Study study study

I'm really working hard these days to improve my Korean. It struck me recently that I will soon have spent a year here, without being able to do much more than introduce myself and give directions to a cab driver in the native language. And that is just sad.

Fortunately, I have an uncle (actually a cousin of my mother's) who agrees with me that this is a major FAIL and has graciously taken it upon himself to tutor me. In exchange for two hours of English "lessons" with me-- he's a movie director, so basically we just read articles about movies and chat about them-- he helps me slowly and awkwardly make my way through a conversational Korean book. He's very patient with me, which I really appreciate, and I'm really grateful to have had this excuse to hang out with him so often in the past couple months-- he's pretty awesome.

Of course, while I'm definitely excited that my Korean is improving, on the flip side, there ARE some perks to NOT knowing the language well. Example: it gives you a great way to keep yourself entertained during those seemingly endless subway rides to and from Seoul...

(posted at eatyourkimchi.com-- if you're living in Korea, a great site to check out)

In addition to studying Korean, I am also trying to brush up on my French and pick up a few phrases in Creole in preparation for my trip to Haiti. My brain is sort of on language overload right now, but I am kind of liking it-- makes me feel a bit more like a world citizen, and a bit less like just another jerky American who expects others to bend to her language needs.