A few quick hits

1.Just to give you an idea about the rut I was talking about. I had a pretty average weekend last weekend. Cramming 6 people in a taxi, table dancing Korean women, and an 80 year old German guy who claimed to be "Lord Alfred, the Barron of the 7 hills" and bought us all a round of jager. So, really, when I say life's boring I'm kind of lying.

2. I feel like a parent, but my kids say the funniest things, I swear. In one of my 6th grade classes we got on the topic of Christmas and they started talking about whether or not Santa Claus is real. One kid said he couldn't get all the work done, as soon as he says it another girl chimes in. "Santa Claus gets everything done because he hires cheap foreign labor. You can hire 10 for the price of 1!" Cracked me up. Even in Korea they know about Mexicans(they treat Filipinos the same way here)

3. Something interesting about Korean customs. Their set of what I guess you'd call manners or customs are so different. We were last week about one way it really causes a problem in Western/Asian interaction. With Koreans you're expected to refuse any offer or advance twice and only accept it on the 3rd time. If you accept it before, that's rude, if they say no the 3rd time they really mean no. Obviously Westerners are different. If you say no, you usually aren't going to change your mind. No means no and yes means yes, even on the first time. I asked one of my coworkers about it(she's a Korean who's married to an American). She said it's very true. Lots of times her husband has asked her if she wants the last piece of chicken or whatever, of course being a Korean she says no the first time. He says "okay" and digs in. Makes her very angry. I'd do the same though if I were him.
Another situation that this can cause problems. I've heard stories of a Western guy dating a Korean girl, he starts putting the moves on her, and she says no. In Western culture, to continue to move in on a girl at that point is, well, rape. Obviously he backs off. She then gets pissed off at him because when she said no, she didn't really mean no, and he should have known it. Go figure. (I have enough trouble figuring out Western women, I don't think I'd stand a chance with a Korean girl pulling all that crap)
On the other hand when a Korean guy dates a Western girl things can be very dangerous. Western girl says no, she really means no. To a Korean guy though no doesn't mean anything, so he keeps going. This usually leads to him getting a swift kick in the nuts. You don't see many Korean guy/Western girl couples though.


Chusok(Korean thanksgiving )starts next week 4 days off. Matt's coming over. My group of friends are all going to Japan. Something interesting will happen never the less.