day 116

Two big Saturday adventures

Two cool adventures today. Small and meaningless to others perhaps but cool and fun for me.

Adventure #1. The front tire on my bike went flat yesterday so I headed to a nearby bike shop this morning to get it repaired. Remember that I know practically no Korean so any time I head out the door to do things like this I have to either rely on the other person knowing a little English or on hand gestures. I arrived at the bike shop, showed the owner and his wife the tire was flat and they immediately began working to fix it. After 10 minutes they couldn't find a hole so I assume the problems was with the stem which they replaced. The whole process took less than 15 minutes and when it came time to pay, the refused to accept any money! How nice is that? I would have gladly paid 10,000 Won ($8) for the convenience of the fixed tire but they wouldn't hear of it. I plan on going back next week to buy a patch kit and a pump.

Adventure #2. This is the really cool one. After taking care of my bike it was time for lunch. Becaue of my limited language skills I've never ventured into any of the more than a dozen Korean family restaurants in my extended neighborhood. It's made it frustrating when I want to eat out and I don't have the luxury of a Korean speaking partner. Too heck with it, I thought, I'm tired of being too chicken to find a place to eat on my own.

The big problem after the language barrier is that Korean restuarants, I've been told and noticed, normally cater to serving meals to two or more people and here I was alone. So, caution thrown, wind involved, a handful of Korean phrases in my notebook, and I began my hunt.

The first two restaurants turned me away once they understood I only wanted to order for one person. A little embarrassing but expected. The third little restaurant I wandered in was a little corner place. It was empty and the owner, a middle-aged woman, was asleep in the corner. I interrupted her, "Ahn nyung haseyo?" She immediately jumped to her feet, listened to my plea, and happily seated me, appearing to completely understand that I only wanted to order for one. After ten minutes she brought me a bowl of brown rice (the first time I've seen BROWN rice served here),a bowl of some kind of radish-tasting noodle to be mixed with the rice, an oyster/noodle soup that tasted fine plain but tasted even better when she mixed in some (hot) Korean red pepper paste. She hovered over me throughout the meal, making constant remarks and I guess suggestion in fast Korean. (Why she thought I'd understand I don't know but even I find myself speaking in full English to foreigners when I know they don't understand, hoping they'll divine what I'm saying, somehow.)

The whole time I'm eating, feeling so proud of myself for taking the risk of finding a place that would serve me traditional Korean food and not just resorting as I've so often done to McDonalds, Burger King, or KFC, I was reminded that this is where the adventure lies. Even while you live in a foreign land you can so readily retreat to the safety of your apartment, losing sight of the wasted opportunities that lie inches outside your door.

I know some will think this is all so elementary and that it will only convince them how dense and slow-witted I am at times. Regardless, I felt the need to record for my own benefit, if for no one elses.