Dakota Breaks All the Rules, Works the Red Lights

“Aaron, this is difficult for me to say to you,” begins my Korean boss, the manager of the hogwon.

Uh oh. “Tell me,” I say, but I’m very worried. What happened. Are my students not enjoying the class? Is my work product unsatisfactory? Did the student who cried when I shot her with a water gun accuse me of harrassment? This could get ugly.

“Your students have seen you on the street.”

……

They saw me on the weekend? What were they doing out in city hall at 2 am? They saw me working the street? How can I help that, I’m an urban cowboy, it’s my “other” job!

“Am I partying too much? I don’t think I’ve ever had any beer from the family mart downstairs.”

“No, that’s not the problem,” says my boss. “It’s when there’s a light.”

Aha.

“It’s when there’s a…red light.”

Ohhhhhhh. Now I understand.

I explain: as difficult as it is to imagine, there are places in the world where you don’t have to wait twenty minutes to cross the street, where lights are guided by traffic patterns and not random long intervals. Coming from such a far away land, I don’t have the patience to wait for the light to change, I just have to go.

In truth, nothing makes me feel more alive than jaywalking. I’m like the ultimate badass. I like to whistle to the ladies when I’m right in the middle of the road. Yeah girl, I make my OWN lights. Hold my hand and we can cross the street together.

So my students ratted me out. I wonder what their exact thoughts are about this. Are they bragging to my boss that their teacher is so cool because he fights the law? Are they tattling on me, trying to get me arrested? Are they concerned for my safety and want me to avoid the danger of oncoming traffic? Any of these things could be possible, they could be possible all at once.

I feel bad for my boss, that I had to extract this note of caution from her, but I still feel very alienated by these bizarre incidences of cultural disconnect. Even after a year, and knowing the indirectness of communication here and the idea of ‘saving face’, I don’t understand how bringing up crossing the street has the same levity as if my boss were telling me to stop bringing hookers to work, or smoking outside with the kids, or something equally bad. There’s no ‘middle ground’ reaction to something.

Any law you break makes you a bad boy, whether the act is putting a coke can in the paper waste basket, or killing a man.

I guess part of the problem is you are not supposed to be blatant about such things.

Back at home, the custodial battle for Onya the puppydog rages on at medium heat. During the day, the landlord’s husband has been taking her to work, or wherever he goes. Maybe he’s going to a business club during the day. Whatever the case, Onya waits for me to come at night, she knows she will have a friendly face and a nice doggy dinner whenever I return. We usually play for about 30 minutes and then I got to bed, or dick around on the computer for 6 hours.

My bosses right now are both away on a field trip to Canada, so the office is a bit hectic as the teachers try to control the students and convey an atmosphere of calm and authority.

Some pictures of my neighborhood will be posted later tonight.