Everybody Pees

First graders are cute. They may be little monsters who are stuck somewhere between the baby stage and middle childhood, but that's why I love them. They say funny things, do funny thing, and their general naiveity about the world can be flat out hilarious. Take this instance from a few weeks back:

'Teacher! Bathroom!'
'No, sorry. You need to go before class. We just started, and you were here playing cell phone games in the hallway for ten minutes before class. You'll have to wait'
'Bathroom!'
'No, James. You do this everyday, and you were fine three minutes ago. You can't possibly have to go that bad.'
'Teeecheer'
'Everyone open your books to page...'
(in Korean) 'Bathroom! Pee! Pee!'

The boy can no longer sit and is not dancing audibly in the back of the room.

'Teacher! Bathroom!'
'I said you'll have to wait. If you want to go, it'll cost you a sticker. Do you want to go?'
'No.' (dancing) 'Pee, pee, pee'
(to the rest of the class) 'Okay, what's this?'
'Pee, pee'
(ignoring the danceshow) 'How are you?'
'Pee, pee'
'James! We have 5 minutes left. You can wait. You won't die'
'PEE!'
(giving in to stop the class disruption) 'Okay, but next time you have do it before class'
(the boy runs out the door)

(girl to a boy sitting next to her)
'Do boys pee, too?'
'Yes'


***


I'm convinced that the Seoul subway is one of the best places in the world for people watching. Recently I've noticed that there seems to be a silent agreement amoungt riders that the end seats are the best seats. Personally, I don't get it. Squeezing yourself between a person and an unmovable armbar is far more uncomfortable than being squeezed between two people. Obviously, however, I'm in the minority, as the competition for these seats is high. People will race each other onto the train, even cutting in line, to get the "best" seat in the house. Or if the position occupied, riders will change seats the instant the offending rider gets up, inventing a number of ways to cutoff the hundreds of others who seem dead-set on sitting high and mighty in the promised land. Even I, for no reason other than that everyone else valued those seats so highly, started viewing them as the most desirable and would rush and change seats to secure one. The thing is, though, that I don't even like those seats. Weird.

So I've decided that I'm going to stop caring. Honestly, I don't know why I was going for them anyway. Probably people will think I'm crazy, but even if I'm sitting next to an empty seat on the end, I'm not going to shift over. Personally, I like my seat in the middle. It's more comfortable and I get the added joy of forcing twice as many people to sit next to a foreigner. I'll leave the less desirable end seats to those willing to fight for them.


***


Maybe it's because I've been reading Thoreau, but I've realized that the number of treasured memories I have camping, sitting around ponds, and watching ducks, is far more than those that I have sitting around a computer or watching TV. And the joyful times I've spent in the early mornings are greater than the enjoyment I've ever gotten from sleeping in late.

It's ironic, then, how I've spent unmeasurably more time doing things that I don't value than those I do. Unfortunately, this has become a nasty cycle; the reason I can't go out to the park on a Saturday is because I want to sleep in, and the reason I like sleeping late is because I was up late all week, watching TV or doing mindless things on the Internet.

It's a dangerous situation living in a concrete jungle, where you are constantly surrounded by cafes, movie theaters, and other 'exciting' things to do. But what I think I really need is to get out more.


***

I'm off now. Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!

새해 복 많이 받으세요!

-스티브