I Heart Corea!
The very day that my beloved Mama Mobile got bashed, I was sitting in Roman's gymnastics class when I noticed that three of the mirrors on the wall were funky, like fun house mirrors.
"What gives with the mirrors?" I asked the coach.
"The originals were cracked so we contracted out to Koreans to replace them," she explained.
"And this is as good as they could come up with?"
"No," she replied, "This was what they left us with after coming back 4 times to fix what they had originally put in. After the fourth time, they said they would not come back anymore. They were done. This is what we are stuck with."
I went up to get a closer look. The mirrors were warped and cheap looking. Instead of being flush with one another, they way the other mirrors were, these were spaced apart with white caulking smeared in between. It looked like a child did it. It was horrible worksmanship. Some of the worst I'd ever seen. I was embarrassed for the men who did it for surely they lacked pride in their work.
And so it was with this experience fresh in my mind that I sent my minivan off to a Korean repair shop to be fixed. The automatic door, the rear fender, and the complete bumper all had to be replaced. I was damn near certain that my van would never look or work the same again. I was screwed.
Much to my complete shock and disbelief, the big red Mama Mobile is back and better than ever! Not only did these automotive geniuses repair the damage, replace the parts, paint the exterior, and make sure the mechanisms were all fully funcitonal, they touched up all the scratches and chips in the paint that I had put in prior.
Oh, but it doesn't stop there! They also cleaned the garbage out of my car. I don't know about other moms, but my vehicle, my purse, and my pockets are all receptacles for waste, trash, and general garbage. When my purse and pockets become overstuffed, I dump their contents into a large, overflowing wicker basket I keep near the driver's seat. Many times I open the sliding door to my van and empty water bottles just spill out onto the street with Reilly Kate's craft projects and work sheets fluttering in the wind above them. So this clean out was no small task.
And then these brave Korean souls took it a step further and DETAILED my baby! Yes, the whole interior has been scrubbed and polished so well that the only tell tale sign of previous ownership is the bright blue and yellow crayon design that Reilly Kate put on the back left arm rest just hours before the crash (it is her claim today that she knew the crash was going to happen before it did and that is the reason she was compelled to draw on the van). Hell, the dang thing even smells new again. I don't know how they got that new car smell into my diaper bin of a minivan, but god bless them, they did!
This is what I love about Korea. The unexpected. Just when you think you have it figured out, the unexpected happens. I think some hear me talk about Korea or read this blog and they get the wrong impression of what Korea is or what I think of her or her people. Let there be no doubt: I love Korea. I love Koreans. There are plenty of things that are fucked up here just as there are everywhere and those things are what endears this place to me. If it were just like home, why would I even leave home?
It's like this. If you tell all your friends about your kid dumping a box of cereal in the middle of the living room, does that imply you dislike your kid? No. It's a funny, yet frustrating story that will become a memory to keep you company when you are old and alone and your kids are too busy with their grandkids to come see you in the home. It's like that with me and Korea... only different. Like Korea won't come see me in the home, I'll be in a home in Korea. But whatever.
The next time you read me ranting on about Korea, don't think of it as a bad place or a place you thankfully will never have to live. Think of how lucky I am that I get to experience this place while you sit in the same neighborhood you've lived in for the last 10 years. Really. I am lucky.
PS If you are wondering about the spelling of Korea in the title, well, go here and read all about it. It's another one of those endearingly irritating things about Korea. Yes, K-K-K-K-Korea.
"What gives with the mirrors?" I asked the coach.
"The originals were cracked so we contracted out to Koreans to replace them," she explained.
"And this is as good as they could come up with?"
"No," she replied, "This was what they left us with after coming back 4 times to fix what they had originally put in. After the fourth time, they said they would not come back anymore. They were done. This is what we are stuck with."
I went up to get a closer look. The mirrors were warped and cheap looking. Instead of being flush with one another, they way the other mirrors were, these were spaced apart with white caulking smeared in between. It looked like a child did it. It was horrible worksmanship. Some of the worst I'd ever seen. I was embarrassed for the men who did it for surely they lacked pride in their work.
And so it was with this experience fresh in my mind that I sent my minivan off to a Korean repair shop to be fixed. The automatic door, the rear fender, and the complete bumper all had to be replaced. I was damn near certain that my van would never look or work the same again. I was screwed.
Much to my complete shock and disbelief, the big red Mama Mobile is back and better than ever! Not only did these automotive geniuses repair the damage, replace the parts, paint the exterior, and make sure the mechanisms were all fully funcitonal, they touched up all the scratches and chips in the paint that I had put in prior.
Oh, but it doesn't stop there! They also cleaned the garbage out of my car. I don't know about other moms, but my vehicle, my purse, and my pockets are all receptacles for waste, trash, and general garbage. When my purse and pockets become overstuffed, I dump their contents into a large, overflowing wicker basket I keep near the driver's seat. Many times I open the sliding door to my van and empty water bottles just spill out onto the street with Reilly Kate's craft projects and work sheets fluttering in the wind above them. So this clean out was no small task.
And then these brave Korean souls took it a step further and DETAILED my baby! Yes, the whole interior has been scrubbed and polished so well that the only tell tale sign of previous ownership is the bright blue and yellow crayon design that Reilly Kate put on the back left arm rest just hours before the crash (it is her claim today that she knew the crash was going to happen before it did and that is the reason she was compelled to draw on the van). Hell, the dang thing even smells new again. I don't know how they got that new car smell into my diaper bin of a minivan, but god bless them, they did!
This is what I love about Korea. The unexpected. Just when you think you have it figured out, the unexpected happens. I think some hear me talk about Korea or read this blog and they get the wrong impression of what Korea is or what I think of her or her people. Let there be no doubt: I love Korea. I love Koreans. There are plenty of things that are fucked up here just as there are everywhere and those things are what endears this place to me. If it were just like home, why would I even leave home?
It's like this. If you tell all your friends about your kid dumping a box of cereal in the middle of the living room, does that imply you dislike your kid? No. It's a funny, yet frustrating story that will become a memory to keep you company when you are old and alone and your kids are too busy with their grandkids to come see you in the home. It's like that with me and Korea... only different. Like Korea won't come see me in the home, I'll be in a home in Korea. But whatever.
The next time you read me ranting on about Korea, don't think of it as a bad place or a place you thankfully will never have to live. Think of how lucky I am that I get to experience this place while you sit in the same neighborhood you've lived in for the last 10 years. Really. I am lucky.
PS If you are wondering about the spelling of Korea in the title, well, go here and read all about it. It's another one of those endearingly irritating things about Korea. Yes, K-K-K-K-Korea.
posted by The Histrionics of a Fat Housewife at 8:04 AM
4 Comments:
Maybe they'll change the spelling of Tae Kwon Do to Dae Kwon Do so it comes before Karate when the events are listed. But then the Japanese could change Karate to Carate. Will Coreans be eating Cimchi and sending their cids to Kanada to learn English now? Glad to hear about your kar though. They are stikclers for klean kars here that's for sure.
Hey, I want someone to do MY van! The people at the Honda dealership here in Virginia just hold their noses and put a paper mat down on the floor so their "dirty" shoes don't get my "clean" van messed up. Heh. At least, I assume they're holding their noses. Maybe they're laughing their asses off.
Hallo I absolutely adore your site. You have beautiful graphics I have ever seen.
»
Looking for information and found it at this great site...
» »
Post a Comment
<< Home