The Curtains That Changed My Life
The second month I lived in South Korea one of the sweetest things happened. The co-teachers and adm i nistrators had been such a blessing in taking me to places to buy household items and for delicious meals after work. More than once Vice Principal inquired whether my apartment was comfortable. (In Korean culture the practice is to refer to your respected elder by their title and never by their name, even among peers who older by mere weeks and months.) Each time Vice Principal asked I would reveal more of what was going well and what still needed doing in my studio apartment. One of these times I mentioned to him that my landlord needed to put up blinds on the large windows that were eyes into the rectangular space. By way of my co-teachers, my landlord was made aware of all the things that were needed as agreed upon in the leasing contract. The landlord sent her husband to complete some of the things on the to-do list, but the blinds never were put up. Some days passed, Vice Princi...