::A Geek in Korea::

I went over to the Aunt’s house to visit today. I picked a bad day, as they were painting the stairwell into the apartment. The place had been sealed off with plastic for a day or two, but they didn’t do the actual spraying until today. They had plastic on the doors, and I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to get in. They let me inside, but all I had to do is walk through a room full of paint fumes with no mask, hold my breath in an elevator, and quickly get inside the door to the apartment before I was speckled with white paint and lost too many brain cells.

The apartment stank, of course. Paint fumes give me a nasty headache. The Aunt had to leave, as she was going to visit her mother, my Grandmother-in-law. Her teenage daughter was getting babysat by another older cousin. They planned to stay in the house despite the fumes. I invited them over to my house, as we had nothing else to do, and my house didn’t smell as foul. They had never been to my place, so I got to be "in charge" as we took a taxi and went to the apartment.

Luckily, Mrs. Torgo (This will be her pseudonym from now on) was home, so we had a translator for more difficult conversation. We played a nice game of Monopoly, and taught them the card game Rummy as well. While we were playing, my mother-in-law called to see what we were up to, and she stopped by as well. The games stopped, as it was time for the ladies "drama". They all watched the latest evening Korean soap opera, and I jumped on the computer to keep from getting a headache from trying to follow the plot.

It was good to spend some time with the family. They seemed comfortable hanging out in the apartment with us, and they got to play some games with us. They also didn’t have to sit a smelling apartment.