June: Cool and not so cool

There are a lot of cool things that happen in Korea that Joe and I love; however, inevitably, these cool things are often accompanied by not so cool things. Here are some:

1. Cool thing: You can order fresh clams from a tank, which are brought to you split open and besprinkled with onions and seasonings, and then you can grill them at your own sidewalk table. Delish.

Not so cool: The pervasive sewage smell that wafts in and out of your senses everywhere in Korea, even as you are bent over a gorgeous grill of clams.

2. Cool thing: the unexpected and surprising help from strangers. In Busan this weekend, we bought all-day subway passes. Mine stopped working after two trips. I didn't know it had stopped working until I rammed my pelvis into the unopened subway gate that I assumed would open when I put my pass into the slot. After trying a couple other turnstiles, all to no avail, an old Korean women came up behind me and grabbed my ticket out of my hand and started pushing me. Confused, I grabbed my ticket back. She grabbed it again, and this time smacked it down on the turnstile, indicating, I assume, that I no longer needed it. I grabbed it again, and said in a voice that was both childish and angry, "This is my ticket!" Then she pushed and prodded me toward the turnstile, as I resisted and squirmed. Once she had manhandled me close enough, she slapped her pass down on the card reader, and, in one deceptively strong movement, pushed us both through the opened turnstile. Only once I was through did I realize she was being unbelievably kind and trying to help.

Not so cool: Was still pushed, pinched, and prodded by an old lady.

3. Cool thing: Everything is so alive here, all the time. In the markets, the alleys, along the sidewalks with their restaurants and bars. Neon is flashing everywhere at all times advertising noraebangs (karaoke bars), pharmacies, cell phone stores, acupuncturists. The parks are teeming with people. No one pays attention to where or how they walk. Old ladies with visors that put horse blinders to shame and masks that look like duck bills, veer this way and that, while texting on their cell phones. Everyone is always almost colliding into someone. People stop, mid-sidewalk, to do, well, seemingly nothing. They just stop. Toddlers are allowed to run free, oblivious to oncoming cars, other people, or the yogurt ladies who zip by on their motorized tricycles. The parents are serene--I've never seen a parent remotely concerned that their child was about to run into traffic. Somehow, despite what looks like total chaos, the kids just don't ever run into traffic. They get close, but some internal voice keeps them from it. There is no such thing as personal space. Space is shared here. It is communal. Sometimes it seems like your body is not even your own, but also a shared space that can be bumped into, pushed aside, maneuvered out of the way. And none of it, apparently, is meant to be rude. It's just the way of things. If I'm standing in front of a vendor at the market and I happen to be blocking the sesame leaves, some old lady will inevitably push me out of the way so that she can get what she needs. And while my instinct is to be affronted, I realize there is nothing unkind in her actions. Where I was standing, the space that I inhabited, was not only mine, but hers as well. In a small way, it shows I am part of things here.

Not so cool: For a person who comes from a country that enjoys and upholds the idea of personal space, it has taken some getting used to to have that space invaded. Least fun are the subway cars, when you've got people standing nearly face to face with you, ramming their purses into your kidneys. Least least fun is when said person who is face to face with you has just been chewing on some squid jerky. Yum.

Disclaimer: just because the not so cool things exist does not detract from the coolness of the things. I just think it's worth noting that there is always a hitch, and often a funny one.