how to say.....

Today I had repair men come by to fix our master bathroom sink.

Again.

I know that something is leaking to some degree b/c we keep towels under the sink and they are wet. Period. They are wet. Something is leaking.

The last time the repair men came, they resealed the sink. I was fairly certain that this was not the issue b/c we never get the sink area that wet. Maybe if we had children, and there was lots of "bird bath" activity. Nope. It's just the two of us, and we're pretty careful.

So the sink was still - leaking.

This afternoon three repair men came by. They kindly took off their shoes at the door and, in stocking feet, shuffled and slid their way to the master bathroom.

In very, very, broken English they tried to tell me nothing was wrong. I pointed out the towel and it's wetness.

They then told me that when we use the plug for the sink, the droplets of water coming off of our wet hands must drop into the tiny little hole that holds the little stick thing FOR the plug.

"We don't use the plug" I told them. (enter blank stare here).

"We don't plug the sink". (expressionless).
"NO USE PLUG. PLUG NO USE".

I then took the stick thing FOR the plug. Pulled it up. Pushed it down. "NO USE. NO USE PLUG. WE NO USE PLUG".

Blank stares. From all three men.

So, one guy then procedes to fill the sink FULL so that it will drain out the emergency drain hole thing.... He plugs the sink. He then cups his hand and starts cupping out water, literally pouring it all over the rim of the sink and the counter top. Water is all over the counter and he is cupping more and more water onto the counter top. I guess his thought must have been that we flood our counter top daily, with water, and that must be the issue.

I explained urgently, and a bit loudly I think, that we don't ever, ever get that much water everywhere.

I had to leave the room.

After about an hour I heard a noise. I think maybe someone was calling me? I went in to the bathroom and one man said. "Is leak".

OK. Uh. Good. I think. It must be leaking for them now.

I left the room again b/c I did not want to hover. Or freak out.

I was "called" again.

I went back in and one man explained to me in great detail, in Korean, how they repaired my sink.

"Excuse me"? I asked.

Again he explained. In Korean.

"I'm sorry.... Can you show me? .....What fix? ....Where leak? ....Under? ...Pipe?... Hose?... Where?... Can you point?..." I asked while pointing and looking and pointing....

Again he explained...... In Korean.

One man called the housing office. Explained to them, in detail, in Korean, and then handed me his cell phone.

"Hello"? I asked. A woman who spoke some English said to me. "He fix". I asked what they fixed. How they fixed? What did they do?

"He screw".

"What did he screw?"

"He screw. Is fixed."

At that point all three men say "Ah screw" (because apparently that was the word they were trying to tell me).

They then showed me what they screwed.

The faucet.... I think anyway.

So, to be safe, I will put another towel under the plumbing to see if it gets wet.

I am practicing my deep breathing exercises as I type. :)

xo
K