Something I had to get used to after arriving in 2007 was the creative use of English on everything from clothes to buildings to product advertising. I still wonder what the slogan for Mr. Pizza means exactly -- pizza boxes and even their delivery cars display, "LOVE FOR WOMEN". Any guesses?And I'll never forget my first sighting of English on clothes. Imagine seeing this seemingly tough Korean teenage boy walking down the street wearing a shirt with the largest boldest letters possible, "DO YOU WANT TO TYPE?" I felt like going up to him and saying, "No thanks."
English on clothes is very popular and that's why I wasn't overly surprised to find a fun t-shirt for a young 16 year-old with whom I traveled to India. Living side by side for a week at the orphanage, Daniel and I ended up becoming friends and teasing each other without mercy. I knew he loved it when I would imitate him rapping and he knew I loved it when he called me "old man, sir" because my rapping skills left something to be desired.
Well, I figured if he can call me an old man, I can call him a young punk. So when I saw this t-shirt at the local store with the words YOUNG, PUNK, ANARCHY, LOUD, RESIST, FASHION written all over it, I knew I had to buy one for Daniel. I gave it to him as a belated-birthday present and he seemed to love it. I'm not sure how much he is going to wear the shirt, mind you, because I doubt it works with the latest teen fashion but at least I know he appreciates the humor behind it.Not exactly caring about my sense of fashion, I bought the t-shirt and wore it proudly on the streets of Daejon with as much attitude as I could muster. Ginny didn't know whether she wanted to be seen with me but I assured her that she didn't need to worry because most Koreans wouldn't have a clue as to what is written on the shirt anyway =)
Let's face it, when we don't know the native language we do what we have to do to communicate. For instance, I never thought there would be a day when I would stick my finger in my ear trying to convey to a store clerk that I'm looking for Q-tips or play charades in the dairy aisle to see if they carry condensed milk in a can. Never a dull moment.
Sometimes we're aware how silly we must look to those around us and then there are times we're taken by surprise. Here's a picture of the back of the bus where it all happened one innocent day in May...
I knew I needed to warn Ginny to be careful after boarding one of our city buses because bus drivers here often drive like they're on motorbikes, darting between vehicles and starting/stopping on a dime. Sure enough, no sooner did I issue this word of warning when the bus jerked forward and I found Ginny swinging around a pole, arms extended and letting out these shrieks as she tried to find her footing. It was a scene I won't forget anytime soon. Ginny almost landed in the lap of this young school boy seated near her. I can still see him in his school uniform looking up at Ginny with this sheepish grin on his face, giving her a little wave. Fortunately no one was hurt in the incident and we laughed about it as did most of the people in the back of the bus. Between my YOUNG PUNK t-shirt and Ginny's new dance moves on the bus, we undoubtedly made waves in Daejon that day =)
