Portrait of beautiful Winnie.
GUARDIAN GYM GIRL
(not to be confused with Gym Girl from last time)In the first several days, I was usually getting up at 5 or 6 am. The time difference is about 11 hours ahead of Michigan.
Most mornings I would read a book I picked up there on either historical sites, or traditional costumes, or Korean fables, or history. I'd listen to my Korean language tapes as well, although that is coming along oh too slowly.
Most mornings I'd go to the gym. There was one gym girl there that seemed to work in the mornings more.
My first time at the gym she was there and said her, "Good morning sir, will you need a locker?" in near-perfect English with an impressive smile for 7 a.m.
My entrance was halted by the towel man who told me I must take off my shoes (like in most Korean households). I did. When I got inside I asked another man where the gym was (the locker room is big). He didn't seem to know (what I was asking) and led me back to the front desk.
"Are you done already?" the gym girl asked surprised.
"Um, no, I was directed back here ... I don't know why," I answered.
"Where are your shoes?" she noticed.
"He told me to take them off," I pointed to the towel man.
"Will you be running today, sir?" she asked.
"Probably, if I ever find the gym."
"Then you will probably need your shoes," she answered and started yelling at the towel man in Korean, then told me in soft English tones again,
"You can put your shoes back on, sir, and this man will show you to the gym this time," she smiled and laughed and smiled intently again, but in a nice way.
I was hoping she would be there the next morning as well.
THE NOT SO GREAT WALL OF KOREA
We went shopping in Namdaemun today.
Historically, Namdaemun was once the Great South Gate in a wall that surrounded Seoul. Now all that remains of that wall is the gate structure itself, a little 600 year old temple-like structure that sits in the middle of traffic and skyscrapers ... and people.
I don't care for shopping, but walking through the street markets feels more like exploring. There are plenty of vendors, and little shops and small family restaurants every ten feet. Beautiful people are all around as well (and I'm not just talking about the plastic clones everywhere). I lose contact with Amy and our guides often, but only make a wrong turn once ... from which I am rescued / retrieved by Amy's watchful 16 year old cousin.
Restaurant owners and vendors clamor for your attention. If you are early and one of their first customers, your business is very important. A good purchase at the beginning of the day portends good fortune for a superstitious merchant. If you're early and just window shopping, you just ruined someone's day.
Music blares from the "hip" shops. Bored girls dressed in silly space uniforms try to attract customers to some music store or movie theatre (assuming they're not selling space sex). There's a preacher at one point. And a legless beggar at another. We saw that same beggar two years ago. Occasionally a car nudges its way through at 2 miles per hour. Watch your feet. This town ain't big enough for TWO legless beggars, pardner.
Speaking of which ...
BEGGAR’S CHOICE
On the Seoul subway.
My shoulders were too wide to sit back on the seat between the newspaper reading salaryman and the student doing his homework next to me, so I leaned forward.
Amy and her aunt and uncle sat across from me. I passed the time by looking at the people who weren’t looking directly at me. I also practiced reading the Korean script for the various stops on the digital signs, and fantasized about making a living out here for good.
I watched the boy with the red hair and baggy jeans check himself out in the window reflection. An aging woman peered at me in my T-shirt and (non-baggy) jeans under sagging eyelids. I noticed the sandy-haired girl in front of me wearing a schoolgirl-ish skirt one inch above the kneecaps without the usual socks one inch below them. Her brown leather mini-boots were covered with metal studs. [Mental note placed for future drawing again.]
Baggy jeans are popular now. As are lightly tinted sunglasses and sweaters, even in warm weather it seems.
An old thin granny and a very young boy started toward our end of the subway. She gave a piece of paper with writing to each of the subway patrons.
When she got to me, she put one of these slips in my lap. Looked at me, then took it away and moved on. Then she started at the front of the car and started collecting her slips back. One guy gave her some money.
She was a beggar and the slips probably had her sad story on them and the little boy probably wasn’t even hers, but a prop, if you will.
After she collected her cards she moved to the next car. Amy looked at me and laughed when I told her the old woman didn’t let me have a card.
I should have given her some money just for irony’s sake, but I didn’t feel like getting any more special attention that day.
The incident reminded me of the disparity of how I look on the outside compared with how I feel on the inside. It was amusing and a little sad at the same time.
That day I learned that even the beggars can be choosers, in Seoul.
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