MIDNIGHT DANCE

Grace and I were welcomed by the peak bloom of cherry blossoms in Korea, thanks to unseasonably warm temperatures at this time of the year. However, when we first landed in Korea a few days ago, it was not as welcoming. You can read more below. In the meantime, we will be in Yangpyeong roughly for the next three months.

After a huge ordeal last night, I found myself smiling in a very familiar café in Euljiro, Seoul, Coffee Han Yak Bang (literally translated as “oriental herbal medicine”). Familiarity bred contentment in this case. My wife and I have frequented this café in recent years, soaking in the childhood memory-induced ambiance and people-watching while reading and writing. Its worn and creaky but strangely familiar floor with antiquated lacquered furniture with inlaid mother-of-pearl as one of the main features of the structural designs of the café is remarkably enticing. The columns of the building look original (think ancient), with dents and scrapes while the wall matches the bygone era touch and feel, exposing inner bricks—who knows how old the bricks are. The jutting rebar skeletons proudly showcase their strengths on the ceiling as if to say they do all the hard work of supporting the building from collapsing. The baristas all wear soothing-to-the-eye white linen shirts with beige pants, with white handkerchiefs hanging down from their waists. One of the men dons a long curly ponytail, and I am thinking he must be the pro of the pros. Right behind where I was sitting, the pony-tailed man squats down on a stool to hand roast the beans in a tiny section of the room right under the staircase. I am not minding the smell of the roasting of the beans or the sound of the beans crackling.

After clearing immigration, customs, and baggage claim in Incheon Airport around 10:30 pm the night before, we missed by five minutes what would have been the last shuttle bus ride directly to our hotel. When I approached the information booth about what bus to take, the young man with a “trainee” badge gave me a piece of indecisive and ultimately wrong information regarding the bus number. In trying to figure out additional information, I scrambled and as a result, lost several precious few minutes. I knew that there was another information booth toward the other end of the arrival terminal, so I motioned Grace to wait and walked only to find out the booth was closed. In scrambling around to come up with a plan b or c, it certainly was not out of the excitement of coming up with more options but desperation. The worst possible scenario was turning into some sort of reality show or someone playing “hidden camera” in which I was the main unassuming character. After finding out I had missed the last bus of the night that would have taken us right in front of our hotel, I tried hard at the time to extend grace to the trainee whose name I do not remember (probably better that I don’t) because he gave his earnest effort. The fact that I can write about it with a smirk on my face tells me I am over the incident.

The best plan B was to take a bus to Namdaemun (outdoor market) near our hotel as there were fewer buses to ride into Seoul, being late in the night. My plan was to flag a taxi down after the bus ride and get dropped off at our hotel. Voila. We were successful in getting a bus to Namdaemun and got dropped off past midnight. In the back of my mind, if I could hail a taxi down, then we would be good to go. It never occurred to me it would be impossible. The reality was that it was as if all the taxis conspired against me and gave me hardship. While I saw many taxis zipping around, none had the “available” sign on top.

After waiting around for about ten minutes, I came to my senses that we could be standing on a random street near Namdaemun all night. I told Grace that we needed to walk, and I was playing right into the worst-case scenario. The thought did occur in my mind during the bus ride, but I shot it down and convinced myself, “No way possible.” To further compound the ordeal, my reliable T-Mobile global plan simply failed to function as I had no access to data. I was thinking, “What perfect timing.” Google Maps was not loading so I dug into my memory bank and relied on my direction instinct to guide us. It was like the second version of “The Most Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” of our Asia trip. My wife spoke nothing not because she was nervous or upset but because she maintained her sangfroid. I also knew she was praying. She told me after getting to the hotel that she prayed for a big taxi to come and rescue us. Oh well . . . She also did tell me that she trusted my instinct and ability to get to the hotel safely. That I did. It felt very good to be trusted. . . Trust is the unmitigated gift of faith that builds over time. I suppose I have proven enough of direction savvy and instinct and my protection over her over the years.

The truth was that I would not have minded the walk, but we had seven bags total including two of our laptop backpacks, two small carry-on bags, two large suitcases, and one big duffel. Two large suitcases and one big duffel were packed with both hot summer and still chilly early spring weather clothes as well as a few goodies and gift items we accumulated traveling through Southeast Asia. After deciding to put the unwieldy 20 kg duffel bag on my shoulders, essentially treating it like a backpack, I rolled two large suitcases, each weighing about 20 kg. I had slid my backpack into the handle of one of the small carry-on bags so my wife could roll two small carry-on bags with her own backpack. 

The duffel was wonky with its half-torn strap which forced me to adjust frequently, I managed to walk a little over a mile through the eerie midnight streets of Seoul. The day after, I discovered that the oatmeal box we brought from the US got busted and the oatmeal went into every nook and cranny within the duffel. The cobblestone roads may evoke all kinds of sentimentalism and may appease the eye, but terrible to roll suitcases! How smooth the roads and ramps are all the things I took for granted and had not paid much attention to before. It is interesting how perspectives change or how one clearly sees things when one is forced to pay attention. 

With my shoulders on fire and sweat coursing down my back and my wife right alongside me (I told her later she was such a trooper, and that I was very proud of her), we got to our hotel in one piece around 1 am. After taking a hot shower and blackening the room with curtains, we slept like babies.