I just took a look at this new format, which is like, whoa! Majorly bright. (I don't see the page when I write these entries.) Talk about fluorescent green, huh? It's one of the several template options offered by blogger.com. I didn't realize that it was quite so, um, 80s.
Well, it's better than the boring-ass design that was previously up here. Let me know if you hate it. (I'd like to add a comment option, Steve, but I don't know how yet. I'm working on it!)
What can I tell ya today? You'll notice that these entries are hardly ever about the actual things I do from day to day. Rather, they concern themselves with things I've noticed and want to share with you, because: (1) they're interesting; and (2) if I wrote about what I did day to day, I think you'd be bored to tears, 'cause I do pretty much the same thing every day: wake up (this morning Ajuma was in a fine mood, and yelled at us all to come down and eat breakfast at 7:30. ouch), go to class, get on the subway, work, get on the subway again, eat dinner at home, study. Or if I'm feeling saucy (that being John's word), meet a friend for dinner or whatnot, and then go home and study.
The reason I'm doing a lot of studying these days is because my Korean language class moves really quickly, and I don't want to be left behind. Learning Korean is one of the main reasons I came here (pretty good place to learn, huh?), and I'm trying keep that my priority. There is a lot of temptation to do otherwise, believe me!
In class today, we met the students of the other two Level 2 classes. I was amazed at the diversity therein: there were students from India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Russia, and France. The French guy is 16 years old and either very French (rather standoffish) or doesn't have too many social skills yet (rather standoffish). The Russian girl reminds me of Maria (a.k.a. BondGirl), my old college roommate. I didn't get to talk to her, but she looked glam and gorgeous, and stood out like a red rose in a field of lilies. (Or maybe a lily in a field of marigolds? Hee.)
Tons of people are here through the church. Yesterday I talked to Peter, the 30-year-old Kenyan priest-in-training in my class, and discovered he had done missionary work in the Congo (where he learned French), had stayed a few months in Italy (where he learned Italian), and finally was sent here to Korea. The Church allowed him to pick three countries, and one of the ones he picked was Korea. Must remember next time to ask him why.
As part of a class exercise, I talked to Chung-ha, the Chinese nun, again, and found out that she joined the church in 1994, is planning to study Korean for two years, then go on to study theology in Korea.
And Adrian, the guy from Singapore, has worked for the Singaporean Embassy for 10 years, being stationed in Malaysia and Belgium before Korea. When I found this out, I was stunned -- he looks about 26. Nope! He's actually 32 and is married and everything.
Adrian is kind of the class clown, so I can see how he'd be suited for getting to know people as his job. (Though I neglected to ask what exactly he does for the Embassy. Darn it! Every time I find out something interesting about someone, I have another five questions that I don't get to ask because it's time for class again.) I said something to the effect that everyone was so well-traveled, I felt positively provincial in comparison, and Adrian replied that it was really tough at times; his father died when he was in Brussels, and he had to fly 13 hours just to get back to his family. Not all glitz and glamour.
I wonder how it would be to travel 'round the world for one's job? I know the inimitable (Skip To) My Luu does, but she always struck me as someone whose abilities and ambition went far, far beyond my pale. These folks seem much more normal (apologies, My! You know what I mean), except for the fact that they're come halfway around the world on the basis of their faith, or their job, or their sense of adventure, or their desire to learn.