Running on Korean Time

I am beginning to think that most of the world does not run according to a watch. It seems like everywhere I go, they say, "Oh, they're running on Korean Time." "Oh, they're running on German time." "Oh, they're running on Molly time." (Haha.) Possibly, us cholerics of the world should just do away with our treasured time pieces and enjoy the confusion with everyone else.

What brings this up? Needing pictures for my alien registration. At 8 p.m. last night, I was informed that I needed pictures for my 9 a.m. appointment with immigration. It has been widely known that I would need to go to get my alien card at some point in time, but no one had mentioned additional pictures before then. The only reason why I was at the school at all was to meet Jamie and Heather to go see Batman: The Dark Knight (a must see). So, we were planning on taking the bus there and meeting Jamie's friends at 9.

Sunny (head Korean teacher for afternoon classes) and Kevin (general errand boy) insisted that pictures had to be taken immediately, and after some cajoling Kevin agreed to drive us there in exchange for my cooperation. The first place we went to wouldn't have the pictures ready until 10 a.m.--an hour late for the time at immigration (which, it turns out, was not a set appointment, thus flexible). Jamie knew of an instant little booth, so we decided to do that then after the movie.

Kevin would have none of that. He hijacked us and took us to another photographer's. I went in, had my picture taken, and waited for about 2 minutes. It was 8:32, and a sane driver takes 30 minutes to get downtown. I told Kevin we had to go NOW and walked off to the car, refusing to wait for him anymore. When I got out to the car, Jamie texted him to hurry up; just as we were about to abandon the BMW, he arrived in a huff and took us off to the movies, arriving a very insane 25 minutes later getting us there at exactly 9:01. 5 flights of escalators later, we had arrived!

Jamie's British friends were very nice, and we got our snacks (popcorn! delicious, delightful popcorn! coke, nachos and ... buttered squid?) before shuffling into the theater. Gratefully, the theater was similar in size and comfort to the ones back home. Stadium seating, plush (large) chairs, and decent sound. There was about a half an hour of previews, and then all faded to black.

Go see Batman!

Heather and I made it back safely to Chilgok (where we live!), and I was able to start my first load of laundry (thank you washing machine repairman!) This morning, then, I woke up early and hung the laundry to dry, showered, and walked to ECC to meet Kevin at 9:10, like he stressed 3 or 4 times. No Kevin. Korean time, don't you know. I sat and started to chat with David, who also needed his alien registration, and Kevin drove up to get us. An hour after we left the school, we got gas, ran some errand, picked up my photos (after 10, mind you), and aarrived at immigration. David and I stood around for a while, but no one really wanted to see us, so we piled back in the van and drove to school.

I'm not really sure if this is a big long whiny post or if it actually has some merit. If nothing, though, I'm ready to deal with 6-year-olds.

Batman was really good. I thought that part of the movie was just hyped up because of Heath Ledger's accidental suicide. No, he did creepy really well, and there was only 1 scene where he looked like his Knight's Tale self. The movie had lots of twists and turns; I giggled, cried, and gasped plenty. Not for the faint of heart.

TPB has started her own blog (welcome to the dark side!) for those who may have an interest.

I have half an hour to grab brunch; maybe I'll have something of interest to say later!