Fun With Koreans

A good friend of mine, David, is heading to South Korea this Thursday to teach English for a year in Seoul. He only just told us this month that he had made the decision to go over seas, so he has been making the arrangements on a rather hurried schedule. David needed to go to the Korean Consulate in LA to get his visa, but seeing how he had already given most of his stuff and car to his parents for safekeeping, he needed a ride. I told him I could take him, even though I hate going into downtown and the freeway, because he’s a good man and a friend.

So we began our journey at about 9:30am from Fullerton and took off for downtown. When we got to the consulate I sat down in some chairs while David went to the visa window. David stood there for a couple seconds while the Korean woman behind the glass talked on the phone and completely ignored him. He started filling out a form and once the woman got off the phone she got up and walked off without saying a word to him. It was around this time that an elderly Korean woman who was sitting two chairs to my left smiled at me and began to talk to me in Korean. I do not speak Korean. So I smiled at her and sort of nodded a bit. I got the impression that she was letting me know a window was open to go talk to someone, but for all I know she was a Space Ghost fan who was commenting that I had “beautiful girl hair”. I waited for her to finish and then I smiled and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand”. I guess this was sufficient because she just smiled and nodded at me. By this time the woman had returned to the window, as they strained to understand each other it was clear that David needed his passport, which was back in Fullerton. So we drove back to Fullerton, grabbed the passport, and returned back to downtown. Oh and I almost killed us on the freeway but never mind that.

So we walk into the consulate at 12:10pm and the security guard tells us that everyone is gone to lunch until 1pm. I should have mentioned that I had class at 1:30pm. We kind of looked at each other, laughed, shook our heads, and walked back out the door in search of sustenance. The consulate is in a business area of downtown with a large Asian community around it. So we walked down the street and came to a Korean restaurant, not sure what it was called but it had a little mascot looking face that said Mr. Tofu, and decided to partake. Like the consulate, we were the only Caucasians in the place. We took a seat and were given one menu for the both of us. I decided on a fairly simple boiled brisket and noodle soup but David, crazy old David, went for a soup bowl that was translated as “Hangover Soup”. Mine was fantastic but David wasn’t too thrilled with his mushy veggies and brown squishy thing that we never figured out what it exactly was. So David choked down his food while I mocked him and devoured my meal. We went back to the consulate and I once again took my seat and this time watched a replay of the final match of the 2002 World Cup, S. Korea vs. Italy. David is still bitter that Italy lost the game. We narrowly escaped an altercation with an elderly Korean man who was getting pushy when David was trying to pay. We finally got out of there and headed home and hey I was only an hour late for class.

Here he is the man himself sitting with one of the most questionable Chinaman I know. Keep in touch mon frere.

9/11: 5 Years Later

I didn't think my first post would be on such a volatile topic, but the timing of the 5 year anniversary of 9/11 made it uncontrollable.

Six years ago my wife and I, at that time we were still only dating, were in New York. We had an amazing time bumming around the Big Apple for a few days. One of the highlights of the trip was dinner we had on the 107th floor of the North Tower called "Windows Of The World". We were privilleged enough to be part of a private party and were served in a private dining area. After dinner I took some video of the view from our seats; you could actually feel the building sway from the heavy winds while we ate.


Fast forward 1 year. My roommate and I are rudely awakened by our suitemate that shared our bathroom. He exclaimed rather excitedly, "Guys, Palestinians bombed the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, they're gone!" I groggily looked at him and in my unbelief, I threw a shoe at him. Then I turned to my roommate and asked, "Do Palestinians even have airplanes?!" Soon we turned on the TV and were faced with the North Tower ablaze and then saw live as United Airlines Flight 175 was piloted into the South Tower. It was unbelievable. Watching it on TV made it feel like some sort of twisted reality show. The only thing that made it real for me, watching it from the other side of the nation, was the fact that I had just recently been there. As I saw men and women jump from the tops of the towers I remembered how the taxis looked like ants. All I could think of was what kind of desperation would make a person do that. I suppose only the knowledge of certain and irreversible death.


Normally under these circumstances we would have declared war on the responsible party. But soon we found ourself in a precarious position; how do you declare war on an enemy without borders, embassy, government, etc? There is a need for justice, for the guilty parties to be brought to justice. President Bush made a decision to fight terrorists AND the countries that harbor them. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done if I were in his shoes at that time. There was also a need for healing. The nation had been dealt a severe blow and we looked to the President for direction. I believe that the President and his administration believed that healing would come from the capture of the terrorists. But, as reassuring as knowing those resposible would be behind bars, it can never bring back those who were lost. In this sense, I believe that the President was way off. So here we are, 5 years later, and I wonder how have we attempted to heal the wounds of the nation. Certainly we have attended to the physical needs, better security in airports and that sort, but have we attended to the spiritual and emotional needs? The answer is no. If you have been to Manhattan recently you know what is there, a giant hole in the ground.

Maybe it's just me but I have never found a hole to be very inspirational. I feel sad for those who work in downtown and are forced to see it everyday. Now I know what some of you are thinking, "We're going to build more giant buildings and it will be great!" Yes, you may be right but as we wait for those FAR away buildings to be built we continue to exist with a giant open wound. We need something good to unite the country rather than waiting for the next disaster that will "live in infamy".

So the big question, is the world a safer place after 5 years? We've gotten rid of Saddam, now we're struggling to keep a worse despot from taking control. We've captured and killed well known terrorists, now we're seeing increased militants like the recent attack on the US embassy in Damascus. We've foiled terrorist attacks and have continued to see terrorist attacks around the Western world. I wish I could say that we are safer, but I don't think we are. What I do know is that I have never changed the way I live because of 9/11 and I don't plan on changing now. I think this world needs some goodwill and unless we're ready to help our fellow man, we won't see the changes the world so desperately needs.