't believe you."

"바퀴벌레 같은 적응력. 바퀴벌레 means 'bug with wheels—'"

"'Bug with wheels'?!"

"Yeah, it is 'roach.' And 적응력 means 'adaptable.'"

"Like 노력? 'To make an effort?'"

"Same 력, it means 'ability.'"

I thought for a moment. "No wonder Koreans are so full of han, they're used to being compared to roaches!"

This year we've joined a CSA (community supported agriculture). A CSA is somewhat like a co-op with a farmer. Back in February, I mailed a local farmer several hundred bucks for 15 (16?) weeks of fresh produce that I pick up from a local house once a week.

The produce is local (we could get to the farm in less than 90 minutes...can't say that about the produce from the grocery store), organically grown (although not certified), and fresh, fresh, fresh!

Since we paid cash back in February, if the crops fail, we lose out on our money. If the crops are bumper, we get a bumper share.

We don't get to choose what we want to eat, and if we get something we don't like? Well, we have to find someone to give it to or something to do with it. Of course, we could also discover foods we've never eaten before but really like (last week it was Japanese mustard greens—really good).

We can also order locally made cheese from another farmer through our CSA. We haven't done that yet, but I'm sure we will.

The farmer sends an email a few days before the delivery telling us what we're getting, some recipe ideas, and a farm update. There's also an optional email group made up of subscribers who share recipes.

Today's update said, in part, that the lettuce is a hodge-podge because the heavy rains made a bunch of lettuce rot, and now the heat is causing the rest of the plants to bolt.

That is why I wanted to join a CSA. I want to know where my food comes from, and I want to support the local farmers, even if it means getting almost-bolted lettuce.

While researching our CSA, I found another website for buying locally produced goods (the Virginia Food and Beverage Directory). I look forward to using it to buy more local goods from "the little guy."

***

I started reading Little House in the Big Woods in Korean, but it was really hard because I don't know words like "bladder" (오줌통) or "butter churn," so I've put that book down temporarily in favor of 이상한 나라의 앨리스 (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland).

I've read Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass several times. Yet I don't know that I realized before just how nonsensical it really is. Something about slowing down to read it in Korean made me realize that the book is a long, strange trip.

"Amanda!" Whenever Mother says my name, she yells it. A-man-daaaaah! "[Good Man] needs new pants."

"I know, but he doesn't like shopping."

"Neither does his father. I buy him pants and say, 'Wear these!'"

I started laughing. "Ajumma, ajumma... [Good Man] how do you say 'trick?'"

"비법." Bibeop. The dictionary says it's "a secret process, a mystique, a mystery."

Mother nodded, "Yes, ajumma trick. You go buy him pants, OK?"

"I promise," I laughed.

***

At the outlet mall, Mother managed to find the sole Korean-speaking employee in the store. At Bath and Body Works, Mother managed to find the sole Korean customer in the store. She looked at the woman and just started speaking Korean.

"Mother," I said, "you have an ajumma trick! You have Korean radar. Beep beep beep! Korean person!"

Mother laughed and the woman she was talking to gasped, "She knows Korean! She knows the word 비법!"

***

"엄마, 쇼핑 올림픽 운동하면, 김연아예요."

Mother laughed and said other Korean women were much better than she was.

I made hash of the phrasing, but she understood what I meant.

Mother, if shopping were an Olympic Sport, you'd be Kim Yuna.

(Just for the record, Good Man says 쇼핑 올림픽에 참가했다면, 김연아였을 거예요 is a better way to phrase it.)