Character Sketches

A few months ago I bought a small spiral-bound notebook that fits into my pocket. I sometimes carry it around and have started to write character sketches onto the pages. The notebook has a picture of Mickey and Minnie on the front. They are gazing into each others' eyes the ways only mice can, and on the first page of the notebook the following words are printed: “hello, life is a journey! don't forget it.” (Unfortunately, there is no correct capitalization in this message, but I suppose everything has a time and place.) Anyway, here are a few excerpts:

Paris Baguette – November 25, 2008

There is a baker who works at the Paris Baguette on the corner of my street. He sells soft blueberry bagels and croissants—mostly the chocolate-filled kind (which are sometimes sold out when I stop by at 9:30am on my way to work). He is tall and academic-looking with streaks of silver slicing through his dark hair like it might as well be a flaky pastry with icing.

This man works late at night. Sometimes he steps outside the front of the building, bends his knees, and methodically swings his arms in great circles around his head. Somehow he seems too calm to belong in this metropolitan hub. He has people-watching eyes behind those thick-framed glasses. And he's the only stranger in Seoul to ever have smiled at me.


Grocery Store – November 26, 2008

I saw a man outside the grocery store steal a mandarin orange this evening. He went inside, bought some beer, then walked out through the produce stands, casually turned his back to the light, and lit a cigarette. Its red tip smoldered in the semi-darkness. The man then picked up a small orange from its outdoor stand and rolled it around between his palms. It seemed a curious sort of love affair. When I looked back again, there he was: cigarette dangling from his mouth and both hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his black felt coat. And the orange was nowhere to be seen.