Some of my favorite people.

The past six weeks my work schedule has changed back to the evenings. In one sense it's nice because I don't have to work up at 5:00 AM, but the worst thing about it is it leaves me no decent time to eat or make dinner. Most days I just buy something quick and eat it in the elevator on the way up to the office.

Besides an awful diet this has lead to getting to "know" an assortment of people in a strange way. First, I should say that things are a little different in the city than what most of you are used to. The sidewalks are lined with food stands-you can get chicken on a stick, beef on a stick, fruit smooties, korean snacks, deserts, fried dumplings, corn dogs, anything. It's just a matter of finding the right stand. So that's where I eat most days.

I don't experiment too much with different places though because I've developed a loyalty to a couple of stands. We're friends. And they don't even speak English.

There's the toast guy, he makes me a sandwich of egg, ham, cheese, and lettuce. It's $1.50. He made an English menu just for Alex and I. He waves and says "Hello" every day when I walk. Even when I'm not buying. He has a wife who works the stand sometimes, and a little child too. I usually try to buy from him at least twice a week. He's not so good at naming his food, but I give him a little lesson every day and he's learning. Nice guy.

There's the Turkish Masala guy. He's actually Turkish and doesn't speak a word of English. He speaks Turkish and Korean(odd combination). He's rather surly-aren't all Turkish people, it's like a national trait.He refuses to believe that Alex is African-not being black and all, but his food is good(and not Korean) and there's an older lady that works there that likes to practice our English with us, and she always makes sure I get the fresh,still warm, masala instead of the ones that have been sitting there for awhile. I go see them one or twice a week, but I'm not as loyal to him as the toast guy because the actual owner isn't as nice, so I don't mind if they don't get my money as much.

After I finish work(10 pm) I usually have the munchies, and by my apartment there's a guy who's selling "hot burgers". They're hot dogs. His entire menu is horrible Konglish, and even though it's in English letters I have no idea what most of it is, but he's a nice guy, the hot dogs aren't bad(except they have coleslaw and sweet pickles on them?) they're cheap too-$1. I'm surprised he sits on the corner in my part of town because I live in an area that's mostly older Koreans-who tend to dislike Western food. But he's always there, riding his Korean Bible, when I get off work, and he's always got a "common hot burger" waiting for me. (It's a regular hot dog)

My favorite people, who I don't visit nearly enough, are a couple who sell waffles covered in icing. They're a strange concoction-I'm not even sure what it is. It's like a cinnamon waffle and this pink marshmallow icing. Anyway, the couple are actually def mutes. I guess when you think about it, it's not that surprising, but I can communicate with them more than I can anyone else. It takes a minute to make the waffle, in the meantime we usually talk a little bit(by drawing on paper) It's always simple stuff, either English words they know, or stuff that can actually be drawn. I always enjoy stopping at their stand though.

It seems strange to have a connection to these people that I've never actually said anything substantive to, but I find myself actually concerned with them-especially the waffle couple and toast guy. If they don't open their stand for a day or two I start to get worried that they've gone out of business. It's taught me a good lesson on how unimportant language can be to relationships, and how much is communicated between people without needing to say a word.

I think you'd be shocked at how in depth of a conversation I can have with people(usually taxi drivers) with so few words. Usually they know 10 English words, I know 10 Korean words, and that's all we need for a 5 minute conversation. You should give it a try sometime.


I know this is kind of random, but I was thinking about it today and thought it'd be interesting to write about. In a couple of days I'm gonna write some more stories from my children. Man they crack me up. It's funny how attached I've become to them. On Monday one of the home room teachers started yelling at them while I was in the class(for something they deserved) but it made me angry. If I want to discipline them, I'll discipline them. They're MY kids damn it. (I imagine that feelings even stronger for the homeroom teachers-and they probably feel the same when I yell at the kids) I find myself telling stories about them every weekend. I'm going to be one of those awful father's who brings pictures of his kids everywhere. It's going to be pathetic.

Anyway, it's about time to head to work, so I'm gonna go visit toast guy.
I'm always trying to think of something to write about, so it'd be so much easier if there were actual questions. Bill Simmons(my favorite columnist) always writes his best stuff in his mailbag pieces, I think I'd be the same, so leave comments damn it.