I am sitting on the floor with nam-dong-seng, who is giving me a very enthusiastic lesson in Korean history as I try to follow the broken English mixed with Korean and hastily-drawn maps and diagrams.
Then Japan eat Korea, he says, drawing a threatening-looking arrow on the map and changing the country’s name for the millionth time.
Erm… not eats, I say, somewhat at a loss for the correct word since I’m not very well versed in battle terminology. Japan invades? Takes over? I pause to cough pitifully, my body racked with painful spasms. I have still not managed to completely convey to awma that I’m suffering from air allergies and not a permanent dose of the flu, and I think she suspects I have next to no immune system. She appears by my side now, having been busy in the kitchen since I arrived in my coughing-and-sneezing condition and was ambushed by nam-dong-seng.
Take this vitamin tablet, she says in Korean. Not that I’m able to translate, of course, it’s just that she’s pressing a tablet into my hand and reaching me a glass of water, and the Korean word for “vitamin” happens to be “bee-ta-meen”. I decide it can’t hurt, and then when I take it I realise I was wrong, as the tablet is huge and my poor throat is raw and swollen and dry. I start to cough even more vigorously, and now I’m turning purple into the bargain. Awma looks alarmed, and reaches for the next item on her tray. It is a small cup of steaming water, into which she is stirring some dark brown, sticky stuff from a bottle that does not look as if it contains a pleasant-tasting beverage.
I manage to pick up the words “hot water”, “ginseng”, “good”, and “medicine” from her explanation. Nam-dong-seng looks up from his diagram of bloody-looking soldiers. Noona, that tastes very very not sweet, he says in that delightfully Konglishy style of speech, looking truly sorry about the fate that has befallen me. Bitter? I ask, looking dubiously at it. Awma is standing over me with her hands on her hips. You better drink, advises nam-dong-seng, in the voice of one who has previously tried to resist. I look at awma’s stern face, and hastily take up the cup and knock back the ginseng potion, which tastes like liquorice only even nastier, if possible. Grooooogh! I exclaim miserably, gagging.
Nam-dong-seng tries to smuggle a piece of chocolate into my hand, but awma is waiting with the next dose: drugs. I am not sure that I should be taking drugs when I can barely read the packet they come in. Awma is prepared for this refusal, and she sets the Korean-labelled box aside and produces one that nam-dong-seng tells me they got when he was sick on holiday in France. The instructions are in French. This is better. I look admiringly at awma – the woman thinks of everything.
Successfully drugged, I return to my history lesson, only to be slightly confused to find awma pulling the cushion out from under me. It turns out that she has brought me a heated floor cushion. One with a cable and a control pad, which plugs into the wall and heats my bum as I sit on the floor. And then she brings a tray of fresh, sliced fruit, and a pot of coffee.
So, Japan takes over Korea… says nam-dong-seng, returning to the lesson as if nothing has just happened. I return my attention to his enthusiastic story-telling, and smile gratefully at awma as she comes past and wraps a blanket around my shoulders. I’m not sick, but I don’t feel great, either, with this horrible allergy stuff. I’m not sure how much good any of awma‘s fussing will do me in terms of health. But the TLC goes a long way.
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Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well. But awww, awma is sweet
I kind of like the idea of Japan eating Korea
TLC goes a very long way.
Sending virtual healing hugs.
Awwww – she sounds so lovely and caring – just what you need when you’re under the weather and away from home.
bevchen – the thing is, I know what he meant but I can’t for the life of me think what the correct term is. Not invade… ‘eat’ is actually really good, because it provides the right mental image – Japan ‘ate’ Korea and got bigger!
Grannymar – Thanks. Am hopeful that I’ll get the medication I need soon. Explaining the concept of decongestants has been proving to be a rather difficult process!
MO – She’s very sweet. It’s definitely nice to have a mother figure around when I haven’t got my mum here to fuss over me!
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[...] The other week, I was mightily impressed with namdongseng when he launched into a 30-minute lesson on Korean history. I hadn’t asked for the lesson. In fact, as far as I can tell, we hadn’t even been on the topic of either Korea or history. But some little thing I said must have triggered off his great desire that I should know about the journey of his country, with all its changes in name and ownership, from ancient times until the present day. The boy is about 11 years old, and he knows more about his country’s history than the average adult from the UK knows about theirs. Today, he called me in great excitement to see if I’d been watching the Olympics. I hadn’t, as I’ve never been into that sort of thing, but I couldn’t fail to be aware that South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na had won the gold medal and broken a world record in figure skating. They’re all going crazy with excitement. [...]
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