Nice Weather; Annoying People

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today. The sky was the bluest of blue, no clouds, no smog, warm during the day yet not hot, cool at night--perfect. I took a long walk by the soccer stadium. It was around 9 AM, and there were HUNDREDS of people running a 5-K marathon. The people in the front were men, but women and entire families were in the back. Some women even ran with a child on their back, as old as 3 or 4 years old.

On the walk to the bus stop a car pulled up beside me honking. Oh, it's just the guy from Shinbok Church. I've ran into him a couple of times in the area. He asked me if I could start tutoring his daughter in September after she gets back from spending the summer vacation in New Zealand. I told him that I'd be leaving around then, but we exchanged contact info so maybe I can find someone else to do it. Rob and Joy are staying another year, although he'll only be working 2 days a week at his job and her having no contract with anyone, they make a lot of extra money by doing odd jobs and tutoring. Apparently they have no fear of being caught.

Some Korean people REALLY bother me--the annoying lady from the retreat sat down behind me in church, then proceeded to pronounce the words to the songs wrong. In the middle of singing she tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what "regular orphanage visit" in the bulletin meant. Uh, are we singing or are we studying the bulletin?! I explained what an orphanage was, then she asked if it was the first time. Well, do you know what "regular" means? That means it's NOT the first time. Then she asked what time it would happen. I don't know, that's why it says "See Bill for more info." Who's Bill? The pastor! Then the OTHER annoying lady from the retreat was asking Scott for more info about the orphanage, and when he said she'd have to take the bus from Ulsan to Nopo-dong and then the subway from Nopo-dong to Nampo-dong to the meeting place, she acted like that was a huge deal. We explained that since Nopo-dong is at the end of the line, you can only get on the subway going in one direction, then you don't have to change lines at all (Busan only having 2 lines makes it easy even when you do have to change). She still acted clueless and wanted to meet somewhere else, like at church or at Nopo-dong. I don't know if they agreed to that or not; if she comes, will she bring her brat children with her?! I know, I have a bad attitude. But some Korean people really drive me crazy!

At Shinbok Octavia was back. The normal boys weren't there. In their place were three girls and two boys who come occasionally. John and I talked about Reagan over coffee; later Octavia mentioned him, too. Apparently among their generation Reagan was fairly well-known and well-liked. People in my generation don't know who he was, though. They asked me what I thought of him, and I said that I don't really have a memory of him, I've just heard what people say about him. The only thing I remember is of him being really old (even older than my grandparents--to a 7-year-old, that's ANCIENT!) and that people seemed to be fairly happy when he was president, and they didn't think George Bush (the first one) was as good as Reagan.

Back at home I had pizza then went on another walk around the soccer stadium. Did I say the weather and temperature were great?! The walking path was congested and the slopes were filled with families picnicking. I got a lot of looks--it's better to walk in the morning--I run into mostly the same people, so since they're used to seeing me now they don't stare as badly anymore.

The whole evening the cats have been crazy. One figured out how to climb the screen and got on top of the clothes-drying rack; the other one tried to follow but was too timid to make the contortionist jump from the screen to the rack. They've been meowing off and on all evening. I've yet to see their owner. I wonder what the reaction will be when the claw marks are found?!