Like the corners of my mind
Damn straight I’m quoting Babs Streisand.
A wee one tonight. I’ve got to pack, send some overdue emails, drink grapefruit juice and be distracted by the ‘True Crime’ Texas conman programme on Discovery.
So.
Today I had the day off from British Council duties. I gave myself the sort of work-free, indulgent Sunday I’d never allow myself in London. I woke up really early but faffed around. I took the Metro to the Hongdae, university area. The best way I can describe it is a cross between Portobello Road and Hoxton. I had brunch, bought myself Breton and denim trapeze tops (so will now look *exactly* like a Korean student), ate frozen yogurt and then went to see Blue Jasmine (bleak, gorgeous, Cate Blanchett is a force) at iCinebube. When I got back to the hotel with a pumpkin salad takeout from my new favourite, Cafe Mama, since it was my last night, I went for a swim and jacuzzi on the rooftop. It was deserted and I had a right good laugh wondering how I got from Greenend in Coatbridge to a nighttime swim in Seoul…answers on a postcard please because I still don’t know.
Anyway, here are today’s memories:
In the lift down to the lobby, a little skinny girl in an ‘I love Kuwait’ beanie and a Korean teen in a ‘Super’ sweatshirt, carrying an iPhone with pink bunny ears and wearing bloody plastic surgery bandages over her nose and around her face (apparently 1 in 4 women in Seoul have surgery of some kind) // on the Metro, sandwiched between a lovely older man ‘Mr Kim’ who has lived in Seattle and a young girl who had spend a few years in Maryland who tells me anecdotally , when I ask her about the difference between US and Korean schools, about a ‘black kid stabbing a hispanic and the hallway was flooded with blood’ // a mother and son with matching bright neon yellow trainers //a whole family in matching stripey jumpers // a creeping sense of isolation as I walked home through the black windowed towerblocks and occasional bright noodle shops in the night // wanting to dance to Phillip Glass while walking the smooth, gleaming Metro platform // the sweet gentleman from whom I bought miniaturised Korean film posters who invited me to take another as a gift…I chose this:
Ok, so much to do and must pack for Gongju and my Hanok adventure. Tomorrow I’m doing two radio interviews including one breakfast show which has previously had Noam Chomsky and Julian Assange as guests…I can’t imagine why they want to interview me, or indeed what they’ll make of stories about Irn-Bru and New Order, but I am excited for another completely unique experience.
Night night.
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