A Real American Hero

Koreans are really into cute things. Childlike imagery of puppies and sailboats and whatnot is everywhere. At the Science Museum (yes, I finally made it back!) there is evidence that Korean scientists have had a breakthrough in cute technology. They have crossed flowers with rainbows.

This week began with upset stomach and ended with brain hurt. The stomach made sense; anybody who spends a few weeks in another country eating unfamiliar food has a good chance of finding themselves checking the old porcelain seismograph. The brain was my fault, as I willingly attended a film screening of G.I. Joe. The movie felt like Novocain. As in, by the end I couldn't feel. I'm embarrassed that the nice people in Korea judge my culture by things like G.I. Joe. Then again, I'm giving them a chance to judge our culture by my karaoke attempts, and those are also pretty numbing.

I found myself in an tricky spot during my TOEFL intensive class this week. We've started using a nice CNN book and CD to extend the listening and vocabulary lessons, but during one story, the word sexy came up. Class of eight 13 year old boys.

Class: "Teacher, what is sexy?"

Me: "Well, it's an adjective that means someone or something has sex appeal."

Class: "Teacher, what is appeal?"

(See where this is going?)

Me: "Appeal is like attraction. Anything with a desirable quality can have appeal. For example, I ordered the beef today for lunch because it had an appealing aroma."

Class: "Teacher, what is sex?"

Me: "Sex is a synonym for gender. For example, a father's sex is male. A mother's sex is female."

Then one brilliant kid goes: "So sexy means being desirable to the other sex than you?"

Me: "Exactly!"

This worked out really well. I managed to provide the guys with a functional definition of "sexy" that didn't involve me saying things that would leave them giggling or crying. Interesting corollary to this story is that later that night I went dancing and heard the word again from a group of Korean girls who didn't look too much older than my class. They apparently also had a functional definition.