Tied Up

My new coworker David often wears a tie to work. I don't. Matthew, Adam, Doug, Patrick, and Chris--the entirety of the male staff--also do not wear ties to work. So I mentioned to David that wearing one wasn't necessary, but he persisted. So, we recently made a joke out of it. On Thursday, I also wore a tie to work with the intention of logging all the inconveniences related to wearing ties throughout the day so I could relate them to David. This was of course a joke. At the end of the day I had compiled a nice list: 1. It prevents proper and convenient usage of the water closet, 2. it hinders workplace cohesion by creating a foolish competitiveness among employees, 3. coupled with my blondness, it makes me irresistible to students, 4. it looks businesslike and professional...uh...wait, no....uh...., 5. you can't do yoga well in a tie (David attempted yoga in his tie on Thursday), and 6. ties make foreigners look like Mormon missionaries. As you can see, there's a lot of solid reasons for not wearing one. Somehow this tie debate turned into a "who-has-the-best-tie" contest later in the day, and despite my early lead at the polls with a 3-2 lead, I ended up losing 11-3 (I think it was conspiratorial). So we devised a new contest for Friday, "worst tie/shirt combination competition." Friday morning I bought a fabulous Korean tie: brown, green, and pearl with a bizarrely arabesque pattern. See Facebook for an image. I won the votes handily on Friday, 30-1. David's tie combo, intended to clash, actually appeared fashionable to a number of the Koreans. I was accused of cheating because of my tie purchase, but it was nevertheless a win, and our contest is now at a standstill--we are tied until further contests emerge. In other weekday news, I finished the French novel The Charterhouse of Parma, recommended as a classic from the 19th century. It was tolerably entertaining until the last few pages, which the author seemed to have carelessly heaped together to end his overly long story, and which resulted in them being absolute garbage. Oh well.

Friday we celebrated a staff member's birthday, Gemma. We also played some darts, and I was able to reclaim my status as "okay" after my disappointing prior showing. Saturday I had tentative plans to go to Seoul and see Yun Hye and Dana, but Dana was in the hospital recovering from an intestinal infection and was obviously indisposed for the weekend. So instead, I slept in on Saturday and went to get a Thai massage downtown. I had my coworkers call ahead to make sure the place was reputable, and feeling relatively secure in their assurances, I went to the 11th floor of the Hotel Amigo where the massage parlor was located. Much to my surprise, although it should have been quite evident at the time, the room I was taken to for my massage was simply a hotel room, complete with a small bathroom, a television, and a small wardrobe. On the bed was a change of loose fitting clothes, like pajamas, and I was feeling quite uncomfortable and tense by the time the masseuse came in. She was actually Thai, another unecessary surprise (I was told the staff was Korean), and she spoke only a few words of English. Despite the initial discomfort and awkwardness that has typified my international massage experiences (Brazil was even worse) everything was fine and the massage was quite good. She used her elbows and forearms often, rather than just kneading muscles with her hands, and the results were quite good. I felt more limber and relaxed than I had in many months after the session. From there I went to Kyungbook University to see a concert. The concert was okay--not great and not bad--and it finished around 7p. After returning downtown I caught up with David, his girlfriend, and about five of their old coworkers. David had been in Daegu a year teaching at another school before starting at Wall Street, so he was catching up with them when I joined. We also played some darts and chatted for several hours.

Sunday I woke up a bit late and did some reading. I finished all of Deadeye Dick, a Vonnegut novel set in Ohio. I really enjoyed it, as I do with pretty much everything he writes. I was inspired upon finishing to work on some of the short stories I've had swirling around in my mind, and so I got to work on some of them. I had lots of time Sunday, since church was largely cancelled for a packed-out performance of Handel's Messiah, which I had no interest in seeing. Later that night David and I went to Doug's place for a guy's night: movies and Halo and trash-talking and eating and laughing and punching each other and laughing some more. It's a fun life in Korea. =)

Talked to Joy and Reed on Skype for awhile Monday morning. It was good to catch up with them and swap stories, and it almost made me miss home. Perhaps without the convenience of Skype, I would miss it....

Reading The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James this week. It looks to be a challenge. I'm not excited about it thus far. I'd rather be writing. Funny side note: as I'm writing this, on the 16th floor of a downtown skyscraper, I'm watching two Koreans playing badminton on the spacious roof of a six or seven story building. It's got to be in the low 30s, lower with the wind chill, but that fact certainly does not deter them from getting in meaningful midday exercise. And amazingly, the shuttlecock hasn't flown off the building...yet. Going to Tokyo next week--trying to decide what to see while I'm there...okay, that's it for today.