Deeper Shade Of Seoul

This is Kim, who I basically forced to become my friend after I discovered that he speaks very decent english. You may notice that he is cleaning my glasses in this picture, and that is because it was he who gave me my eye exam, convinced me to go with the shiny red plastic frames that I never would have even tried on in the states, and then made my lenses for me. After getting my new specs I left to wander around Namdaemun, looking for an adaptor for my computer. Hours later, totally lost, I accidentally wandered past his store and he came outside to check on the glasses. "Not dizzy? No headache?" I asked him for directions to someplace where I could get an adaptor, and he pointed to the store directly next to his. "But closed for Holiday." Of course. "I know another place," and before I know it he leaves his store and takes me on a personal tour of Namdaemun, explaining all kinds of historical things that I've since forgotten. After a 10 minute walk we get to the place and it is, of course, closed for the Holiday. BUT, he knows another place and so somehow I end up in the back of a cab with him heading towards Yonsan. It was a fairly short ride which consisted mainly of me saying, "Aren't you going to get fired? Shouldn't you go back to work?" He walked me around Yonsan until I found the adaptor I needed, then made sure I knew how to get back home before jumping in a cab to head back to work. It might not sound like much, but it was a super kind thing for him to do and it came at a time when I was lonely and homesick and really needed someone to be kind to me. I doubt he's ever worked so hard on the sale of a pair of glasses!

He probably thought he had gotten rid of me but (being desperate for friends and all) I tracked him down at his store and called to thank him for helping me. We met for dinner/drinks (Bailey's...yum!!)/coffee Saturday night, and you can imagine how mortified he was to discover that my glasses mainly serve as a hairband for me. He cleaned them off and made me wear them because in his words "Eyes...very bad." Apparently it's not the Korean way to sugarcoat things.

I think Kim must find me totally helpless (probably due to the totally helpless state I was in when we met), because he's adopted the habit of constantly looking out for me. I even get daily updates on the weather (cold) and air quality (sucks - no one told me about all the smog in Seoul) which he gives me in the form of a recommendation as to whether I should run outside or at the gym. He totally rocks.

posted by Jes @ 19:12