Not On Our Bucket List

“So, Mom, on the plane eat the Bibimbap.  You’ll like it.  It’ll get you ready for your Korean experience.  Tell Dad to try it too.”

“Try the whaaa…?”

“The Bibimbap. It’s ok. You’ll like it.”

“Well, maybe. See you tomorrow – will it be tomorrow or the next day?  Never mind. We’ll call you when we land.  Verizon assured me my phone is set up to work there. Can’t wait to see you!  Love you. Bye.”

As Mike and I headed to SEATAC airport for our long flight to Seoul, I told him that Ben said we should try something called Bibbibop when we ate on the plane.  He wasn’t at all sure about doing that.

Seoul, South Korea was never on our ‘Bucket List’.  A safari in Africa, a trip to Australia, back to the beaches on Maui, off to Italy with friends – those were all on the list. Korea wasn’t there.  Not anywhere.  Until Ben and Jan went to Korea to work and live.  He’s a journalist.  She’s a teacher.  We love them and we’re proud of them.  And spending time with them wherever and whenever we can is an ongoing item on the list.  So, they were there and we were going.

Ben and Jan are both fluent in Korean.  Ben got his start learning the language right here in Federal Way, Washington. So, six weeks prior to our trip, I thought I’d surprise ‘the kids’ and learn a little Korean right here in Federal Way, too. How hard could it really be, I wondered. I used to be fluent in German.

Guess what?  It is way, way harder than you might think. I had no aspirations for fluency. I just wanted to know a few basic phrases. I started with a CD that I bought at Barnes & Noble. Way too fast, too hard, and too much. Next,  I connected with a lovely Korean American high school senior who was willing to work with me.  She was very helpful, and incredibly patient.  I took a tape recorder so she could say the phrase in English, followed by slowly saying the appropriate Korean phrase.  Then I could listen to it in the car.  And I did – over and over and over again.

By the time we were ready to go, I could say Hello, Nice to meet you, Thank you, How much is that? and Good-bye (if you’re leaving you say one thing, if someone else is leaving, you say another).  And I could almost say Where is the restroom?My retention was terrible and my pronunciation worse.  I was just hoping that ‘the kids’ would be impressed that I’d tried.

I ate the Bibimbap on the plane, carefully following the directions sheet that came with the meal.  Fortunately I did not add the full tube of hot pepper paste. I did add half of the tube (for ‘mild’), but it turns out that ‘mild’ in Korea has an entirely different meaning than it does to me.  Half of the tube was plenty ‘hot’.  Mike opted for the chicken parmesan, saying it might be the last time in 9 days that he’d know what he was eating.

After three movies, reading most of a not very compelling book, taking repeated walks around the plane with the other older people who did not wish to get blood clots in their legs, we mercifully arrived at Inchon Airport. My cell phone did not work as promised. After momentary panic, we found Jan and Ben in the Arrivals Hall.  We were exhausted, but thrilled to be there. Jan had made a ‘Welcome to Korea’ goody-bag for us, with hand-sanitizer, cold bottles of water, crackers, small cans of Coke to settle our stomachs, and chocolate because everyone needs chocolate at the end of a long journey. I greeted them with Hello in Korean. They were definitely impressed.

We took a train and the subway and then walked a long way to our hotel.  ‘The kids’ lugged our suitcases.  We just lugged our rubbery-legged selves.  Ben checked us in. While we settled in, they went out and brought dinner back for us.

‘The kids’ were tour guides extraordinaire.  They had carefully planned each day. We went to tourist destinations and off the beaten path. As luck would have it, we were there for the Lotus Lantern Festival and Parade in celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. One of Seoul’s main boulevards was closed to traffic, filled with festival booths and teeming with thousands of people.  Our favorite booth advertised “Free Dental Clinic and Face Painting”. We opted out.  Ten thousand people participated in the parade itself.  The costumes, the lanterns, the lit-from-within paper floats, and the fire breathing dragon floats were breathtaking.

A highlight of the trip for me was going to school with Jan.  I was treated like visiting royalty by her principal (I’m a retired elementary school principal).  Jan and I co-taught two lessons to sixth graders, and I had a wonderful morning at her school of 1400+ kids. I said Hello, Nice to meet you, and Good-bye to everyone I met at school.  It was not impressive, but I think I got an ‘A’ for effort!

Our second night in Seoul was my 59^th birthday. Ben and Jan took us to a lovely little restaurant down a beautifully lit narrow winding street in the heart of Seoul. We sat on the floor and ate a very traditional Korean meal, with 20 different dishes on the table.  Even though Mike and I had no idea what we were actually eating (Really?  It’s acorn jelly?), it was truly a special birthday meal.

Seoul is much lovelier and greener than we expected. It’s a dense, bustling, technology-filled city where the cell phones even work in the subway. The traffic is astounding, and crossing the street is a daring and scary thing to do. Cab rides are not for sissies.

It was an extraordinary, memory-filled trip. I still think that a ‘Bucket List’ is a good thing to have, but we also discovered that grabbing an opportunity when it shows up can be a marvelous thing to do.

Lynn Hancock is a retired elementary school teacher in Washington State. Her son Ben is the writer behind a neglected blog that I loved, The Daily Transit.

Why I like this story: Partly, because I like Ben, who’s mentioned in it. But also, because it’s carpe diem, baby. Carpe diem. Words to live by.

Image: Korean Airline inflight meal on Flickr by Marvin L via Creative Commons.