Ramblings and Such

- I had the good fortune of talking to one of my best and closest friends today, Bryan. We were musing…ok, moaning and bitching about how things have not turned out the way either of us would have wanted in terms of life at twenty three, and the fact that we can’t necessarily define what it is that we would have wanted. I think he exhibits a healthier attitude towards certain things than I do; he’s more logos whereas I am more pathos. I came into the conversation feeling lethargic and somewhat pissy after a mediocre day of lessons and teaching. I wasn’t on my A game to be sure, and I’m afraid it translated into the students being more apathetic than usual. I left the conversation feeling much more uplifted than I did coming in to it. Thank God for good friends.

If you’re wondering what he said to cheer me up, btw, it can be stated as simply que sera, sera. Nnneeeeeeee!!!!!

We’ve been friends for quite a long time, since 2000 I believe. We shared 8^th grade math together with Mr. Smith, who himself was quite a character. He referred to me as “buckethead”, for some reason. I guess my head looks like a bucket, I don’t know. I’m not exactly certain what brought on the conversation, but our friendship started when (I guess) I had mentioned something about watching a movie in which the main character was on a 747 and the flight attendant literally threw herself on him (“Would you like coffee, tea, or me?”), hit the good foot, and did the bad thing. For whatever reason, he didn’t give me that “What the hell are you are talking about?” look that I’d been used to for some time, and instead replied “I guess that was PAM AN Airlines!”, making a play on words from Pan Am. Two algebra lessons and twenty other crap jokes later, we were best friends. Still are to this day.

- It’s not an overstatement or an invitation to ethnocentrism to suggest that Korean society is homophobic. For whatever reasoning, many Koreans to this day won’t even acknowledge gay or lesbian people as having a different orientation from heterosexuals; they simply need a vaccine or something to cure their desires of whatever ails them. The influx of Evangelical Christianity on the peninsula certainly hasn’t made things easier for our brothers and sisters here, to be certain. Yet all the men wear man purses and spend countless hours doing their hair. Thus, there’s a new term to be invented: “He’s not gay; he’s Korean.” God love ‘em.

I had a girl in class today that had a pencil case with an English caption on it. It read, “Happy Virus.”

…

Think about that one for a second. Happy Virus. Two words that should not be thrown together, like blue apple, or Jersey Shore. One of the most entertaining parts of Korean society is the bad English that’s strewn along the t-shirts, backpacks, and other garments that most people wear.

Then again, Happy Virus does not measure up to the best line I’ve seen so far on a t-shirt: “I’m sorry, but I do not accept credit card.” Oh, honey, you’re just opening for business, aren’t you?!

On the lighter side of things, my mother is appearing in a number (at least 2) of commercials on behalf of the Titus campaign/AFSCME, attacking Joe Heck for his record on various issues. Whether or not the ads are effective, one thing is certain: Phyl is a star.