Cardboard Boxes

Not too long ago I read a novel called Cajas de Carton (cardboard boxes) that told this story about a boy whose family was moving to California from Mexico in order to pursue the "American Dream." He recalls once watching the comedian Cantinflas on tv and how he said people in the states just sweep money off the sidewalks. His family, much like him, has this fantasy of what life would be like in "el norte." Long story short the boy and his family go through one disappointment after the other in California as they go from job to job and the boy goes from school to school. The book made me feel bad because of what was happening to the boy and his family, but that's when you know that something has been written well, when you can take something away from it.

Well today I walked into a Mexican restaurant that I have had my eye on since I've arrived here in S. Korea. I made it my mission today to check it out. The intriguing part of it for me is that outside the restaurant there is a picture of the cooks and they all look Latino, a rarity back home. Back home let's face it: the Latinos are cooking the Chinese food and the Japanese people own the Mexican food place. If you don't believe me then I dare you to head to the Del Amo Mall food court and prove me wrong. Alas I digress. This sprung up even more curiosity to want to check this place out even more. Right off the bat, the restaurant looks authentically Mexican. I've seen other Mexican food places here, but this was an actual Mexican food restaurant. The staff is really nice and the owner came and asked me if everything was ok. He asked me in Spanish. I must say it was nice hearing Spanish coming from anywhere other than my iPod.

I asked the man where he is from and he told me the capital of Mexico. We then get into this conversation of where I am from and where my parents are from and what I'm doing in Korea. I then asked him for his story... When he was younger he wanted to start his own business. He went to the bank and asked for a loan. The loan was granted to him but he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Some thieves mugged him not far from the bank. They took everything he had, including the money he had just asked for. He had nowhere to go but to start over. He then saw a newspaper ad that read that a cook was required but in another country. Right away he jumped at the opportunity thinking he was heading to the US with this job. When he heard it was in Korea he was baffled at first as it's halfway across the world and he wasn't sure what would be in store for him. Since he had lost everything and literally had nothing to lose, he agreed to it. He worked as a cook in Korea for years and saved up enough money to open a restaurant and the Osan Airbase's Main Gate. He says it's funny how things turn out because as an older person he says he couldn't be happier.

I heard his story and was like "WOW" in my head the whole time. It's funny how the American dream ended up being the not-so-American dream and that it turned out well for him. That's the power of immigration for you. Also, as a plus, he had some great music playing, mostly MJ (Rock With You, Scream, and Bad).

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Work is going well. My tenth graders (which is the majority of my students) had speech all this week. The theme was to tell me (and the class) about their goals and dreams. It was great hearing them speak not only in English, but to express their aspirations. Granted I haven't been at this job for very long so it was nice to get to know them on a personal level because now I have a sense of who they are and what they stand for. I had everything from students who wanted to be teachers, army soldiers, fashion designers all the way to students who wanted to be blues musicians, interpreters, and CEOs. One speech that stood out in particular may seem bad but it made fiscal sense.

This one girl went up and said that she wanted to own a tobacco company. I was thrown back immediately because I was like, "Tobacco company? This girl is twisted." But right away she jumped into the defense of her honor and said that she doesn't like smokers and she knows cigarettes are bad. She then went on to make a defense for her decision to own a tobacco company. She said how people who use cigarettes will use cigarettes anyway. People pour tons of money into the tobacco industry and there are some people you just can't make quit. Because people pour money into this industry she went on to joke how she likes money so that's why she wants this business, but that she would then donate some to charities. I know some of you are still morally on the fence about this one, but I'm grading her on her speech and she did one hell of a job.

Nothing an extrovert like me likes more than hearing students speak out. It's funny because I've always been an extrovert, especially a chatterbox. That's been the case since first grade when Ms. Arabe at Norwood Elementary told my mom that I do well in my work and tests but that I had a tendency to talk to everyone, all the time. I'm a social person, that's just me. But I've always recognized that not everyone is like that and that people use other modes to express themselves other than their voice. They write, paint, draw, dream, etc. That's not to say that I'm always "on" as I do enjoy my time alone. I guess that's the thing. When I'm with people I like to make the best of being around people, and when I'm alone I enjoy that time too. It's that whole multifaceted individuals thing I wrote about earlier. Oh extroverts, or as a friend of mine told me once "exoskeleton." Glad I corrected that one before that person let the world know of their love for exoskeletons, might think they were some kind of weird bug lover or something.