Free Talk and Free Books

Jet lag sucks. No surprise....

I feel a bit displaced. Of course I've not been forced from my "home" but jumping from one world into a totally different one thanks to modern day technology(747 jet planes) creates a shock to the system. This time home in no different. Yet it is different in that I'm not visiting the US and the place I've jumped into is going to be home for a while.

After going to church and sharing lunch with a friend I decided to get familiar with KC's public transit. Destination: Library. When I got to the bus stop I sat in between two African-American men who were "jawing" about the bar across the way. I secretly was hoping to talk to them. It was my opportunity to "free talk" with people who speak English. "Free Talk", which means meeting with Korean students and talking about anything, is something my job description required at KNU and it was something I found exhausting. What might it feel like to "free talk" with native strangers? A whole lot less exhausting. For sure!

One of the guys began telling stories of serving overseas--Japan. He edited the story about the woman who stole his cologne "the morning after". I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story like I did. I was sitting right in the middle of them but they talked to each other like I wasn't there. I asked the one man if he worked in Korea during the military. He had. When I told the two guys that I'd just spent the last 4 years in Korea they perked up. I went from being some invisible girl sitting in plain sight to a person of interest. They talked "free-ly" with me. We talked a bit of international politics and I found great fun in being able to interject into their conversation what I knew of Korea and China.

I have this friend who is in love with her public library. Free books! Free movies! Free wireless Internet! I'm falling too! I have a new favorite place in KC. I don't have to pay exorbitant prices for books anymore. I don't have to pay at all if I don't want to! I don't have to wait two weeks for them to arrive either. FREE BOOKS!