Jellybeans

Friday afternoon was the goal of us girls all week.  Literally.  We had made plans you see.  As soon as we could, we jumped on the school bus and headed towards town.  Enjoyed talking with several students on the way including a junior high school student who felt sad that he was too old to be in our conversation classes.

Got to downtown eventually and hit up the black market.  I looked around and made mental notes for when payday comes around.  However when I saw that one bag of jellybeans, I couldn't resist.  It had been hoped that there would be maple nut goodies or apple cider packets, but this worked too.  You see my grandma is a fan of jellybeans.  The original flavors, not the new 50+ stuff that is sold commonly now.  So eating them brings back memories of her and our shopping trips.  Again, wish there had been maple nut goodies.

Then we headed to Dos Tacos and met up with Jasmine.  She had been our Korean assistant along with Victoria.  However due to unavoidable circumstances, they both quit.  It was nice to see her and hang out.  After supper, we went and explored downtown showing where the book store was as well as some other favorite spots.  Then we headed to Costco and carefully chose what we wanted most.  Mostly because we had to carry it in our arms.  I picked up cereal I wanted as well as some stuff for Keith.  Then we came back.

It was a good trip and a way to chill after this last week.

One thing I want to mention that brought particular pleasure was at one store in the black market.  I noted the place for future reference because there is a chance that beautiful jar of dill pickles will still be there.  As we were leaving, the Korean guy who had already impressed me with his use of English said, "Take it easy." Not even my students know that phrase and they are pretty smart.  This guy has experience with foreigners and I will be going back.

To find Koreans in Korea who understand other cultures or at least how to deal with us is rare.  They mean well, but things get awkward.

For example, on the subway last night, I was standing there with my box of stuff from Costco.  It was crowded and I knew it would be a long 22 minutes.  A seat in the old people's section opened up and an old guy looked at me and forcibly thumped his knuckle on the open seat.  I shook my head... afterall I wasn't old enough by any stretch of the imagination to sit there.  He insisted so I sat.  When I left, I made sure to bow to express my appreciation.  How else could I communicate my thanks?