Awkwardness gets brought
to a whole different level when you’re in a foreign country. The language, the
customs, everything is different. Just when you think you’re trying
to do the right thing and fit in with the crowd, something blows your mind and
reminds you that you are not blending in as well as you thought. Whether
the following situations blow your mind or just make you laugh, here are my top
ten awkward situations as a visitor in Korea thus far:
1.
Getting on the bus going the wrong way, only to figure it out when the driver
gets to the end of the line and gives me the, so, what are you doing? look. Thankfully, he didn't leave me in the
middle of nowhere, in the dark. After a ten minute smoke break, he took me
back into town on the opposite route without making me pay extra.
2. Standing
in “line” at an ATM machine and repeatedly having older people cut in front
of me like it’s no big deal.
3.
Having random Koreans motion to me with their camera, then realizing they don’t want me to take
their picture, they want me to actually be in their picture. I must
be a strange sight to see, indeed.
4.
Having to do a Breathalyzer test in a rental car on Jeju Island at a mandatory
stop. Have you ever had to
play charades with a police officer? It took at least three tries to
figure out what exactly he wanted me to do. I was not the least bit
intoxicated.
5.
Finding out that there is no toilet paper in the bathroom at school, or almost anywhere else for that matter. This
means you must bring your own or steal tissue from the teacher’s room if you’re
desperate. And believe me, even some of the teachers get desperate. Also, how
awkward is it to have to decide how much toilet paper you need before you go into the bathroom?
6.
Dancing with both the Vice-Principal( older gentleman) and then the Principal (
older female) while surrounded by borderline intoxicated co-workers at my first teacher outing( Noraebang/ Karaoke). Apparently my acting skills were phenomenal that night because my co-teacher thought I was having a blast. I was, in fact, mortified.
7.
Being patted on the butt by the new female Vice Principal. She did the same thing to the other foreign
teacher when she met her, too, so now I think she must just be a touchy person.
8.
Watching kindergartners do a modified English version of Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs where one of the dwarfs introduces himself
saying, “I’m sexy.” That’s just the tip of
the iceberg, folks. Have you ever watched Mean Girls? The “sexy dance”
stuff is a real thing here, though the kids might not wear those kinds of
outfits. Also, none of the parents or teachers watching seemed to think it was
strange at all.
9.
Getting caught, at an all teacher dinner, dumping soju( Korean rice alcohol)
out of my shot glass into a bowl so that the
principal can pour me some more for a toast. Everyone laughed at me, but I
guarantee my liver was better off for doing it.
10. And last, but certainly not least, listening to one of my fourth graders swear
in complete earnest, in the middle of her skit, and in front of her me and
her entire class. To reminisce with me on that one, check out my previous blog
post here:
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