right place, right time

twice, now, since i've been back to korea, i and some kind koreans have been at the right spot at the right time.

the first time happened around the beginning of march when i was trying to get to teddy's place. not knowing the two adjacent cities, yet, and not being familiar with the bus system, i was unsure of how to get there. i asked a woman at the bus stop which bus number stopped at o-ri station, (the subway stop near teddy's building). we don't have subway here, and i had no idea of the distance. the lady read the bus schedule for a minute and asked another person or two. it turned out that there wasn't a bus that stopped there, that would take me right to the place i needed to be, so she said (in korean---far beyond my ability of understanding) that she'd drive me there. she had previously told me that she was waiting for her daughter and at this point she just told me to wait. her daughter arrived and surprisingly spoke perfect english. she told me that her mother was trying to say that there wasn't a bus and that they'd just drive me there. i insisted that if it wasn't far i would take taxi, but they'd not hear of it and insisted on driving me. it was so nice of them. i had no idea where i was going and they took me directly there---right to the door of the building! made finding it the next times easy!

the second time just happened tonight. i left teddy's place and went to the walmart-type store near his building to pick up a few things before heading home. after leaving the store i was too late for the buses to still be running, so i had to take a taxi. no big deal---it's only about $5......when i can finally get one. sometimes there are plenty and sometimes you have to wait a bit. i had been waiting about a minute when i noticed a "suwon-city" taxi waiting for someone going in that direction. knowing he had to drive right past where i live to get there, i asked him if he'd go that far with me. no was his answer, so i waited a bit more. an older woman and a younger guy asked for rides and they both got in. the driver got out and called out to me. i went over and he said that these people were going and now i could as well. when we got to my place, i asked how much i owed and they all said (in korea) "nothing". i thanked them very much and continued on my way.

all too often we, as foreigners, see korean people as annoying and hard to understand. it's times like these that remind me that there are times when they are stellar.