Directly across from my apartment window is another apartment building. Apartments in Chuncheon are like empty seats at a WNBA game. They're everywhere.
Anyway, next door, in early afternoons, I am serenaded by a young girl's voice. And she's not singing 2 pm or K-pop (Korean pop music). She sings American music. Her favorite is Alicia Keys, "I Keep On Fallin.' " Her voice is great and it sounds as if she is singing acapella. There have been a few times when I've considered dropping this English gig and referring her over to Tommy Mottola or some other big-time U.S. producer. Then I realized that its not only the voice that counts in America, but also the looks. Usually the looks more than the voice. Her window is about 6 feet up from mine, and sadly, I cannot see in. I'll probably never know what she looks like. Maybe she's American. Maybe she's 500 pounds.
I've also thought about singing along when she starts in on "Fallin'." I've actually turned up the song on my computer and considered pulling a Naked Gun sort of scene. Only without the breaking and entering part.
Directly below me is a restaurant that seems to never close. It's called Tudari. Kind of like a bar/cafe that mostly serves as a 24/7 house party.
At all Korean restaurants there are buttons at the table that customers can press when they are ready to order. The number of the table then lights up on a screen near the front and waiters/waitresses can make their way over to the table. It's a pretty useful tool. Better than yelling or snapping your fingers. Much more polite. Except at 3 am when I'm trying to sleep and all I hear is "ding!!...nayyy(yesss in Korean)" from the waiting staff.
I guess its better than the sounds I used to hear in the Bronx. "Ding!!...nayyy" is much safer than the sounds of car alarms, bottles smashing and gang wars. I do miss the latter sounds from college. Although violent, they really added some excitement to each and every night. These sounds coupled with the 4 am raucous return of fellow roommates from Mugzs, "Linger" by the Cranberries echoing quietly from Ha-Wises' room and Stop-1's metal doors crashing down into the pavement are all things I heard before I drifted off to sleep at 2426 Hoff. Guess I can't really complain about "Ding!!...nayyy" being loud. But I still like to complain about missing the sounds of senior year.
Also, my corner in Chuncheon seems to be a hotspot for fights. There was one such outbreak a couple of weeks ago that lasted from about 2:30-3:30 am. I couldn't really see too much from my window but it seemed like two guys were fighting over a girl. I actually stood up on my window sill and spider-manned along the wall to get a closer look. If the singing girl happened to look down out her window at that moment, she probably would've called 911 on me. I looked extremely suspicious. Size of Barry Bonds' head suspicious.
The way the girls were screaming you would've thought somebody was being murdered. I kind of wanted to do something to quiet them down. Maybe throw an egg into the middle of the quarrel. But then I realized I had nothing in my refrigerator.
The fight finally ended when the cops came and broke everyone up. The teacher who lives down the hall from me told me the next day that fights happen often on our corner. In American middle schools, fights happen in the parking lot. When someone wants to fight in Chuncheon they meet in front of Tudari. Guess they could use the "Ding!" from inside as a signal for a new round.
That's My Block.
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