Polite or Impolite................that is the question

So last week we met a frinedly Korean man at the bathhouse. Almost too friendly, so much so that he was just strange, and I have a feeling that Korean's would agree. This fellow would swim "lengths" at the bathhouse. This is where he chose to swim, where people were bathing. Not to mention the fact that he had terrible form, even an unexperienced swimmer like myself could tell you this. I would suggest that he did a freestyle/flop combination. It was tough to watch. After "showing us his stuff" he invited us to follow his lead and so we did. Dan took the lead and once he finished, he figured he was so bad that he thought Dan was a great swimmer! (actually Dan is a good swimmer, better than most, it is a tough sport!) He didn't say anything to me, I guess I wasn't that great, although I did run into a few naked kids midstroke.

So the next week, as has usually been our custom on friday night, we went to the bathhouse again, and guess who was there. It was our friend again. This time he was "diving" into the bath. I give quotations to the word diving because I know what he was going for, but all I saw was a belly flop. All this happened in the cold pool, which is about 22C (a hot tub is usually around 40C), which is also only 2 feet deep.

But after we finished with these antics, we went up to watch a movie (these bathhouses have internet rooms, cafe's, sauna's, massage tables, workout rooms, games rooms, ping pong etc.) When we got there he was having a beer, as was our other colleague, and he offered one to me and I turned him down a few times. This was a bit rude on my part, as you don't generally don't turn things down, but beer in a bathhouse just didn't seem to go together for me. So after the second turn down, he got up and left, and I knew he was going to get something for me. He did. He came back with some sort of semi frozen dish. It looked like cold water with slushy ice in it. I couldn't see to well as the lights were low, so I dug in, once again, not wanting to be rude and taking what was given to me. I knew that if I didn't like it I had to take a good chunk out of it while it was frozen or cold, cause it would only get worse as it thawed. I would end up taking about 1/3 of the dish before I could take no more. So what was this generous gift to me courtesy of this Korean fellow; it was frozen squid pieces in water. I could taste the ocean right away. The only thing I said to myself was that this man graciously gave this to me, so I have to eat a good portion.

I must have gone in for about 20 or 25 forced spoonfulls of this stuff, and I wasn't afraid to make my facial expressions express how I didn't really enjoy this, as the lights were low and it was tough to see. But, I did give him the kind thumbs up, in appreciation for the thought.

Once again, this is just one of many other things that we have expereinced out here. We had a chat with a few mormon missionaries over dinner the other night. I was angry, not because they were rude, if anything I was the rude one, mostly the way they see scripture, so I have been doing some research over the past few days. They'll come knocking on our door sometime in the near future i'm sure, they got our address. I will need wisdom and a calm spirit.

I continue to struggle with the impulse to break out in Spanish. When I don't hear English it is just a reaction as it is the only other language I can communicate "effectively." Ironically this most often happens with the street vendors and restaurants, and it is usually in the form of numbers or general courtesy's. Good to know that I haven't completely lost it I suppose, but it is time to learn some Korean.

Dan and I had a trial membership to a fashionable gym here in Seoul. It was packed and too far away, so we will get a membership to a closer one when we get paid next. Some interesting people working out there. Lets just say there was one guy that liked to lift with his back and feel his biceps between sets. I wasn't watching so much as I was waiting for his weights, but he caught my attention.

We are of to Busan in the morning for a few days outside the city. It should be fun, we'll cross the country by train. We're hoping for a good day or afternoon of rest on the beach, plus a few sights. It should be good. I'll post pictures late next week.

All for now
Kev