Korea: How do I love thee?

Let me count the ways……….

 

So in thinking about what I wanted to write today, I had a few options.  Of course, I could have talked about my first day of teaching and how I didn’t understand what people meant when they said, “You’re going to be famous” until 5 different Korean students stopped me in the hallway and told me my name… within the first hour of my being there.  Or how when every group of students the 3 of us native English speakers passed in the hall would stop with mouths wide open, yell, “HIIII!!”, and run away giggling.   Or how when we walked into the lunch room almost everyone stopped eating to stare and smile.

 

But then I could have talked about how today I woke up at 5 AM to call Apple to see about fixing this da’gum computer.  And how ironic it seemed that Monday I had secretly dubbed Kelly “The Ice Queen” and Tuesday, on her birthday, it was snowing outside.

 

But instead I’d like to tell you about visa photos.

 

Last week Britani and I went to Japan to get our visas, but as you know it didn’t really work out.  I mentioned before that it was a fabulous trip, and that nothing particularly exciting happened – it was just hanging out with Mr. Choi and watching his absent mind race that made it so fun.  WELL, one of the absent-minded things Mr. Choi did on that trip was forget my visa photos that I had emailed to him months before.  Which he realized as I was standing in line to get my visa.  “Ohhh…”, he says.  “We have a some kind of problem.  You need a picture, and I forgot-ee.”

 

So there I was, ready to get my visa, and I didn’t have a picture.  It was just another drop in the full bucket of Hassle that is getting a visa.  But fortunately, right there in the middle of the room was a photo booth that took visa pictures for silly people like me that didn’t have one!!  HOORAY! 

Switching gears, above you'll see an envelope that Mr. Choi gave me – so unassuming and modest.  Not wanting any attention, just being happy with its job of containing its bulging mass of…. Something. 

 

“A late birthday present?” I wondered.  “Hmmm, let’s open it and see…”

WHAT!!  Not only had Mr. Choi forgotten to bring the visa photo, he forgot to bring the THOUSAND VISA PHOTOS of me that he had already printed off!

 

And how much did I pay to have my picture taken at that photo booth in Japan???

That’s RIGHT!  SIX DOLLARS!!   And how many Japanese Yen is that??

That’s RIGHT!  SIX HUNDRED!!  And not that six bucks is a lot, it’s not.  It’s just the principle of the matter.  So, to get my six dollars worth, I have created some fine art with the stack of unused pictures that I now have.  Do enjoy.

I call this, "Pyramid of Dom"

This one is called, "Sky Rockets in Flight"

And last, and probably least, "Lolly Pop, Rat, and Gnome"... which is supposed to be a boy and his dog playing in the park next to a tree...  I try.