BOYS' NIGHT OUT
(or Why I Haven't Been Updating Much)I've been having a fantastic time with my two Korean-Brazilian cousins. I can't even describe.
But you know I'll try.
THE OTHER REASON I HAVEN'T BEEN UPDATING MUCH
(Sorry ... no gay porn in this entry folks)"Uh oh,"
my younger cousin, Young (age 20), said from behind my computer desk last week.
Long Round (age 23) and I paused our Tekken match and got up to see what was wrong. (I was winning by the way, 5 games to 2).
The computer was frozen. I got up and tried to reboot it.
Meanwhile I heard Long Round growl the Korean word
"Kay-sekkie ....,"
which translates into "Sonovabitch". He said it several times while glaring at his quiet brother when he thought I wasn't looking (or comprehending).
After about eight attempts at fixing things, I gave up and said I'd have it fixed later.
I really adore both of my cousins. I don't want them fighting, especially because of me.
Long Round was furious not for himself but out of some sort of protective instinct toward me I think. We've become pretty good friends lately. Young on the other hand is more of a computer recluse than I thought. Poor Young just stood there ashamed while his taller brother glared at him with fervent disapproval.
Not wanting to chose sides or embarrass either one, I pretended I didn't understand what was being said, and I picked up the DVD we made Young watch with us last weekend,
"Hey, wasn't this movie (The Yupgi Girl) hilarious, Young?"
Young seemed surprise at the non-sequitur, and kind of nodded and smiled at my earnestness. Then I gave it to Long Round,
"You have got to watch this. It is so funny and Jun Ji Hyun is really pretty. It's my favorite movie."
Pretty girls. Boys start wars over pretty girls. But sometimes only a pretty girl can stop them too.
EASY REASONS
I got my computer fixed over the phone for a $20 fee. It was really easy. And I made sure to tell my cousins as soon as it was fixed so they wouldn't feel guilty anymore.
Long Round and I have really bonded I think. I'm not sure if he started to open up to me because :
1. I'm neither sanctimonious nor intimidating as some "adults" can be, or
2. Because this 31-year old could consistently own him in Tekken Tag (I also make OUCH comments and roll sometimes when I get hit badly in the game), or
3. He really liked my PC game and kungfu movie collection.
ON K-POP OBSESSED PSYCHOS
I showed both of the guys my drawings of course. I've noticed that girls usually pay more attention to the details. Guys usually look for the booby shots.
ME: " .... And this one was modeled after Lee Jin from FinKL. She's my favorite. ... And this one is Eun Jin from Baby VOX. She's my favorite too .... "
LONG ROUND: "Uh ... I don't really know their names."
ME: "Oh right. Of course."
I keep forgetting.
I'm the weird one.
(He does like the male groups like Brown Eyes and G.O.D. though. What's up with Korean guys liking the ballads so much?)
LONG ROUND: "You like Lee Jung Hyun too?"
ME: "Yeah, she's my favorite singer. She was my first."LONG ROUND: "She's crazy."
ME: "Yeah. Isn't she great?"
(That was also the name of her first single release on her third and latest album.)
ON AMERICAN POP CULTURE
When we're at the gym, Long Round seems to really like to talk. I'll be in the middle of trying to keep myself from being crushed under a stack of weights and he'll come up to me and just ask something out of the blue.
LONG ROUND: "Do you like Destiny's Child?"
ME: "What? Uh, yeah, they're pretty cool."
LONG ROUND: "What ever happened to the fourth member?"
ME: "Wha -- ?? HAHHAHAHAHAHhahaha!!!! ... Oh my God ... haha ... well, I think she quit or they fired her."
LONG ROUND: "Ah. What do you think of Usher?"
ME: "He's alright. I don't really listen to him."
LONG ROUND: "His ears are too big. He's kind of ugly, but he's a good dancer. He's going out with that girl from TLC."
ME: "Chilly, the pretty one, right."
LONG ROUND: "Chilly, yeah. Hahha!"
He totally cracks me up.
We also talked about Britney Spears. He doesn't like her. But he REALLY likes Jessica Simpson (?!?!), "the most beautiful teen singer" he says. Who?
ON SPORTS
I was also right about him being the sports-guy.
On the basketball court, he showed me the unique way Brazilians dribble the ball in soccer. Instead of tapping it from foot to foot, they seem to rock it back-and-forth under their foot. He misses playing soccer, and volleyball, and squash.
LONG ROUND: "I play all kinds of sports in Brazil. I haven't played soccer in many a time. Is that right?"
ME: "You mean in a long time?"
LONG ROUND: "Yeah. A long time. I wanted to play college soccer."
ME: "Do you like baseball and football?"
LONG ROUND: "No, those are weird American games. Americans always try to be different. Like with pounds and kilograms."
ON-LINE
He chats occasionally. Sometimes he looks for other Korean-Brazilians (he's only found four in Michigan he told me).
LONG ROUND: "I was chatting to this American (he means white) girl in chat room. Things were good but then I tell her I was Korean from Brazil. And she hung up."
ME: "Oh."
LONG ROUND: "Why did she do that?"
ME: "Well ... I think some girls here don't care for Asian guys ...."
LONG: "Hmm...."
ME: "But some do!! It was probably some 400 pound fat guy just pretending to be a girl anyways. No big deal."LONG: "Hahaha, yeah."
ME: "I almost never chat. Haven't in 2 or 3 years really. Waste of my time."
LONG: "Ah, it's not as fun if you're married."
ON GIRLS
LONG: "If I'm going to pick up girl, how do I say it?"
ME: "You could say you're going to ask her out. Or you could say you are going to hit on her."
LONG: "So I tell my friends in a club, that I'm going to hit her."
ME: "NO! Hahah! No. This is hitting the girl (I lightly punch him in the arm). DON'T DO THAT!! You say you are going to hit ON her. Not hit her."
Pretty blond girl with big blue eyes in a tight pink shirt walks by.
LONG (looking around gym): "I like American girls here."
ME: "What are girls in Brazil like? Are there many Asians there?"
LONG: "Brazilian girls are shorter in general. Some are pretty but not so many. Few Asians. More Japanese. I like girls with big eyes."
Now, when an American guy says "big eyes," it's usually guy-code for "big breasts." Hence, breast implants are more common in America than in Korea.
But when a Korean person from outside of the USA says "big eyes" they usually mean "big eyes." Hence, eyelid surgery is more common in Korea than America.
He also told me what "to hit on" is in Korean, but I forgot already. It's not like I'd have much use for that one anyways.
ON GANGS
Walking back to car around 11 P.M. in gym parking lot.
LONG: "You know about how Korean and Japanese don't get along sometimes, right?"
ME: "Yeah."LONG: "Well, in Brazil there are Korean and Japanese gangs that fight each other."
ME: "Really?"
LONG: "Once I was working at a gas station and these 25 Japanese kids came over and attacked me and my three friends. Can you imagine 25 versus 4 ?"
ME: "Wow! Did you get hurt bad or go to the hospital?"
LONG: "No. We fought like crazy though."
ME: "Were you in a gang?"
LONG: "No."
ON HOME
In parking lot again, at night. Ice crystals for breath.
LONG: "When I was back home in Brazil, I had one car. One job. Lots of friends .... Now I have to start all over from nothing."
ME: "Yeah. A fresh start. It's not easy but you'll get used to it."
ME: "Did you have a girlfriend in Brazil?"
LONG: "I had several, hahaha! But not really ...."
Not The One is what I think I hear.
LONG: "I never knew I had an UNT before."
ME: "A what? Oh, an aunt."
LONG: "Yeah. And a cousin in America. Like you."
ME: "I didn't know until a week ago either. This is pretty cool."
We drive back to his new home for the next couple of years. My mom's house. My mom is loving having two young "kids" she can (s)mother all over again. Both of the cousins agree that my mom has a good heart ... but they joke that she talks too much. I always say that too.
Long Round and Young don't have a mother. I'm not sure if she died or she left them.
Together they make a perfect match.
My mom thinks she's EVERYONE'S mother anyways.
ON THE FUTURE
LONG: "In a year from now ..."
He pauses thinking of the words. I assume he's going to say how much bigger he'll be (muscle-wise) or how he'll be moving to California or something. But he says something else.
LONG: " .... My English will be better. We'll talk better then."
ME: "But you speak English good now! ... I mean 'well.'"
LONG: "I learned English in Brazil but I haven't conversed in many a time. We'll talk better in a year."
ME (nodding enthusiastically): "Okay."
I almost feel giddy. I really like both of my new cousins. They feel like my little brothers (even though Long is nearly two inches taller than me ... three with his pointy hair) but I usually act sillier than they do. I know I already have a "little" brother, Mark (a year younger), but we've always grown up as opposites but equals. They really want to meet Mark as well.
Already I feel fiercely protective of them. They're not borrowed-relatives from Amy's side of the family, who could leave me for dead if I wasn't with Amy. These guys are related to me by blood and genetics. We belong to each other. And even better, they don't see me as different or inferior because I'm only half-Korean. My own blood-related Korean relatives ... it still blows my mind.
When Long implies he'll still be here in a year, my hopes soar. I had this feeling that they would get bored and quickly move on to funner places than Ice Planet Michigan. Or just be bored with me.
My heart has already opened up too much for them; I can feel it.
I'll do almost anything for them ... as long as they don't betray me. Or abandon me. Otherwise I know I'd never forgive them. Most of the no-longer-friends in my life failed at the latter, which is why I make it a habit of not having friends.
I think I'm his first real friend here.
He feels like my first real friend in many a time as well.
SYSTEM RESTORE
As promised, this is how I got my computer fixed so easily (I have a SONY VAIO and Windows ME).
Turn on computer. Press F8 after SONY title screen. Click on Safe Mode.
Go to Start --> Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> System Restore and VOILA!!!
Go back to the day before the accident happened. It's amazing. Like time travel for your PC.
If only life were like that, what day would you re-start on again?
GIRLS MAY BE WEIRD
But Miss Theresa is pretty awesome. I like her journal-style entries.
And everything else of course.
