Monday, May 5, 2008

Finally! (Adult Content: Intended for 18+)

Finally I have something to write about. Though my first two months in Korea has been a great experience, I wouldn't say it's been a completely enjoyable experience. This has left me with little to write about. Although admittedly, laziness has played a large part in my recent neglect for this blog. So today, I decided to write about my last hour, as it has perhaps been the most entertaining hour in the last two months.

I was on my way back from dinner and beer with Daniel. Any buzz I had from the couple beers on a weeknight was deteriorated and instead of more beer, I decided to splurge $3.50 on an Earl Grey Tea from Starbucks. I find the tea here very weak, so this occasional splurge on Corporate America is quite comforting.

The weather is quite nice right now, so I decided to enjoy my overpriced tea on a pedestrian street people watching- staring at the pretty girls who despite enjoying the attention, won't give me time of day. An older gentleman sat next to me and struck up conversation. Typically, he started by asking where I was from. After that it was mostly just awkwardness that comes from conversation with a complete stranger mixed with conversation restricted by a language barrier. I generally enjoy these exchanges though, as it's just part of traveling. The awkwardness was quickly interrupted when a passerby came and started trying to talk to me. His English was extremely minimal. He offered me a cigarette. I politely declined, but he didn't seem to want to take no for an answer. I have a hard time believing that he can't accept that I'm just not a smoker.

Like the children in many of my classes, he spoke to me in Korean. I'm not sure if it was expectation or just hope that I might understand some of what he was saying. I mostly just responded with "I don't know." The only thing I really understood was "Tupac," "cocaine" and "marijuana" as well as "nigger" and "white nigger" which he used to describe himself while pointing. I tried to explain to him that he's a yellow nigger, but I'm not sure he fully understood.

In Canada it's much more normal for me to hang out with complete strangers doing vodka and blow in an unfamiliar basement till 8 in the morning, but here it's hard to continually assess my situation for many different cultural reasons; language being the predominant one. I decided again to politely decline. (For the record I declined the blow in Canada too. I didn't feel like it was the best environment for my first experience with hard drugs).

I've become accustomed to being asked if I have a lover. That's just how Koreans ask if you have a girlfriend. I told him no, I don't have a lover. He told me he was a player and began making sexual gestures and used the word home. At the time I thought he was trying to tell me that he can hook me up with girls. I wasn't sure if I'd have to pay for the encounter; regardless, on account I've had a difficult time with the girls here, I was rather enticed. Still, I decided to keep with my theme inherited from the cocaine offer and politely declined.

Turned out his home was in the same direction as mine, so before departing we continued to enjoy each other's company while walking. In Korea it's very normal for girls to hold hands or just be physically close to each other while walking. It's a little less normal for guys to do this, so when he put his arm around mine I wasn't really sure what to think. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, mostly because I just didn't know what else to do. He eventually put his hand on my back as we walked, and slowly moved it down, stopping just before getting a full clench of my ass. Line crossed- I'm officially freaked out! I haven't had anything resembling physical interaction since landing in Korea, and this is very much the attention I've been looking for. Problem is, it wasn't exactly from the person I was hoping for. He wants to see me again, but truthfully, I'm not sure I'm ready for a second date.

1 comment:

Jordan said...

HAHA! Thats f'in awesome, I wish I was there, or with you so you could have told me that in person, the expressions would be priceless. Needless to say run!