Dee in Korea: “And that’s how Patou ties his shoes!”

Sally and I were riding the subway today and a lady sitting across from us took off her shoe, obviously uncomfortable for some reason. Sally leaned over and whispered that she had a bunion. I have no idea what a bunion is but I know that Patou had loads of them so he had to wear shoes. He just didn’t know how to tie them, so Edmund was trying to teach him. A dog wearing shoes, a kitten that used to be boy, a murderous owl wearing a monocle, a hussy hen, and a cock that wants to be Elvis, what a silly film. Stay away, you big old bad old rain cloud. (I just googled it to find out the correct spelling of Patou. Did you know that Christopher Plummer was the voice of the Grand Duke?!?)

I am currently listening to Band of Horses, which makes me think of Bryan. He hates Band of Horses. But he likes Fleet Foxes and My Morning Jacket. You don’t fool me Bryan, you don’t fool me. I just finished watching Penelope online, making me want to listen to Band of Horses. Although they are not on the sound track, one of their songs was used in a trailer. Watching the movie made me think of the trailer; the trailer was really good.

On Friday Jaemin was wearing the slim fit jeans again and the puma sneakers, a green strip on the side, very stylish. He was also wearing a three button collared shirt, navy blue with tiny white spots. His jacket was light blue with dark blue corduroy on the cuffs, the hood, the zipper, and on the detail over the shoulders. Metal snaps to hide the zipper. Have I mentioned previously that he has a Little Prince pencil case? The Little Prince is huge here. In Nowan there are various figures etched in the sidewalk down one popular street. One of the figures is the Little Prince and another is the picture that could be a snake eating an elephant or a hat. Today in Dongdaemun, I bought a long metal necklace with a Little Prince pendant. I don’t generally wear jewelry, but I might actually wear this. It’s pretty rad. It rests nicely on my bosom.

School felt strange this week. All the classes seemed smaller; all my least favourite students didn’t show up, only one class was full of the regular douche bags. I came up with activities that the kids actually enjoyed, like making them draw pictures of dinosaurs and what the bird saw on the other side of the hill. All the of the kids were well behaved, a couple even gave me stuff like chocolate and donuts. Two of my most frustrating classes behaved perfectly. It was strange.

Also, the teachers were giving stuff away left and right. I got some crackers, some chocolate, some delicious wafer things. It was great. I had to buy those crackers; they were really good. I have taken to pilfering as much Mocha Gold as I can from school and this week there wasn’t much to steal, but suddenly on Friday, there was a whole bunch in teachers’ room. I stashed a bunch in my desk and grabbed one for my pocket as I headed out after my last class. Mocha Gold makes the coffee snobs shiver, but I love it. Prepackaged “mocha coffee”, with the sugar and the whitener already added. It is kind of disgusting and too much gives me a stomachache, but I like to drink it at school and sometimes at home, especially when accompanied by a waffle fish or an apple dusted in cinnamon.

I went to see Australia with Sally and the Nowan kids (Sarah, Carolyn, and Ryan. Actually Amber would be considered a Nowan kid too, but she was busy) on Friday. It’s a pretty terrible film and I do not recommend it. On Saturday, I took a long walk and then headed into Insadong to find the hotel at which my dear family will be staying during their time here. I wanted to make sure I new for sure how to get there. I failed when I tired to find it on Wednesday. It seems that I just needed to go down the street that looks like a back alley: narrow and sidewalkless, squished between a brick wall and another brick wall. It actually wasn’t hard to find, I just didn’t read the as carefully as I ought to have. It looks like a decent place and it is super close to Insadong-gil and a number of the palaces.

After I found the hotel I walked down Insadong-gil and suddenly felt very lonely and a little bummed out. It was very busy, full of tourists and couples. There was once a time in my life when couples grossed me out. Now couples make me feel lonely and make me miss Bryan. I see couples hanging out and being coupley and I think, I wish I had that! And then I realize that I do have that, I just left in Canada, stupid girl. I’m ok, I just had a moment. Anyway, I was hungry but felt silly trying to eat street food by myself, which made me more bummed. I feel like I’m missing out on something important by not being willing to make a fool of myself by trying to buy stuff from street vendors when alone.

Eventually, after walking around for a bit, I found a coffee shop that was kind of out of the way and had a coffee and muffin, alone in a coffee shop full of Koreans in groups. I was the only lone person. Bummed, lonely, and completely lacking in self-esteem, I went to the only place that I knew would make me feel better. Bandi and Luni’s, the bookstore. Like I have mentioned before, their English literature section is decent. It is still very big though. I spent a lot of time combing through literature and through their classics section. Again feeling bummed by the number of people there with other people. Damn it! Anyway, I left with Stardust and Crime and Punishment. Sometimes you just need fluff and sometimes you need Dostoyevsky. While I was in the bookstore, Sally called and asked if I wanted to see Tropic Thunder. I quickly agreed and headed home.

In the subway station, I stood waiting for the subway, nearly in tears I felt so bad, and then I got off at the wrong place for the transfer and had to do the humiliated walk around a pole and hope that no one notices I’m getting back on the train I just go off. Then when I finally got to Ssangmun, I left through a different exit than I usually take and was all disoriented and walked down the street in the wrong direction and had to turn around in the middle of street. Like a crazy lost foreign person. I’m not crazy or lost just a little bummed which apparently turns me into a crazy lost person.

Sally and I walked to Nowan for the film. We ate Vietnamese noodles for supper, noodles that were super delicious. After Tropic Thunder, which I think is a very funny movie and this was the second time I have seen it, we walked back to Ssangmun. It’s long walk and it was pretty chilly, but still pleasant.

Sunday, we decided to check out the Dongdaemun Market between the Dongdaemun and the Dongdeamun Stadium subway stations. We didn’t really know exactly where it was besides that it was between the two subway stations. Being cold and Sunday, it wasn’t as hoping as I would have hopped, but it was still pretty cool and I got a tonne of Dalki things and some water colours, which I used to paint of picture of Dalki. Not all the shops were open and I cannot wait to go back with my family. On a Saturday when they are here. I think that would be lots of fun. Besides the market, there is also tonnes of other shopping around the area. It was packed around the subway stations, totally chocked with people. I find this less over whelming when I am with someone.

It was a pretty low-key weekend, which was nice. I’m going to be busy in the next couple of weeks because Trav and Laura arrive on Wednesday! And then the rest of the old folks arrive next Monday. In one week I’ll be with my entire family! Expect for Bryan. (Band of Horses just finished and now I am listening to Mum. I was going to listen to My Morning Jacket but got distracted on the way, “u” comes before “y”. How does this make you feel?)

Also, I finally got a charm for my cell phone. Taeyang of Big Bang now adorns my phone, making it just that much more awesome. I really wanted T.O.P. but he is clearly the most popular and was sold out. I would have taken G Dragon, but he is only cute in music videos. I like Taeyang too, he is kind of babe. If I find a Rain charm, I’m all over that. However, Dalki trumps everything, Dalki or one of her friends, which includes the guy with poop on his head. I think I saw a subway mini pass of that dude the other day. I might head back to Suyu with some cash tomorrow for no other reason than to find that dude.

Speaking of dudes, there is a guy that I often see riding around on a bicycle in Ssangmun; he is always in shorts and a t-shirt. I have seen him a few times. He rides on the road (which is super dangerous) and doesn’t really pay attention to the traffic rules (on a bicycle!) Today, during my walk, I saw him Suyu, again in shorts and a t-shirt. It was like -1 today, pretty cold to be riding a bike in shorts. He is a pretty curious fellow.

Dee

December 14, 2008