Mon Jun 23, 2003
I didn’t end up going to the K63 building yesterday because Sora sprained her ankle, poor girl, she’s so frail. It’s funny, she learns a lot of her English phrases from “The Truman Show”, her favourite movie. She was horrified when I had a good laugh and told her Jim Carey’s English was hardly standard. Especially phrases like “Alrighty then, that’s the whole kit and caboodle!” But then I got to thinking, what is standard English? American English? British English? We all use the language in such idiosyncratic ways anyway.
So I headed into Seoul, poked around the Itaewon market, in the foreign district, where once again I couldn’t help wandering where all the ‘homeys’ come from. Why is there a thriving African American community in Seoul? What do they do? Maybe they’re all soldiers, the “combined forces” army base is just around the corner. Speaking of which, I headed down to the base and checked to see if any of the Korean soldiers could speak English. They couldn’t of course, which begs the question: How does a “combined forces” unit co-operate effectively without a common language? I have a feeling “combined forces” is just a euphemism for “covert U.S. occupation”. Anyways, I checked out the War memorial on the base, where they have disbanded tanks and planes on display as well as a museum showcase, where you can experience an authentic Vietnam in the “combat chamber” and pretend you’re shooting Japanese soldiers in the virtual reality lounge… South Korea certainly has been in a lot of wars. Right from the Paleolithic onward, it’s amazing they’re still around.
Tomorrow is the field trip - we’re taking the little monsters (an endearing term, I assure you) to a movie. Should be good for them, although I don’t think Arnold can hold it in for two hours…With him it’s always “Can I go bathroom!? Please Antoine-teacher! Hurry up!” every five minutes. You remember little monkey Arnold? His dad is the Korean Mr. Bean?