Election, 2008

I've been pretty lucky here to have some experiences that not everyone might have. Here's a good example.

The truth is, I was minding my own business on a Friday night at EMart, almost 2 months ago, when I met this guy (and his wife) who was running for a seat in the Korean Parliament. (Elections were last Wednesday-day off for me!) Nice enough people, spent 15 years in the States (NJ, MN, and Seattle) and were sorely in need of a "western" face. I asked them every conceivable question about were they sure they wanted ME. Not your cover girl kind of person, etc, etc, but no, we hit it off and I was who they "needed."

The following Monday, they picked me up at the school, with a photographer person and their campaign manager, who also had a camera. Let me pause here to say that this part of the story is pretty unbelievable, from a US legal standpoint. We headed right for a school, onto the grounds, and straight in one of many buildings. Needless to say that at this point, I realized that we had no appointment, no one was designated as a contact person, and that we were just looking for some stray kids who were willing to have their picture taken. And we did! There were just a few pictures inside with the kids and then we headed outside for pictures of just the two of us.

As they took me back to the school, we passed the campaign headquarters with this giant banner (VERY common sight everywhere during the elections.) and I made it really clear that any use of my picture could not be associated with the school in anyway, so we were clear.

3 weeks ago, as my pal, Sheila and I were walking toward downtown, we ran into guess who? Another very common election "ritual" is to bring an entourage (wife/husband, campaign dancing ladies etc.) on to a major intersection. And on that Saturday, there were our friends, waving to traffic and getting ready to make a speech. It was actually fun. Music blaring a catchy tune, lots of dancing, and upbeat attitudes and pictures all around.

The finished product, with our picture together turned out to be a nice multi-page 8.5X11 booklet. Several of my adult students brought in copies, for a surprise, as I had no idea what to expect. Even the kids shyly asked Candy to ask me if that was really my picture their parents had showed them. It was cute.

Unfortunately, the gentleman lost his bid.