Settling in Korea

Journal Update – Settling In Korea

“Ice Cafe Mocha?” asked the smiling barista.

I reply with a nod, pay, and take a seat.

Only a few tables populate this quaint little coffee shop, two of which are free. Cute toys and gadgets sit on wooden shelves, while cozy seats by the windows offer a sun-bathed view of the narrow street outside. Two Korean girls passing by look at me, giggle, and start whispering to each other. The atmosphere is quiet, not filled with the normal love songs found in most Korean coffee houses.

Then I remember that the young barista preparing my coffee is hearing-impaired. He wouldn’t know if the music had stopped. The first time he took my order I had to write it in English on a piece of paper, which he then translated into Korean on google translate. It’s useful he knows my order now.

A woman with a young child comes in and orders something. She looks around for a seat – preferably the most conveniently placed one for her to look after her daughter. I realise I’m sitting in that seat. I offer it to her and move to the other free table. She leaves the cafe and her daughter, who is now staring at me, mouth open, head cocked to one side, from a metre away. I smile. She stares back. This lasts about 1 minute. She wins the stare off. Her mother re-enters with a cookie in her hand and gives it to me as a way of saying thank you. She smiles, points across the street and says ‘my bakery’. I thank her and wait for my cafe mocha to arrive before I eat it.

This is one of my local coffee shops where I sometimes work in the afternoons. I enjoy the small interactions I have in these places, and the intense politeness I experience from almost everyone I meet.

We’ve managed to maintain a simplistic lifestyle in the three months since we moved here. My work is split between our apartment, a couple of local coffee shops, and a lovely wooden pagoda up a hill. Hidden under the shade of trees, I go here for ideas, peace and sometimes to meditate.

The only challenge I’m facing right now is photography. Since the skies are perfectly blue most of the time, I haven’t seen a single dramatic sunset or sunrise. I’ve been out with my camera on a few occasions but I’ve never felt satisfied with the result. As the summer months roll in, so will the clouds that mark the beginning of rainy season. My camera and I will have more luck then, as I begin to explore the islands off the west coast.

With the arrival of my visa last week – I’m now free to come and go as I please. I immediately booked a flight to Hong Kong for early June. Flights to Japan, China and Singapore will soon follow.

Rachel’s teaching advanced language high school students, which she loves. I agreed to play football (soccer) with some of them this Saturday. Despite running most days, my 32 year-0ld body is not prepared to keep up with 18-year-old boys, especially at 7:00am, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. Because I’m English, they are expecting me to have some silky skills, apparently. This will end in disappointment for them.

One of Rachel’s students has taken to calling me the Fur God, since I have hairy arms. She too has hairy arms, and regards herself as my disciple. I prefer this to Mr. Bean, who most Korean students seem to compare me to.

We visited our old city, Gwangju, where we lived for 2 years and where I first picked up a camera. As a walk down memory lane we visited our old apartment and saw our old fruit-seller. When he saw us I thought he was going to cry. He ran over and gave me a hug. It was such a lovely gesture. We then met a group of western teachers at our old ex-pat bar, Speakeasy, and drank far too much.

In all, we’ve settled back into Korean life very easily.  But now it’s time for some new adventures with my camera.