The Dudes on the Bus Go, "Hi How Are You?"

This was originally type in a previous journal entry, but that got erased (thanks cyworld, you are a good buddy...bastard), anyhow since the entry it was attached to was long already, and this was not a specifically important topic to be placed chronologically (since it's an ongoing event) I didn't bother typing it again...until now. So behold as I present unto you...

The Dudes on the Bus Go, "Hi How Are You?"

As of late of been hit with a barrage of Korean dudes who want to talk with me in English while I am riding whatever mode of mass transit I had elected to take. Since I came to Korea, I had worked on developing what I thought was a foolproof means of avoiding craptastic English conversations. This method was a two pronged attack. First I plugged my ears with a set of headphones. Secondly my hands and eyes had to be occupied at all times by a book, or any other sort of reading and or writing materials. For roughly 8 months, this method worked spendidly, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I liken the decline of my method, to the overuse of penicilin. Use it once and a while to kill some serious shit, and you're ok, but if you use it all the time, the diseases become ubermenschen and you're totally fucked. As of late, I have become totally fucked. At least two or three times a week some fucker gets through my defenses and engages me in a conversation that's not gonna go anywhere. Here's a sample conversation:

(Cue At the Drive-In or Art-School on my headphones)
Random Korean: Hi, how are you?
Me: (taking out headphones) huh?
Random Korean: Hi, how are you?

Now I assess the situation and decide how to respond. I can feign Russianess (there are a lot of Russian laborers here and Koreans can't tell the difference between North Americans and Russians), I could answer him like I'd answer my friends ("I'm chillin' buddy, how you hangin'?") and in the process confuse the hell out of him, or I could answer him politely (which is the normal response, cuz well...I'm too fuckin' polite).

Me: I'm fine thank you, and you? (this is the textbook response, every Korean knows this response. I used to play the "Hi how are you" game, in which I would give grades to people who started talking to me in English based on how they answered that question...why did I stop playing that game? I digress).
Random Korean at this point will mumble some random English, and asks me some questions usually pertaining as to why I'm in Korea and when I arrived. These questions I will dutifully answer in Korean. At this point Random Korean will compliment my Korean ability looking for me to compliment his English, but I usually just say I'm not good (which is true), and hope that one of us exits the vehicle soon.
Lately, due to these breaches in security, I've developed new methods to protect myself from these tedious conversations. Having another human being with you is a big deterent. If you are with another foreigner, you are safe unless the number of Koreans in a group greatly outnumbers the number of foreigners in your group (watch out for middle school and high school girls on their way home from school, especially on Saturday afternoon). Better than a foreigner is a Korean girlfriend (Korean male friend might work too, but I haven't tried it). You might have to hear some drunk bastards yell crap at you in Korean, but you can ignore that and not feel bad unlike the guy, who in reality just wants to practice speaking English (though in reality he's not respecting my personal space or considering the fact that after a full day..cough cough 3 hours cough cough...of listening to ESL students I don't wanna do it on the train too).
This whole thing applies only to dudes, since aside from my girlfriend, no girls my age ever tried to talk to me while on mass transit, and technically neither did she...she wrote a note, because I had headphones on.
So Koreans, if you have a penis, see a foreign male, and want to talk to him, do everyone a favor and stop, unless you're going to follow "Hi, how are you?" with "My sister's Lee Hyo-ri, do you wanna do her?"


위험한 토끼야! 이토끼는 큰 칼때문에 겁나게 위험해요. 조심해요!


So U-rim and I are headed to Shinchon one night. The train is kind of crowded, so I am standing up holding one of those hand grips. As the train is crossing a river, I look out the window and see fireworks going off. I get my camera out quickly and snap this picture as the train went by (you can see some reflection from the window).


This is the street I live on in Shinchon, kind of. If you look at the bottom of the hill in the picture, you can see a gate. If you walk through that gate, then you will arrive at my building (it's technically on another road).


I pass this guy every day on my way home from work, and he always looks mad hungry. The other day, when U-rim and I were walking to Hong-dae (홍대) to go shopping, I stopped to try and give him a rice cake (American style rice cake, not 떡). He would not take it though. What, are you too good for a rice cake? Bastard.


★ Metalhead ★


Here I am with my golden pig, Sam. Sam likes to eat 500 won coins. I like Sam, he is my best friend. My girlfriend, U-rim, gave me Sam so I wouldn't be lonely. hehehe. Sam is a piggybank, U-rim dubbed it Sam for some reason...it's the second inanimate object she's named Sam...hmmm.