I stepped out for lunch a little early. I was hungry and wasn't sure what I wanted, so I decided to take a walk in the skyways.
For those unfamiliar with the Minneapolis skyway system, it's a series of glass hallways that connect buildings across streets at the second floor level. These skyways are all over downtown Minneapolis, so basically you can take a walk from one end of the downtown to the other without stepping outside in the cold...It's pretty cool. There are restaurants in the skyway areas of a lot of the buildings, so people who work or shop downtown have many choices for food.
So there I was, getting hungrier by the moment. I work about two blocks away from the downtown Macy's and there are a few places between the school and Macy's in the skyway. I was on my way to Macy's and I saw that new restaurant had opened. I peered in and saw it was a sushi place. It looked good and I stuck my head in a little further. I saw the proprieter and two workers and I could hear Korean being spoken. Being the brazen guy that I am, I just walked in and in my most polite Korean asked him how long the store had been open...He said about two weeks...then...he realized the question was being asked in his own language. His eyes about bugged of his head. He'd never heard a white guy speak Korean to him...especially using chondae mal-polite Korean used when first meeting someone or to an individual of higher age or greater authority. He then broke out in a big smile, and had me sit down. It was cool because I was the only customer and he and I had a very nice conversation. Gosh, after five years of living in the states my Korean was really rusty, but it started coming back. One of the things I have been doing to keep it somewhat alive in my head was watching goofy Korean soap operas later in the evening about once in a while on AZN. I listen and keep an eye on the subtitles, just to see if the translation is somewhat close. I want to keep my Korean languge ability somewhat alive and not let it die. I've invested a lot of time into it...a year at military language school in Monterey, a term at Yonsei, and a term at Keimyong in Taegu, and the seven years that I spent in Seoul. It's important to me...sometimes J thinks I'm a little nuts with this-she doesn't like it when I watch the soap operas at times-it makes her a little crazy. She only spent one year in Seoul with me after we were married. She took some Korean classes and really had fun when she could start to read the signs on the streets. We both loved living in Seoul and sometimes would love to go back...but then reality sets in.
When we lived in Seoul together, our studio apartment was soooo...tiny. I can't think of what it would be in square footage, but if you know the Korean measuring system of house measurement, it was 13 pyong-about the size of the master bedroom in our townhouse. I would love to live in Korea, but let's face it. It ain't gonna happen. I could work at a university, but they would give me minimal space (okay if I'm single), but nothing that would be decent for a family man with a wife and two kids. I would have to find some sort of expat job with a company, and those are harder than hen's teeth to find. Even though J has a Masters from a university in the Philippines, that wouldn't do her much good in Korea. I also think about living in Davao, J's hometown. I really like it there...it's nice and hot and I wouldn't have to freeze my ever lovin' keester off every winter...like I do here. I've layed in my bed at night and dreamed of owning a business there and spending time diving...what a life that would be! Am I living in a fantasy world...probably, but hey...why not dream?
So...back to the sushi place. The owner is very nice and gave me a cup of nok cha with my sushi. His name is Abraham and he's been in the states since 92. He spent five years in the LA area and then moved to the twin cities. He told me that he thinks the people are nice here, but the winters are way too long. He has asked me to come back to talk on a regular basis to practice my Korean. He's a nice guy and I think I'll take him up on that. It's always nice to meet new friends!
And...the sushi was fantastic. If you are ever in downtown Minneapolis, get in the Skyway and find "Together Sushi" in the Highland Bank building, right before you get to downtown Macy's. Yes, it's a brazen commercial for the new restaurant, but I think it's worth it!!!
4 comments:
I love finding a restaurant with good food run by good people! (Currently there's a Mediterranean cafe near by on my list of favorites. I think the owner must think I'm nuts because I go there once a week and order enough food for 3 people! The babgaouj is to DIE for.)
*I envy your Korean language skills.
Oooh, I love checking out new sushi places...
(Hahaha, if you think J is bad, you should try shopping with my sister. What J's doing is what a good shopper does - comparative shopping - and even I do those things you mention and I'm one of the speedier shoppers among all women I know. My sister? She touches, tries on, finds more, tries on new ones AND ones she's already tried on to compare, repeat, rinse, lather, repeat, and so on. Usually, she will walk out without making her selection because she needs to check a few more places before she makes a decision. Now THAT will drive you bonkers! :-) Sorry, I had an urge to call you an "amateur" but then... you ARE a guy... :-D)
How awesome that you had a chance to practice your Korean! Mine sucks in spite of having a Korean spouse.
And I hear you on the space situation in Korea. My hubby and I lived in a 10 pyung (I'm pretty sure it was 8, but he's telling me 10) studio apartment. It was small. It never really bothered me, but now that I've lived in something a little bigger it boggles my mind that we didn't kill one another in that small space. Maybe it helped that we were newlyweds at that point. :)
Angie-good food and good people are a perfect match. As far as my Korean goes...language is a "use it or lose it" proposition, so my skills are slipping. I can get by, but I'm struggling to recall words I used regularly only a few years ago. I really want to practice, but don't have the time to give it true justice.
MN-I am an amateur. I know I couldn't hang with your sister. She would drive me batty if she walked out after two hours of shopping and hadn't bought anything. Wow...that's all I can say about shopping like that.
Beloved-There is a set of texts that I think may benefit you. Francis Y.T. Pak has a series of three books called "Speaking Korean 1, 2, and 3. I believe it's the most comprehensive and easiest to follow of all the instructional works that teaches Korean. Look it up. I think you can get the series on Amazon. Even though your Korean might be a little low, you could make the commitment to immerse yourself for a couple hours a day. Speak only korean for an hour or two every evening. Use the books to supplement these hours of immersion. See how it works.
A sidelight to that is that you may end up speaking Korean like a guy. Many military Korean linguists either have longtime Korean girlfriends or wives. Their Korean acquaintances invariably tell these guys that they speak like Korean women...using certain inflections at the end of sentences that are common to women. Their exponsure to language has predominantly been with their spouses or girlfriends. We, as language learners, tend to mold our languge after what we hear. You may be the other side of the coin...Koreans may tell you that you speak with the inflections of Korean males. It's really interesting.
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