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Spring Semester, First Day, Week 21
Don't trust drunken promises, or the office staff, or drunken promises from the office staff. Also, coronavirus sucks.
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School, Interrupted
Here we go again! The thing about Covid-19 is that it DEFINITELY runs on Asia Time. I saw on the news that a cult, being as morally righteous and helpful as a cult is, spread the virus all throughout the southern cities of Korea from a stable 50 to a newly reported figure of over 600. I didn’t know if this would affect me since people in Seoul seem less concerned than ever, but a late night “how are you” text from S sent off warning bells in my head. Recall that last time she texted, I had to cancel my vacation. “Did you hear the news? School has been…
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Last Week of Winter Desk Warming, Day 4
ASIA TIME STRIKES AGAIN At 4:29PM yesterday, there was a flurry of activity in the makeshift office. Suddenly the staff was disconnecting computers and taking apart desks. A running truck waited outside. I unplugged my computer and put all my things into my ever present moving box but didn’t understand if I needed to actually take the box back to my classroom. The office manager told me something and all I wanted in this confusion was a yes or no answer. Luckily, the young woman who speaks English (but hates to) intervened and said “You don’t have to.” I still wasn’t sure what was happening and was frustrated by the…
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Vacation, Interrupted
Sigh. S called me this afternoon from her car and mentioned something about winter camp being canceled and me doing daycare instead. She had to end the call early since her son was energetically babbling in the backseat which left me with an hour feeling very upset that Asia Time has slapped me in the face yet again. When S called back, I thought it was actually pretty lucky, and maybe a part of her plan, to let me stew and then recover from the shock before explaining the rest of the situation. In fear of the coronavirus, winter camp has been canceled. But that would leave me with two…
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Week 19, Friday
Something amazing happened. Yesterday my tutor, in a discussion about pronunciation, said “in reality often people pronounce 요 yo as 여 yeo” You know my ongoing struggle in strong O versus weak O but now I feel VINDICATED. I HAVE been hearing weak O in strong O’s place. I am not crazy! I feel at a real slump in my Korean this week so it’s nice to win one. I nearly lost at the bank but MVP goes to the woman who pointed out I left my money at the ATM behind. I paid my electric bill, transferred money for a Korean New Year ski trip and in the hubbub…
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Week 16, Monday
I never feel the crush of cold cityfolk more than when I’m struggling on public transportation: The tragedy of today began with Christmas gifts and ended with those gifts at the post office so y’all better damn enjoy what you’re getting. Today I felt acutely in several different scenarios the gaps in my language. Most notably was at the post office where the polite but somehow still impatient postal worker in an overly formal tweed jacket immediately whipped out his Google translate when I didn’t understand his light speed Korean and when he didn’t understand my halting elementary Korean. This to me was a sign of defeat. The sign that…
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Week 7, Asia Time Again
In one weekend I feel like I’ve lived an entire lifetime. Asia Time is really something else. And this is the good side of AT. Saturday: Last night, after the gym debacle, I met a friend for marinated raw crab in her very cozy neighborhood. It’s really cute and clean and the buildings are nice and I feel a bit jealous. Also her place is twice the size of mine because #trendy. At the restaurant I felt four older men watching us in absolute agony (and discussing the “waygookin”) until one brave man approached us and demonstrated how we are “supposed” to eat: squeeze the crab onto the rice then…
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Week 6, Wednesday
Asia Time, BIG time. The morning started out wonderfully with our mini tea party. S and I had iced coffee and some bakery treats I bought at the metro station. Our fourth graders were on a field trip so she suggested that we use our free time to take a business trip to finish up my phone plan. On our way out I ran into some starstruck first or second graders who just stared even after I asked them a question in Korean. They were impossibly cute. We arrived to one of 1 million KT stores so that I could finally complete the Korean trifecta: visa, ARC, and lastly Korean…
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June 17, Asia Time
Asia time: the inconsistent, cumbersome, or nonlinear timeline in which personal events in Asia tend to progress; often contrary to western assumptions I accepted months ago that I’d be living on Asia time so when things like not getting confirmed housing until two weeks before moving or not getting a straight answer from immigration happen, I just roll with it. But today, oh today was a prime example of AT: Last week I went to the school gym and showed my student ID, assuming that that was enough to use the facilities. The (extremely good looking) man behind the counter informed me that would not be enough and pointed me…