Meeting your other half

I met my other half a few days ago. By "other half," I mean my counterpart at the high school that adjoins my middle school. My middle school's building is actually attached to the high school -- I'm the native English teacher for the middle school and the high school has its own native English teacher as well.

I knew it was a possibility that we would bump into each other at one point, but it was interesting that he sought me out specifically. I was busy planning my Alien Registration Card (the foreigners' ID card here in South Korea) stuff with one of my co-teachers when he came in.

He's a fellow Canadian, and a fellow western Canadian (from Saskatoon) to boot. Take that, Ontario. My guess is that the high school principal told him about me, because that morning, I had to arrive an hour early for a formal introduction to the adjoining high school's faculty. (The Koreans seem to be big on formally introducing people like that. They'll ask you to attend a meeting, and will ask you to go to the front and take a bow in front of the whole faculty.)

Coincidentally, I recognized him. A few days prior, as I was walking home, I saw a very lost-looking Caucasian guy at the corner of the street near the elementary school. I'm quite positive I was him, especially when he said something along the lines of, "Yeah, I'm usually the Westerner who's always looking lost."

I actually feel that this is a pretty lucky situation. Even if we don't see each other often outside of lunchtime, it can really give a great psychological boost to know that there's another "one of me" literally in the next door building. It's like the effect of me living only 4 subway stops from Itaewon, the international district in Seoul -- with Itaewon, I know if I'm craving some international flair or a taste of home (ie. Canadian brands), it's only a short ride away. It's a comforting feeling. (My other comfort is listening to my favorite radio station back in Vancouver, via the internet.)