Today was my last meeting with Jae Ho. And surprisingly, I am at a loss for words. Granted, this rarely happens. I always have words: to write or to say. Admittedly, I am not one who readily appreciates silence, so I am even surprising myself that I have nothing to write about. I blame this loss on the fact that neither Jae Ho nor I had anything particularly interesting to say this afternoon. We have exhausted almost all topics relevant to either of our lives. Football, sleep, pop music, chapstick, pastries, whore houses, and Christmas have all been prevalent conversation topics about which I have blogged. However, I do have two more Christmas traditions worth mentioning that Jae Ho asked me about this afternoon.
Christmas Tradition #1: Eggnog. Jae Ho asked me about Eggnog. Yes, it is a Christmas tradition, but I could not for the life of me figure out how to describe it. Eventually, I told him it tasted like a thick, flavored coffee creamer that had eggs in it and could be alcoholic if desired. That description may be totally off the wall, but once again, this post is about my loss for words, and in this case, my loss for words was manifested in a description of eggnog. Seriously though, how the heck do you describe eggnog!? Especially to someone who doesn't even speak English very well. So, I ended this description with a quick laugh and a suggestion to walk to Kroger and pick some up. If anything, it's worth it to try a taste.
Christmas Tradition #2: In Korea, families hang wishes on their Christmas trees. They each write down dreams or aspirations on slips of paper and then hang them as a family on the tree. I think this is a beautiful tradition. It's a way to combine the practicality of New Years resolutions (all my respect to you if you kept yours even for a few months) with the magic of the Christmas season. I love this tradition so much that I might just suggest it for my family this year too. I find it rather inspiring and sentimental.
So that was it, folks. My last conversation with Jae Ho. Probably my last blog post (as long as I double check the requirements). In conclusion, (cue cheesy wrap-up paragraph) I really do think I learned a lot from Jae Ho. We had some awkward times and we had some funny times. I learned a lot about his traditions in Korea, and he learned a lot about our traditions in America. Overall, I enjoyed my time with him, but I honestly think blogging about our conversations was sometimes more entertaining than actually having them in the first place. That sounds bad, but I mean it in the best way possible. I mean to say that I enjoyed taking the time to reflect on our conversations and convey them to my classmates through stories. So thank you Jae Ho for being the protagonist in all my blogging epics. And thank you to the class and to Dr. Williams for actually reading (some of) them. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
And that's all she wrote.
P.S. I received this text from one of my friends while sitting in Union Grounds with Jae Ho. I hope you find it as funny as I did :)
I type this post as I sit in my dorm room, bundled up in two sweaters, an oversized blanket, fuzzy socks, and men's sweatpants. What exactly does this weather mean? You guessed it. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. (sang like High-School Musical's "Summer"). In addition, I am drinking a Christmas Starbucks latte with Christmas Pandora playing in the background, so I think it might be a bit of an understatement when I say I'm excited about what this season has to bring. This truly is the most wonderful time of the year, not to be cliche or anything, but I intend to make the most of it. However, I am not the only one who's excited about the prospects of Christmas. Jae Ho also could not be more elated to spend this incredible holiday in the United States. Not only will he spend his holidays in the US, he will be in a city particularly famous for its Christmas season. That's right. Jae Ho will be spending Christmas in New York City.
As he told me this information, his face literally lit up with the prospects of NYC's Christmas magic, while I pretended as though I wasn't the least bit jealous. He asked me what to do, what to avoid, and what to expect. I told him to expect lights. Lights everywhere. I also told him to expect long lines, crowded streets, expensive price tags, and dirty snow. However, this never takes away from the experience of Christmas in the Big Apple. Just because Christmas in NYC may be cliche and stereotypical, doesn't mean it shouldn't be one of the best experiences of your life at the same time. Frankly, Christmas in NYC is cliche for a reason. Everyone wants to be in the Big Apple for a reason. It's overdone because it's not like anything else you have experienced before. As I told Jae Ho this, I think he realized what an awesome opportunity he was going to experience. I hope I didn't build it up too much, but in all honesty, I don't see a way in which Christmas in NYC could ever be disappointing.
Lastly, we talked about specific things he should do while in the city. I told him that visiting Rockefeller center was a must, but ice skating in that rink wasn't. It is much cheaper and less crowded to ice skate in Central Park, right next to the carousel. I also told him that he had to try frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity. No matter how cold it is, Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate is a must during the Christmas season. Aside from these things, I told him that FAO Schwartz, 5th Avenue, a cupcake from Magnolia's, and department store shopping was also a must. I guess the entire point of this conversation was that touristy things may be cheesy, but these things are popular tourist attractions for a reason. It's because they are beautiful, inspiring, and filled with Christmas cheer. So, go forth Jae Ho, and get ready to experience the best Christmas of your life!
Disclaimer: Reading my blog posts about Jae Ho probably gives you the impression that the hour of conversation between him and I is filled with hilarious misunderstandings, cultural faux pas, and witty banter. But let me be the first one to shoot that horse in the face (pardon the expression). Rather, our talks are more like scattered bits of sentences laced with sporadic pauses that may or may not last entire minutes. During those minutes, the coffee baristas and pastry displays become much more infatuating that a cabinet of food ever should be. That being said, do not be discouraged if the conversations with your own partner aren't smooth. The only really good thing that's smooth in this world is JIF peanut butter anyway, so don't stress.
That being said Jae Ho and I met for the fourth time today. Since we hadn't seen each other in a while, we chatted for a little bit about what we had done the past few weeks and weekends. I asked him about Halloween. Had he ever experienced it before? What did he think about our traditions? Did he pass out candy? Go to a party? Dress up? After I showed him my infamously accurate Snooki and Oompa Loompa costumes, he laughed and told me he went to a whore house for Halloween. No lies. Real talk. Sitting there in Union Grounds, he asked me if I knew what a whore house was. I do in fact know what a whore house is. But was I about to have a conversation about the happenings of whore houses with my Korean language partner? Absolutely not! Honestly, I was awkward. I was embarrassed. I was offended too. What kind of American would take a foreigner who did not know our customs to a whore house for Halloween. Tell me this. This was the first question he asked. I was fairly traumatized to say the least. A bit panicky, I guided the conversation away from the whores in the house on Halloween.
...It wasn't until approximately five hours later while starting this blog post that I realized the entire time he had been talking about a Horror House, which in case you didn't know, is extremely different than a whore house. This tends to make much more sense in the context of Halloween, obviously. So this is me apologizing to Jae Ho for judging him based on a terrible miscommunication about prostitutes on the Day of the Dead.
For my last post regarding what I've learned in class, I have chosen to write on the gender differences we discussed while reading Dave Barry and Nora Ephron. Firstly, I honestly found them hilarious. Obviously there are so many mysteries about the opposite gender that we will never understand. No number of books, blog posts, class discussions, or even surgical sex changes will truly enlighten one person to understand both genders clearly. So given the impossibility of understanding both genders at the same time, I tend to just resort to laughing at the differences.
In my interpersonal communication class, we talked about gender stereotypes and gender differences. One of the first things that happens when an infant is born is the child gets either a blue blanket or a pink blanket. That little blanket starts it all. From that time forward, little girls are showered in pink, while little boys are showered in blue. Fastforward to the toddler years when a child walks into a toy store. Naturally, the girls will be attracted to what is familiar to them: pink things. And the boys will be attracted to what is familiar to them: blue things. On the pink aisle, girls will find dolls, play kitchens, and princess costumes. In the predominately blue isles, boys will find race cars, footballs, and soldiers. Thus, gender roles are not only biological, but also socially created since the exact time of birth. I'm not claiming that this is either a good or bad thing, but rather something to be aware of as we try to understand and communicate effectively with the other gender.
What Dave Barry and Nora Ephron discovered is that gender differences are worth insight. We may not always comprehend the chaos that seems to occur within the heads of those belonging to the opposite gender, but we can see how those mental differences translate into behavioral differences. And if there is one thing that humanity seems to be excellent at, it is making fun of those who are different that ourselves. So, bring on the satire, the comedy, and the jokes, because I find the majority of them worth a great laugh.
P.S. Here's a hilarious video that seems to capture just one of those gender differences It's Not About the Nail
