1.Frequently my principal requests my presence in his office to enjoy coffee. This seems like a kind gesture, and believe me it is. Yet the one complication that lies in almost every social situation here in Korea is the language barrier. "Coppee" my principal says with his intonation forming a question? It's a struggle every time. I think to myself "oh the vending machine coffee what I would do for that vending machine coffee." But, in actuality I think about the realities of accepting such an offer. 5 minutes sitting in silence gulping the hot beverage so quickly I not only don't enjoy the drink but inflict physical pain on myself as well. Nonetheless, one should never turn down a request to sip coffee with the #1 guy at the 학교. And so I am forced to brainstorm ways to communicate with the man whom I can least communicate with at the school. The diologues consist of a lot of quincheniyo-Its ok and muliyo-I don't understand. I have abandoned chewoyo-which supposidly means it's good because apparently, it has come to my attention that I keep saying "it's cold" rather than "it's good."
2.This morning in the teacher's room I was browsing blogs, facebook and starting up my daily gchats when a rumble went down. Yes my friends, a rumble. Now the thing I have found about Korea is the fact that the passion and volume in one's voice does not necessarily insinuate anger or dissatisfaction, always. Clearly I have no clue as to the content of discussions, thus I'm frequently in the dark about goings on. It was a normal morning and all of a sudden the crashing sound on a ceramic pot crashing to the cement ground filled the room. I immediately assumed it was the wind until I watched a slew of teachers rush to the man's side in attempts to calm him down. That's right, the chinese teacher was upset and decided to take it out in the teacher's room. The beligerernt behavior involved him yelling and knocking things over. My first thought-is he still drunk from the evening before? Now that would have redefined my idea of Soju-man. My co teacher alerted me to the fact that he was dissatisfied with the Vice Principal which resulted in his outburst. Following his rage, all of the women quickly came together to clean up his mess. A grown man creates a mess and is coddled by these females-it was pretty frusterating to see. His rage didn't end either. When he arrived back in the room, he knocked over another ceramic pot. All the vegitation that beautified our space ruined by his bout of anger. Needless to say I was shocked, and utterly uncomfortable. He won me over a bit in the afternoon by giving me haagen dazs coffee ice cream, but still-what a scene. I don't think he would have been coming back to school if this were to happen in the states.
3.Is it a cultural phenomenon that when accepting a ride you should never assume that the front seat is for taking? Is the idea that the front seat is off limits EVEN if there are only two passageners something no one alerted me to? As I accepted a ride home from a fellow teacher the past afternoon he made his way to my side of the vehicle and opened the back door. I assumed he was placing some of his materials in the back seat. Then I watched him straighten the seat up. I looked confused, then he looked confused. I gestured towards both doors inquiring "which one do I get in?" He looked more perplexed. Without further questions I simply hopped in the back seat-awkwardly. This individual driving me home I fondly refer to as my coffee date lover. His name stems from his frequent invitations to coffee-next to the water fountain that is, in the 교모실. There is a buzz regarding my relationship status and his seemingly joking pursuit of me provides much humor for fellow teachers. Why was I sitting in the back seat? I felt like he was my taxi driver. I even yogio-yed him when I arrived at my house, I nearly took out my wallet to pay as well. So odd. Is this common? Someone? Make the awkwardness go away.
Did I mention my coffee date lover who drove me home was also the man with the outburst? Way to win a girl over...create mayhem in the teachers room and break things. keep the haagen dazs but loose the violence.
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