If the international aid thing doesn't work out (and if the interstellar diplomacy thing doesn't either), then at least my time in Korea is excellent for preparing me to make my living as a mime.
And in casual life, I shall rock at charades.
I've gotten quite adept at expressing to salesmen in local stores exactly what I want without using a single spoken word. (Though, I'm pretty sure that one thing I want-- soap for my floor-- doesn't actually exist in Korea.) I just walk into a store and start gesturing, and most of the time, they take me to exactly what I need.
So when I walked into the kitchen supply store, and I rounded my arms like a huge bowl, then made mixing motions...
...the woman behind the counter asked "Mixing bowl?" and I nearly fell over.
It was such an extreme revelation that the person behind the counter actually knew the word in English of what I was looking for (and, as an aside, honestly: why should they?). I was giddy, like, "Yes! Yes! Mixing bowl! Yes!" and was in general waaaaaay too enthusiastic. It kind of made my evening.
I suppose when your evening is made happy by the fact that a store clerk knew what a "mixing bowl" is, you are truly learning to appreciate the small pleasures of life.
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