Photograph courtesy of Diane Lopez.
After a month in South Korea, we are aware of some distinct themes in our conversations. One is how much I don’t like the food. HAH! Ok I will shut up now because everyone is tired of hearing it. (Diane loves it) The more important theme is the country’s many ways of telling you that you are honored. Not you the tourist, or you the powerful or rich person, but you whoever you are.
Imagine traveling through a country where you see things like this everywhere:
Gate at ginseng vendor’s stall in Jeongju
From the standpoint of South Korea’s niceness, this week has been pretty typical. Monday stands out because it began with an 80-year old man walking us ten blocks toward our destination to a police station — where two police officers took us the rest of the way in their police car. (Really, that was so cool). Our coffee house hostesses took photos of us and then thanked us profusely while giggling. On my subway ride back to our hotel, a young man gave me his seat next to a group of women who shared their popcorn with me.
Camino Milagro 