Random Acts of Kindness

One thing I can and must say for Koreans is that they are incredibly kind people. I have been blessed to experience such touching kindness on several occasions, a few of which I wanted to tell you about.

Carly (one of the other American teachers at my school) and I love going to the same restaurant (the "orange restaurant," so named because it's bright orange) at least 3 times a week. You can get a decent meal for only 3,000 won (about $3), and the workers are super friendly. I'm sure they've begun to recognize us by now. Lord knows what they think of us. Anyway.... we were sitting there one night, and someone else was sitting behind me with her elbow resting on the back of the chair. It kept poking me in the back, and I mentioned it to Carly, but just made a point of sitting forward a bit. A few minutes later, the restaurant owner asked the woman behind to move her elbow. We all bowed to each other, and she sat on the opposite side of the table. I can't even imagine how closely he must have been watching to notice my discomfort, and then to do something about it! Amazing!

The next act of kindness which really stuck out to me was in another restaurant called Kraze Burger (a fantastic burger place with a Korean twist, e.g. they serve your burger with pickled garlic and kimchi on the side, and they have an awesome raspberry-rosemary soda I'm bringing back to the US with me). Again with Carly, I was eating there, and the waitress came by and said, "I thought you might need this." In her hand were two miniature subway line maps and a couple of travel guides. I still use that little map everyday.

On another occasion, I was taking a walk along the Han River. Most people stare at me (being Western and strange-looking and all that), but I try to bow my head or avert my eyes. At one point, an old man on a bicycle and a woman walking with him were taking up most of the path. I walked along the edge, bowed, smiled, and kept walking. A few moments later, the man was traveling the other way on his bicycle, caught up to me, and said in his best English, "Have a good day." It meant so much to me!! He then turned his bike around and went back the other way.

The final act of kindness I wanted to talk about happened at the Namsan Hanok Village during the circus performance. Everyone seemed to have fold-out mats to sit on. (I've noticed they don't much like sitting on the ground.) My friend Injeong and I didn't have one, but an older woman invited us to share hers. During the performance, she noticed the bag I was carrying had a hole in the bottom. She insisted on giving me one of her plastic bags. She removed some of her things, and put my broken bag inside the new one. This amazing kindness seems even more remarkable when you consider how many people were pushing and shoving to have a view of the performance.

I'm sure there'll be more to come, but I wanted to share these moments with you while they're fresh in my head. Have a good night.