Well a test to this theory came by when one of the PE teachers asked me where I was from. I said Los Angeles, and immediately I got some type of reaction, not verbal, but more of a facial gesture. It wasn't bad, in fact it seemed more around the lines of a look of approval and surprise. Well right before I finished my work day Ms. June, another English teacher, walked into my classroom and asked me if I had an appointment after work. I told her I didn't and then she said that the PE teacher would like me to meet with him and his daughter. So I said yes and for some odd reason I pictured the PE teacher bringing over his 2nd grader of a daughter who probably had a question about her own English class.
Needless to say I was way off. It turned out the PE teacher wanted me to join him for dinner along with his daughter, who so happens to be a nurse in Camp Humphrey. We all had dinner at this awesome spicy chicken place here in Songtan with the traditional communal Korean meal set-up. We start talking and in turns out that they have family in LA. When I asked where they said the South Bay, and then when I asked where again (because my interest had extremely peaked at this point) they said Torrance and Redondo Beach. I was on "hold the phone" mode. We then started talking about the South Bay, told them I had worked in Torrance for 4 years, and that conversation went on for eternity...well at least until the end of our meal. I then understood and connected the dots into the reaction I got when I told the PE teacher I was from LA. His daughter, the nurse, told me how she has been to the South Bay many times and how she studied English in Canada. At some point in the middle of all this Torrance-talk I came up in conversation and the PE teacher confirmed everything I had heard about myself from my colleagues in the English department. He said I have a very cheerful disposition and that people see me that way and that I'm very approachable. I must say I was flattered and engaged as this whole "the world is a really small place" thing was still sinking in.
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Well one (of many) things I've come to miss from LA is driving. It's funny how we drive to anything and everywhere, even when it's literally around the corner. Once an Angelino/a gets a driver's license then he/she becomes another notch on the Los Angeles freeway post. Well because I now rely on trains and taxis to get around I must say I have had some experiences, especially with those taxi drivers. I've had the taxi driver who picked me up from out of town and when I told him where I lived it turned out he lives in the building next to mine. I've also had the taxi driver who has wanted the English lessons right then and there in the cab by having me give him the English word for everything he pointed to: nose, shirt, hair, etc. I've even had the taxi driver who took me in as a passenger even though he already had another passenger. He dropped her off and once we took off he said "that's my wife" with a sigh. I only paid my fare of course. But the funniest cab driver is one who picked me up here in Songtan to drive me to the bank. He started speaking in English right off the bat, fluently! He told me how he lived in Canada for years and how his son is a CPA over there. He said he loved it despite the cold weather and how everyone over there is so nice. When he asked and I told him I was from LA he told me he went to Disneyland, but that it was too hot in LA. I guess when it's a pit stop from Canada, it could be seen as hot weather, but it's like 85 degrees here in Korea, so I let that part pass. He was a real nice guy all in all.
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I must say that these experiences have left me feeling that you really don't know who you're talking to, where they've been and what you have in common.
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Change in tone. I'm so excited because I'm going white water rafting in the Hantan river this Saturday with a group of friends, and also I'm going to China in two weeks (Crazy!). Looking forward to these things. :-)
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