One Korean complaint of foreigners is that they don't like it when we look them in the eye during a conversation. I guess that's just how westerners do. We like to gaze into each others' eyes when speaking. My question is how do Koreans know we're looking into their eyes if they don't look into people's eyes when talking?? I've thought about this before and I still don't have the answer. Additionally, all the Koreans I talk to DO look me straight in the eyes, with one exception, the Vice Principal. It's very strange! She looks at the person next to me (no one is there...) while speaking with me. I wonder if she's even talking to me. And how would you know the person you're speaking to is actually listening? They might also be looking at the person next to you, or behind you, or even better, rolling their eyes. I think that the Korean culture is slowly evolving though. Maybe the VP is just an old fashioned kinda gal. Next thing you know, Koreans will be staring at you even if you're not involved in a conversation. Oh wait, they already do that (if you're visibly foreign, i.e., not me.).
On a completely different topic, in first period today, I saw the boy who was part of the boyfriend/girlfriend duo I saw the other day after school. I could discern his bowl cut from the rest of the class. While I had them do an activity, I went up to him and I put my hand on his shoulder and started laughing. At first, he was confused. Then I saw the light bulb turn on and he started laughing as well. Then he said, "Please forget. Please forget." And I said, "I remember...I remember!" So funny! My co-teacher also knows that he has a girlfriend! She said she knew a long time ago. But we both don't know who the girl is! She hid her face pretty well from me!
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