I had my first LSAT exam today. I knew it would be hard, and I had planned to cancel the score for my first exam. I took it for a kind of “practice.” Holy moly, it was so much harder and more tiring than I thought. Game was nearly impossible, reading was harder than I thought. If I hadn’t plan to cancel my score, you definitely would have seen a lady who climbed one of many bridges of Han River tonight, wearing her bra inside out, screaming that she’s going to jump from the bridge and kill herself on your 9 o’clock news. I wouldn’t say too much about how was it, because I’ll end up using not-very-clean language a lot. If you still want to see it, drag from here: it was like a giant big turdbomb smudged on my face. A total f**kbomb. There, I warned you. On the bright sight, however, my timing on logic wasn’t bad. There are questions I couldn’t look at, but I think my timing definetely improved. And my plans for all the small things – attire, things to bring, etc – was pretty much correct. The exam site was actually better than my study library. I am very glad to bring a small bottle of Eucalyptus oil and a bag of espresso bean chocolate. That woke me up (maybe I need to eat more of them, or with cans of Red Bull). Anyway…it was the hardest exam I’ve ever done, and I’m worried. I really might jump off the bridge if I screw my next exam too.
There were lots of non-Korean people for the exam, too. Which was surprising. I had to contain myself from randomly joining their conversation. I’d like to thank my friend for sending a cheer-up text.
Anyway. The strange thing happened after the exam. With numerous people who took LSAT and babbling about the questions (too late, people, too late) I headed down to the first floor, completely burnt out. As I grabbed my bag, and digging dip into my bag for cell phone, a random Korean girl talked to me (all conversations here are in Korean):
“Are you XX? Wait, was it XY?”
It was similar with my name, but whatever-she-called-me was a very common girl’s name in South Korea. Besides, I couldn’t tell who she was. How can you? The girl had a thick makeup, with 2 smokey eyelines with 2 different colors (kudos to her – how can someone manage to have that much of makeup on the day of early exam where you have to get up around 6:15 am?). And, given the popularity and level of Korean plastic surgery, I won’t be surprised if she had some nip here and tuck there. If that is true, I would definetely have a hard time figuring who she is. So, wrong name, unrecognizable face. Obviously the chance is I don’t know her, and she probably made a mistake. In addition, I was exhausted.
“Er, no, I think you recognized me as a wrong person.”
“Oh, um, did you not go Notre Dame?”
“I did indeed…?”
“Do you not know me?”
“Now leave me alone pervert I’m tired No?”
“Well what year did you graduate?”
“08? Why the hell are you asking? And who the hell are you?“
“I graduated on the same year too? Do you not know me?”
If I had more vigor, I might have been meaner but I was too tired to be mean. I just said “No, really, sorry” with awkward smile and stepped out. Of course, she never identified who she is.
Social Awkwardness Excuse Card - if you can't do it, at least try, like carrying this card
Maybe I’m just really cranky at the moment because of all that pressure and stress I had to go through. But if I was in her position, I would’ve just said something like: “Excuse me, but but I think I know you, although I don’t really remember your name – are you Notre Dame graduate? I think I ‘ve seen you around the campus a lot. My name is Ceberus, do you remember me by any chance?” Or just don’t bother at all. First, she never identified herself. Not very nice. Second, if you don’t remember a person’s name and can’t manage to say you don’t remember his/her name straight, maybe it’s better to not say hi at all, unless you are terribly friend-deprived. It’s not hard to say that straight away, and even in Korean context, it is considered more polite to say it straight away. The chance is, she is probably older than I am. Shouldn’t she know better? Wait, but I’ve seen a lot of older people who are epic failures in terms of social etiquettes and politeness. Common sense is not common – I should know better.
I still don’t know who she is, but I have one good guess. Let’s just call her Myrtle here, and she did something very rude to me. If she was Myrtle, I would’ve denied my knowledge of her (with all of my heart, get lost!). I was a covert operation hermit-geek back in college. One evening, as I chow down my dinner in hurry (I had a laundry to dry and lots of assignments), Myrtle randomly sat on my table and said hi. It was unusual, because she never did that before. She insisted that I should move over to table over there, saying there are many Korean students. Oh yes, I know the routine: since I am Korean, I have to seat and eat dinner with Koreans, no matter how packed my schedule is, or how I’d rather sit with my friends. But by then, I knew it is better to say yes and sit with them, at least once in a while, so I can avoid making any enemies. So I did. I said hello. Obviously I expected Myrtle to help with greeting and introduction, since she was the one who invited me and knew the Koreans there better than myself. She didn’t. I was baffled, but not too surprised. For some reason, Koreans don’t do this. You are obliged to come since you are Korean, but the host Korean believes they are not obliged for a smooth mix-up and greeting (and I’m being sarcastic here). So I decided to just do it by myself. I kept throwing that questions – what major are you, when did you come, oh such-and-such class is it fun? – but the conversation is just not connected. I wasn’t that interested anyway. Meanwhile, my dinner plate was emptied and I really had to go back now. No more reason to stay. So I courteously said I have to leave now, and it was nice meeting with all of them. Then all of sudden, with a big smile, Myrtle said,
“Awkward, isn’t it? See, that’s why you should join us more.”
Yeah, like you always invited, or tried to take care of me. What a nice thing to say. Besides, I was unwilling – isn’t she the one who insisted? I was too busy to do my job, and she was just not that important. I just said “Ha!” and left. If that girl really was Myrtle, then I’d say she has a quiet thick face, if not an utter idiot. Later I told the story to my dear fellow Korean friend, Soojin. Soojin said “That’s just the way Myrtle is. She’s always jealous of people who are hermit-ish and capable by themselves. She can’t hold back her temper, and most importantly, her mouth is not connected with her brain. Don’t take it too serious. I think she’s just baffled because you never join their little club yet doing well.”
Either way, it is even more wearing to deal with someone who is socially awkward, especially after when you are completely burnt out. Why is common sense not common? Jeeves, get me some Mint Julep. I’m tired…wait I don’t have Jeeves. Don’t they sell Jeeves on Ebay? I wish they do.
Lost in Translation, Advanced Level 