Yong Ju’s been telling me about his love life. This Sunday he got a phone call during dinner from a girl at his hagwon (the extracurricular tutoring academies that ensure that even middle school students, who get out of school around 4, are studying until at least 10), saying that she had something to tell him. Apparently it was something along the lines of, “I love you, what do you say to that?” to which he replied, “My dad says I have to hang up cause we’re eating dinner.” Then the next day he assiduously avoided talking to her before informing her best friend that he wasn’t interested. According to Yong Ju, this girl just likes everyone. In fact, he told me, at one point she had no fewer than EIGHT boyfriends. Me: “Eight!! That’s impossible!” Yong Ju: “Well, maybe five.” At this point Yong Ju asked, “So, what do you call a girl who has eight boyfriends?” OK, this was really awkward for me, especially considering that Fresa was at the table with us. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but the Lee’s are really into vocabulary. We have a whiteboard in the living room and every evening Fresa, Yong Ju, Marina and I are supposed to write two new words on the board, in English and Korean. Then every month or so I have to quiz the kids. It’s kind of fun to inject new words into their vocabulary, actually. One day I taught them “awkward,” and for the next week every situation could only be described as awkward. Recently I’ve been experimenting with some more interesting words, including “mushy,” “repulsive” and “sadistic.” As in, “This rice is so mushy, it’s repulsive. Whoever cooked this must be sadistic.” Anyway, the point is that every time I clarify some point of vocabulary, especially if Fresa’s there to remind me, it’s off to the whiteboard to enshrine the word forever in the Lee’s steel-trap memories. So, a girl with eight boyfriends? Let's just call the situation "awkward." At first I thought “player.” Yong Ju was familiar with that one…“like a playboy!” “Yeah, sort of.” I didn’t go into the subtleties on that one. But player really seems more like something you call men, it’s a little awkward to pin the term on a woman. So, god help me, I told them, “OK, I have a word, but you are NOT ALLOWED to say it, ’cause it’s really mean and a little sexist.” So I just taught my host brother and his mom “slut.” This is the kind of educational experience I’m sure Fresa was thinking about when she invited a native English speaker into her home. I don’t think Yong Ju really got my whole “don’t say this word” lecture though, cause now every time he mentions this girl he’s like, “You know, the slut.” Oh god. At least they didn’t make me write it on the whiteboard.

I asked Yong Ju if this happens to him often and he was like, “Oh yes. I’m very popular. But I was way more popular in the sixth grade…that was really my climax.” CLIMAX!! This kid is 13. Apparently, he was also quite a hit with the girls when he went to Utah in the third grade. He claims that basically as soon as he arrived he had five or six girls crowding around him asking, “Do you like me? Do you like me?” Of course, being newly arrived in the US and unfamiliar with the subtle differentiation between “like” and “like” he told them all, “Yes!” What a player