1.23.98

I kept looking and looking at this color combo trying to remember what it reminded me of. I mean, it's nothing special, just green and black. Then ding! Dave's waffle shirt. "Hey Dave! You still got that green and black shirt with the waffle-y texture?" "It's possible. I'm not sure exactly what shirt that means."

Well, I’m not feeling angry anymore. Guess I worked it all out by writing here yesterday. Woo. Self Help? In fact, I’m feeling pretty good about the stuff I’m reading about post-colonialism and capitalistic colonialism in Asia. Think it would be good for some of us blinded by consumer capitalism to think of it in those terms. Might help us all come to terms with how our bodies are mobilized (commercialized) - especially women - to function for it. Anyway, it’s a really interesting perspective on Korea for me. I had lunch with Lee Byongyoon and her husband, Kim Kyunghwan, today. There is a great soojaebee restaurant near his office that he wanted to share with Lee BY and when I told her that soojaebee was my new favorite food, she invited me too. Kim KH said the P’a kimchee there was so good that there must be drugs in it to keep people addicted. Hahaha! Turns out the place is just teeny! Only 20 people can fit at one time so we were scheduled to go early. But UNH! I was late - AS USUAL!! I left early but was a dork and took the bus instead of the train. I’ve been taking the train way too much lately and I’m getting really sick of not seeing any scenery. Today I was meeting Lee BY where I could easily transfer from the bus to the train so I thought I’d take advantage of it. And I was all thinking that the austerity campaign was in full-swing; that people weren’t driving their cars because the price of gas is, like, astronomical right now. Plus, the trains have been packed lately so I figured there was no one up top. I was wrong. Traffic was totally obnoxious and the bus ride took even longer than usual. When I finally got off I totally ran down into the subway (purple line). Wouldn’t you know that this particular station was SO deep underground! I just kept flying down flight after flight of stairs. I finally reached the platform and then had to wait the full five minutes for the train. By this time I was already 10 minutes late. I was supposed to meet her at the transfer to the green line on the green platform. Which means I had to get off the train and then essentially transfer to the other line. Train comes and I’m on it!! One stop. Second, and I’m off! …Running…. It was - no lie - the longest transfer imaginable. Unbelievable. After running up two flights of stairs, down a hallway, I turned into another LONG hallway that ran uphill. I couldn’t believe it! Why didn’t they just connect the two stations by train? I was walking by now. No more of that running shit. After the hallway I had to walk down two more flights of stairs to meet Lee BY. I was way late by this time, but she was still there. Moreover, everything was cool because she’d called Kim KH and told him we were late. Well, you know we had to take the purple line, so we walked all the way back over to the other platform and caught the train there. I was totally fatigued. Lunch was on Yoiudo. (It is called the "Manhattan" of Korea because it’s an island in the middle of Seoul and because it is the financial center of the nation.) Kim KH is in international money markets. It was my first time walking there. Lots of tall buildings and well-dressed people. I was starvin’ marvin. Miraculously, we got a seat and ate seriously good food. Lots and lots of kimchee. Tasty soojaebee. Afterward we had tea. I liked talking with the both of them. It’s been about a year since first I met Lee BY. These days not only is she pregnant, but the depressed economy is threatening their economic security. I feel badly for them. Kim KH said, "Our baby is unlucky." Financially, maybe, but his parents are smart, loving, responsible people. I wanted to keep talking to both of them. I wanted to ask them what they thought about the same issues I’ve been learning about. What are their opinions regarding the same problems analyzed by feminist sociological researchers? But time was short and I found myself climbing back up all those stairs to catch the bus again too soon. And then I had a "first" experience. For the first time in Korea, I was on a bus that broke down. I always think it’s a possibility as the buses are totally decrepit, beleaguered, and spewing black smoke. Heh. They kind of remind me of people with emphysema. But they just keep truckin’ no matter what. Not like that lame-ass Metro in Seattle. All those new buses. How many times did I get stranded while using those? Too many times. So the bus dies today. The bus driver quickly nabs another passing bus of the same number and gets us all on it for free. That was way, way cool. That never happened any of the times Metro’s stupid electric/gas system failed with me on board. (Although, Dave once was stranded and they sent a bus out to all the people but that was on the Seattle - Tukwila route.) I was happy on the bus. Had the music going. The sun was out, but it was still kind of icy and really, really cold. I was sitting in the seat directly behind the driver and I froze each time he opened his window and used his arm to signal that he was going to cut somebody off. But I liked watching the guy drive as seen from my angle in his rearview mirror. Totally calm. King of the Road. Which reminds me: Not too long ago, Dave and I were on the bus sitting in traffic. An ambulance passed us going real slow the other way ('cause traffic is always bad), its lights and horn blaring. The driver was all hunched over the wheel, eyes squinting. But the thing that made it a Kodak moment was this: Dangling from between his pursed lips was a long cigarette. Hahahahaa! Oh my. I laughed till my sides ached.

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