eye tuning
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:09 am
I was walking across the dusty exercise yard in front of my school after lunch when I was accosted by a bunch of schoolgirls. This, in itself, is not unusual and not the point of the story.
I recognized the girls, though I didn't know their names. They were in the class under mine, and I'd gone down to their classroom once or twice to hang out. In their clique was a girl who I'd say if I were one to have a type, would be my type. Long hair, very quiet, cute. They'd caught me offguard. Something was off about their appearances. One of them grabbed me by the arm and was babbling in a language that I couldn't quite tell was English or Korean. I tried to tune in a little closer.
"Winter bacation, I did eye tuning. Eye tuning."
I hadn't heard those words since the first time I played The White Album backwards. I had no idea what the fuck she was trying to get across, so I told her to tell me again in Korean. I pick up the 'winter vacation' and the 'I did' but I have no idea what she was trying to explain. "Okay, back to English."
"Doctor cutta-cutta." She made a gesture to her eyes. I could make out the scars above her eyelids. I gave her a look of abject disgust.
I looked over her friends. A couple of her friends, too, were sporting tuned-up eyes. Their glassy gazes and hashed-up faces beamed back at me, mistaking my expression for a sign of confusion. They tried to explain further. I covered my face.
We were standing near the steps up to the front of the school. (Side story: my school is built on the side of a mountain, ergo these steps have to be three stories high, I swear.) Up above me, I see the girl with the long hair take a couple steps up and away from me. Then she stops and turns to look back at me.
I stare into her googlyeyes.
The only word I could possibly use to express what I felt was 'betrayal'. But it wasn't quite betrayal, was it? We barely knew eachother. She was a pretty girl who owed me nothing. I don't know what enraged me so, but what happened next happened like this:
In Korean grammar, adjectives function quite the same as verbs. At the speed of thought I figure how to conjugate 'beautiful' in the past tense, and then decide that they wouldn't understand why I would insult them anyway, so I might as well have some fun with it.
"Well," I say in English, "You're all dirty sluts and I hate you as much as you seem to hate yourselves. Bye!" I smile and wave and they wave right back of me. Then I turned around and ran out of there.
Am I a bad person?
I recognized the girls, though I didn't know their names. They were in the class under mine, and I'd gone down to their classroom once or twice to hang out. In their clique was a girl who I'd say if I were one to have a type, would be my type. Long hair, very quiet, cute. They'd caught me offguard. Something was off about their appearances. One of them grabbed me by the arm and was babbling in a language that I couldn't quite tell was English or Korean. I tried to tune in a little closer.
"Winter bacation, I did eye tuning. Eye tuning."
I hadn't heard those words since the first time I played The White Album backwards. I had no idea what the fuck she was trying to get across, so I told her to tell me again in Korean. I pick up the 'winter vacation' and the 'I did' but I have no idea what she was trying to explain. "Okay, back to English."
"Doctor cutta-cutta." She made a gesture to her eyes. I could make out the scars above her eyelids. I gave her a look of abject disgust.
I looked over her friends. A couple of her friends, too, were sporting tuned-up eyes. Their glassy gazes and hashed-up faces beamed back at me, mistaking my expression for a sign of confusion. They tried to explain further. I covered my face.
We were standing near the steps up to the front of the school. (Side story: my school is built on the side of a mountain, ergo these steps have to be three stories high, I swear.) Up above me, I see the girl with the long hair take a couple steps up and away from me. Then she stops and turns to look back at me.
I stare into her googlyeyes.
The only word I could possibly use to express what I felt was 'betrayal'. But it wasn't quite betrayal, was it? We barely knew eachother. She was a pretty girl who owed me nothing. I don't know what enraged me so, but what happened next happened like this:
In Korean grammar, adjectives function quite the same as verbs. At the speed of thought I figure how to conjugate 'beautiful' in the past tense, and then decide that they wouldn't understand why I would insult them anyway, so I might as well have some fun with it.
"Well," I say in English, "You're all dirty sluts and I hate you as much as you seem to hate yourselves. Bye!" I smile and wave and they wave right back of me. Then I turned around and ran out of there.
Am I a bad person?
