the little pink bike

Every night, as I wait for the elevator on the ground floor, I see a little pink bicycle in the corner. It’s covered in dust and has been in the same spot forever (and it has no lock). I thought it was a bike without an owner. Night after night, I told myself, If this bicycle is still here tomorrow night, I’m gonna take it. I had wanted a bike for a while now and the cheapest I’ve seen is about a 100 bucks. It would be great to just take that one! It’s pink and it will do the job just fine.

A few nights went by and I couldn’t stop thinking about the little pink bicycle. I really like it now. Ok….if it’s there tomorrow night, I will take it!! So the next day I went to work and came back and there it was. Sitting there in the corner, looking dustier still. Not sure if anyone owned the bike and not wanting to steal…I decided to leave it.

A few more days passed by and it was still there every night! Sitting alone in the shadow, beckoning me to give it a home. Finally, one night, I could not resist anymore. I gave in to temptation after Tommy egged me on "C’mon! Just take it! It has no lock and it has been here forever! What the hell, I’ll even take it up for you!" Taking a deep breath, I said OKAY. So in the little pink bicycle went into the elevator up to 6th floor. With shifty eyes I looked around making sure there was no one and into my apartment it was wheeled.

Excited…I told everyone about the cutest thing I picked up. A few days later, notices went up all around my building. Of course, not literate in Korean, I paid it no attention. Until Sooheun was in the elevator with me and I asked him to translate out of curiosity. As he translated, my eyes grew bigger in horror. "There has been a theft of a kid’s bicycle and it has been caught on CCTV. Put it back before further actions are taken." SHIT! I had stolen a kid’s bicycle!!

I felt horrible. I felt like I had commited the lowest act ever. Some poor little kid (most likely a little girl) was crying her eyes out because someone without conscience, ME, had taken away something that belonged to her. It was hers. And I had taken it without her permission or knowledge. I had commited theft without even knowing it. I felt like a horrible person and I vow never to take things home unless its got “trash” labelled on it……if I had known, I would never have done it.

Then it hit me. Was it really my fault? There was nothing to let me know that there was an owner to the little pink bicycle. There was no lock, no name, no nothing. It didn’t even look like anyone rode it anymore. It was covered with dust and just dumped in the dark corner. So really, I was deceived, wasn’t I? But then why do I still feel so bad about my unknowing act of theft?

And it got me thinking….is there anything as innocent wrong? I guess life is never just black and white…there’s always some unknown part of it, no matter how obvious things seem to look on the outside…

In the end, the bike was returned to where I had found it…well, stolen it, for that matter.

Trash or Treasure?

Walking home one cold night, I spotted a huge brown shadow in the corner of my eye. Being the curious girl that I am, I turned my head to get a better view. Oh, it’s a sofa! I stopped in my tracks. After a quick inspection, I decided to take it home. Hey, Ric, Tommy, stop! Look what I found! Let’s carry it home! Of course, when I said let’s I really meant them. Well, I was a girl, right? These are certainly times when being a girl is advantageous. Excited, I watched them carry it and I gave a lame effort in trying to help (I actually made it worse because I tipped it slightly forward so that they ended up having to walk faster). Anyhow, as they heaved and complained, I gave the sofa a more thorough look. Wow, it’s real leather! The brown colour was a little bit yucky (it was the colour of cheap chocolate), but it’s not too bad. Hey, it’s free! It wasn’t the prettiest thing around, but hey, I needed a couch. I’ve been using my mattress as a bed/sofa and it’s not exactly great. I was about to fork out $150 to buy a new one too. So it was the perfect timing.

 And just last night, I picked up an old coffee table off the streets, too. I swear, the best part of Korea so far has been all this free stuff! Who would’ve thought. Carrying the coffee table home was a nuisance (because this time I didn’t have Tommy nor Ric!) Audrey was kind enough to lend me a helping hand. It’s okay! I can manage on my own! My stubborn self spoke. But I’m so thankful she helped me anyway because I would not have been able to cross the road carrying that on my own!

Slowly, I’m piecing together my apartment, trying my best to make it more homey without the investment. Afterall, I’m only going to be here for a year. Layering on a pretty black laced runner and lighting some candles (to cover the flawed spot on the coffee table), I sat back into my sofa. Ahh….this is nice…It’s funny, because I began to think how I’ve grown to like the yucky brown sofa. After putting on a rug throwover, it looked much nicer (and it is really really soft).

Something that someone regarded as trash has made it to my home and is now treasured by me. Oh, it must be fate! Sitting on my couch, I think about what kinds of things this couch has encountered. It probably has watched alot of TV, lived through couples fighting, maybe had kids climb up and down it, or even had a cat that slept on it. And now, here it is, with me in my little apartment. Maybe I could give it some quiet and peace that it needed. Or maybe, it’s the couch that’s keeping me company. I don’t know. I just like the idea that somebody’s junk has now become my gem.

And just like that, something that someone didn’t want is now loved by me…….

5 a.m.?

WOW. I am in shock. Awe. Wonder. Amazed…… I don’t even know what to think anymore. My world just changed. Sleep? Who needs sleep? It suddenly struck me, I finally understood what is truly meant by the city that never sleeps. For goodness’ sake, I’m LIVING in it! I am in a whole new world where people go shopping on a weekday in the wee hours … and it’s oh-so-normal. Like, “who doesn’t do that?” kinda normal… well, except me. I’ve never done that. I’ve never even heard of a mall that stays open past midnight….nor has it ever occured to me that I would want to go shopping in the same time frame as I would enter a club. It’s like, “hey, this club sucks…let’s go shop instead.”

And there I was, standing at the grand revolting doors of the shopping mall at 3 a.m. staring at the “Opening Hours” sign where it’s printed boldly, 10a.m - 5a.m. Yup, there I was looking like I had just discovered the cure for cancer. Not just one mall, BUT the WHOLE area was buzzing with music, people, food, and cars and a million more taxis… WOW.

Fueled purely by adrenaline, I went through level after level and mall after mall of balenciaga handbags, christian louboutins, gucci watches, guess jeans, cheap no-brand tee’s, fake LV bags, plastic heels…..it was a crazy mixture of the cheap, the branded, the expensive and the fakes…My legs were exhausted to the point of collapsing. Wearing high heels and shopping definitely don’t go hand-in-hand. Add on the fact that given any other night, I should be sound asleep by now. But my brain was working overtime and seriously overwhelmed by amazement…..the only thing I could think of was “I’m in Shopping Paradise” and that thought alone made me giddy and my legs went into autopilot and just kept going and going. I could not believe it. Till 5 a.m.?! Even the movie theatres were still running and the last movie showing that night was at 4:40a.m.

Coming from a place where everything seems to die by 5 p.m. this was one hell of a shock. Culture shock anyone?

FIFA U20 Ghana WINS!

Normally, I’m not much of a soccer fan…but it’s GHANA!!!! This is the country where I spent part of my childhood..part of my education.. I don’t have too much memories of it because I was young and it was a long time ago, but I remember the food, the fish markets and how we did not have McDonalds (this is why I still love maccas to this day) and how we had infomercials about Omo and Key soap! Being a kid in Ghana, we didn’t have many luxuries and that is what helped me see the bigger picture since I was young. Even though our family was not poor, being in such close proximity to rural areas and poverty and child labour made me realize how fortunate I was. I remember thinking what life would be like if I was the kid on the roadside selling oranges from a basket on my head, and not the nice dressed girl sitting inside an airconditioned car going to school. However, I always knew that there is so much more to life than living comfortably and having lots of money. It was also then that I understood the importance of education. I had a big dream when I was little. I wanted to help people, I wanted to change the world in whatever way I could. I mean, I still want to do that, and I guess being a teacher is impacting in a way, however small it may be. It probably sounds lame, but I firmly believe that to end poverty, every single child must must must have the opportunity to be educated and be loved. That’s the only way out. (Everytime I tell someone this, it somehow sounds like those beauty pageant answers….) I remember we had maids and drivers and gardeners, yet to this day, I am still very uncomfortable with the idea that some people are of a higher class. It makes me wince just to say it. I don’t exactly see the day where everyone will be equal, because there will always be status quo, there will always be the rich and the poor. However, sometimes, when it’s out of my hands, I give it to the Lord. This reminds me of last Sunday, the sermon talked about us being mustard seeds and that we are tiny and insignificant. But God is nurturing us with love and in time, we blossom into trees. So that made me think about all the issues going on in the world right now and how we, little mustard seeds, go around seemingly insignificant, but when the time comes, we will all have impacted someone in some way. Isn’t that just great?

Like a Rose

rucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all
This is one of my favourite Christian songs. Tonight, I went to a small bible study group which Audrey and her co-workers had begun recently. There I met two other guys who were very knowledgeable in their faiths and I felt very encouraged. I don’t know, maybe it’s because back home, at my church, I didn’t really feel the same way. I’m not one to judge the spiritual health of anyone, but I’ve met my fair share of people who claim to be Christians and act like Christians but really weren’t. I’ve seen many talk the talk but not walk the walk. Which is why, I had many non-Christian friends, because I felt that sometimes, non-believers were better people (as much as it pains me to say). I mean, if you truly were a believer of Christ…wouldn’t you want to strive to be a better person? Yet, so many are so selfish, cold, unfriendly and critical. However, when I went to church here, I met so many wonderful people. They were cool, they enjoyed life, yet they were good people. They trusted in the Lord and they would go wherever the Lord took them.

Sometimes, I really think it was the whole Chinese church thing. Sometimes, it could be a traditional Chinese way of thinking, rather than a Biblical way… but of course, I pray often for my church back home. It’s interesting because every week I go to church, and I’m thinking of how great it is, and how we could run our church the same way and I think, maybe that’s what we could do to expand our church!

One thing I’ve noticed about the church I’ve been going to here is that their message is very focused on Jesus and how he saved us all. About Love. About Forgiveness. And about showing to the world who Jesus Christ is. And it’s not so much about rules or what you should not do or things that make you a bad Christian.

Maybe that’s what our church needed…a different focus. A focus on witnessing.

Speaking of witnessing….I actually went through the Gospel message with a friend for the first time. I’ve been teaching Sunday School for years but I never realized the extent of my knowledge and I was very very happy! I took a co-worker to church for the first time in his life and we talked about faith and Christ and I helped answer his questions and I was very excited that he was interested! So I want to say that my first real witnessing was a success!! I want people to know that I have Christ in my life and this makes me very happy and I want people to see that in me. I would always invite people to come to church with me, but I would never enforce it upon another person. I definitely do not want to be like those door knockers who won’t leave!!

At the bible study, we discussed a very interesting notion…the passage goes:

The Lord does not set us here first of all to preach, or to do any work for Him. The first thing for which He sets us here is to create hunger in others. No true work will ever begin without a sense of need being created. We cannot inject that into others; we cannot drive people to be hungry. That hunger is to be created, and that hunger can be created only through those who carry the impressions of God.

I very much agree! Very often, believers are pressured to grow before there is the forementioned need, before there is true spiritual hunger. And, sad to say, when there is real hunger, very little spiritual food is offered. Sometimes, I think that the truth is forced upon others to be saved before he is even aware that he is lost! If the lost never reaches out with personal faith, he will never come to meet the Lord our saviour.

And of course, it isn’t to say that being a faithful believer would make your life perfect. No, because without a bitter experience of our own inadequacy and sinfulness, we would be very unfit to witness to others. It takes a man who has discovered something of the measures of his own weakness to be patient with others. The Lord Jesus does not give the command, “Be a shepherd to My lambs…to My sheep” on hearing Peter’s self-confident affirmation of undying loyalty, but He gives it after he has utterly failed to keep his vows and has wept bitterly. After Peter publicly announces his loyalty, he denies Jesus three times before the rooster crows and then he weeps and confesses his love to Jesus (Jesus asks three times..always something that I found interesting), and then, that what when Jesus gave him the command…….Therefore, one who has firsthand knowledge of the loving care of the Lord will not easily despair of others, but look beyond sinfulness, willfulness and stupidity to the might of unchanging love.

A quote from the bible study that I absolutely loved:

"Here is a very difficult road, but the passionate desire for the goal will hold him steadfast in the way. Along that road the Man Jesus Christ has already gone before, and at every point has overcome for us. We have not climbed up; we are to be brought through in the train of His triumph."

Club Cucumber and Feisty Grandma and the Underground Maze

Friday night, we headed to the local bar for our usual after-work beer. We never plan it, but I guess everyone’s got “I Need A Drink” printed on their forehead. Well, who doesn’t? After five days of “Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!”, even the most patient, child-loving person would want to pluck any 10 year old from their ADHD infested classrooms and gladly strangle them. I love my kids, but 5 days is just too much. Sometimes it makes me think that I’ll be an awful parent. Surely I can’t just see my own children once a week, right? So I often tell myself that if I vent all my hatred out now, all that I’ll have left for my own kids would be love. Ha! (ok, don’t judge me now)

Anyways, back to Friday night…..

After a few drinks we headed out to a club in SongNokSu called Club Cucumber. Yep, you read it right the first time. Apparently, weird club names are very common…Right next to Club Cucumber was Club Pumpkin and I’ve come across Club Shampoo and Superdome and Club Banana (just to name a few….) On Friday nights they have a special event called the Sexy Dance Competition where people can go on stage and pull some moves and maybe win 300 dollars. It started really fun, the DJ was good and he was quite sexy. Until he started stripping…ok, so it seems that DJs in Korea are also part dancers, comedians, MCs, AND strippers? And they have their own fan group hovering around the stage and shrieking as the shirt comes off……hm… and then the weirdest part comes. The sexy dance is obviously rigged, as one girl gets completely naked. Yup. butt naked. Talking about butt…..her butt was darker than the rest of her body. Ew~ And she was the most un-graceful stripper ever…she had a hand propped on the wall as she hopped around on one leg yanking her jeans off. So after a quick strip-off, and a bit of butt wriggling, she disappears off into the back and was never seen again that night. The host announces that she wins and it was back to dancing for us.

After a long night of dancing, with sore feet we hailed a taxi and went home. But of course, with AJ, a stop at maccas was inevitable. So at 5 am, we had our orange juices and bacon egg mcmuffins. Sadly, the bacon here tastes awful….so chewy and hard, sometimes I think it’s actually beef jerky instead. 

The next day around 12 noon, Ethan wakes me up with a phone call “Are you still sleeping?” “Yes…” “Ok, go back to sleep then.” And he hangs up. Great. Now I’m awake. I wonder why people do that? They call you and wake you up and then don’t tell you the reason why they called and hang up and expect you to go back to sleep. As I was drifting off, my phone goes off again. It’s a message from Audrey asking me to go Dream Coffee. It’s bright and the sun’s pouring into my apartment. What the heck. I need a coffee. So I rolled out of bed (literally, because I’m only sleeping on a mattress on the floor at the moment….since I haven’t got a sofa yet, this is my make-do sofa bed), brushed my teeth, threw on a cap and some jeans and down I went. I loved Dream Coffee. First off, it’s in my building so it’s so close. Second, they serve a fantastic array of coffee - ranging from Jamaican to South African to the plain ol’Americano. And they have oversized gree velvety plush chairs. And they play jazz. AND the lady is super nice. Anyways, at Dream Coffee I met Audrey and her friend Megan. Interestingly enough, I remember Megan from a brief encounter at Homeplus (the nearby supermarket). I remember this girl saying she loved chocolate coated biscuits and that she’s addicted to them and I remember thinking in my head ”how could she be so skinny still?” Sometimes, I think the world really is a small place. Yet, there’s so much to do and see and so, I think I am really really really small.

The girls were meeting up a friend in Seoul and Grace was to take me shopping so we said our goodbyes and part our ways. I met up with Grace and we walked to the Jung An train station. It was quite a ride. I mean, it did take a good part of the hour but we were listening to her iPod and the music was like a re-run of last night’s clubbing experience. As we neared our destination…I encountered something that is definitely a first for me. I saw a bitch fight. Not just any ordinary bitch fight. But a grandma vs. ajuma fight…..

There was an ajuma standing in front of where I was sitting on the train. She was probably in her 40s and was holding shopping bags. Next to her was two old grandma ladies. As Grace and I got up to leave, and the ajuma was about to sit, the two grandma’s stepped in and sat down AND hogged the other free seat and motioned for their friend to sit. An old man comes to sit and he smiles and apologizes to the ajuma and the ajuma mumbled something along the lines of them being rude (translated by Grace). And so Grandma 1 (the one who stole the seat AND hogged the other seat) got up and yanked at the ajuma’s arm loudly saying “oh i’m so sorry, you sit then.” So there was a bit of pushing and pulling and a whole lot of arguing when the ajuma pushed the grandma really hard into the seat. Then the unexpected happens. The Grandma gets up and swings a blow at the ajuma. Taken back, the ajuma flings her shopping bags and handbags at the grandma and there is a bit of hair pulling and handbags flying. Alas, the train stopped so we quickly hopped off. I couldn’t believe it. I hope nobody got hurt. I’ve never seen such feisty women before, let along a Grandma!! And I had thought MY grandma was a scary lady…. not anymore….not in Korea, in the least. It just strikes me because there is so much cultural norms about being respectful and this happens? So weird…….

But I didn’t think about that for too long. Well, I didn’t have much time to. I was too busy taking in everything, there was soooo much to see. I was in the Gangnam Terminal Underground Shopping Centre. It was a whole shopping district underground! It was huge and there was shop upon shop of shoes, jewellery, skirts, jackets, jeans, tops, more shoes and more jewellery. I was in shopping paradise. Not only was everything cheap, but there was so much stuff and….there was so much stuff! We got lost a couple of times, it’s definitely a maze down there. But I must say, it was one of the best shopping places ever!! I love to touch and feel and look at every little thing and this is the place to find everything you need. They even sell plants and art pieces down to silverware and toilet paper! I loved it!!!

Funny thing was, Audrey and her friend ended up at the same place too. But since it was so big, we wouldn’t have seen each other! See what I mean about the world being small? Yet incredibly huge at the same time…. contradictory I know, but that’s just what I feel.

The Good, the Bad, and the Creepy

 OCT 8th

1PM - My phone is ringing and the caller id is from a co-worker/friend. I pick up and she starts singing Happy Birthday to me. haha, it was so sweet! After receiving a a dozen bday msgs and even more on facebook and now a song, I’m in a pretty good mood and I set off to get ready for work.

3:30PM - I get to school and start preparing for my lessons. My neighbor (the teacher from the next classroom) walks in and does a revised version of the Happy Birthday Song WITH a sexy dance too. I couldn’t be in a better mood.

3:50PM - We’re called into the common room for a quick meeting. Our HI tells us that its not going to be a sweet one and apologizes to break it out on my bday. Oh well, I thought, this school’s so bullshit I didn’t think it could get any worse. It turned out that they had even more tucked away under their sleeves. He tells us that we’re not to sit down. We’re NOT ALLOWED, BANNED to sit. For 6 hours, we’re required to stand? Yes, he says. What’s the rationale behind that? There’s no rationale, I don’t need to explain to you guys.
Basically, our HI won’t defend us, won’t give us any rationale behind this nonsense and the bottom line is, he gets shit from the top and just piles it on us. Head Instructor? He’s just a messenger really, he likes to kiss arses. Thats fine with me. If they want to play cheap, ok.

4:15PM - I’m not amused at all. I walk into class and yell at all the students “Move to the front.” “Teacher, but Irene’s sitting next to me and I’m waiting for her.” “No! Move next to Kelly NOW. I will NOT repeat myself. Move…NOW!”

5:15PM - During the break time, some kids find out from others that it was my birthday so I ended up receiving alot of chocolate, candy, juices (pretty much whatever snacks they had brought to school). Cute~ and sweet. And I ate the chocolate brownie cheesecake that my other neighbor made for me. Sweeet~ I’m starting to feel a little bit better.

8:15PM - Break time again. Yes, two more tedious hours. Mandy drags me to her office for a surprise something. I walk in and OMG there was a bouquet of red roses. Immediately I knew it was from Ric. AWWW….I melted.

They were the velvety kind that still smelt really nice. 37 roses in total. weird number? but who cares, I got roses and thats all that mattered. =D felt like the luckiest girl in the world (or in the school at least!) too bad i didn’t have my camera on me, just a crappy old phone camera …

8:20PM - The bell rings and I skip back to class still on cloud 9… the rest of the lesson was a blur of happiness and day-dreaming. 8 more days…

10:30PM - We all head over to WARA WARA for a late dinner/bday get-together. More surprises - more presents and a Baskin&Robbins ice-cream cake. !!!! I got a bottle of wine, candles, a book, and an art book. Also, got a tea set from my korean sister (we have the same round face, same size hands, in fact, same looking hands, and we’re the same height too! haha)

11:45PM - We’ve happily finished our meal and eaten our icecream and now am taking photographs to document my wonderful evening. Suddenly, a hand grabs my shoulder and yanks me back. I turn in surprise and there is this drunken old man in my face. Is he going to kiss me? The thought flashed in my head. Shocked, my friend stands up and tells him to back off. He sits back down but continues staring at me. I can feel his eyes burning a hole through me. He looked very creepy, and looked extremely depressed, almost suicidal.

12:10AM - The drunken man finally leaves after the restaurant staff spoke with him for a good 15 minutes. As he was leaving, he tried to grab me again. Lucky my co-worker glared at him and told him off before he could do anything. Then he touches my shoulder lightly and winks at me. Definitely gave me goosebumps and sent chills down my back. Very creepy.

What an eventful day! Who would’ve thought so much could happen in 24 hours. I was estactic, utterly annoyed, back to happy and then completely freaked out…. I feel like I’m in a drama show, like Sex and the City….all I need is a pair of Jimmy Choos~~ ha! (as you can tell, I’m hooked onto SATC…)

Sex and the City and the Locksmith

Finally, I got cable TV and internet..unlimited too (never had that privelege back home) so I downloaded things to watch. Sex and the City Season 1..and now I’m hooked. And it’s so weird how its so long ago, yet still so relevant…..

Coming here to Korea, I’ve met many new people. And when I meet someone, I subconsciously categorize him/her. I don’t mean to be judgemental, but from coming from a psychological point of view, its inevitable. We all do it.

I met this one guy with a sly grin and eyes that smiled. The kind of guy that I wouldn’t want to trust. Well he introduces himself and automatically starts selling himself like a product. He’s got an strong odour of desperation hanging around him. He asks for my number, in a sly way where I couldn’t really say no. And then exactly three days later he calls me. Isn’t if funny when guys play by the rules…I didn’t know the three day rule applies here in Korea also. He says he likes my personality and enjoys talking to me. Again that’s funny because we didn’t really talk much. He did most of the talking (or selling, I should say). So how the hell did he manage to gather my personality in that short 15 mins when all I did was nod and un-huh at the right time?

And watching SATC, there was this one character that was so similar. Charming, sweet, rich and single. Carrie ends up sleeping with him and…uh-oh, big mistake. He leaves her before she wakes up with money on the table. Prostitution anyone? And then she says that she saw the red-flags waving but she ignored them and went without her head. Ha.

But then again, if we could all categorize people accurately, then why are so many mistakes being made? Isn’t the human brain so fascinating? We are the most intelligent species, yet sometimes, the dumbest too.

Talking about being dumb..did I mention that I had locked myself out of the house the other day? So I had to get a locksmith. The annoying part was that when I moved in, my school told me that they had extra copies and would give me a set. Did they? No. And when I called for help, they gave me keys yes, but wrong ones. It didn’t fit and then they said, oh, the guy who lived here before you changed the lock. So its not within our scope. Stressed out because I was going to be late for work, I asked someone from work what I could do…call a locksmith? whats the number? do they speak english? what do i do? All she said, You are going to be late for work. How late? What cut the most was that I knew her personally and so thought, ok, as a staff, but as a friend, couldn’t you be a bit more sympathetic? I was lucky enough to have a co-worker who lives in my building kind enough to sacrifice her time to help me out.

Every Sunday, the Church tells us to spread the love. But where’s the love? And how wrong I was to think that being such a devoted Christian, she would be nicer ….ah~~ I guess it goes back to my inaccuracy of categorizing people! Maybe I should re-evaluate my system and update it……lol but hey, isn’t that what life is all about? Learning through trial and error? ^^