Teacher Rebekah has been a busy lady recently, cleaning up her stuff and saying goodbye and trying to prepare for what's next. I had many farewell lunches and late nights of hanging out with other Fulbrighters before they left, plus several days of going to school just to hang out with my students (I played a lot of dodgeball during this time). My teacher's dance class performed twice at large school events, and the students got to see me dance with about a pound of blue glitter in my hair. Pictures will have to come later, because I am posting this from a public computer at the airport! (public computers with free internet: the second best thing about Taoyuan International Airport, after the giant pink Hello Kitty-themed gate)
In about an hour I'll be on a plane to Kuala Lumpur, where fellow Fulbrighter Vicky and I will have one night before we zip off to Cambodia! We wanted to see Angkor Wat, and the cheapest flights to Cambodia were through Kuala Lumpur, so we'll have a week in Cambodia and then stop and check out Malaysia for a couple days on the way back. It should be fun, and I'm sure I'll have some ridiculous stories when we get back. I'll be back in the U.S. on July 15th!
I shall leave you with a story: Tuesday night, I was in the night market getting some last-minute stuff for our trip, when a lady came up and started talking to me. "Gina!" she said, "I know you! Do you remember me?" "My name's not Gina," I told her, but I did remember her, unfortunately. I had met this lady before while getting tea near home; she had asked me where I was from and then insisted that I was lying when I said I was American. I braced myself for another similar experience. "Gina!" she brayed. "You hair is curly!" I confirmed that this was true. "It's very yoogly!" she told me with a cackle. I processed this statement in disbelief. "Did you just tell me my hair is yoogly?" She repeated it. Fortunately, it's kind of hard to feel insulted by someone who is obviously more than a little crazy and can't even pronounce her insults correctly. After that, I just turned back to shopping intently and tried to ignore her until she went away...goodbye crazy lady, you will never hassle me a third time because I am leaving the country!
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2 comments:
Wow... I had to think for a minute about "yoogly." While that could have been a badly pronounced insult, perhaps she was just referring to the way your hair yoogles back and forth. Sort of like "googly eyes" - "yoogly hair"?
You know, that's what I thought at first too! Perhaps "yoogly" is Taiwanese for bouncy or springy or blonde with orange tips! But when I realized that the crazy lady was (maybe) insulting my daughter, I felt like I should hit her with my purse. She better watch out for me the next time I am in Kaohsiung!
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