A "Friendly" Face

People are friendly here. There's no doubting that. Whether you are lost or just asking to buy a pack of cigarettes, they are more than happy to lend a helping hand most of the time. This is not true all the time and sometimes people are too busy to help a women with groceries and a baby into a cab, but that's where the chivilrous Westerners come into the scenario.

There is one man that goes beyond the call of duty. There is one man that is the center of office conversation and there is one man that has a way of making all of us feel downright uncomfortable and, often times, violated. This man is known only as he introduced himself to us after weeks of ambigous conversations and flirtings. He is Mr. Shin. He is the owner and pretty much only employee (by choice) of the 7/11 next to our school. He speaks English well, but chooses to only use the most serious tone when talking to us.

Mr. Shin has a way of taking something very innocent like the weather and turning it into something that is, well, weird. Here's a couple quick examples of how he navigates through conversations with his his two favorites.

I went in the there on a unseasonably warm day in mid-January and bought some yogurt. I was paying and making basic and simple talk with Mr. Shin and he looked at me as if something was really troubling him and with all his might he conjured up something quite odd.

"It is very beautiful outside...like you."

He looked down right away as if he had just confessed a horrible secret. I smiled and gave a polite yet dismissive, "Yeah." and walked out beaming with delight and excitement as I knew I would be sharing this revelation with my fellow teachers.

He has also taken a particular interest in my good buddy, Liam. Liam has a different relationship with him. Mind you, we both have girlfriends and I think I committed the sin of going in there with Go-woon, but had I known Mr. Shin would essentially shun me for the weeks to come I would have reconsidered the seriousness of such a move. So, I want to throw out a couple quotes that Shin has landed on Liam. They are creepy and, in my opinion, blatant attempts to make sure Liam knows that Mr. Shin is "interested" in him.

Liam works in the afternoon and one day he was getting a quick bite to eat in there. Mr. Shin knows all of our habits and diets and is always watching us very closely in there. So, Liam puts his intentioanlly light meal on the counter. Mr. Shin asks him if he had eaten lunch yet and Liam says that he had not, hence the sandwich he was attempting to pay for. Mr. Shin was visibly hurt by this ommission and wanted Liam to know.

"When you say these things...(pause for effect and to display his grief)...I feel regret."

I mean, that is an odd thing to say, but it's not homosexual by any means. Try these two though...

"I would like private time with you."

"Are you ever alone."

Those two came from innocent checkout scenarios. That's odd...

So, now Mr. Shin has become somewhat of a legend for what he says. Liam and I go there just to see what else he's going to say and see who and for what reaosn he's going to snub someone that day. Liam refers to him as our "Demi god".

While I did want to share the Mr. Shin story with you (He's married by the way, but we always joke that he tells his wife, "Why can't you be more like them.") the real point of this was that a lot is misunderstood here. If you recall one of my earlier posts when I was told I looked like a Canadian pop star, you can see that while they are trying to compliment you, it comes out a little odd. I've been told that I am handsome more times than I can count, but most of those were by men rather than women.

Then it made me think. Would Americans even try to compliment a foreigner in our country? Would they even make the attempt to talk to them and share in on a different culture or would they make a crude comment to their friend or think something bad about them to themselves. I know what I think Americans would do, but maybe I'm used the the honesty and genuine kindness that Koreans generate.

What do you think? -or Do you think Mr. Shin really wants private time with Liam or is he just trying to be folksy?