Tarot reading

Seems like it's been so long since I've posted. Hope you all didn't miss me too much.

Today is Saturday and I went out last night with a group of the teachers. I really find I don't have much in common with them, so I quickly got bored and opted out before 3AM. The taxi scramble during peak bar hours is very frustrating, especially if your Korean is limited. Simply knowing where you're going doesn't suffice. You also need to know what direction it is because, if you're on the wrong side of the street, they won't take you. There are also "taxi pimps" that stand by taxis and negotiate rides. I hate these guys. They don't really act as translators, although some speak some English, but instead act like pimps. They quote a price, as opposed to letting the meter speak for itself, and seem to tell the driver whether they should take me or not. I really haven't heard of anyone else having problems with them and I don't know if anyone's even noticed them, but I have twice now.

Today I decided to head to my birthfamily's restaurant for some food. I arrived and Unkyung was still at her home, but on her way. As I watched, a few people requested more sauce (the special recipe sauce that goes on the pork cutlet). I then wondered if it might be a good idea to bottle the sauce (small bottles) and sell those bottles to customers. That's what they do at Genji and Fujiyama in Columbus with the "Yum Yum" sauce (Genji) and the whatever-that-is-it-tastes-great salad dressing (Fujiyama). When I brought it up to Unkyung later, she said her father didn't seem interested in that kind of thing. In fact, someone approached him about franchising his restaurant (for a nice amount of cash, according to Unkyung) and he turned them down.

The last bit of news I feel like sharing is that I went to a tarot card reader today. Unkyung and I had just eaten and were strolling down the street in the university area. The street is lined with food stands, purse stands (bought a cute one for around $10), shoe stands, fake-designer sunglasses stands, and tarot readers' stands. About every block is another tarot stand, and I've wanted to stop by for a while, so I figured today was as good a day as any. Really, today was a better day since I had Unkyung there to translate. Here's the run down:

The tarot reader said I get bored quickly, especially when it comes to romance. She said I am very interested in someone for a very short amount of time and am soon ready to move on. She also said I used to be the same way with jobs, but that that is less true now. Not off base so far.
Then she said that for a while, she felt I should not work. Okay, there's where she was way off. She told me I need to heal my mind and heart before beginning to work again. When I asked Unkyung (who translated the bulk of this after we left the tent) how long this woman thought I should be unemployed, there was no answer.

Sorry, but in America, women over the age of twenty-three generally work. We don't (usually) live with our parents and wait to meet husbands to support us. Even when we do get married, American women tend to feel an obligation to help support the family by working, unlike Korean women who believe their role as wife is "in the home."

So...my tarot reader wasn't too bad. Unfortunately it seems the cultural differences got in the way of the most accurate "psychic" reading possible, but I did have fun.

All in all a pretty enjoyable day. (P.S. There's a 50%-Off-Sale at one of my favorite shoe stores)