Another lunchtime Korean language lesson with my work colleague and I think I might cry.

This time we talked about democracy. He brought up Alexis de Tocqueville's treatise on America and was disappointed that I hadn't read it. Then he asked, "If only the power elite have power in America, then it's not much different from the days of kings and queens, right? It's the same few people in control and just the method that's different, isn't it?"

Oh LORD.

Am I being too sensitive? Maybe it's just the frustration of not being able to converse properly on such a complicated topic -- a topic that I usually avoid discussing anyway, because of its inherent divisive nature. I felt ambushed, on the defensive, as I tried to explain that some people do think America isn't a democracy but that it was the nature of any large organization (forget country -- try any large group!) to form a power elite.

Jesus, Jared and Joseph.
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This weekend I met up with Janet at the Coex Mall and we traded books -- my two Robert Ludlom thrillers for her copy of the newest Harry Potter (yay!). Over lunch, we talked a little bit about guys, and I was treated to her opinion of French men ("arrogant and repulsive"), which she gained from her years attending a French school in New York and living in France for a semester. We agreed that American men, slobs though they may be, have an underlying sweetness to them that redeems their sometimes boorish behavior. This, Janet said, is what French men lack.

A few hours later, I found myself at a birthday party of an American soldier, with a number of other soldier types and their Korean girlfriends, and as is usually the case when alcohol is in the mix, plenty of lewd jokes were out and strolling about. At one point, I had to explain what a blow job was after some guy asked my Taiwanese friend if she wanted one (the drink) and everyone around us laughed.

Anyway, my Taiwanese friend had brought her French-Korean friend (a Korean woman adopted by a French family), and while I was talking to her, she asked, "Do you like thees [hand gesture] kind of party?"

I smiled and said I'd been to some like this during college.

After a moment, she said, "I hate thees. It ees so vulgar. French men, they are not like thees."

Remembering what Janet had said only a few hours earlier, I had to laugh. To each their own, my lovelies, and may you find what you're looking for!
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Book Watch

[Spoilers about Harry Potter imminent -- don't read on if you care about reading things pristine!]

I finished it yesterday (a great day spent indoors with a great book -- haven't done that for a while), and I liked it. I think I'll like it better with consecutive readings -- this one was just to get it out of the way -- but even the virgin run was pretty good. I liked Harry's temper and the way some people told him off, and I loved all the nods to the previous books (and the people who love and read them over and over!!!). I felt the plot was progressing nicely, and the characters growing up, and the only thing I was really disappointed about was Cho.

After the build-up in the previous two books, I was really hoping for some serious action with those two, but the way it ended was so... blah. I was invested in Cho! She was my homegirl! How cool would it have been if the Asian girl had gotten the hero? Alas...not this time. Sigh.

I still give major props to J.K. Rowling for including people of color in the wizarding world -- and not in a "look! i'm including people of color!" way, but in a "hey, I think I'll build a world representative of the real one" way -- but I do wish the Cho-Harry romance hadn't turned out to be such a dud.

Oooh, and also, I finally read some Lemony Snicket stories in the bookstore on Saturday, and they are DELISH. I loved twisted tales.