frighten (v.)
cause fright to, drive or compel by fright; alarm, daunt, horrify,
intimidate, petrify, startle, shock.*
Woman
At The Jeju City Bus Terminal
Stranger
(speaking in Korean) Excuse me, ma'am. I am trying to get directions
to a min bak (local residential accomodations) near Samyang-dong.
I have an owner on my handphone here. Can you listen to the directions
and instruct that taxi driver?
Korean
Woman (startled, waving hands dismissively) No englishee,
speaku!
Checking-In
Agent at Kimhae Airport:
This foreign man came to my counter two hours before his flight.
He was so calm and smiled warmly. He even spoke in Korean.
Agent
at Jeju City Airport: I met a similar man, but he was a little
more anxious. Still, he was very friendly. I really wanted to
give him the early flight he wanted, but it was impossible. He
wanted to leave a day early. he did not yell at me like the Korean
guy before him. He just thanked me, and left.
Agent
at Kimhae: I gave him a good seat.
Agent
at Jeju City: I insisted he wait till the evening flight, but
he was disappointed. I feel bad. I did apologize.
Eating
Raw Seafood In Samyang-dong, Jeju City
I sold one serving
of dom (type of local fish) to an American man, alone, one night.
He really wanted octopus, but we don't have that here. He spoke
Korean. And, he drank soju and ate like a Korean. He ate all his
food. Some passers-by asked about him and pointed at him. I said
he was from Pusan. They just nodded, asked about the prices, and
moved to the next restaurant.
An older
couple from Seoul finally came in and talked with him. He seemed
to know etiquette well, so they gave him some oysters and a shot
of soju. He even ate the spicy stew. Most foreigners can't eat
that. He spoke very slowly, though. My son had a headache.
My
Boyfriend
I called him in the
afternoon, only to find he had gone to Jeju Island. I had sent
the children away and had planned for a romantic weekend. He is
so difficult to keep still, so determined to run. I can only blame
myself for allowing him to leave. How was I to know, that he would
not change his mind, once it was set. I have this rebellious habit
of saying the opposite of my true feelings. I know my meaning,
and so does he, but he refused to play that time. I intend to
wait a year for him to relent, to return to me.
foreign (adj.) of,
from, or dealing with a country that is not one’s own;
not belonging naturally.
The
Woodcrafts Guy In the Folk Village
I have worked here
in Pyoson for fifteen years. I am thirty-five years old. It’s
a good living, but sometimes a little boring, so I like to talk
to tourists. One sultry day this foreign guy came in and talked
to me in really good Korean. He asked me many questions about
Jeju Island.
I make
these little pendants for people with good minds. They are just
tiny, volcanic stones with heavy fishing line glued together with
adhesive and sawdust, but I like making them and giving them away.
I took a picture of him, too.
The
Coffee Shop Ticket Girl In Soguipo
This foreign guy came
into the coffee shop. He spoke Korean very well. He wanted to
find a restaurant that served gwung (local Jeju pheasant). A taxi
driver had taken him to the restaurnt downstairs, but it is going
out of business. He lived in Busan, so my boss, who was born in
Busan, wanted to help him. He bought us both coffee, so my boss
asked me to ride him to another restaurant across town on my scooter,
when I left on the next run to a client’s house.
When
he first got on the bike, he grabbed the grips, as if he wanted
to steer. So, I put his arms around me tightly. He, though, held
me loosely, even around corners and on sudden, quick stops. He
inched his hands down my flabby, soju-soaked tummy, and inserted
a finger in my navel. He was very playful. He even pinched the
loose skin on my stomach. When we arrived, I asked him, if he
wanted company, but he refused.
The
Scuba Instructor
I am used to taking
Korean people and their families on scuba trips around the island,
but everyone in the shop was worried about the American, who showed
up one day for a beginner’s lesson. None of us speak
English, and he didn’t have a suit. He was able to speak
Korean, though.
We gave
him a loaner, and ferried him out to the rocks. We had to wait
for several other classes to complete their lessons. He just watched
quietly.
Then,
I had to teach him about the equipment. He said little, but watched
my hands intently. He seemed very anxious to get started, but
I was very nervous. Maybe, I hoped he would change his mind.
In the
water, he kept trying to dive, but the inflatable vest kept him
afloat. I guided him down slowly. He was breathing very fast and
started to have pain in his ears. But he continued, and after
ten minutes, was fine, even wanting to go deeper.
After
we finished and dried off, we had lunch. He even ate kimbap and
kimchi.
slavespeak (n./v.)
the Korean indigenous language; a product of authoritarianism,
gender and age discrimination; a mental disease; extreme timidity
coupled with excessive braggadochio; isolation sickness; lack
of education.
The
Lady At The Soguipo Bus Terminal
A foreigner came to
my window one day. He wanted to go to Mt. Halla. Now, there is
no bus to Mt. Halla! He stared at the board for minutes, so he
knew that ! How could he not see that there was no bus to Mt.
Halla? He even asked, in Korean, how to get to Mt. Halla. Now,
isn’t that stupid! There’s just no bus! Finally,
I had to say, “I don’t see any Mt. Halla!”
We all just had to laugh!
The Korean
mind-heart is attuned to the spirits that inhabit the nature of
all things,…the ghosts and goblins that walk the night,
the shamans who cast spells…out of it comes superstition,
intuition, insight, madness, wisdom, and, above all, freedom.”
(pp. 21-22)**
Borders
The white froth is
the border between the worlds of oxygen and water. But, the mouthpiece
is almost an enemy, not the translator. Beneath the waves, except
for an envelope of fluidity and the mercury jellyfish of expelled
air rising to the surface, all is the same. The rocks and colors
are familiar, but the mouthpiece, with its rude, oral insertion
and amplified, respiratory parody shatters the still repose. A
voice a little too quick, a little too mechanical.
There
are rivers of cold and warm swirling around each other and me.
Invisible layers of pressure communicate menacingly inside the
skull through the ears. In the distance is the inky, indistinct
future, no floor, no border, no light. Only the oddly familiar
feedback of my breathing voice reaching out.
Exit
Visa
Big rocks. Aching calf
muscles and shins. Blisters on the insteps of my feet.
Locomotion and lung
power hit an invisible wall of fog and pressure on Mt. Halla.
The eyes and the steep angles constantly coomunicate in frenzied,
despairing tones; the images and odors of myriad flora and the
sounds of birds and insects anaesthetizes them. Only a sheet of
rain and fog deters me.
*Oxford
Quick Reference Dictionary and Thesaurus, Oxford University
Press, 1998.
**Korea’s
Place In The Sun: A Modern History, Cumings, Bruce; W.W. Norton
and Company: 1997.
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