Blackmail.
“Was he hitting on you?” He asked. “Umm, I don’t know.” Now, it’s not that I don’t know these things–it’s that I simply don’t care. Not interested. Moot point. “Of course he was hitting on you,” his friend chimed in. The guy turns back to me, covering what could be a trail of him looking stupid. “Naw, I knew that. But what I’m sayin’ is why he tryna get at you when I’m ova hea tryna get at you.” Ahhhh, for the game; the game that I no longer play.
Then he bought me the drink. No, not ‘a’ drink–‘the’ drink. The infamous drink the guys buy the lady in the clubs or at the bars. Maybe to extend the length of the conversation. Perhaps to make a new friend. Quizas to show the other guys spitting game that they still got that touch. To a lady, though, it’s the drink guys buy to try to get up a girls skirt.
By 3:30am, he was tired, within reason. Everyone had been partying for hours. Because the subways don’t start running until 5am at the earliest, he was going to rent a room in a love motel. Earlier he had been describing, in detail, a love motel he stayed at last time he was at this club. As he rambled, I looked off into the distance. “No, but you have to listen to this! How great it is!” He wanted my attention back. He wanted to convince me of how great these motels were. As I’ve stayed in one before (when I went to Seoul–they are cheap motels: $35/night), I shared my disinterest. I was unconvinced. His friend said splitting a room would be cheap. I disagreeably smiled, and the guy said, “It’s OK. I”ll pay the whole thing.”
Again, one can give the benefit of being a nice guy…wanting a chingu (friend) to have a place to rest her head and catch some Zzz’s. However, my experiences don’t leave me naive in this category. I stayed at the club alone and danced the night away until the subway started.
Bribes.
Tap, tap, tap. Before I fell asleep on the 5:30am subway Sunday morning, I eyeballed a random Korean man staring at me. He was on the other side of the subway car. When I groggily put my head up to see who was tapping my side, the same Korean man, now sitting beside me, asking me where I was going.
I’m used to Koreans of all ages and breeds staring at me (and foreigners in general), but was surprised this man was trying to help me not miss me stop. Or so my naive mind had thought. “Home.” I replied, and quickly put my head back down to finish my Zzz’s.
Tap, tap, tap. I don’t know how long I slept, but again I put my head up, eyes wide shut. The man asked again, “where are you going?” Wow. I was surprised he wanted to make sure I didn’t miss my stop: “Hwamyeong.”He clarified, “Seomyeong?” I repeated, “hwamyeong-dong.” He repeated, “Seomyeong.” Really, I didn’t care that much if I missed my stop. It was nearly six in the morning and I had a long night of burning calories (getting my dance on). I was tired, a grump, and was more interested in my subway Zzzz’s. The ride was seemingly taking forever.
Tap, tap, tap. This time I was annoyed. I barely even lifted my head before he came at me and loudly ‘whispered’ in my ear, in English, “I will pay you $100 dollars to play with me.” Despite all my complaints here, I surprisingly gave him the benefit of the doubt. As an English teacher, I understand my students often say one thing but mean another.
At first I thought this guy’s a creep. Then I thought, wait, he wants a private tutor. Someone told me a lot of Koreans find their tutor’s on the subway. My mom told me there is this golf frenzy kicking up in Korea and they need to quickly learn English. Putting those together I thought, perhaps the creep wants to play golf? Finally, I let my realist, non naive side take over and through body language, I both rejected his bribed offer and showed my disgust…and went back to sleep. But not really. I put my head down and pretended I was sleeping. The eye furthest from him I kept open to keep an eye out. Next stop was Seomyeong exit. He got off. I put my head up and watched him stand up, adjust his business suit, and walk out.
Bad Service.
1. “The customer is always right.” If you’ve worked in the service industry, you’ve learned during inservice that this statement holds true. Why, when there is only one group of people in the whole restaurant, would you ever tell them to hush. Shushing the customer is a no-no.
2. My electricity was out since Saturday, despite paying my electric bill. Although the head foreign teacher (a Korean teacher who is in charge of the foreign teachers) received a text re: the lack of electricity, Monday morning I still had to go to him, inquiring. “I don’t know. I”ll talk to (fill in MANY names here) later.” 4PM rolls around. “Have you talked to the boss yet?…because it’s 4pm and the businesses will probs close in an hour.” The head teacher turns around, throwing a harsh look my way; “I have work to do. Do you know that!” Umm buddy, I AM your work! Otherwise, lose the title (and extra pay) for being the “head foreign teacher,” the one us foreigners are to go to for help.
A Line in the Life of Phoebe* 