clearing of the throat

2080 Dongeuisaengkum toothpaste keep the 20 healthy teeth till 80 years old

...disturbed by a dream where i was teaching, and certain of my kinder kids looked up with Caucasian eyes, Westernised. i didn't say anything, told not to, carrying on...

#

under my immature delusion of being some sort of younger Louis Theroux , i attended a Korean church service near home. 7 floors tall, it was packed with attendees standing, shuttling in their own criss-crossing paths on the hubbub of the bottom floor, a dumpling stall by the way in.

a lift to the 5th floor with a very lovely new friend, i met more nice folk as i was given headphones to tune into the English translation. always uneasy with headphones, i only tuned into bursts of the transmission, coming from a booth in the back, looking to seem polite. signal was weak and scratchy anyway, like a pirate broadcast on AM waves.


a band played Korean songs of worship, awkward subtitles on the projection screen above the packed out crowd.


one man spoke of being a smoker before he found faith.


i tried to give the usherette of sorts a saucy eye.

when the sermon was delivered, i kept on sitting silent, just soaking up the settings. preacher spoke of Jesus and the loaves, the seeds of faith, stories I knew from assembly. made a joke at one point. what stayed with me was how he spoke certain words, stressed in a way that came out like he was clearing his throat. i remember another preacher who did the same at a smaller church I was invited to, attended during my first week as i tried to find my feet in this new home i'm in. odd, almost like they were lapsing into tongues in each case. is this to convey passion or wrath?

service ends with a troupe of two dozen women all dressed in white, singing with a synchronised dance routine, all arms and rooted into place, occasionally padding back/forth a few steps. as i walked out i was approached by girls who all compared me to Sir David Beckham. well of course!

my steps home were chipper, as the woman frying bungeoppang said hello from inside her Punch & Judy Kei truck and unknown kids said hi at traffic lights. i felt part of my zone, deluded or not.

#

Same Sunday I went to my nearest Emart to investigate for the first time. nothing interesting but walking around the shop i felt....pregnant. or at the least incubating some rosy flu, very similar to the vibe i get from 'Do It' by Nelly Furtado. this was the most serene, pleasant state i've ever felt. when I lived in Reading for my 3 years at Uni I sure felt at home. i knew it inside out, my first shot at independence. but this was a different sensation, a realisation.

im in fucking Korea! im actually working, not living between essays/exams, the churning years of education. this is a whole new arena. im far from home, the trappings of comfort. and while this was a comforting state to be in, im not in a new cul de sac of inertia and routine. im just happy, instead of ducking between lows and the odd rare high. now ive marked out my groove i can think about reaching for heights, for challenges, for heady laughs.

so, i was in this dizzying world of a new Emart looking for toothpaste, finding a brand called 2080. the lettering shines out gold, and it tastes of caramel and herbs. couldnt help gag when i first tried it.

they really like to brush their teeth out here. 3 times a day. my fellow teachers do it with the kids at lunch. i've seen an optician doing so at midday, which surely can't be good for those who use the little sink he was bent over when they try out for contact lenses. last night i even saw a butcher lathering up his mouth behind his counter in another local mart, just standing there staring ahead, foaming his mouth minty.

and they know how to sell stuff out here. in every Emart you'll see a girl in a ra ra mini-skirt and no tights. it's too much for a man to take! the one on Sunday was giving out sanitary samples. in the past i've seen them offer nightime milk (using the same bottle cap all the other shoppers have been slurping from, oh eek).

maybe that's why i was so happy?