You, Me and Mr Lee

Where to start, where to start!  So, back when I was traveling through Central and South America, I tried blogging. I failed miserably.  Part of that had to do with the fact that I found it pretty hard to sober up long enough to put together a coherent string of words.  And part of that had to do with the fact that I'd procrastinate writing new posts.  Then, when I'd think about writing a new post, I'd be all full of anxiety, trying to figure out what to write about!  Too much fun, exciting stuff had happened!  Which awesomely hilarious story do I want to tell????  Well, I'd let the anxiety take over, I'd completely freeze up and I wouldn't write anything.  That method just did not make for a very interesting blog.  And, unfortunately, I'm starting to see my old habits come back!  Just last night, I was thinking- 'Oh!  I want to write about the first day of kindergarten! (I only have one student so far, but she is just so dang CUTE!)'  and then I thought 'NO!  I have to write about my nighttime walking tour of Seoul, and the riot police! (that was exactly what it sounds like) and then I thought 'Noo!  I want to do a photoblog of all my favorite Korean side dishes!' (mmmmm pickled radish....).  And then, today happened, and all the other blog ideas got left in the dust.


My plan for the day was rather simple:  I was going to take the bus into Seoul to do some sightseeing (check out Seodaemun Prison, maybe check out Sajik Park).  I was waiting for the bus in front of my apartment, when a nice, older gentleman started talking with me.  He was curious about what I was doing in Korea, how long I'd been here, why I was alone on the street...  He was also waiting for the bus to Seoul; he had plans to meet up with some of his buddies for dinner.  After chatting for awhile (where the heck IS this bus???) he introduces himself as Mr Lee, and politely invites me to join him for lunch in Seoul. "Really???  You want to have LUNCH with ME?"  I think my surprise kind of scared him a bit; may have caused him to second guess the invite.  But, guess what Mr. Lee, it's too late, I've already said "Yes!"


And so begins Julia's Day O'Fun with Mr Lee!


A little bit about Mr. Lee:
He's a 77 year old retired Colonel from the ROK Marines.  He trained with the US Marines at Quantico in 1962, and then returned to Korea to train the Korean military.  He went to Vietnam twice.  He has two sons (one in L.A., the other in New Jersey), two daughters-in law, and three grandsons.  He splits his time between the United States and Korea, and has a home in an 'old people neighborhood' in California.


Throughout the day, Mr Lee kept repeating 'Ohhh you only been here one month?  No good, no good.  You know nothing!  How you know what to do?  How you know where to go? I go with you, Seoul is too big for you alone!'  Turns out that this fear stems from the fact that Seoul is, perhaps, a bit too big for Mr Lee.


We get off the bus, and Mr Lee immediately stops in his tracks, causing all the other bus passengers trying to depart to pile up on top of us.  "Ohhh I'm a... stranger.... in this neighborhood."  Nevertheless, he insists on being the host, and taking me to a traditional Korean restaurant.  If he can find one, that is.  We wander around for awhile.  He questions every other person we come upon, and never seems quite satisfied with their answers.  Up the street, down the street, back up the street, over to another street.  Eventually, he finds what he's looking for.  Yay! And boy, did he pick a winner!  The food is like shabu shabu (check out my facebook photos for evidence of my obsession with that stuff!) except it's BETTER.  Yes.  Better.  There's a huge wok heated on a table top stove.  Into the wok they put a mixture of beef and mushrooms and all sorts of vegetables and noodles.  This cooks until you have a super chunky beef stirfry.  You eat this with a million side dishes:  spicy kimchi, green beans with shrimp, Korean salad, pickled radish, pickled garlics,  pickled onions, etc.  I could eat this every day for the rest of my life and be oh so happy!  Unfortunately, Mr Lee doesn't remember what this dish is called in English, nor in Korean.  He told me that when he was ordering he couldn't remember what it was, and couldn't find it on the menu, so he just described everything that he wanted to the waitress, and that's what she brought us.


So, we enjoyed a very nice lunch together, and I was preparing to part ways, when Mr Lee informed that he had a change in his plans.  Actually, what he told me was "I call my friends and say 'No can do!  Some other time, maybe!  Haha!  I have other things on my plate today!  Sightseeing with my new American girlfriend! Hahahahah!"  And so it's decided.  We're going to embark on a sightseeing adventure!  Except, Mr Lee isn't too excited about where I was planning on going: "Dongnimmun?  Who tell you Dongnimmun?  You know what that is?  'Mun' means arch.  Why you want to see an arch?  No good.  You want to see a good arch, go to Paris.  We're in Seoul, not Paris.  No good arches here.  But we can go, so you can see that it's no good."


And so it's decided, again.  We're off to Dongnimmun!  Maybe.  Mr Lee only likes riding the green subway line. It's the original Seoul subway (ie oldest, slowest).   The green subway line doesn't go to Dongnimmun.  So we ride the green subway line to the City Hall, and look at the buildings in that area. He shows me the American Embassy, you know, "just in case."    Then we hop into a cab to Dongnimmun.


"SEE?!  There's Dongnimmun!  Just a little tiny arch!  I guess you need picture of it?  Go stand by the arch." Let me explain...  I didn't want to go to Dongnimmun to see the arch.  Dongnimmun is the name of the subway stop next to Seodaemun Prison, which was my intended destination.  As much as I tried to explain this, Mr Lee never quite got that part.  So, I was just the crazy nut who wanted to see this stupid arch.

But I was able to convince Mr Lee to go to the prison with me. Instead of paying admission to get into the Seodaemun Prison, Mr Lee lectures the ticket attendant about how much he's already done for Korea.  Why should he have to buy a ticket?  The attendant gives in to his argument but questions 'what about the white girl?!?' Mr Lee tells him "we're family!" (can't you see the resemblance?) 


Seodaemun Prison is a prison built by the Japanese in the early 1900's to hold Korean citizens who were resisting the Japanese invasion.  As we were wandering through the cell blocks, Mr Lee told me he didn't even know that this prison existed  and that he was happy that we both got to be tourists.

After checking out the prison, Mr Lee declares that it's time to get going (he doesn't want us to be in Seoul when it gets dark).  We get back to Jukjeon Station (the subway station where I catch a bus to go home), and Mr Lee says he wants to get some dinner first.  So we hit up the 'food court' beneath the Shinsagae shopping mall.  This place is AWESOME!  It's like no food court I've ever seen before!  We spent a good half hour just wandering around it, with Mr Lee explaining what all the different foods are.  We finally settled on a Japanese place that has a conveyor belt of sushi plates that go by, and you just grab the ones you want.  Yum yum YUUUUMMMM!  I think we ate about 15 plates of food.


Now, in some ways, Mr Lee is the epitome of a crazy old man.  He's confused by public transit, he's pushy and impatient, he refuses to pay for certain things on the basis that he's a veteran.  But, I've never met anyone who is so sincere and generous.  The whole day, he insisted on paying for everything (lunch, cabs, dinner, coffee).  But he also repeatedly offered to help me with other things in Korea.  He's clearly very concerned about my well-being here:  How do you like your job?  Is your pay adequate?  What are your hours?("Oh! Not too long!")  How many classes do you teach a day? ("Don't teach at night!") Do they treat you well?  How do you like your apartment?  How do you pay for your apartment?  Are your parents worried about you?  How often do you call your parents? ("My sons and daughters call me three times a week- each!  You need to call your parents more!")  Do you have health insurance?  How do you pay for a doctor?  What do you take for a cold?  Do you want some aspirin?  Is your coat warm enough?  Let me buy you gloves!  (He actually did buy me gloves) Does your school provide you food?  What do you eat?  Do you walk home from school? Don't walk home from school!  Don't go outside in the dark!


I'm still reeling from his kindness and generosity.  He explained to me "My daughter-in-law, you know?  Your manner, your look, reminds me of her.  So you, now, are also like my daughter.  She doesn't need to thank me for things, and neither do you".  


Mr Lee has a lot of friends throughout the world. But, as he told me over dinner, "A lot of my friends are dead. No!  What I meant to say is, a lot of my friends are in bed!"  Either way, they're not coming out to hang out with him.  


I would now like to introduce you to my new friend, Mr. Lee:

We already have plans for next weekend.