I Fought An Adjuma...

...and for the first damn time, the adjuma did NOT win!

Adjumas are older Korean women who are pushy and rude and will not hesitate to cut a bitch on the subway. I have been bullied and bruised by them for over two years now but today I had enough. I had opened my window on the bus because it was stuffy and this woman tried to close it, even though it wasn't even freaking blowing on her. Usually when this happens, I am cowed into submission by their glares but this morning, I said "no!" in Korean and kept it open. She gave me a nasty look and changed seats.

It's a minor victory but my heart soared nonetheless.

It brought up something that has niggled at me for the entire time I've been here. I'll never ever assimilate in Korea, I will always stick out. Even if I live here for 20 years and speak the language perfectly, I'll always stick out and sometimes, it's really freaking exhausting. I hate when locals giggle when I speak Korean, I hate when I ask for a service and I get a blank look and most of all, I HATE HATE HATE when I speak Korean and they look at me blankly because my accent isn't perfect.

On the other hand, it is a very enlightening experience that I think few Caucasians have. I wasn't even aware of how much I took for granted blending in where I lived. When you travel, it's one thing to look different. You're passing through and the whole point of travel is to see new things. When you live in a place, it's frustrating. I've been here for nearly two and a half years and I feel like I shouldn't still have to struggle so much but that's probably what its like for immigrants to the U.S. or other Western countries.

In other news, the weather here is miserable, Ninja has an infection on her tail, and I woke up to a huge pile a cat puke in the living room. Not one of my better Mondays...I'm going to google pictures of places in India to feel better.