I hate kids!

I like the kids in my school. I like kids on an individual basis. But kids in anonymous packs need a good knock on the head.

First coming to Korea, the little “Hello” game kids do was amusing. You felt like a small celebrity. After a while, when the “hellos” weren’t in front of you in genuine greeting but were done behind your back followed by laughter and the occasional, “Puck you,” the whole game became an annoyance. You’re just a white monkey placed there for their amusement.

Do adults do anything to correct them when they see the kids acting rude in public?

If adults react any way at all, they laugh.

It’s been hellish that my previous apartment was adjacent to a playground (where kids knocked on my window regularly). My current place is adjacent to an elementary school and down the street from a middle school.

I try to time my exit from the house to work where I can avoid the little monsters. Yet I always find myself leaving at the same time school’s letting out at 12:53. I’m in a crowd of “Hello”— “What’s your name”—“Where do you live?”

“Waygook saram! Waygook saram!”

I usually either play along or ignore it. But you know, I’m a person just like anyone else. I have my bad days. I have my sick days. I have days when my girlfriend is angry at me for no reason, my ex-wife is making crazy demands, my ex-employer is trying to put me in jail for suing her–I’m just not in the mood to entertain a 10-year-old. Indicating that I am immersed in my i-Pod podcast doesn’t deter them.

Just now, I thought it would be a good idea to go walk up the mountain and get some exercise.

Bad idea.

Every single class in that elementary school was on a field trip on that mountain.

I’m too out of breath, and my muscles are burning enough with lactic acid overload. Don’t fuck with me when I’m exercising, you little rude low class bastards.

Now I need to shower and get ready… 12:53 is an hour away.