I probably overreacted yesterday - whoo- boy. Trying to get me to work hard is like trying to hide a smoker's cigarettes - not pretty.
Still, I did go through with my plan to wear a suit and tie to work. Everyone in the joint assumed I was going to or coming from an interview, and made the half-joking, snide, yet pryingly obvious witticism - "so, how'd the interview go?" To each one I gave a gravelly "don't be ridiculous".
Haha - only someone really going to an interview would NOT joke about it.
I apologized for my outburst yesterday to El Capitan and she ever so slowly (remember,we're dealing with a form of ESL speak in all transactions) explained that I probably "lost my temperature" because of the stress from poor teaching evaluations.
Strangely, at lunch Suwon Sue, the foxy Korean staffer, (getting foxier?) asked me out to dinner after work. I was HIGHLY suspicious, and almost refused. She said it was because I was so sharply dressed. What is going on? Has the company given her a seduction budget to keep me from straying? Let's hope so!
Dinner with Sue was very pleasant. We ate very plain barbecued beef with a variety of wacky Korean side-dishes like candied pumpkin, kimchi varieties 1,2,3,and 4, tofu, mashed potatoes shaped into a perfect sphere, vermicelli in shrieking hot sauce, and of course, shredded cabbage in a small bowl of dressing. We talked about work, and I did my best to try and bring her in from the cold, but the corporate mole would not turn. She started out by reassuring me that she had taken Ivy League Ike out for dinner last week since he was finishing his term at the end of this month. ( i.e. this is not a date.) Yeah, whatever, Suwon Sue!
We did talk a lot about work, as I expected. She isn't the biggest fan of EC, but is so firmly entrenched in the boss-worship that is standard here that she can't see any way out. It turns out she is from a big family of successful siblings - a judge, a professor, a nurse and such. I explained the concept of a 'black sheep' and I told her that we're both black sheep, since my sister is finishing her PhD at the UofT. (I love bragging about this, especially to Koreans.) She asked me about my family, my religion, admitted her age (only one year younger than me - astonishing) and basically sized me up the rest of the time. We both had some guilty fun lampooning Lunatic Liddy, an endearingly bizarre, yet obnoxiously strange Korean co-worker. Actually, I could probably write a book about that one, but later. She also asked what I had done with the rose she gave me. Why, it's image is in this blog, gentle reader, where it will live the remainder of its fated lifespan since I didn't think to dry it, the way Boytek did. Are we the only ones to whom she's given flowers?
After dinner (she paid! or was it the hagwon? - I asked and she claimed it was her card) , she bought us ice cream, and we shared a cab home. Initially she offered me the front seat, but someone was already in it -this is a common practice in Korea called ...hapseung. Since taxis are so cheap, cabbies need to double on passengers when they can. However it's the first time I've ever experienced it - probably because I'm a foreigner. So we sat in the back and she joked about how people would think we were dating. My arrogant take on this is that she was intrigued by the idea, but horrified by what people would think.
Consequently, I suspect that will pretty much be the end of that; although I'm duty and honour bound to offer to spring for the second dinner now, aren't I?
Later I went to the gym, and Mr. Lee offered me a stick of gum for the second time - this time in the locker room as I was getting out of my skivvies. Then while I was running on the treadmill the trainer came over to tell me that he would help explain any piece of equipment or free weight exercise that I wanted - I asked for his name - we settled on Lim-trainer after some difficulty. So, that would make a record-low 2 interruptions while working out. They sure love to practice them some English, these friendly elves!
