Happy Halloween, folks. I'm going to a Halloween party tonight hosted by a Canadian, an American, and a New Zealander. But I'm not wearing a costume.

Last night I messed up during my taekwondo test, so I didn't get my green belt. For a month and a half, every time I practiced, I'd get the moves right, and the one time I have to do it for real, I flub it. So I moved up half a belt (which I think means I get a little black stripe at the end of my orange belt. At least the other guy who's an orange belt also didn't get his green.

I've fallen back into my old ways at work, reading recaps of Sex and the City and Salon articles. Boo. I hate it when I waste time on the internet. bc and I talked about this when I was staying at her FABulous apartment in Harlem -- there's a feeling of emptiness after being on the internet too long, something that I did far too many times in the past year (all those nights up til 4 in the morning reading recaps or trashy chat streams about celebrities). Besides not learning anything of any conceivable use, hunching over a glowing laptop for 7 hours by oneself is very, very depressing-making. Resolution: stop doing that.

Listened to one of my classmates make a speech today in class about the differences between Korean and Japanese approached to relationships. She asked us to guess who was the Japanese person and who was the Korean person in each of these scenarios (each with a different couple):

1. Boy does something wrong and girl gets mad. Girl tells boy, "I'm going in a another room to be mad by myself. Don't talk to me." Boy hears her, stays out, doesn't approach to make an apology. Girl gets mad because boy didn't approach her, even though she said not to.
2. Girl didn't wash her hands after using the bathroom. Boy won't hold her hand as a result. Girl is hurt.
3. Boy pays for dinner, makes coffee for Girl on numerous occasions. Girl doesn't thank Boy at any one of these occasions. Boy is hurt; thinks Girl is rude.

Answer: in all three scenarios, Boy is Japanese, Girl is Korean.

Explanation:
1. Koreans consider themselves to have a lot of jong, which loosely translates to feelings, emotions, love. If they see that someone they love is hurt or angry, they will go out of their way to try to make them feel better, even if that means disregarding what the person actually says. Furthermore, a lot of what is spoken aloud is for formality purposes, and does not reflect a person's true feelings.
2. Even though not washing one's hands after the toilet is kinda gross, what's a little grossness between friends, or even more, between lovers? What, do you think I'm dirty? Aren't we closer than that?
3. Look, we're going out. We're close, close, close friends. Of course you're going to pay for me sometimes, and of course I'm going to pay for you sometimes. We take care of each other, that's what friends do. If I pay for dinner, I don't expect you to thank me -- hell, we're closer than that! Thank you -- what do I need a thank you for?

This peek into Korean culture brought to you by Yoko, of Level 5B, Sogang University Korean Language Institute.