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Banking Adventures and the Zoo
12/26/07
Banking Adventures and the Zoo
Because this is a photo-heavy post, I've split it into a few pages.
I needed to do a bank transfer today. Expecting an adventure at the bank today, I brought the printout from my last bank transfer, my contract (to prove I legally made the directly deposited money in my account), passport, ARC, and bankbook. After being shuffled from place to place, the woman only looked at my printout and bankbook. Five minutes and one signature later, the money was transfered. She didn't even look at my ID. The whole thing was done in Korean.
Wow.
I was shocked.
After that to Seoul Grand Park, which includes a zoo (better than I expected, worse than most in the US, very plain cages, etc), botanical gardens, a huge amusement park, an art museum, some other technology museum, some forests, and many walking paths.
I didn't really want to go to the zoo but it was included in the ticket. I started walking along the edge of the zoo, on a nice paved path. The weather was wonderful, a nice 50 F or so, and there weren't many people there. It was nice and peaceful. I started walking along this path, taking photos.
Birch Tree
As I took this photo...
Blue Skies
...an ajosshi started chatting with me in Korean. I didn't want to be rude, so I answered.
Never answer an ajosshi! ㅋㅋㅋ
He said, "Let's go!" The path didn't have access to the zoo. You walked in one of two directions on it, those were your only choices.
So we walked, while he chattered away at me. I got some good Korean practice, he was very concerned that I was 28 and not married.
He wasn't creepy, he wasn't scary or anything like that. He was just an old man who came to the park a lot, retired, maybe a bit lonely. Some of the other hiking/walking ajummas and ajosshis greeted him and asked who I was, so I think he may have been a regular. "She's American."
When we'd walked around the path, he said, "Let's see the tigers!" So I followed my ajosshi down a little path to the zoo.
Ajosshi
1 comment
I always remembered Korea as being so freaking weird. I have great nostalgia for that place, but at the same time...there are just some cultural differences that make me raise an eyebrow. More so than I ever remembered, reading your blog. That's funny that the guy was concerned you weren't married, I thought my mom was the only one crazy about marriage, but maybe it's a general Korean thing. My sister's 25 and not married and my mother is basically putting a dowry over her head so her boyfriend will propose. Mothers.
P.S. In regards to your last picture, that is the EXACT scene I saw when I was a kid at the zoo for the first time. I think I laughed for like an hour...I was easily amused. That hasn't really changed though...
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