Sunday, August 12, 2007

Conversation with a taxi driver

Rob and I went to Andong today. It was quite a lot of fun - although the unbearably hot temperatures did me in yet again. I swear I am allergic to heat. Anyhow, I took nearly 300 photos, approximately 75 or so I'd like to put online... and that's not happening today. Instead I'll share with you what happened when I got back to Daegu. When we arrived at the bus station, I was feeling pretty sick. I had slept the entire way back from Andong (about an hour and a half), although that did nothing to alleviate the killer headache I had developed (thank you, sun). And I'd managed to awaken feeling rather carsick too. Lovely combination, topped off by bed-head-hair and sleep induced lethargy.

I hailed a taxi, and had the following conversation with the driver (in Korean - which apparently I can speak and understand much better when I'm feeling too ill to actually think about it):

Driver: You are very beautiful. Where are you from? Russia?
Me: No, America. And thank you. (Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure I looked as bad as I felt.)
Driver: Oh, America. Are you a student?
Me: No, a teacher. An English teacher.
Driver: Ahh, English. I thought you were a student, but you're a teacher! (laughs) Are you married?
Me: No.
Driver: Really? You are very beautiful!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your lucky that was so short. Mine go from that to "do you have a boyfriend?... Why not?... Do you like Korean men?... You should marry a Korean man..."

Anonymous said...

Oh my God. "You're." Not "your." Ugh.

annie said...

I get those conversations too... although they're usually in English (er, Konglish...)

Gwen said...

I wonder if taxi drivers believe me when I tell them that I'm already married to a Korean man.

Khakra said...

that was refreshing. my bus driver asks me to throw my coffee cup away or get off the bus. would you prefer that instead?