Well, that sucks. Was just halfway through a longish entry when the screen went black. %$#%!!

Okay, tomorrow I'll tell you about the funny thing that resulted in a very expensive Japanese lunch today.

For now, I'll say that I talked with some more people at taekwondo and I think I'd like to get to know them better. One is a 24-year-old woman who majored in French and wants to go to film school. She recommended going to an independent film festival she knew of, and a volunteer Korean work camp. She also strongly reminds me of my sister-in-law, Julie, both in her physical appearance (same eyes, face shape, height, and cuteness) and her personality (confident and friendly). Eerily, her name is Ju-ri. I think I mighta found your doppelganger, Julie!

There's also a tall, gangly, skinny 16-year-old named Jin-ro who is the class clown, which he can afford to be, since he's taken taekwondo since he was six. Everybody loves Jin-ro -- the older students, the younger students, the teacher, even the international school princesses who are totally going to become those really annoying sulky Korean girls who, while accomplished and beautiful, make life hell for their boyfriends and everyone else who has to put up with their princessy behavior. Oops, sorry, a little high school flashback resentment. Anyway, I could be wrong, but since you're never going to meet him anyway, I'll pretend I can read people and predict that Jin-ro will become one of those Great Guys, the ones who are nothing much to look at, but once you start talking to them, you understand why their wives were the best looking girls in school. Yikes, I hope that doesn't condemn Jin-ro to one of the princesses. God, I really do have a lot of resentment.

I didn't catch his name, but a young teen boy (probably 13 or 14?) rounded out the group who walked together to the metro tonight, and ate ice cream (paid by nameless boy). Nerdish and sweet, he understands English pretty well (as do all of them, actually), and has been pretty friendly this week.

The last person I think I'd like to get to know is a college student named Un-ji (I think), who helped me start learning some of the positions yesterday and today. She's so much prettier than the teen princesses, but unlike them seems level-headed and friendly and polite and helpful. Okay, so I have to cut the princesses a break, since they are teeners, but -- no, actually, I don't have to any such thing, because there's just no reason to be that saturated with sulk.

Anyway, I'm way beat (last night, a positively masterly combination of mosquito bites, heat, and too much light coming in through the window, which was open to try to beat the heat, defeated any attempted to enter a REM cycle), so I'll sign off here with the promise of the lunch story tomorrow.