i feel like i've had a breakthrough! minor -maybe. meaningful -without a doubt. here's the story.

here in korea, people don't shop the way way we do in the states. rather than going to costco every couple of weeks and stocking both the upstairs and downstairs freezers, they stop by the store on their way home from work most every day and buy only what they can carry -usually without a bag. i've slowly become accustomed to this way of life -so i frequently visit the corner grocery store down my street. elizabeth and i are pretty much the only foreigners in this area -seriously, in the last 3 months we've seen 3 in our vicinity. so i'm quite the spectacle, walking down the aisles past the dried seaweed and whole raw fish, heading for the bread and milk. the clerks have been patient with my ignorance and do things like tap the screen to show me my total rather than repeat it aloud to my blank face. but of course i'm a more difficult customer -and who really wants to add difficulty to their lives? so i try to make things as simple as possible and don't buy anything bulk that requires extra help, etc. anyway, i was there buying water (a favorite pastime) a couple of days ago, and i went up to a clerk i've seen there most everyday for the last 3 months (i swear, she lives there). as i handed her the money, i gave my usual smile and my best "cumsamnida" with a little bow. (because i feel like a bow smooths everything over -even my poor korean). but this time, rather than saying "dae" and shooing me along, she looked up, gave me a big smile, and said, "bye bye!" i was taken aback for a good couple of seconds, but then i slowly realized she was speaking my language, and i smiled back at her with a "bye." i was instantly struck with the significance of such a minor interaction. i had never realized how much a little thing like talking to your clerk at the store means -communication is an amazing thing and when its hindered by things like language, it's sad and just plain difficult. i walked out of that store feeling like i'd connected with all of korea -not just a lady in a grocery store. it was quite wonderful.

it just goes to show that with enough time away from the little things, you realize how important they are.

ok, now unlike hercule poirot (i'm reading my first agatha christie mystery!), i'm not getting surges of mental energy as i sit here relaxing. hastings, who does only "one thing" when he sits still and lets himself relax, is more my type. i'm now moving on to experience that "one thing" more comfortably in bed. =)