Busan Journal, Day 12

Ladies and Gentleman: Assistant Lee!

I have been negligent.

When we arrived at Busan Station on a cold afternoon in mid-February, accompanied by Mi-Sook, the first person we met was Joo-yub, who stood patiently at the exit with a sign bearing my name. As we were the last people to leave the train and he was the last person remaining at the exit and as we looked distinctly lost and distinctly American, he probably did not need the sign.

Still, it was a comfort to find him waiting patiently with a name we recognized. At last, Joo-yub from the email correspondence!

He had brought gifts for the two of us and for Mi-Sook who had sacrificed a free day to shepherd us through the confusion of both the Seoul Station and the Busan Station in those early hours of our visit.

How tentative those first steps in this, for us, foreign city.

In those days, Joo-yub did everything for us. He bought us lunch in the train station, then brought us to our new quarters in a taxi. That first evening he arranged to have Eun Jeong and another graduate student take Donna and Mi-Sook shopping for first necessities.

When we discoverd the rooms (we are living in a grad student dorm) had not been cleaned to expectation, he arranged to have a crew come in. He arranged for a plumber to fix an obviously faulty drain.

He sought out and brought us appliances we needed to sustain ourselves.

He brought us bread and snacks and books. He made visits and phone calls to "check on us."

He brought us a gorgeous flowering plant to brighten up our bleak "basic" living room.

The next day he took us to dinner, treating us to our first fusion restaurant, Taco's Family.

On Saturday he spent the day with us, riding the bus down to Haeundae Beach, treating us to lunch at Bulgogi Brothers. He showed us the huge Suyoung-ro Church and the even huge-er Shinsegae Department Store, noted by Guiness as the world's largest department store.

On Sunday, he picked us up at our dorm and rode the subway to church with us so we could attend an English language service before heading for his own church.

We knew we were finally making progress when his daily "check in" calls stopped altogether.

He came to the bank as interpreter so I could open a bank account.

He personally sponsored us so we could buy a cell phone, a process that is considerably harder for a foreigner in Korea than in either the US or England.

In those first day Eun Jeong, too, was a huge help, walking us down to the market street after her work day in the department office was over, showing us the way to the big HomePlus. When she found out we needed plates and dishes, she brought us pieces of her own set of China. I would display a picture of Eun Jeong right here but she has been unwilling so far to let me take one.

For the time being Eun Jeong will just have to remain a name.

But from here on, when you think of Busan think of Joo-yub. His face is truly the face of this city for us. To the extent Busan is no longer foreign and our steps no longer quite so tenative, it is a credit to Joo-yub, our extraordinary friend.