The weather is changing, we continue to get to know our new coworkers, people are talking about grad school applications and different jobs for next year, and we've picked out our christmas concert repertoire.
Things keep changing, day by day..... and yet some things never change.
I still have random "adventures" - a euphemism for when I come to a screeching halt and remember that I am an American in South Korea.
Last Sunday I was baking up some scones and invited some of my friends up to eat one. I went to unlock my door so they could come in as they please and miserably failed. We use key codes on an electric lock - I irritated my lock so it started to beep at me. I, flustered by the beeping, found the batteries on my lock and took one out. The beeping stopped. I put the battery back in, and found myself essentially locked into my apartment. In taking the battery out, I had erased my lock's memory and therefore couldn't code into my apartment. Uff da. Once a friend arrived, I went down to the first floor to talk to our "security" dudes. I have never seen these men actually do anything.... they're usually sleeping with Korean tv going in their little booth. Not sure what we pay them for. Anyway! It took a lot of work, including an older man typing in Korean into HIS cell phone (because my iphone was beyond him), me typing what was on his screen into google translate, and then me translating a response. FINALLY one of them agreed to come look at my door. I was so frustrated. The man that came up with me couldn't read the directions on my lock, so he went back down to the first floor to get his partner. His partner came up 15 minutes later with a magnifying glass, as his vision also was poor. I had contacted one of my coworkers who is Korean and she talked to him on the phone. He handed the phone back to me and she said "I'll be there in 45 minutes". One she got to my apartment, she called the number on the lock - unscrewed something and found THE MAGIC BUTTON. I put in my code, and all was well. So. 4 hours and 3 helpers later, we got it.
I was incredibly frustrated when the translation apps were saying that the security guys wanted me to call an engineer. This was the equivalent of setting the time on your microwave, and I couldn't complete it because the directions were in Korean. You want me to call a locksmith/engineer!? AND PAY HIM MONEY!? no. absolutely not. Just come read the directions. They're ON THE DOOR.
nope. no. absolutely not. "Not our specialty" But by all means, keep speaking loudly at me in Korean, that will certainly help. It's so weird to feel like a self-sufficient person, and not be able to complete a simple task because of the language. I think that was where my frustration was coming from - I can do this, but I can't do it in korean. Uff da. I am SO thankful Llandy showed up and helped me get it fixed.
alternatively - last night Pendleton and I sat down to catch up on all our favorite american tv shows that returned this week (Scandal and Parenthood!) and ordered a pizza. I had been told that if you call Dominoe's and say "english", they'll hang up and call you back in a couple minutes, speaking english. We gave this method a try a couple weeks ago and had great success. I called last night and this is how the conversation goes:
Me: English?
Dominoe's: ....no. See & Me? 926?
Me: neeeee. deliver?
Dominoe's: Ne. pijja?
Me: Cheezuh.
Dominoe's: Medium? Largie?
Me: Largie.
Dominoe's: crust?
Me: Original
Dominoe's: carduh?
Me: Cashie
Dominoe's: (price in Korean) ok bye bye
yep. The pizza guy KNEW me and my residence.
The pizza showed up in 30 minutes and was delicious.
Two very different reminders that I am an American living in Korea, just one week apart.
I shake my head and laugh.
What a weird life.
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