I sat down on a bench and the girl next to me shifted over. Then she shot me a sideways glance. Unsatisfied, she bent forward and across to get a good low angle perspective. Still not sure, she stood up and faced me for a few seconds before addressing me in Korean.
I pulled out my best phrase, "I don't speak Korean very well" but she ignored it and carried on. I picked up a few things including 미국 사람 and whipped out my second most-used sentence, "No I'm not from America, I'm from New Zealand". It wasn't my best, but I could tell she understood by the way she visibly deflated.
Again, she asked questions, pointing to her head. I thought I heard "water," "what," and "where," but I couldn't be sure so I said my third best sentence, "I'm an English teacher".
It registered and after a pause she earnestly asked me something that must have been important because when I assured her I didn't understand she got up and approached an older lady to come help.
Her way of helping was to phrase the Korean sentences differently and smile at me.
I used my first best sentence again and she just carried on.
After hand waving, "I don't know"s and various perplexed facial expressions, she asked me if I felt frustrated because I couldn't communicate. I recognised the 땁땁해요 thanks to Chaejin.
At that moment the subway came to my rescue. I was sweating and red-faced by this stage.
It was a hilarious and endearing interaction. How it started is my favourite part.
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| Brad was just chillin on my door when I got back from lunch. |
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