1. Have you ever had so much you wanted to say but couldn’t find the right words to say it?! Well, throw in the fact that even if you did find the right words, no one around you would understand your words anyways. They don't speak your language… that’s exactly the situation I find myself in… repeatedly. Tonight stress reached it’s limit at training and I just snapped… POP! Junior Mint was away on business and so Q and I went in together to train. He kept on trying to help me out, and much love to him for it, but I couldn’t help but just wish we both spoke the same language. I mean, how the heck am I supposed to learn if I have no idea about what he is saying?!
2. I rubbed my ears vigorously, shook my head, and hoped that I’d open up my eyes and we’d be speaking the same language… but that didn’t happen. I got all stressed about it. I knew he was trying to help me but it’s so hard… so frustrating.
3. I feel like a cornered cat, a mute, and how ironic… a hermit. I feel like a hermit in a country often referred to as the Hermit country. How appropriate is that?! There’s literally days that go by when I don’t speak a word. And to explain this to Q or my friends, as to why I get frustrated and shut myself off, would just cause more confusion and more disappointment. My homepage has been what’s been keeping me sane this past week.
4. And so on that note, I threw on my jacket and left training. Q called out to me, asking me why I wasn’t waiting for him. I told him I was just stressed. I wanted to spill my beans out, right there and then, make him understand. But I knew, even trying to attempt to explain it would just confuse him and cause more frustration. I can’t expect him to understand and so I chose not to even explain. This is Korea. He is Korean. I don’t have the luxury of speaking the native tongue and so sometimes it makes my life so hard, like today. I live in a country infested with over 50 million people but sometimes I feel so isolated cause of my language.
5. Running into Ms. Ignorant in the stairs definitely didn’t help the situation. The deal with her is a month or two back, at a previous boxing dinner party, she decided to get all cocky on me and ask me a million and one questions in Korean. I answered best I could but when I got stuck on one question, she looked at me wide-eyed and said, “You live in Korea long time but you no learn me language?”… or something jumbled up like that. My response to that was, “Ya, and you teach English? How did you get that job?!” Ever since then, I have refused to like her despite her repeated efforts to butt-kiss up to me and shower me with flattery. I don’t like rude people and I sure as hell rather sit at home on a Friday night than deal with their patheticness.
6. My Korean is definitely much higher than Junior Mint’s English and considering I see Junior Mint as my key to success with boxing, I stayed in tonight and plugged away at my Korean studies. I joke around with him, telling him that his English is in the minus numbers cause what few English words he does know, he mixes up. He says “you” when he means “me”, but I am happy to note that he has finally mastered “left” and “right”, and thank God too cause I was taking too many hooks to the head to let that go on for any longer… seriously! Hehehe…
7. My initial plan was to attend the boxing dinner party. Tonight I skipped out though. It’s the first monthly boxing meeting I’ve ever missed but I knew tonight’s one was going to be a biggie. They’d be celebrating Black Skinny, Panty Boy Jr., and my February 23rd fight and so I knew I should have attended but I just didn’t feel like being around anyone. Having people drill me about my boxing techniques and bombarded me with tons of food I could only wish to indulge in cause of my diet, really wasn’t what I felt I could handle tonight.
9. Later on I found out that many members of the Korean Boxing Commission showed up, as well as many other influential people in the boxing community. Kind of kicking myself for not showing up but I still think it was for the better.
10. Around 1am Q showed up at my apartment building. I told him I was getting ready to hit the hay but he insisted I let him see him… “even if just for a minute”, he said. And with that, I was convinced to get dressed and go downstairs to see him. Q greeted me with a huge smile and a big hug… and a chocolate dipped, jelly-filled ice cream cone! I beat off the temptation and refused to eat it. He said he was all concerned about me and that so many people asked about me at the party. Hearing that made me feel so much better. Sometimes I honestly feel as if I am not missed and so it’s nice to know that I am.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Am I the only one that feels this way?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Korea February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. I was wrong. I stayed, launched my first company, Flipside Fitness, and then opened Korea's largest boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now called Hulk's Club).
After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and returned to Toronto, Canada. But then I left again.
Now I live in the Philippines where I am the CEO and head coach of Empowered Clubhouse, the Philippines' first and only boxing clubhouse exclusively just for women. I also am the founder of the Lil' Sistas Project, CEO and designer of Slay Gear and Baa Baa Black Sheep .Ph.
5 comments:
you're not the only one AMY
Hey Amy, I know what you mean about the language barrier/hermit thing. I'm in the countryside, and no one in my town speaks english. Eventually, when my Korean was good enough, I would just ask people to use simeple Korean, depending on how used I was to their bad English or Konglish. It can really piss me off at times, and I'm sick of the "this is Korea" excuse for having to speak Korean, when so many people here study English.
Also, feeling alone in a country of 50million ppl is something I've always struggles with here. But, you're one damn sting lady, mentally as well as physically, you'll survive ^^
Yo Jenn,
Thanks girl! I know I'm not but knowing that doesn't make it feel any better... I am sure you can relate to that. Thank God for some good Korean men that have come our way though... sure helps!
Yo, yo Andy,
Ya, I am sick of that "this is Korea" excuse too. I love it how I've been here for about 3 years and still get heckled for my Korean. But, when you consider I worked long hours at a hagwan and was planning a wedding for my first year, what do they expect?!
Most Koreans have started studying English since middle school and so I love it when a person my age (27) approaches me and gives me a hard time when they've have about 7 years, at least (middle school and high school) of studying the language but still can't go beyond the "Hi, how are you? I am fine thank you."
Don't get me wrong, I hear what they're saying too but I really wish they'd think twice before they point their finger!
Like my grade school teacher said, whenever you point your finger, remember there's 3 of your own fingers pointing back at you!
... oh, and thanks for the props! Fighting... hehehe
Yeah... Totally get what you mean. They'll hassle you about not speaking fluent Korean, but they can't take it when you have a go about their English. The whole English thing, and working in a hagwon, is why I'm leaving at the end of my contract. I like Korea, but the work/English thing is just f**ked. If I didn't have to go to work everyday, I would love Korea. haha.
I'm 27 as well, and been here a bit over 2 years, and I get the same shit too. I got sick of my students acting like retards in my class, so I started using Korean in class, coz I can't be bothered with English. Not the best thing to do, but I use it for mostly behavioural stuff, coz they just don't listen to English. Then I get parents complain, coz I use too much Korean in class, and the parents complaining are of the kids that misbehave the most. but, its okay for the korean teacher to use korean in class. lol. I"m just the foreigner here. lol.
Hehe.. Koreans thinking twice? Sometimes, they don't even think once. Obviously I'm generalising, but it's true.
and I wrote that comment from my ipod. it should have "strong" instead of "sting". haha. damn ipod keyboard. lol.
I understand you verry wel Amy,i have the same problem whit you, i wanne tel you so manny thing's, but can't say it in englich!...so frustrating ,for sure!...BUT i learn from you, it's slowly ,but i do ,THANK YOU CHAMP!
Post a Comment