Monday 18 October 2004

Noble Korean Motivations

Every Saturday I have my Korean class at the YMCA downtown. I enjoy my Korean class a lot, in large part because I enjoy learning Korean. However, the reason I'm really enjoying it these days is because I'm the best in the class.

My motivation for wanting to learn Korean is a little uncertain. Of course, it should be to open up a culture and educate me to the land I'm living in. I suppose that may be a minor reason lurking somewhere within me. But what really drives me to learn Korean is just two things: the women and the chance to be smug every week at my YMCA class.

There are about 10 people in the class, all supposedly at the same level, but ranging from poor to, well, me. The reason I'm so good isn't because I'm gifted with unnatural intelligence, it's simply because I've been studying very hard for longer than some of these people. Regardless though, I have to suppress my smug smile when I hear them struggling with coursework than I covered ages ago and understand fully.

Yes, I am a complete prick.

Most of the class are simply about average for their level, but there are a couple of competitors for my self-proclaimed position as best of the class. There is Sherry, a Canadian, who was in my previous class too and I think puts in a lot of work. Her vocabulary and understanding is very good. I suspect she has some Korean friends too who help her.

Then there's a Japanese girl, called Yuzuki, or something mental like that. The Japanese have got a headstart because their language resembles Korean structurally. Yuzuki doesn't make the class every week, but she appears to have a very grasp of the language, and often knows words which I don't, something which always causes alarm.

There's also some guy called David, who appears to have a grip on things. His (probably Canadian) accent is still too strongly heard when he speaks Korean though.

Actually, all my childlike competitive smugness aside, I think I am a fairly constructive part of the class, as our teacher can sometimes rattle on in Korean to the bewilderment of many, but because I've studied it before I can explain some of the unclear points.

So, being a cocky prick in Korean class is one motivating factor that drives me to learn. Another one, of course, is the ladies.

Last night I went for dinner with "Jessy", the glam-girl ex-teacher of my school. We met last week for the first time, to practice Korean and English and it went well, and so this time we met downtown and went for a meal.

Again, very pleasant, and afterwards we saw a film (Collatororoeoal with Tom Cruise, which was great except the silly ending) and have agreed to meet again next Saturday for a meal and drinks and meet some of her friends. And it was during this I thought, "hang on, is this a lesson or a date?"

You see, it was structured very much like a date, and felt like one, although as I've never been on a date I don't really know. Dating has always seemed a strange American phenomenon, whereas in Scotland dating is replaced usually by "drink, bang, regret".

Whatever it was, I don't mind as it's all very helpful to my noble pursuit of learning Korean. Although Jessy may not be the best teacher because I can't help but fixate on her breasts every time she's around. Her breasts get in the way not just of my Korean speaking, but of my English speaking too.

Other stuff that happened this weekend was getting quite drunk on Saturday night, for the first time in a while. A mostly fun night, and I was in especially charming form once again. Until I had one drink too many and ended up in a noraebang, whereby I turned into a complete spastic, unable to function. Hence on Sunday I was more or less crippled by pain. I ended up going to a lake and watching Matt waterskiing, along with Rebecca and two others - Owen (the guy who looks like a giant baby) and his girlfriend Fiona.

I'm a little tired now, so I'm going to stop writing, and charge myself up for the 6 classes that still remain today.

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