Not Today

Last morning in Gangnam before we move onto our next spot in Namdaemun. We packed up early and I ate a lemon cream donut for breakfast. Nutritious? But delicious, yes. Besides, I didn’t want to drag donuts across town, so…

Apparently monsoon season is set to start today and with that in mind I feared for the outdoor plans I’d wistfully made weeks ago. Looking out the hotel window, I had just one thought: “Not Today.” Today is gray, today is cloudy and today, the sky looks about ready to open up.

We took off to the Co-ex Mall in search of a pair of sneakers Nia had had her eyes on the day after we arrived. She found herself unable to live without them but we’d made futile efforts to find the store in the maze of the mall. There was a single pair. In Cinderella-like fashion, she tried them on and the Korean-Cashier-Prince and I smiled at the perfect fit.

We made our way to Samseong Station and stood gazing at the entangled map of colors that is the subway system. Okay, then. We can do this! And then, there he was — a kind young knight in shining glasses who simply asked, “do you need help?!” There was a brief nanosecond where, for some reason, I actually considered saying no but soon came to my senses and instead said, “I would SO appreciate your help!” I explained where we needed to go and he showed us the route before whipping out his phone and pulling up an interactive subway map to determine how long it should take us. Moments later we were on our way.

The train came quick enough and we boarded. I reminded Nia we shouldn’t sit in the empty yellow seats designated for the elders, infirm and/or pregnant and we marveled over the fact that no one else sits there either — except said elders, infirm or pregnant! As we crossed the Han River, the rain finally started as a slow drizzle but by the time we appeared from City Hall station, it had progressed to a raging faucet. We ended up buying umbrellas for 5,000 won on our way to eat.

We found a random spot and it turned into a great random spot! We chose snow crab and wasabi gimbap, Bipimbap and Mandu by pointing to the photos on the menu and in what seemed like no time at all, the food was ready for us. The kitchen staff were all elder women, one came and gestured to put “small, small” sauce into the Bipimbap and she giggled a few times as she helped us get our chopsticks and set up the table. The food, of course was delicious and the dumplings were likely the very best we’ve ever had. We ploughed through the entire meal and I had a quick lesson in how to compliment the chefs. My big moment came as we returned our trays— one of the elder women looked to her colleague when she realized I was about to speak to her. I assume she didn’t speak English but I told her, in faltering Korean, “aju madissoyo” and her face lit up with a smile as big as the moon, knowing now we thought the food was delicious! The rest of the women laughed with us and there were ‘gamsahamnida’s’ galore before we left. It was a moment of connection that I will long remember.

We went underground shopping in Myeongdong, weaving in and out of small trinket stores and buying what we don’t really need. Like the pair of pants I left with because the elder woman had been so sweet to me. I didn’t feel like I could walk out the store empty handed, so…

The level of rain we walked back to the hotel in was like no other. Even with umbrellas, everything was wet, down to the bone; looks like monsoon season really is officially here in Seoul. We got to relax in the hotel and have an early night for the first time since our arrival. I’m still hoping to be able to try on Hanbok, but unfortunately no, not today.En savoir plus