So, this blog is not meant to be a blog for kvetching, but sometimes, that's what it's gotta be. Mood - sad. Music - Bright Eyes. Well, just kidding on the Bright Eyes part, I have more self-respect than that. The scoop is, work's gotten pretty unpleasant. I work with a bunch of passive-aggressive Korean ladies who apparently aren't very fond of the foreigners, but instead of actually addressing the issue like sane people, they'd rather slink around, avoid eye contact, and talk quite blatantly about us in Korean.
Did you know that foreigners, pretty universally, are intimidating and hard to work with? That we get angry at inappropriate times? That we're on a path toward becoming Satan incarnate?
This is the impression that they have of me. Now, dear readers, imagine me getting really, really angry to the point that you're scared. And then laugh, because it is a ridiculous image that has no place in the real world.
That's been the theme of the past few weeks, so I decided to treat myself to a Friday screening of 'Terminator: Salvation' (yes, I know it's a bad film, but I've already seen 'Star Trek' twice, so gimme a break). Some stuff blowing up sounds okay. A little Skynet, a little that chick from 'Firefly'. However, upon arriving to my assigned seat, I was treated to the other reaction to foreigners here: utter amusement and staring. I sat next to three boys, no older than 13, not a parent in sight. The second I walked past these kids, they started saying in no quiet tone, "Ah! Waegukin itda! Waegukin itda!" (It's a foreigner! It's a foreigner!!), laughing like I'd just farted really loud, staring like I had giant wings on my back. And there were fifteen minutes until the show. Sweet. So I looked at my cell phone (cue 13-year-old necks craning to see how a foreigner could even operate a Korean phone!), read a book (HOLY CRAP ENGLISH!!), listened to my iPod (why is it not an iRiver or Cowon!!), until finally the lights dimmed and the film started.
What is confusing to me is why these kids were so enamored with a foreign person sitting next to them, when they're watching a film in English, starring largely white people. Seriously, what in the blazes.
Anyway, this too shall pass, right?
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2 comments:
You've always seemed threatening to me, it's all in the eyes...
Clearly 13-year-old boys seem to be the same, foreign or not. That is upsetting.
And when you say "the girl from Firefly" do you also mean the wretched estranged wife from Wonderfalls?
LOVE
charlotte
You should probably go to Australia.
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