Tuesday, July 20, 2004

There Is Civilized Life Here After All....

Hi. Sorry, no clever opening, it's 1AM, so, cut me a little slack OK?  Just Kidding, I had another nice day off exploring Daegu and have found it to be pretty cool.  My friend Mark Hoke, the trumpet player in our band, and I spent the day exploring an area about a half an hour(+) away from the hotel and found it to be very similar to some of the marketplaces in Seoul.  The good thing is that, firstly, they exist, and,secondly, that we won't be here long enough to get bored with them.  There are malls/department stores, movie theatres, and a zillion little shops from electronics to pet stores.   I think I've mentioned how the Koreans love to categorize and lump things together, and their placement of stores/shops is no different.  It's gotta be hard trying to stay in business when there are 10 stores right next to you selling the same stuff at basically the same price.
 
We open tomorrow and, per usual, we have an early call to get used to the space, find our timing from the dressing rooms, and figure out where the hell our show laundry is!  It's been kind of tough getting our show stuff on time, as there is a big cast and a short supply of laundry facilities for the costume girls to use.  They are really nice and super sweet, but not always the swiftest at making decisions as to what  is priority and what can wait 'till later.   Oh well, I'm sure breaking in a whole new crew  in Japan will make me realize how much I really do appreciate them.
 
Things here are really OK, but the fan's gonna get real dirty as soon as the new Sally arrives.  Again, it's no-one's fault, just a pothole on the road of Show-Biz fame and fortune!  Well, fame in Korea, at least.  It's funny, but there are very few westerners/Aussies in Deagu, and the locals(especially the kids) can't help but staring.  It's kind of fun, because we just keep pretending to be celebrities so as not to be too self conscious of the stares and obvious conversations started as soon(or sometimes AS)we walk by.   I know my Korean is poor, but I've gotten used to the lilt and cadence of someone talking about you, good or bad.  I think the people here are more curious than insulting, and some of them have been exceptionally nice as well.
 
Today, for example, when Mark and I were in the Traditional Medicine Market looking for some bamboo salt and edible charcoal(ask Mark), passing judgment on the elk horns and such in the windows,  when we went into one of the Asian Pharmacies.  There are regular pharmacies as well, but these were the kind of places where we probably could find Rhino horn and other Hogwarts' essential ingredients.  So, we go inside and the "pharmacist" points us to a couch in the middle of the little open space.  We realized we were being asked to wait a minute while he waited on the two other folks ahead of us.  While seated, his asst./wife(I think) brought us this tasty ginseng/herbal iced tea to drink while we waited to ask for the charcoal and bamboo salt.  A minute or two later, he made sure we finished our tea(I thought he was going to read our leaves, but no such luck) and it was then that we realized that nobody in the little shop, including the couple and their two young toddlers who came in(they  seemed to be related to the man) spoke a word of English.  So, after a minute or two of trying some body language, the man, clad in the pure white linen of his trade, walked us out of the store.  We thought he was going to point us in the direction of another pharmacy across the way, and there were plenty(it's all about the grouping, baby), where they spoke English.  Instead, he brought us to a help/information booth a few blocks away where there was a girl whose job it was to translate for dummies like us.  Through this nice girl's interpretation, we realized his pharmacy did not carry the items we were seeking, but he saw that she took care of us and went on his way.  With this, he was off, back to his work helping others and not thinking twice about the trouble he put himself through for us two idiots. We thanked him profusely with many Kamsa Hamnidas(Thank You's in Korean).
 
With the girl leading the way, we found the items and, after Kamsa Hamnida-ing her(sounds kinky, eh?), went on our merry way to buy cheap sunglasses and dine at a lovely little place called Burger King.   This was after an antiques dealer whose shop we browsed in for a while(and bought nothing, mind you) gave me a 5 won coin I was interested in(for a keepsake).  It is basically worthless here(>0.5 cents U.S.), but he said to come back and he would find the 1 Won piece I asked for as well.  I promised I would come back and bring him one of the U.S. half dollars I brought for just such an occasion.  Nice folks in these here parts, I reckon.
 
Well, this has certainly turned into an epi-blog.  I guess all the David Sedaris books I've been reading have rubbed off.  Who's he, you say?  Well, those of you who don't know his works will have to find them or borrow them when I get back.  Those of you who know him are, I'm sure, chuckling out loud about one of his stories you have had the fortune to read. He's a riot!
 
Alright, alright, I'll shut up now.  So, be nice to strangers is the moral of the story, I suppose.  I gonna have to go back to the Pharmacy as well as the antiques dealer to repay their respective kindnesses.  That and contact the computer people about putting the "Q" and "U" keys a little closer together.  I think the creators  of Scrabble would agree.....
An-nyong Hayseo!
Peace,
   Steve


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