For those of you who don't know, I live above a business that does car work. There always seems to be a bunch of mechanics and their friends hanging around. I'd never really paid any attention to them at all, but I see the owner of the shop, who is also my landlord, quite a bit.
I got home from school early last Thursday, and was invited to have some food (sandwiches) with them downstairs. Even though my Korean is getting better, their limited English skills made converstation incredibly hard. We were able to communicate alright through google translator, and somehow I ended up saying yes to a date with one of the guys! It took about 45 minutes of using translator to get our plans made!
We decided to go to a movie on Sunday night. The guy, Michael, picked me up in his pimped out Hyundai Avante, and we went to the CGV at U-Square (bus terminal). He wanted me to bring my laptop with me so we could communicate. That was wonderful, carrying around 5 pounds on a date haha. We ate at TGI Fridays at U-Square, which was pretty good. I kind of wish we would have eaten at a Korean restaurant, because then it would have been like a real Korean date! We had ribs, pasta, fries, and beer. I was glad he ordered beer, it helped calm my nerves.
We took some pictures at dinner of us trying to talk to each other. I know the waiters and waitresses just thought that was hilarious. I'm sure we provided lots of entertainment. We didn't talk much during dinner, for obvious reasons, but he talked on his phone A LOT. One of his friends speaks English, and she served as a translator for a part of the meal. Talk about romantic.
After dinner, we had about an hour before the movie started at the IMax. He bought our tickets, I wasn't sure what the movie was. We some computers at the terminal, and again, used google translator. I found out some more details about him, so that was good. We "talked" about travel, North Korea, the military, and college.
The movie we saw was on the 5th floor of the terminal, and it was called District 9. I was so glad it was an English movie with Korean subtitles. My favorite part was before the show started when they showed the emergency escape routes out of the theater, just like on the airplane. Another difference was that they didn't have any previews, it was just commercials. The movie was okay, a little to SciFi for me. It was about aliens taking over Johannesburg and the main character turned into one by the end of the movie.
I made it back to my apartment around 12pm, I think the movie got kind of long. Overall, it was a nice night, but I wish we could have actually spoken to each other. I don't think I said a full sentence all night :)
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I was wondering how this was going to turn out. Sounds like an experience.
ReplyDeleteYour story is similar to some that I have had with Korean women. Hard to build a connection with such a large language (and cultural) barrier.
ReplyDeleteThat is funny that he took you TGIFridays and to see an English movie. He probably was thinking he was getting the experience of a "real American date." That's comical that you were looking for the opposite.
Good times...