Fun at the dentist

Little Shop of Horrors had it right--wannabe sadists become dentists. I went to the dentist in June, hoping to have one toothache treated, and several painful visits later (costing way more than I expected), I came away with all kinds of new hardware in my mouth.

A couple of amusing anecdotes:

I'd never before been told not to eat dried squid. Fortunately, I have no desire to do so anyway, regardless of its potential damaging effects on teeth.

The Korean dentist had studied in the States, so he has some clue about American culture and ethnicities. I thought he asked me "Is Levine a rich country name?" and I was understandably confused and , actually, a little wary he might be making some reference to Jews and money. Then I realized he was trying to ask "What ethnicity is your name/what's your family background?" When I told him it was Jewish, he got all excited and told me how his dentist friend in NY was also Jewish.

Korean people really have this respect, bordering on awe, for Jews that's still odd to me. They say things like "Everybody knows Jewish people are brilliant." When I was in the States over the summer and met a couple of Korean grad students on the bus from Boston to NY, the girl who was studying at NYU asked me to look at the names of the professors on the list of courses she had to choose from and let her know which ones were Jewish so she could sign up for their classes. Really.