And they say: "You haven't changed a bit"

Since I'm approaching yet another birthday mileSTONE (feels rather like The Rock of Gibraltar), I am not looking in the mirrow very often if I can help it. I rely on friends who tell me: "you haven't changed a bit." What a trusting fool I've been. What's this shape, then? If it werent' for the camera and the hat I wouldn't have recognized myself.
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(continuing about 30 minutes later): I had to stop my blogging activities because I was interrupted by a student - not even mine, but a colleague's. The best way to tell you what and how our little encounter happened, is to give you the script of our little dialog:
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Scene: Teacher's office on the 8th Floor. Teacher at a computer, blogging. A soft knock. Follows a a louder knock.
T= Teacher S= Student
T: Come in!
( a head of spikey hear and a pair of shoulders wrapped in a zebra pattern push in)
S (male): Hello. Can I come in?
T: Sure.
S: (says again) Hello, can I come in? (this as he is fully in and walking towards teacher's desk. Teacher doesn't recognize the student. He looks like any other cool Korean dude, baggy pants, all animal pattern, spiky hear, adorned with at least 5 items of digital technology and wrapped in cables and chains dangling off of him).
T: I don't think I know you. You can't be a student of mine? Are you?
S: Oh, no, no. I am a student of D's. He told us to visit foreigners.
T: (getting a bit annoyed at this, cuz D should have asked first. She thinks she'll have to give him an interview, a fave assignment among foreign teachers). So, what can I do for you?
S: Nothing, really. May I sit down on this sofa?(and he sits). Wait a minute (this with a raised hand and pointed finger. (he turns off his cell phone). D said we should talk a lot with a foreigner to improve our English. So, I am here to talk with you. That's all.
T: O.k. (teacher's attitude a bit softened by his honesty and chutzpah).
S: (very earnestly, in that unmistakable earnest Korean way): He said, we should have relationship with foreigner. I really want to have a relationship with you (looks up at the teacher like a puppy, expectant eyes wide open).
T: (bursts out laughing, cannot help but say): And, what kind of relationship would you like to have with me?
S: (realizing what he said, but managing to keep most of his cool). OH, no, no. Sorry, I make a mistake. I just want to have a relationship with you for my English. Please, don't misunderstand me. (Then he argues his points). I am not English major, but I really, really love English, and I want to talk to many foreigners to cnversation freely. D said that other professors are kind and I should have a relationship... no, no, I mean talk to them.
T: (touched by his earnest and honest attempts). It's o.k. I don't mind. It's just that at the moment I'm very busy and I would have appreciated if you had called before visiting - but, since you're here, let's talk a bit. I can spare about 10 minutes.
S: (visibly relieved and pleased). Thank you.... ****

Then we spent about 1/2 hour talking about this and that. The more relaxed he got the better his English. He talked about his Toeic score, and ways of improving his langauge skills, about Koreans and Korea, language and culture (quite a surprise this non-major freshman, I have to say). He also gave me bits and pieces of goss about his other English teachers - nothing mean, actually, just their funny idiosyncrasies -D's tendency to call his students Halmonis and Harabojis and himself Aegi.
If I hadn't interrupted him by saying that I had to finish my work (blog, humph) and that I had a meeting at Hyatt (well, wine tasting), he would have still been here.
Before he left, he thanked me profusely and promised to call next time before he comes. I'll be happy to see him. I'm still smiling. I wish we had more students like him, as inconvenient as their presence in our offices sometimes happens to be.