Lemonade again, etc.

Tonight actually turned out quite nice. I've spent the last couple evenings close to home and wanted to get out today, but my suggestion yielded no takers. Wasn't really sure where I wanted to go, debated doing nothing, but after an hour or so at home I couldn't stand it any more. So I opened my Seoul map, picked a spot downtown that I haven't been yet, threw a few things into my backpack, and off I went. I decided I would walk around between City Hall and the Myeongdong area (there's a European-style cathedral, among other things, that seemed worth checking out), and was still debating where I'd get off the subway as I rode. When I got to the City Hall stop, however, I walked in the opposite direction.

In London, I was under some sort of Chinese food curse--whenever I decided to get a takeaway, the Chinese restaurants all disappeared. Here, it seems to be a pizza curse. I've been hankering for pizza since the first week, but haven't had one yet. A big part of this is poor decision making. Every time I'm thinking of getting pizza, I go downtown, where it's touristy and expensive. And then just can't bring myself to spend $14 or more for something I can get for $7 in my own neighborhood. I was considering it, though, and actually walked into a Mr. Pizza, figuring overpaying was better than walking around hungry and unhappy. Their pizzas, however, are $23. No way.

A couple hundred yards down the street, however, was the New York Deli stand, with a takeout window and a translated menu. 3-cheese sandwich? I'll do it! And throw in an order of banana toast...I don't know what it is, but how can you go wrong? The guy spoke really good English (although I still muttered rather dumbly at him--I feel like a creep coming to Korea and waiting for the natives to speak my own tongue to me), and he gave me half of a huge nectarine to eat while I waited...mmm, mmm good! I carried my food to the Cheonggyecheon, one of my favorite places in Seoul. Parked myself next to the stream and enjoyed my dinner. The comforting indulgence of spongy white bread has worn off. I'm ready for some real stuff (and have to wonder why I balk at paying more than 1100 won for a loaf of bread when I spend $3 or more at home to get good stuff). They did a nice job with the sandwich, though, and the banana toast was a delight--like a banana sandwich, cut into 9ths with a dollop of cream and a dab of chocolate sauce on each piece. Gotta go back for more of that!

Sat by the stream longer than I intended. I love the running water, and, unlike my neighborhood, which just feels noisy and seedy, the busy-ness of downtown feels vibrant and exciting. A busker sang John Denver songs, and was good enough that I dropped some money in his collection box. I was tired by this point, and ready to head home, but thought I'd just take a quick walk around the cool gardens I saw on my first day here. Turns out they were having a free outdoor concert. Sat and watched a symphonic band play Champs Elysees and a song I heard on I Love Lucy. It was just exactly what I wanted to be doing. Listened to the whole concert and wanted to stay out longer, but it is a school night. I'll have to make a night out part of my regular routine. 48 weeks of exploring the city piece by piece should take me pretty far.

Other stray events:
My co-teacher asked me today how my classes were going. I told her it gets better all the time, but I still need to fix something because the students aren't interested. She said even if I do fix something, the students are not likely to ever be interested. I'm wondering whether to concede this. There are maybe 3 in each class who pay attention because they are the dutiful type, and the rest range from out of control to comatose. I have not yet exhausted all of my considerable ingenuity, as Dumbledore would put it, but have been in this world long enough to have a measure of realism. So what CAN I do? How do I walk the line between cynical resignation and touching optimism?

I finished The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963, a superb childrens' book that I've been meaning to read for a few years. I highly recommend it for all ages, although if your kid reads it, be ready for some heavy discussion. It's the story of a black family in Flint, MI, who drive to Alabama to visit their grandmother and are there for the church bombing that actually happened. There are 15 chapters in the book, and the bombing doesn't happen until Chp 14, so there's a lot of regular kids' book before it gets intense. And even then, the author crafts it very skillfully, so you only have to deal with as much as you can understand. He does a great job getting inside the head of Kenny, the 10-year-old narrator, and framing things as a kid would interpret them. The language is a delight, and the first 13 chapters are a funny and fun read. The last two are really well done--it's easy to see why this book became an instant classic, widely read in American elementary schools. Next up was going to be Blue Highways, one of my reading list selections (and one of my Cortez library sale finds), but I'm leaning toward Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows instead. I haven't read it since it was released 2 years ago (when I stayed up half the night in the Downtown Hostel, then spent the entire next day moving from bench to bench in Bowring Park in St. John's), so I'm eager to get back into it and see what I missed. It's almost--almost--like having a new Harry Potter to enjoy.

And speaking of St. John's...I was thinking again tonight that I really liked everything I did, but having someone along to talk to and enjoy it with would have added a measure of real joy, and sent me home with a bit of a buzz on. The old love=happiness equation. But I keep thinking of Newfoundland and how that just screws everything up. I was all alone all over that island--twice--but still had plenty of buzz. I was smitten, joyous, delighted, enraptured, and any other word you can think of. Makes me wonder about past lives, cosmic energy, and forces beyond our ken. Of course I set to work straightaway on getting others to come back with me, so maybe it wasn't that far outside the paradigm after all. Anyone wanna go to Newfoundland in a year or two?