Today was rehearsal day... again. The first half of rehearsal has gone by fairly well.
On Monday Grey strolled into work like most days. He didn't have his iTouch which is a bummer. How can anybody live without music to keep the rhythm of life on beat. However, He managed to stop by a coffee shop to purchase a grande size Americano.
The issue this week in Grey's world involves his partner teacher. Let's call her Belly. On Monday, she snapped at Grey. She looked unrested from the weekend and possibly was on that period thing.
Grey, being sensitive to the situation attempts to avoid any conversation with Belly. It's not a good idea to upset the cat who's not had her meal. Grey knows though. She hasn't been with a man physically for 30 odd years. The culture is partly to blame. Her mother who Belly lives with might be part of the blame. It could be her isolation from the male population that is partly to blame. Her inexperience with pushing boundaries might be partly to blame.
About a month ago. Gib (another teacher) hosted an open house. He moved from the dungeon to a new apartment further from any subway stop. Further towards the outer edges of Seoul's city limit.
Let's back up even further. Back to June of 2008. That's when Grey moved back to Seoul. He moved into the new apartment that his employer provided. It was a small one room flat. There was literally only room for a small single bed, desk, closet, t.v., small refrigerator and a bathroom.
The bathroom was so small that when you sat up from the toilet seat you'd end up bumping your head against the wall in front of you. The bathroom was so small that you can point the shower head on you while you took a shit. The bathroom was so small that you'd hate going to the bathroom. Did I mention that Grey's bathroom was small?
There was one large window. On the other side of that window was another building. The other building was approximately 4 feet away from the window. The sun never shined into the room. This is why it was given the name the dungeon.
Three months later Grey moved out to another apartment provided by his employer.
About a months ago Gib moved out of the dungeon to the isolated apartment buildings built for the 1988 Paraplegic Olympics in Seoul. This meant that Gib's apartment is made to be wheelchair accessible. It makes for a nice flat. A gigantic restroom. A kitchen separate from the room where the bed is located. All the doors in his flat are wide. Wide enough for wheel chairs to have access to all parts of the flat.
Back to Gib's open house. As I was saying. Gib had an open house a few months back. All the employee's of Orchard Kindergarten (not the real name of the place of employment) were invited to Gib's open house.
There was a good number of folks that showed up. They ate, listened to music, drank wine and chatted away about subjects ranging from the 70's to the modern life of university students.
Half the group left as Belly arrived. She ate and mingled as we drank the remaining wine and moved on to a bottle of gin mixed with different fruit juices.
When 11 o'clock came around Belly had to leave. We convinced her to stay a little longer.
"I have a curfew", Belly said.
To make a short story even shorter... Belly's mother called and Orchard's Kindergarten director had to speak to Belly's mom. To let her know that she would be on her way soon.
The point being that it was her second time ever being late for curfew. Belly has always been in the grips of her mother's hand. Did I mention that she's 30 years old?
This is a little picture of how people live in Korea. Grown adults still live with their parents and are controlled by them in strange ways. (Which reminds me of a cool song by MF DOOM called "strange ways" which has nothing to do with this post all together).
The rest of Monday, Grey avoided any conversation with Belly.
Tuesday became a similar scenario. What was Grey to do?
Wednesday has come and gone. Grey has begun to feel the awkwardness stack up further.
What should Grey do?
a. Continue to avoid Belly
b. Take time to talk to Belly and get any unspoken frustration out of the darkness
c. Be just as rude to Belly as she has been to Grey
d. (Your suggestion)
2 comments:
TALK to her! She most likely needs a friend, I know I would if I had to live like she does!
Just be friendly and polite. If she feels like opening up, she will, if not, she at least won't have a reason to be upset with you. Maybe share a plate of cookies with her. It's hard to be upset with cookies.
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