Speaking in Public

I've been Stateside for 2 weeks. Now that I'm over jet lag and beginning to feel the weight of transition I'm even more grateful for what I'm calling--sabbatical.

This last week I rode my bike all around town. We had one or two beautiful days without rain and my heart was happy riding through the neighborhoods. KC is so green. The homes are so big and creative. I don't miss the oversize cereal box apartment buddings of Korea. Not at all. I do miss how close everything was like grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants and church. This week I rode my bike 6 miles out to visit 2 girls who used to be in the "Girl's Club" at the Salvation Army in Westport. (my former job pre-Korea) I rode all the way to their home which included a monster set of hills. I knocked and rang the doorbell but no one answered. Later I learned that they WERE home but failed to hear my knocks and bells. Sigh... The real problem was that their phone went dead so I couldn't even contact them to let them know the hour of my arrival. Try, try again...

I have been back and forth between Korea and the USA a lot over the last 4 years. Each time I came home there would be some kind of reentry issue to experience. This time my issue is English. I've never had so much trouble with English. Sometimes I can't think of words. And it isn't because I'm thinking of the Korean words. I didn't get that good with the Korean language. I'll be in conversation and find myself doing exactly what we encouraged our ESL students to do. When you don't know a word explain around it so the listener can guess it. Like I was in conversation and talking about the food I bought from the...you know when you put the coins in, you push a few buttons and your food item drops. "You mean a vending machine", my friend said. "Yes!" I felt relieved to regain a lost word but frustrated by how much work it took to get there. The whole time I'm explaining I'm thinking, "I should know this word, I do know this word but why can't I get it out?" This happens at least everyday and some days a few times. I have a hunch that this is as much of a sign of my fatigue as it is my return to the USA.

I've found some really great coffee shops to hang out at. Oak Street Coffee Shop is my favorite so far. They make amazing scones! They are not Starbucks. I am eternally grateful for Starbucks in Korea. Starbucks gave me a place to go that felt like the USA. Whenever I needed to get away I'd go to Starbucks. But now I'm in the USA and don't need to find something "USA". I can't get away from it! I'd much rather spend time in a locally owned coffee shop which creates their own feel. Hallelujah for Decaf! It is everywhere. And when you ask for it people don't look at you like you are speaking a different language. Oh, I was speaking a different language in Korea. I can live caffeine free so much easier in the US! That is a really great change.

While I'm enjoying the coffee options I can't say that I'm enjoying hearing everyones conversations everywhere I go. The other day I savored every bite of this cranberry scone and every last drop of my DECAF coffee while reading a free book from the library. I was in my own little world. A wonderful place to be. It wasn't that different from my coffee shop visits in Korea. The silence was like that of a library. Then a few people came in and sat down. Everything changed. Can you believe they started talking? In a coffee shop? And get this, in public they were talking about personal things. Didn't they know I could understand all of it? Their conversation was so distracting. Finally I relented and allowed my curiosity to give into getting involved in their conversation. No, I didn't actually talk with them. I just listened in. I'm sure they had no idea.

I have some advice for all you who frequent public places with your dear friends and family. Be careful what you say in public, people are listening. It doesn't matter if you are talking to a friend or on your phone, people understand everything you are saying.

I wonder how many of these personal conversations were going on in Korea behind my back? I know. They were there. It was my own Korean language deficiency that kept my curiosity curbed. I grew to appreciate the background conversations like we do background music. Right now the conversations going around me in coffee shops, stores, church, on the bus and everywhere else are like audio e-mails popping open uninvited. It is no longer a quiet world. My own thoughts have competition! There is one good thing about all these intrusions. They say the best way to learn a language is to listen. All this listening will help my own ability to have an English conversation! ; )