livin' with seoul: a divide?

i’m sensing a divide in the ck office. while i was of the impression, up until yesterday lunch time, that the koreans i share the office with all work in seamless harmony with each other, now i’m not so sure. there are, as far as i can make out, 3 main departments within the company & the office is layed out accordingly, with the staff members from each of the departments grouped in nice little buches of lime green & blue cubicles (they are the company colours you see). it’s all very cartoonie looking & 2 a westerner like me all very humourous as well, with the hum of “blah blah blah mi-da”’s emanating from little koreans beavering away @ whatever they are paid 2 beaver away @.

as i was sucking & slurping my noodles yesterday @ lunch i was asked by a member of my department (i’ll get back 2 you when i know what it’s called & what it does within the great sphere of the ck universe) what i thought of a certain individual in 1 of the other 2 departments (this came a day after i was asked if i thought another male employee was “good looking”... wtf?). the question broke my concentration, absorbed as i was in sucking/slurping (don’t wanna ruin that shirt by being 2 careless). it would have been a more awkward question 2 answer, @ least truthfully, if i actually knew, or had @ least been introduced, 2 the individual they were asking after (so far the only names i know of people outside my department are those of the cute girls... & the boss of course) but it got me thinking that maybe things are not as harmonious in the ck office as they seem. the conversation on the subject continued amongst the rest of my collegues in “blah blah blah mi-da” korean once i’d given my “umm, i don’t really know who you’re talking about” answer. i know this becasue while i may not understand any korean beyond the words for ‘2’, ‘beer’, ‘thank you’, ‘how much?’, 'yes', 'please' & ‘okay’, i do know when i’m being spoken about. it’s mainly because i’m still being constantly fussed over. yep. but i reckon i’ll become less of a novelty soon enough. i have 2... i've worked with these guys before... & anyway, i’m not that interesting.

the ‘livin’ with seoul’ potatoe watch – an update
none yet. i’m getting starch from rice, but it’s just not the same... rice can't hold a candle 2 the humble spud. amen 2 that.

'livin' with seoul' photo album
just 2 let you know. i’ll be uploading ramdom pictures of seoul randomness 2 the blog photo album. you can access the album on the right (or by clicking on the pic below). the album will be growing quicker than the blog. just 2 let you know.

things i’ve impressed the koreans with so far -

my ability 2 eat a bowl of noodle soup with chopsticks. years of practice means i rock @ this (& the koreans have noticed).

my golf swing. the boss, jay, is learning 2 play golf & his swing is a thing 2 fear. it’s so bad that it makes my swing look good... & that makes me look good. he's threatening 2 take me out for a round some day, but @ USD$200-300 a pop i can't see that being an all 2 common occurrence.

my appetite for pizza bread & cold coffee @ 8am in the morning. hey, it’s bread after all & it sure beats rice @ that hour. actually, it beats rice @ any hour (but not spuds, of course).

the fact that i actually like kimchi. that seems 2 surprise & impress them in equal measure.... each & every lunchtime.

the fact that i don’t react in a disturbed/voilent way 2 the endless stream of pictures of my cheating bitch of an ex-wife that i'm subjected 2 on a daily basis. that smile adorns the company banners hanging on the walls, the glossy brocheures sitting on my desk, obscure areas of the company website that i always seem 2 navigate 2, & the flip calendar i reference a million times a day. yep, i may temporarily be the novel foreginer in the office, but i’ll forever be the ex-husband of the ck poster girl. biatch.

my ability 2 conduct teacher interviews over skype. i know, they are impressed by the littlest things (“i didn’t invent voip guys”).

the fact that everyone in the office thinks i’m cool. that 1 i can understand.... because i am.

a 'livin' with seoul' appeal
hey, whoever is sending them balloons into the north... would you mind stopping, thank you very much? i’m here now. @ this stage i don’t really care for the present condition, be it dead or alive, of yer man kim jong il but don’t you know them north koreans are unstable?... bose-einstein condensate of metastable helium-esque unstable? so stop it... please. i’m here now & i'm asking nicely.

whoops!

how not 2 handle getting a speeding ticket