Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Good, The Bad, and The Adjumma


The Good: Public transportation is quick and easy.

The Bad: Maneuvering through the subway is like a pee-wee soccer game. Everyone scrambles for the same goal but in the most unorganized possible way.

The Adjumma: Adjummas have nothing to lose. The kids are out of the house, the husband is a drunk and never home, life is winding down to the end. What's the answer to this mid-life/empty-nest crisis? Push your way through others, cut in line, and swipe empty seats on the subway. Logical, right?

The Good: Food is cheap, cheap, cheap.

The Bad: Hair is a frequent ingredient.

The Adjumma: Hair nets might cramp their style of 3-inch platforms, floral-print shirts, and camel toe-tight pants as they make my food. I understand.

The Good: I'm a freakin celebrity here. I've signed autographs. I've posed for pictures. People want to know me.

The Bad: I'm a poster child for the caucasian race. I've got to be careful of what I wear, what I say (even though most people can't understand me), and how I act--who likes to do that?

The Adjumma: She stares. She glares. But she doesn't say a word. Is it admiration? Disgust? Jealousy? Only she knows.

xx
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Note: Adjumma is a polite term in Korean for "married woman" typical given to older women. The waeguk world has transformed it into a negative term for the pushy old ladies of Korea.

Note: Waeguk is a Korean word for "foreigner."

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