Korea 2018

Greetings from Seoul!

We arrived in Seoul in the middle of a record rainfall. Fighting off jetlag felt a bit challenging when our options were staying in our very small AirBnB home or venturing out into the downpour.

The rain was a drag but brought a side benefit of clearing away the “yellow dust” aka air pollution. The days that followed have been perfect: sunny, clear, and not-too hot. We’ve been running around mixing touristy fun with seeing family.

Seoul has changed a lot since we were last here ten years ago. The most obvious difference is the number of foreigners in the city. Ten years ago, my tall white husband and my biracial children were a novelty, especially in the smaller neighborhoods. People stared. Now, no one — not grandmas, not school children — even cast a sidelong glance. We are just a few among many foreigners.

On our first morning here, Wes and I witnessed an accident: a small car ran a red light and crashed into an older man on a bicycle. Strangers rushed to help. Police and paramedics soon arrived. While the situation was serious, the bicyclist seemed unhurt. The driver was apologetic and candidly admitted her fault. The police officers were courteous.  The paramedics were as well. They took the bicyclist to the hospital for evaluation. I’m not saying that every accident in Seoul resolves itself this peacefully, but I couldn’t imagine any accident in the States getting worked out so cheerfully.

Later that same day, while sitting on a stoop in the rain outside a cell phone store, Wes and Anna were handed an umbrella by a lady walking by (she had two). She clearly had taken pity on these two foreigners who were dumb enough to step out into the rain without umbrellas. (We have rain jackets but this is definitely an umbrella-not-rain-jacket culture).

We decided that the theme of that day was the “kindness of strangers.”