Alive and well

Let's pick up where I left off.

I spent about a half an hour on the guitar-man's computer, catching up on reading the blogs I like to read and wondering what the hell I was doing there. From the other room I could hear the soft murmer of voices but I couldn't quite make out what was going on. Something to do with psycologists was all I got. When I was 'allowed' to come out a fifty-some odd year old woman told me that her German diplomat husband is leaving her for a girl fifteen years his junior, that she's lived in who know's how many countries, all of which she named, and that she works at Korea University, number two in the country. Oh, and that she had downed half a bottle of whiskey to numb the pain of some dental procedure. Great, nice to meet ya.

The guitar-man, his Korean wife, the drunk woman, and I all went to a restaurant for pig neck and other things. I should have taken pictures. It was delicious! There was a mustard type dipping sauce that reminded me of Dad's steak seasoning. Mmm. It was nice to eat something and definitely interesting company. We said grace before the meal, holding hands and thanking Jesus Christ our Saviour. What about Hashem?? Ha ha.

After dinner I went off with the drunk woman to face my first subway ride. I stopped at a bank to withdraw some money. Nothing but a receipt came out. I may very well have lost two hundred dollars, or there was an error. Who knows? I'll have to check my account. (I'm in the clear - no money was lost). Itdidn't/doesn't bother me somehow though. Money seems unimportant right now, in comparison to everything else that I'm dealing with.

I got on the subway, saying goodbye to drunky and standing among the Koreans. I felt a few more stares here than I do in Suji but nothing too bad. And then something happened.The train stopped at a station and the doors opened. I heard shouting out on the platform and the woman beside me gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Then I saw two men fighting, with one apparently holding a kife to the other's neck. The shouting continued and they actually came right into my car. My head and heart raced and I debated running out of the car for dear life, but remained rooted in my seat. The man sitting across from me chuckled and I shot him a look of "what the HELL are you laughing at?!" I was seriously freaking out. After what seemed like ten minutes, the men got off and the train pulled away, revealing the camera crew and film set that was just out of my field of view. I cried right then. It was such an overwhelming feeling of terror and relief and helplessness that I couldn't help but react that way. The man kept chuckling. I tried to wipe my tears secretly, hiding behind my subway map.

After transfering trains to another line, a girl about my age sat down next to me and started chatting. She studied in America for four years and spoke English very well. She took my telephone number after a very nice chat, and I felt well with the world once again.

The final leg of the journey was bus number 11 to Suji. All I knew was that it would pass right by my house but I had no idea when or from what direction. The bus seemed to turn at every single intersection it passed and I clutched my bag tensely, imagining the worst. What if I didn't notice my house? What if this bus didn't GO to my house? I have a phone now so there was no real risk but I crossed my fingers just in case. And preyed to our lord Jesus Christ. Hah. Jesus loves me, you know. It says so on a huge billboard along the highway.

Speaking of which, I've seen three swastikas so far; two on storefronts and one tattooed on a sleeping man's knuckle. They heard of the second world war, right?

Needless to say, I'm happy to be home. It was six and a half hours to remember.

Oh, and great news! D'Arcy's coming soon and will be working at my school for one month while a girl here is away. Then she'll work at another school.