Diaries of Korea: 3 Encounters with Middle-aged People

Yesterday was National Liberation Day in Korea, so I had the day off! A mid-week weekend, how lovely~! After dedicating a full two hours fancifying myself, I headed out. By then it was already 7pm, so it wasn’t at all a long outing—avoiding the heat had already taken up most of the day.


This was my look for the day. Apologies for the pitiful iPhone4 quality! I’ll take better selca next time!


My concept was “Pretty in Pink.” And by that, I mean that everything was pink! My eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, hairclip, dress, bracelet, and my heels! That it wasn't dreadfully obnoxious I was surprised of myself!



Did he just take a video of me?

I went to Eblin to pick up my tailored bra, which, by the way, is gorgeous and very uplifting—literally! Afterwards, I wandered around Bandis and Lunis (a bookstore.)

The English section there didn’t have much to my liking. I circled the small stand thrice before giving up. Upon giving it a last cursory scan, I turned around and *bam*! Pointed right at my face was a camera, held up by a pot-bellied middle-aged man.

I stared back into the lens, unsure of whether he was really capturing me. He flinched none. In true human tripod style, he stood shameless and unbothered. As I walked past, his friends stared at me and cluttered my path. From the murmurs I heard, I speculate they were Chinese tourists, though I can’t be sure with the music I blasting on my iPod. (Not that I have anything against Chinese people!) In retrospect, I also think his camera was in video mode.

Well, fancy that. A stranger man took a video of me. And cared none that I noticed.

I asked my coworkers today if this was a common occurrence. “He could have been taking a picture of, you know, the surroundings,” they insist, implying that I was being pretentious. Well now that you mention it, I suppose that my back*does* make a splendid centerpiece in such breathtaking scenery! It's also not the first time I’ve had my picture taken—fifth, unfortunately:

#1 Chinese tourists in Edae (no makeup)
#2 Gross foreigner in Myeongdong, taken from below (makeup)
#3 Gross 40 year old Korean otakus (no makeup)
#4 20-something year old girl in the subway (makeup)
#5 Pot-bellied shameless man (makeup)

Whether this is to be interpreted as flattery or not is beside the point. I find it shameless and inconsiderate, and a rude invasion of privacy. It proves that you fail to respect that a person as a person, but merely as an object of your entertainment. Nevertheless, I’m not actually too bothered about it! The constant influx of death glares, mocking gossip, and blatant whispers have left me only expecting! :)



A pink-faced, white-haired ajusshi:

As I boarded the orange line towards my transfer point, all of the empty seats filled up from the people ahead of me. I headed indifferently towards the corner. Just as I leaned against the door, I heard the booming voice of an older man. He was sitting in the elderly section next to where I stood, and had a dark pink face with bright white hair.

He was speaking to me.

“Something something something! Something something~! Over there, next to the ajumma! It’s okay, it’s okay~!” he chirped cheerfully, enthusiastically pointing at the vacant elderly seat across the way.

I wasn’t sure what was happening. Was “that ajumma” his wife? She seemed confused as well, and didn’t look half as welcoming to sit down next to her as he did.

I nodded bashfully, hoping to indicate that I was just fine standing—but thank you very much~! I then turned around, but he chimed on at machine-gun pace. At this point, the whole car was staring at us and I was terribly embarrassed. With everyone watching me, I felt so rude for not knowing what to say! The truth is, I’m a very shy foreigner, particularly when I’m alone.



The elderly woman who snatched my bag:

The green line was quite crowded on my way back, as it often is! I was reduced to standing in my 12cm heels, surrounded by gossiping mothers and their reckless children bumping into me as they swung from the handles. I hovered over a group of elderly women. Gripping the handle with my right arm, my shopping back hung from my left. As I repositioned myself, my shopping bag grazed the knee of one of the women. She noticed and I mustered a robotic apology, though I doubt she heard it. (I couldn’t hear it myself with my music blasting!) A few minutes went by and I repositioned myself again, proud to have carefully avoided her knees whilst tucking my bag between my legs.

Then out of nowhere, she snatched my bag.

She looked up at me, her face stern as she uttered three words. I couldn’t hear it, but her friend laughed. I watched completely dumbfounded as she clutched my bag close.

‘Wh-wha-? What just happened?
Did...did she just take my bag?
What did she say? Is she scolding me for hitting her? Oh my gosh, what should I do?
Or is she just trying to hold my bag for me? Has that happened before? It does sound vaguely familiar…
But why? My bag is so small--’

In that split second that my thoughts raced, a woman next to her looked and smiled at me. Fighting the fright on my face, I managed a grin back. I hoped that her warm smile meant but positive things about the situation!

But then again, the elderly woman who took my bag did *not* seem happy. And the thought of helping a stranger with her bag was unfathomable to me.

I awkwardly motioned to take the bag back. I smiled, whispering, “It’s okay, I’ll hold it.” She gave it to me, but she didn’t smile back. At all. She seemed reluctant to give it up.

—

“Well, were you standing?” my coworkers asked me today.
“Yes!”
“Then she was trying to hold your bag for you,” Girl Boss said.
“Yeah, she thought you were a student,” agreed Boy Boss.
“It happens a lot, people will hold your stuff for you.”
“But she looked so angry! I was so afraid she was mad at me!”
“Hmmmm...(pause)...A lot of times Koreans will have naturally mean faces. Like, they’ll be saying something nice and trying to help, but their face looks angry. :]"

Ah, what a relief! How warm and fuzzy I feel now!

I am especially delighted when something like this happens to me! Disagree as you will, but when I hear other foreigners tell me wonderful things about Korean hospitality, I shrug. Foreigner treatment—what you get for being obviously foreign. It’s a mix of fascination and helpfulness. I on the other hand unassumingly pass as Korean, and therefore don’t get any special TLC. (It happened to me in China as well. In a way, I take it as truly stepping into the shoes of Korean life!) So when something like this happens, I hold onto it dearly...and then write about it in my Diaries of Korea!