Monsoon Season

Sorry I've been missing. I've had a cold (probably picked up from the Wizville kids), and it's monsoon season, which means it's so humid outside that I'm in serious danger of drowning. I've spent most of the last few days sitting around, watching Margaret Cho on Youtube, and reading Sherlock Holmes. You haven't missed much.



Since it is now my penultimate weekend in Korea, I went back to my Korean class to say goodbye to everyone. They were excited to see me again, and a bunch of us spent the whole day together after class. We went to a nearby park to play badminton (we got two birdies stuck in nooks in the ceiling), had lunch (Chinese food that was better than any of the Chinese food I actually had in China), watched a movie (I Love You Phillip Morris), had dinner (dakbukgi), went out for coffee (mocha frappuccinos are growing on me, fast), and then I headed home in time to watch Argentina vs. Germany.

Everyone at that class is wonderful. They all want to get together one more time before I go, but we'll have to see if I have time.

Our movie decision-making process was pretty funny. Most of us had seen Knight and Day, none of us were particularly enthusiastic about Shrek, I was all over Splice but the other girls thought it would be too scary, and I flat-out refused to sit through Eclipse (the only way I will watch that movie in theaters is if I am allowed to bring my vuvuzela. BZZZZZZZZZ). Then one of the girls asked me timidly, "Do you like gay stories?"

I almost laughed. Because yeah, if you like one "gay story" you like them all, right? No difference between Brokeback Mountain and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, no sirree... But instead of lecturing her, which I am told I do too much, I simply said, "I LOVE gay stories."

"This one has Ewan McGregor in it," she said.

My eyes bugged out of my head. "Ewan McGregor plays a gay man?" I gasped, "I cannot tell you how much I want to see this movie." And that's how we ended up seeing I Love You Phillip Morris. Consensus: cute at times, but ultimately too boring to be worth it. The characters never quite engaged me, and the jokes mostly fell flat. I do give it props in the way it handled the main couple though. This wasn't a "gay story" in the way I had expected. It didn't dwell on the "gayness," nor did it play it up or try to wring angst out of it like some films (Brokeback Mountain, I'm looking at you). The sexuality of the main characters was not a spectacle. It was simply there. And rightly so - there was plenty of drama going on in these people's lives besides the fact that the main characters liked dudes. Too bad it never quite clicked with me. I guess it all comes down to something my Dad told me a long time ago: you can't enjoy a movie unless it gives you someone to care about. Jim Carrey was too much of an asshole, Ewan McGregor was too much of a doormat, and I didn't really care about either of them by the end of the movie. A few great scenes were not worth the tedium and awkwardness.

By the way, guys, it's a little creepy that on my last post, three of you jumped in to assure me that, "You think you don't want babies now, but just waaaaaaait...!" Have you not figured out yet that I'm a stubborn cuss? I wouldn't put it past me to stay childless just to spite you all.

I'll head over to Suwon sometime in the next week. It's almost time to start thinking about rounding up all my crap and getting it all home.