Week 6 – Observations
Well good news, Soy had her baby. I ran into Dragon hanging out in the arcade under my apartment. In a quick pantomime, he gave me a thumbs up. We will see the baby soon.
An observation about culture. After being here awhile I drew some parallels, culturally and historically between between a few countries, China is like France is a continental power,a unified country. With a series of external wars. The French and Chinese feel the grandeur of their unique culture and language. Japan is England an island nation, the funny thing about islands is there nowhere to go but water. The English like the Japanese are polite and try not to get in reach other’s space. Courtesy becomes paramount. Also a hidden seething. A history of internal strife. With figurehead royalty and parliaments. To me Korea is like Italy . Although Italy is not as culturally isolated as Korea was. The values of learning ( Seonbi ) and family are very strong in both places. Unity flows through it. You drop a Korean or Itlian anywhere in the world and they are their country, their family, their heritage.
The kids were good this week, except for a slight brush with the feral hobbits. They attacked my legs. And I was pounced upon from every direction. I felt like my dad when called Igor. I even exclaimed “ Bat signal in the sky, sirens on the street.”
The rest was figuring out options. Been talking to a few of the short timer survivors and some of the stories I have are typical. Like having to make phone calls to homes without actually having the language. That to me has been the most distressing part of work. I’ve been talking to my boss. I may try to get back sooner than expected. The loneliness is killing me. But I survive, between workouts, cooking, matches and routine.
The first touch of the poet takes up the quill.
I love my Friday classes all phonics and vocabulary. The feral hobbits and I play games. And within the new game is the pass game. A game where I theow a small ball and do vocabulary practice. The words today included gorilla, hulk, which the students pointed at me and giant,great, ice, fire, dragon.. SO I got to slay at least a linguistic dragon at least. Another few dragons await.
The studying goes on. The martial training ,intense as hell, goes on. And I keep thinking of the incoming dragons.
The first dinner with Chin Teh, with Sang Mi his wife, and Su Wa his 4 year daughter. Su Wa thought I was a ghost from Korean mythology. A ghost who beats monsters with a stick. Gods know how close it is to the true. It was a great night, and made me feel less lonely/
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