{"id":17051,"date":"2008-04-07T09:37:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-07T02:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovenmo.com\/?p=17051"},"modified":"2026-10-26T09:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T02:28:52","slug":"an-urgent-business-trip-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovenmo.com\/en\/an-urgent-business-trip-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"An Urgent Business Trip @ South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Urgent\u2014and completely out of the blue.<\/p>\n\n

My supervisor\u2019s luggage had been lost by the airline in Europe, so he called around noon on Sunday to ask if I could go to South Korea in his place to set up for the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n

Of course I could. An overseas business trip was exactly what I\u2019d been hoping for…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

By the time I got to the office the next day, my flight had already been booked. All that was left was to pack my bags and head off to South Korea. An assistant had actually gone ahead of me, and with directions from the client, she had made it to the hotel without any trouble.<\/p>\n\n

All I had was a sheet of paper\u2014a printout of the client\u2019s email in simple English. And with that, I flew off to Korea.<\/p>\n\n

People in Korea didn\u2019t speak English as well as I\u2019d imagined.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Korea and Taiwan had a visa-free arrangement. The customs officer simply asked what I was coming to Korea for, and after I showed the exhibition documents, I got through without a hitch and collected my luggage. But the things that would leave me feeling a little overwhelmed were only just beginning. My supervisor later told me, \u201cYou really are brave.\u201d (Shrug.)<\/p>\n\n

Because apart from the customs officers, who spoke English, everything from then on involved gestures.<\/p>\n\n

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Following the client\u2019s email, I went to the ticket counter. I was a little surprised that even when I said numbers in English, the person behind the counter didn\u2019t seem to understand. Or perhaps they did understand but were simply afraid of speaking English. The station attendant just kept waving their hands at me, but after looking at the email, they sold me a ticket anyway.<\/p>\n\n

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Then the driver couldn\u2019t understand English either and just tried to shoo me off the bus.<\/p>\n\n

As soon as I got on, I asked him, \u201cGO PJ Hotel ?\u201d He waved his hands frantically, telling me he wasn\u2019t going there, while the station attendant kept urging me to get on. (Shrug.) So there I was, with everyone on the bus staring at me. Was I supposed to take it or not? I couldn\u2019t get through to the assistant on the phone.<\/p>\n\n

The place you\u2019re going should be near Kukdo Hotel. This is the right bus. I\u2019ll explain it to the driver for you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Wow, I\u2019d never felt so moved to hear Chinese before. A young woman who spoke both Korean and Chinese exchanged a few words with the driver, and just like that, I was on the bus. Dragging my luggage to the back, I quietly watched the Han River outside the window. WTF… Surely more people would speak English once I got downtown? After all, it was understandable that an older man might not speak much.<\/p>\n\n