"My assistant is going to polish your crown"

Yes, this is my fourth post today. I had an entire day without obligations; I'm actually starting to get bored, a feeling I'm not well acquainted with. Of course, I did consider going to the cat cafe tonight and opted not to (despite feeling like it's been WAY too long since I've been, and wanting to see the cats very much); I also have shopping I could do, but I've just completely had it with being around Koreans. I took a walk this afternoon and discovered some wild space very close to my apartment--I will be visiting there many more times, despite its having some annoying Korean features, the most egregious of which being a glaring green fence that diligently prohibits people from getting from my side of it to the summit. I understand neither the need for it, nor the unusually assertive precaution of lacing the top with razor wire. I was in a public park; the people on the other side didn't LOOK like criminals. I don't get it. Nevertheless, I'm pleased to discover some measure of retreat at a distance I can easily cover.

A few random observations:

Kids are always looking over my shoulder when I'm sitting at my desk. I don't have to worry too much about them reading (ie understanding) anything they shouldn't, but they do occasionally ask me why it's not in Korean. I don't think they've gotten their heads around the idea that I speak English all the time.

My system of crimes & punishments in the classroom dictates that if you're breaking a rule and have been warned once, on the second offence, you have to write your name on the board and stay after class. Students staying after class must push in chairs and pick up trash from the floor (I used to have them erase the board, too, until I realized this was a treat). One of my co-teachers, Mr. Lim, really backs me up on this. There have been times I've forgotten to detain the offenders, only to discover him using his wooden stick to point out bits of flotsam under desks. He even insists that they get the trash out of the desks...probably fortunate since there is always a bunch. One crew turned up two pairs of pantyhose. The next student to really rankle me should probably be required to clean all the profanity and pornography off the desks. Writing on desks is something of a national pasttime in Korea, and after 6 weeks of classes, most of the desks make for extensive reading material, not to mention a recap of the syllabus to date.

Why is it that if you ask a Korean the equivalent of, "So let me get this straight, 'park' means leaving your car and also a green recreation space?" they will invariably insist that no, those are two different words. If you really press the issue, they will concede that the words are spelled and pronounced the same, but are still different words.

Dogs here are almost universally minuscule and airheaded, but one thing I much appreciate is that they virtually never charge or make as if to eat you when you pass them on the street. On the short list of things I'll miss when I get home, this is one. The other is having a doorbell on your table at restaurants so you can summon the server whenever needed. (This actually only exists at a small fraction of Korean restaurants, but when I mentioned to my co-teachers that I thought it was a great idea, they couldn't imagine how we get service at American restaurants)

I had my tooth finished yesterday with very little ado. They put me in a private room, which I didn't think boded well, and then said they were going to remove the temporary crown without any anaesthetic, but told me repeatedly to let them know if the pain got too excruciating. I tensed and gripped the chair arm, she reached into my mouth with the overgrown tweezers...and the thing came out in a split second as if it had been waiting perched on my tongue. I didn't feel it at all. The crown fitting was almost as easy, although they left me to think about it for 20 minutes (during which time I realized I should have asked someone who has crowns what the process entails). She said I was very lucky; a perfect fit on the first try is extremely rare. Fortunately, the cement they use to secure it is tasteless, a far cry from the industrial glue that holds in the temp. Once it was in, she gave me a string of instructions in heavily accented English, from behind a face mask, then said that because porcelain is delicate, I should eat soft food. "You mean like tonight, or forever?" I asked. "Well, forever would be good, but..." Yeah, but. Now that I'm stuck with it, you're telling me porcelain's not up for the job?

All the instruments in the office have plastic bags on the handles and film on the screens and touch pads. Koreans NEVER take that stuff off of anything.

I've decided that my objectives for the next 5 years of my life are: to become financially stable (and hopefully buy my house), travel as much as possible, and lay the foundation--with specific actions--for starting the experiential after-school program that is my life's work. To that end, if anyone knows of a job I could do in the Rochester area that pays a workable salary, please let me know. I'd especially like to work for a university, especially especially with foreign students, but that's just my first choice.

Also, I plan to go to Hong Kong and Shanghai (for the World's Fair!) sometime between July 21 and August 21. I would really, really prefer not to go alone, so if anyone out there wants to come, please let me know about that, too.

Fighting!! (I'm told the Koreans say this, but I have yet to hear it or figure out what it means)