South Koreans

“There are many wonderful things about South Korea, the people are not one of them”, this is the conclusion of a westerner, who has been here for three years, that I met on Friday evening.

I have only been here three weeks, and my experience of South Korean people is limited, but I strongly disagree with this sentiment. I have met kindness and generosity in this country to a degree that I have not experienced in any other. Jess and I are regularly invited to peoples homes and even absolute strangers go out their way to ensure that we feel comfortable. I can list numerous examples of the kindness and generosity of ordinary people, and only a few less tasteful encounters which are easily outweighed and forgotten.

Yesterday is a good example of the generosity I have encountered. I have always wanted a scooter, as a prelude to something with a bit more oomph, and decided to buy one yesterday. Buying a scooter without the help of a Korean who speaks good English would however be a difficult if not impossible task, so I enlisted the help of ‘Hans’. Hans dragged himself out of bed and met us at Homeever at 11:00am, despite the fact that he clearly had a hangover but which did not damper his enthusiasm and willingness to help.

Hans took us to one scooter shop, but rather than encourage us to settle on the first available scooter suggested that we shop around. We (Jess and I) found one that fits our needs at the second shop, and after buying it suggested that we take Hans out for lunch as a token of our appreciation. He would hear nothing of it and insisted on inviting us over to his house where he plied us with food – it got to the point where we could not eat any more, and then he and his mom offered to send us home with any food that we showed even a vague interest in.

On Saturday afternoon we took the Dawn Treader, as my scooter is known, out on it’s maiden voyage. On a stop a little way out of Sangju Jess managed to bend the ignition key in the keyhole to the small store away space underneath the seat. Admittedly I was a little peeved, but in Jess’s defence the key was of very poor quality. Jess set out for home to get the spare key while I settled down to wait for her return.

Being November the Autumn harvest is underway, but interestingly rice is also being planted. Fortunately for me Jess’s oopsie took place at convenient location. To my left I could observe the farmers planting new rice, while to my right farmers were hanging Persimmon to dry. It was later afternoon and although I did not want to ride home in the dark, sunset was still some time away and if Jess returned by bicycle or taxi we would be home well before sunset.

So I sat down to wait and observe the goings on around me. People passed by but no one paid much attention to me, actually I was surprised that no body stared at me. After some time a young man walked over to me from a nearby packing shed with a cup of coffee that was clearly intended for me. I thanked him, he asked where I was from and then left me be. The incident reminded me of our trip to Gumi last weekend when a shop owner gave us little bottles of juice as we waited for Barbara to purchase something. Another incident that stands is the lift I received last week as I waited to catch the bus into Sangju. I was waiting at the bus stop when a farmer pulled over and insisted I accept a lift into Sangju with him. I wasn't trying to hitch lift and he didn't ask for money.

I can only conclude that there are many wonderful things about South Korea, and that the people are one of them.

I hope that I remember their generosity in future years and demonstrate the same generosity to others.