So this Lost in Translation metaphor for my time here has gone a bit
too far. I did some modeling for some advertising here. Half the
time I was laughing because I thought I was Bill Murray trying to
shoot his whiskey commercial in Japan. Given I wasn't advertising
for whiskey in Japan, but there were too many similarities. My boss
called me yesterday to do a favor for his friend. 5 hours with
lunch just shooting photographs 100,000 won (about 87 bucks). He
made it seem like a favor because his friend really needed some
foreigners to shoot. Reluctantly I said yes.
So this morning I woke up at 9:30 to meet this man with 2 of my
coworkers (Roma and David). It turned out to be an art academy
(hogwon - this country is crazy about education and have academies
for everything. Kids must attend school for a couple extra hours
because 6 days a week isn't enough.). So we posed with children
while finger painting, molding clay, and pretending to paint on an
easel. The commands were hilarious for how they wanted our facial
expressions. For example: serious, mad and smile, big laughing
and so on. I don't understand how foreigners will help to sell his
art academy but that's not for me to ask.
But the good part was I was able to play with paint and made 100,000
won in 2 hours. We ended up leaving a noon. Good day to start off
the day in my opinion. So with the extra cash I went to the store
and bought a used cell phone. It is 2 years old yet has a color
screen and actually is in English (imagine trying to figure out the
commands on a cell phone written in only Korean) and cost 75,000 won
($65). I am excited. It is the simple expensive kind where I
prepay, but I can finally be reached anywhere. (
I didn't realize how accustomed to the fast paced phone life style
that I had had for 2 years now in the states. It is very
convenient, especially in Korea, to be able to be reached or reach
anyone anywhere. Such as when in a taxi and need to have someone
give the taxi driver directions because he can't understand what I
am saying. Or when I miss a train and need to call ahead and tell
someone not to meet me at the train station. Or to walk around in a
huge mall get separated, but yet find each other. There are just
times when it makes life easier and now I am returned to that
connected world. Plus I feel like I have become more Korean with
it.
