Trooper

This evening I was taken out for dinner with my student Ellen and her non-English speaking mother. I had planned to meet them at 6:30, and at 4:30 I woke up from a day of napping on my floor and was still feeling the ill effects of the previous night. I cursed myself for poor decision making and spent the next couple hours trying to feel alive and get ready for what was ahead. Being the anti-socialite that I am, I was really concerned about trying to make conversation and using my student as a translator between the mother and myself. But the conversation side of things ran smoothly and what I should have been concerned about was their choice of “traditional Korean food”. Korean style is to have many dishes all over the table, and everyone shares the food, and both Ellen and her mom were excited for me to try it all. The plates kept arriving, and about 90% of them were heaped with various forms of seafood. I wanted to be a good sport, and didn’t think it would be appropriate to express my dislike of anything fishy. So, I toughed it out, tried everything that was there and played an hour long game of mind over matter. Some bites required a chaser in the form kimchi, and some pieces could easily be camouflaged and hidden in my bowl of rice, all the while my stomach wondered how I could be so cruel. But I managed, I’m alive and I played the game well enough that they requested for me a doggie bag of seafood Korean pancake… mmmmm....