So, after having taken a self-imposed hiatus from as many school dinners as possible (and there have been many!), I finally had some spare time (and patience, ha!) to attend another full-out gathering..
Overall, I would say that it was infinitely milder (thank goodness) than the very first one, though not without remnants of the past. Although, I can't say that this "normalcy" (if that's what you want to call it) wasn't due in large part to the fact that I was smart enough to have left early this time around, as it certainly had the potential to become weird, fast.
So a quick run-down from my short stay:
-Much to my horror, the men have improved their English dramatically?! Of course they can't discuss the origin of water on the moon (Who can??), but they are more than capable of verbalizing their feelings and opinions, which is generally NOT a good thing for me. Yikes!
-The respective music and computer teachers still insisted on doing shots with me, despite the fact that I had been intentionally nursing a sprite since my arrival. (It's REALLY hard to turn down a genuinely nice, smiling, old Korean man--who's not trying to coerce you into a date, I might add--since they are such a rare breed. Plus, when the music teacher discovered that I would be attending the school's orchestra concert that he was conducting a few months ago, he handed ME flowers after the performance! An amazing gesture, n'est pas? So I happily obliged.)
-Teeny, tiny, bald, important man immediately sat on my left, after observing Mr. S come sit on my right, says, "He likes you, and I like you." He also repeatedly said, "He is bad boy, I am good boy. I am small boy." (This man is all of 5 feet, with special slippers on, maybe.) Exasperated and uncomfortable, I finally said, "I know," and shook my head, but this time Mr. S was able to ask, between shots of soju, "Why do you think that?" (Ahhhhhhhh! Why are you now able to say things in my language that I can actually understand??) While I wanted to retort, "because your propensity to engage in extra-curricular activities is obvious, sir," I instead settled for a nervous laugh and "it's just a joke."
-Just when I was preparing to make my smooth criminal exit, who but Mr. Closeted Cassanova and Mrs. C rush over to my table, with the former requesting that we take a shot together, and the latter pouting and telling me how disappointed she was with my leaving, given that she'd just arrived mere minutes ago (You don't say?? Why, that is precisely when I realized that it was time for me to make my exit!) and quizzing me over whether or not I drank any alcohol. (Really, lady?? What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?)
-Got lost on the way back to my apartment, which occurred in my attempt to escape the creepiness caused by Mr. Closeted Cassanova's suddenly feeling the need to see me out of the door (Remember: This man doesn't even make eye contact with me during regular school hours, and Korean men in general certainly do NOT partake in activities such as holding doors or escorting females!) and into the dark sameness that is night-time in Korea, so I made a wrong turn to get out of his sight (too short a distance for a taxi), to avoid the creepiness of his smiling and watching me walk away. (I think that I have a pretty good sense of direction, but you'd be surprised at how many cell phone stores, coffee shops (under the same brand), and internet rooms you could pass at any given time here, especially since there are no street signs.) Luckily, I was able to ask a few pedestrians for directions (which was still a gamble, given that many Koreans don't see any need to explore areas outside of their daily route, plus they would be more likely to give wrong directions rather than admit to not knowing something, and thus, losing "face"), and I eventually ended up right around the corner, again.
Like I said, this dinner was a cake walk (preferably, with Western-style cakes that don't include things like sweet potatoes and red beans..) compared to the first one. And while this story may be a bit more yawn-inducing (lol) than the first one, given the things that continue to constitute my Korean (work) experience, I'll take it!
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