Oddities

So I saw this picture online today and felt obliged to share it. The romanized Korean mean "It is a foreigner!" which is something I hear often when doing odd things like shopping for groceries, buying a pizza, or walking down the street. Or, at least, things that appear odd to Koreans. Or odd for a foreigner to do.

Actually I shouldn't be so crass, I live in a big city and more or less blend in, it's rare that I hear something like this these days, and when I do it's almost invariably from some doe eyed Korean kid. It's still annoying though.

I recently took holiday* in Thailand, a country that's crawling with waegookins of all stripes and which is at least superficially accommodating of them, and upon returning to my arctic home in the frozen north it was hard not to notice the stares and mutterings of the locals. So perhaps I'm a little oversensitive right now. But hey, it's a funny picture.

At one point during my Thailand sojourn I was playing pool with a talented bar maid (she beat me in like 5 games straight, despite obviously trying to throw the last two my way) and the song featured in the video below came on. I think it's oddly appropriate not only in matching the picture above but in encapsulating my Thailand experience, and it's also really good, and so I humbly submit that the oddly patient blog reader who has made it this far may want to listen to it.

David Bowie's Space Oddity:




*I was recently complimented (at least I think it was a compliment) by a fellow American expatriate on how well I've adjusted my word choice to accommodate the Canadians, Brits, Aussies and others formerly under the aegis of the queen. For example I no longer say "I'm going on vacation" but rather what I wrote above. I've also been known to use "football" in lieu of "soccer." The Times, They Are a'Changin.