Gay Men and Those Who Love Them

This post is dedicated to Darino. Dude, STFU :P

While perusing Best of Craigslist a while back, I came across this ad:

Faghag Needed in NEK

This, in particular, caught my attention:

Ideal candidate would possess some or all of the following qualities:
A car
Loud annoying voice
Sympathy with a strong streak of vindictiveness
Masculinity beyond which I posses
Offers good advice while never taking her own
The need to protect her Fag from violence by str8 men (typically while beating her Fag for getting into the mess in the first place)

Overweight/Ginger/Lesbian tendencies to the front of the line.

And I thought to myself, 'crap, I fulfill more of these categories than I am comfortable with.' This is completely putting aside the fact that I seem to have made several gay friends here.

I always thought fag hag was a horrible term. Even though Will & Grace made it en vogue, it still carries negative connotations. The gist of urban dictionary's definition - fag hag is shorthand for 'looks normal, emotional fuckwittery within.'

Really, is it wrong for a straight woman like myself to enjoy hanging out with gay men? To find it refreshing to just be platonic friends with guys that don't want to get in your pants or tell you about their ball sweat? Does this indicate some inner disfunctionality of mine?  Am I doomed to prefer the company of men who can never find me sexually attractive??

But they are so fun! :\

I'm going to go listen to 'Bret, You Got It Going On' and be vaguely anxious.

So, I Was in Japan a Few Days Ago and...

While a guy friend and I were in Osaka, I realized I'd forgotten certain feminine products and had to buy them. We went into a 7-Eleven and I grabbed a box of said feminine products and a few other things I'd forgotten to bring.
"Do you really need that other stuff? Or, are you just buying it for distraction?" my friend asked.

I proceeded to tell him that yes, I needed them. I'm a 23 year old woman, I said, I don't get embarrassed about buying tampons at this point. As I said this, the Japanese girl behind the counter rang me up and then proceeded to carefully wrap up my tampons separately in a brown paper bag.

As my friend pointed out, in Japan, they'll apparently be embarrassed for you.



Oh, and this was The Cutest Thing Ever.

Conversation Class & Relationship Advice

I teach a conversation class once a week for the other English teachers at my school. This week's class was on giving advice and suggestions. So, I found some hypothetical situations on the web and we all discussed advice we could give.

In one situation, Barbara and her boyfriend both work long hours and have difficulty finding time to see each other. Yeong Deuk said that everyone emails now and it is too easy and impersonal. He suggested that the couple write each other love letters to keep in touch. Everyone else agreed this was very romantic.

Kyeong followed this by offering her own advice. "Have you ever heard the saying 'out of sight, out of mind'?" Hah.

I was amused at the gender stereotype reversal. Although, it's hard to say exactly what the gender stereotypes are in Korea. Traditionally, women are supposed to be submissive. But, it's also traditional for Korean women to handle all of the family's finances. And, this is the land of men riding around together on pink mopeds. I never sure what what to expect.

Afterward, Kyeong asked me if Eric and I ever wrote love letters to each other.

"Uh, no," I said, trying to picture what kind of love letter I'd receive if Eric ever did send me one. This is a guy who has never bought me flowers but has, 'out of love,' shot me with his airsoft gun multiple times. We aren't really 'Hallmark your love' type people.

I pondered all this for a minute, then told Kyeong I agreed more with her advice. There are fewer chances for a stray BB to hit you in the teeth.