South Korea

Then there was the old man on the subway yesterday. He was talking on his cell phone when I first sat down next to him. And as soon as he got off he was concerned about me knowing when to get off at the right stop. So, in very broken english I finally got that he wanted to know what stop I was going to. Then he told me how many stops until that stop (i was thankful for his help, but was aware where i needed to go) I thanked him. then he asks how old I am. 22? he asks? No, i say 32. He doesn’t understand. I take out my pen and write it down for him. He is truly shocked. I can tell by the look on his face. You have a husband? yes, I lie :-) Children? No, not yet. 32? he asks. Yes. I say. He says something in Korean to the the woman sitting next to him and she looks at me and smiles. It is gettin close to my stop and so I get up to put my bag on my back. And he says something to the lady again. I look at her and in a mix of sign language and korean she tells me that although I am 32 the man thinks I look 22. I chuckle gratefully and say to him “gamsa hamnida” and I am on my way.

Well, I am off to South Korea. I leave August 6, 2006 and return August 25, 2006. Going for travel (2 weeks) and an international library conference in Seoul (1 week).

I’m pretty excited about the trip, especially since I will be getting back to my solo traveling self!