Pronunciation

Someone just took me down to the docks (literally) to drop off my passport for foreigner registration. I think it's down there because they also do a small amount of customs at the seaport.

After having a couple of interactions with men-- that guy and the guys at the bank-- I arrived at the conclusion that part of the reason "Kamsahamnida" (thank you) sounded so lousy coming out of me is that I was modelling my pronunciation on the Koreans I had heard pronounce it-- which up to that point had all been women. They were pronouncing it in this kind of high sing-song. The men don't do that. And now that I think about it I tend to think that if they tried they wouldn't sound much better than I did.

In other news, the guy that told me not to bring any stationery steered me wrong. The stationery here is nice, but it's also far from cheap. Hopefully it will be possible to get some writing pads for free via the department. Prof C mentioned something to that effect. One wants to be able to scribble away; expensive paper produces writer's block! In the mean time, I have a lecture to prepare. I got a buck's worth. It should last a couple of weeks.