Thank God
I've never been happier to see a nun.
Danny and I were on our own. Our mission was 1) figure out how to get to the airport and 2) get to the post office to send stuff home (my backpack was getting too heavy).
We went to tourist info place near Brian's school and got maps. Each of us got our own maps. We found out Danny needed to get to Castle Hotel to get the bus to the airport. Awesome. And the map was in English and Korean so we could point to it for a cabbie.
Then to the post office. That wasn't easy. I didn't know how to say, "I don't have a return address" in Korean. It worked out after a while then we tried to get a cab and go to Castle Hotel. Then I realized I had sent the map home. Oops. And Danny couldn't find his map. We lost both of them. Also, I had a different bag with me and forgot to bring Brian's number. No good. So then we decided we'd take a bus to Suwon Station, go to the tourist info place there. Suwon station is the most popular place in Suwon so we figured bus drivers would recognize it in it's English name if we asked. But we got on 5 busses saying, "Suwon Staion???" and each driver just shook his head. Don't know if they didn't understand or they didn't go there. So after a while of that we saw a nun. And she was black. This was the first black person I've seen since being here I think. I went out on a limb and asked her if she spoke English. She did!!!!!! She was from Zambia and had been living in Korea for three years. Wow. We asked how to say Suwon Station in Korean and she said she was getting on the bus to go there and we could just follow her. Wow, SOOOOOO helpful. We talked for a while, she gave us some cards to give to Brian. He'll be excited. Her Christian name was Agnus.
I also realized that trying to be being polite in a language that isn't understood is kind of pointless. Saying excuse me, thank you and please doesn't really matter. I was using them all and then realized that they just turn into more words that aren't understood and make things more confusing.
I go to Japan tomorrow. I've got a phrasebook. Watch me go.
Danny and I were on our own. Our mission was 1) figure out how to get to the airport and 2) get to the post office to send stuff home (my backpack was getting too heavy).
We went to tourist info place near Brian's school and got maps. Each of us got our own maps. We found out Danny needed to get to Castle Hotel to get the bus to the airport. Awesome. And the map was in English and Korean so we could point to it for a cabbie.
Then to the post office. That wasn't easy. I didn't know how to say, "I don't have a return address" in Korean. It worked out after a while then we tried to get a cab and go to Castle Hotel. Then I realized I had sent the map home. Oops. And Danny couldn't find his map. We lost both of them. Also, I had a different bag with me and forgot to bring Brian's number. No good. So then we decided we'd take a bus to Suwon Station, go to the tourist info place there. Suwon station is the most popular place in Suwon so we figured bus drivers would recognize it in it's English name if we asked. But we got on 5 busses saying, "Suwon Staion???" and each driver just shook his head. Don't know if they didn't understand or they didn't go there. So after a while of that we saw a nun. And she was black. This was the first black person I've seen since being here I think. I went out on a limb and asked her if she spoke English. She did!!!!!! She was from Zambia and had been living in Korea for three years. Wow. We asked how to say Suwon Station in Korean and she said she was getting on the bus to go there and we could just follow her. Wow, SOOOOOO helpful. We talked for a while, she gave us some cards to give to Brian. He'll be excited. Her Christian name was Agnus.
I also realized that trying to be being polite in a language that isn't understood is kind of pointless. Saying excuse me, thank you and please doesn't really matter. I was using them all and then realized that they just turn into more words that aren't understood and make things more confusing.
I go to Japan tomorrow. I've got a phrasebook. Watch me go.
posted by beth at 3:47 PM
1 Comments:
Hey Beth,
It looks like you're having lots of fun. I loved the pictures-especially the ones with the kids, and the one of you in the traditional Korean clothing. Thanks for sharing your adventures. I check regularly for the blog updates.
Love,
Barbara
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