Kindness

Woah! 2 blog post in one week? Guess I have much to say.

Koreans are really kind people. Sometimes I'm amazed at the kindness they show to foreigners. I know at home I've seen plenty of kindness. Sometimes I question what I would do if the roles were reversed or even what any American would do if the roles were reversed. Last year when I first got to Korea, I attempted to visit Danielle and got lost. Several Korean middle school boys stood with me for an hour, offering me their cell phones and waited with me until they knew I was okay. Would that ever happen at home?

Yesterday as I stood waiting for the bus, freezing, a van pulled over in front of the bus stop. This is normal, I always see my students getting into this van on their way to academy. This time one of my students, a 9th grader, jumped out and said hi to me. She then proceeded to tell me that she was going to academy in Naju (my school is across the bridge from town). I smiled and said that was nice to which she responded "no teacher! Academy in Naju, bus driver said come on!" I'm pretty sure my students told their bus driver that I was their English teacher and he told them he would drop me off at my apartment. It was really thoughtful (and thankfully my students know my apartment complex name since I don't!). The students enjoyed having a 10 minute conversation with me and the bus driver smiled the entire way to my apartment as he listened to them speaking English to me (and him telling me I'm beautiful). Won Min was in the van and as I've already mentioned, he is one of the most entertaining students I have and I always look forward to what he might have to say.

Today as I stood freezing again waiting for the bus, the academy van pulled over this time to pick up one of my 7th graders, Min Geun, who I really like. The bus driver noticed me and rolled the window down and nodded at me to jump in the van. Min Geun is a great English speaker, but his ability to translate is not that great yet. The bus driver had a lot to say (perhaps to me, although I am not too sure). He kept smiling at me and speaking Korean to me. I was again thankful and amazed at the generosity of this man. It saved me from freezing waiting for the bus, plus I saved a dollar in bus fares two days in a row!

I hope when I eventually go home I will be as helpful and giving to foreigners as the Koreans have been to me.

To close, here is a great video that I saw from the Gwangjublog, really great and worth watching!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Y4jx38DF4&feature=youtu.be