By Philippe

I had just landed in Paris. Stepping off the plane, my year long internship in the United States had come to its conclusion. So much had happened in that time, and in the moment, it felt like it would go on forever. Now, I had to face my uncertain future. What was next for me? I wasn’t sure. Job applications, grad school, starting my own business, joining a band, being a professional athlete. At twenty three years old, the possibilities are almost limitless when you’re unemployed. Overwhelmed with this newfound freedom, I decided to take a month long break somewhere far and unfamiliar to clear my head. South Korea was my next destination. My girlfriend lived there, and I wanted to surprise her. So I booked the next flight for Seoul, and before I knew it, I was in the aisle seat of a Boeing 737, cruising at 41000 feet above China.

The moment I landed, I immediately got on the next bus for Seoul, and headed straight to her office, N’importe, her clothing company. On my way there, I found myself captivated by the hilly landscape of the region. It was mid-March and the temperature was slowly coming up, the flowers on the hillside were blooming little by little, slowly revealing their colors; spring was just around the corner. After an hour long bus ride, I got off in Gwanghui-Dong. I had never been in this neighborhood before, let alone heard of it. Yet I found myself distracted by the delicious smells emanating from the restaurants scattered throughout the streets. There was beef barbecue, pork barbecue, kimchi, tteokbokki, gimbap, bibimbap, japchae noodles, jajangmyeon noodles, fried chicken… It was heaven. The only thing you could smell in Paris was cigarettes and cold coffee. I found myself marveling at the architecture, a careful juxtaposition of modern and traditional. Skyscrapers next to temples, offices next to pagodas and even karaoke bars next to churches!

I made my way through the busy streets of Seoul, finally arriving at her office. I rang the doorbell, and as soon she opened the door, she was taken aback. She stood there confused, and stared at me for a moment, until the realization had settled in. She jumped in my arms and we both frolicked like little children, squealing and holding each other tight, and just for a moment, I had forgotten about all my worries. She told me that she was attending a dinner party that night, held by her brother’s architecture company, and urged me to join her. Of course, I was going to be the only foreigner there, but that didn’t discourage me. We had taken the bus to get there, arriving at half past eight. “It’s still early”, I thought to myself, so maybe we’d start off slow with some drinks and small talk. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Bottles of soju and beer littered the table, side dishes of kimchi as far as the eye could see and drunken salary men serving their bosses another glass of beer.

I sat down at the far end of a table, next to my girlfriend, and immediately started drinking. I can only understand Korean after three shots of soju, and I wanted to be a part of their discussion. People would occasionally come and talk to me, and she would have to translate for me. So they would talk to her in Korean, she would talk to me in French, I would talk to her in French and she would talk to them in Korean. Pretty simple system. But after my fourth or fifth shot of soju, her assistance was no longer required. Hand gestures, and the little Korean I knew served as my sole method of communication with the group. Pretty soon, I found myself serving beer to some of the company’s bosses, singing old Korean folk songs together, laughing at their jokes and exchanging stories with them. That night, I didn’t feel like a foreigner, I felt like I was catching up with some friends that I hadn’t seen in a while, and we continued drinking until the break of dawn.

The next morning I woke up with a violent hangover. I spent all day in bed, fixing my jet lag and praying for the hangover to end. I had learned my lesson, I will never try to outdrink a Korean again. We spent the following day at my girlfriend’s apartment, it was a simple laid-back afternoon. The sun was gleaming through the windows, and the purring sound of cars and scooters made its way up to the twenty-first floor. It was a different kind of relaxing. Doing nothing, just talking about everything and nothing with her, it was bliss. Once the sun had set, we ventured out into town for some one-on-one drinks together. The city was even more magnificent at night, with colorful flashing lights painting the city in different kinds of colors. We spent the evening chatting away on a terrace in the midst of a bustling city, drinking some beer together, and head home once we were tired.

On days where she would work, I was her temporary secretary. I acted as her assistant while in the office, tending to customers, and discussing with them. We would run errands together all around the city, and I would watch her as she bargained with textile merchants. Often times their interactions would be quick, but sometimes we’d have to wait a little longer if they ever messed up an order. It was hectic, but it was fun. A few days had passed, and we spontaneously decided to go on a road trip in the south of the country, by the beach side. It was a random decision, but we were all for it, and it was exciting. We took the first train to Suncheon, a quaint town down south. Upon arriving, we spent our time roaming the town, exploring all the traditional style neighborhoods.

We took a break at a French restaurant ran by a friend of hers, Autrement. It was a familiar sight in an unfamiliar place. We had coffee and lunch there, and I can easily say that it was probably the best french food I had eaten in a longtime. After we finished, we headed out to finally rent our car, and start driving down to the seaside. I recently got my driver’s license in New Jersey while I was in America, and driving there is not for the weak, so I thought that driving in Korea would be a piece of cake. Once again, I was wrong. Despite driving in residential areas, and having a speed limit of 30kmh and cameras everywhere, I was constantly being tailgated, even being overtaken by drivers zooming past me! The relaxing road trip I thought we’d have turned into survival of the fittest. Nevertheless, we survived, and made it down to a small rural town near Namhae, where her grandparents lived.

It was a really small village, the roads were narrow, and difficult to drive in. The few people who lived there stared at me with curiosity, since foreigners barely pass through there. In fact, while discussing with her grandparents, it was said that I was actually the first foreigner to set foot in their town. The stares made much more sense now. We ate some gyeran-mari and kimchi together, and continued on our road trip throughout the south. Spring was in full bloom, and the bright colors of the cherry blossoms coming up on the hillside was contrasting with the deep blue of the sea painted a lovely picture for passerbys. The air was fresh and the sun was warm.

After driving around randomly, I started noticing something strange. We entered a village, but something felt familiar, the architecture was completely different from that of traditional Korean buildings, and instead resembled a more European style. We had arrived in the Namhae German village. It turns out that some Germans living in Korea, and Koreans living in Germany built this village together, as a way to attract tourists to the region. They even hold Oktoberfest festivals too. Since we were tired, we went to a restaurant and ate some bratwurst and currywurst, and explored the village, discussing with some of the locals. One of them was a German native named Armin, who was born in 1944! He had lived in the village for almost 30 years. He told us his story, and we listened so carefully. He was an interesting man, he was kind and inviting, despite only speaking German. After some time, we parted ways with Armin, and finished our road trip back in Suncheon.

We took the late night train back up to Seoul, and passed out. It was the best sleep I had in years. Once we arrived in Seoul, we went back home, and slept until 1PM of the next day. Upon waking up, I had realized my stay in Korea was slowly coming to an end. Almost a month had passed by in the blink of an eye. We wanted to explore Seoul a little more, so we met with a friend of ours and had some drinks and food in a neighborhood west of the city, Hongdae. It was like any other place in Seoul, bustling and full of life, with bright colorful neon lights coming off from every restaurant, bar and karaoke joint. Sitting down at a restaurant, we shared a delicious pork barbecue together, and spent the rest of the night talking and drinking away.

We walked around a bit after having had some drinks at another bar, and we came across a road that looked almost surreal. It was picturesque, the colors of the brick road with the cherry blossom trees and the flashing green and red traffic lights invoked a certain feeling that I simply couldn’t put into words. I had felt some inner peace for the first time in a long time, it was the ultimate conclusion to my stay in Korea.

The next day, my girlfriend’s parents escorted us to the airport, and we said our goodbyes, and before I knew it, I found myself in the aisle seat of a Boeing 737. My stay there gave me some time to reflect on my life. What should I do with my life? Where am I going? What do I want to do? I didn’t find the answers to those questions. However, I understood that spending my time worrying about these matters only helped further my anxiety about the future. Living every moment of the present, surrounded by good people is what I enjoyed the most.

Spring in South Korea looks so lovely! What is your favorite season? 

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