Martoons

Cast of characters

Mr Go

Damion

*

Go decided right then and there he wasn’t going to drag anyone else into his business problems.

It would just lead to more people telling him what to do. He hated formulaic sympathy and advice from others.

He’d go it alone on this one.

* Is that advisable though? *

“Come on,” Dame pleaded, “you can tell your old buddy.”

Nothing but a terse and truncated wave-off.

A deadly if not brief silence settled between the two. They rode it out and Go resisted the urge to say anything.

That seemed to lift a load off his shoulders and a smile snuck back to his face. “So, why you go Kwangju?”

“Just doing some sightseeing since …”

He put a softly-clenched fist up to his mouth and cleared his throat. “I’m leaving soon.”

* Will he really? *

He unzipped his back pack and pulled out the video camera, intent on showing Go some of his footage.

“You been to Kwangju?”

Go only commented absently.

“Kwangju is very poor and – how you say – backward? Most Koreans don’t visit there.”

The sight of the camera made him nervous again for obvious reasons.

“So,” he said distractedly as Dame rewound the video, “ … you’re talking about leaving? Again? When? Where will you go? You’ve said that many times!”

* Where is Dame planning on going? *

Dame shrugged, preoccupied with video images speeding back and forth in his viewfinder.

He chuckled to himself about how, just several hours ago, he’d felt so optimisitic – as if he might actually stay in Korea for a while.

But already it was back-to-reality, and quickly the present atmosphere of his once-favourite coffee shop was draining him.

The negativity was palpable.

Coffee Lady wasn’t here. Strike one. And now Mr Go was in some kind of bummed-out mood.

Dame found the emotional intensity of Korea too much at times. It was as if things could never be too good for too long.

Still squinting into the viewfinder he said, “You know, my original plan was just to visit here for a few days – just until Donna got here.”

“Then we were going to travel a bit and she was going to give me my airfare back. That was our deal.”

“As usual, though, for me anyway, I got distracted and have overstayed my welcome by a long shot.”

“You know what? I haven’t even met Donna since the car trip back from the airport that day we picked her up.”

* Why haven’t they gotten together? *

“I’ll be honest with you Mr Go. Korea is an emotional roller coaster for me. What happens is I start having a really good time here and forget that I’m just a visitor.”

“I start to feel like a somebody, as if I actually belong here and have come back home.”

“That’s when I get into trouble. I get a reality check every time and crash back down. Reality has an uncanny way of sorting us out, doesn’t it?”

“So, I have to keep reminding myself: I’m only an outsider – a waygook. I’m not a real person here… Waygooks can’t do anything here really, except teachy Englishy.”

Go nodded sympathetically. “Yes, I think it is very difficult for a foreigner to feel comfortable in Korea. Especially when you don’t speak Korean.

“Why don’t you learn?”

* Will Damion learn Korean? *

*

Tomorrow: Dame and Go part on uncertain terms and Fred plays some pool.