meet my friend, kim mincheol

taken one sunday in may outside some museum at the grounds of some palace. i know i should've taken notes of where we went exactly but i just couldn't be bothered at the time. the palace brochure is among my piles of notes here somewhere.

at 3:51 pm today, my good buddy mincheol sent me an sms, which i'm reproducing in its full korean-english glory:

"Your camera have been repaired~! [1]
It costs 33000 won
Whenever the repair shop open,
we can receive your camera~!"

i felt so happy, i almost cried. really, i don't know how i can ever say thank you to this guy. from the day we met, he's been nothing but helpful--giving me lessons in korean language, taking me ice skating, bringing me to the acupuncturist when i hurt myself ice skating, bringing me to palaces even if it bored him to tears, teaching me the fine art of swilling soju like a true kuryo de hakkyo student. he's helped me send postcards at the ujekuk (post office), has waited for me in the rain for follow-up acupuncture sessions, even showed up to watch me take part in some ridiculous fashion show activity in between his exams and job interviews.

technically, he's my dowoomi, a helper or buddy assigned to me by the korean language and culture center of the institute for foreign language studies of the korea university. he volunteered for this because as he says, "i want to help foreigners adjust to life in korea." and he's so devoted to the task that he even sat through a whole church service in english with me, even if he could follow only 15% of what was going on. other people met their dowoomis only once or twice; we've been meeting up at least once a week, sometimes more because he says i really need to practice korean.

mincheol is 26 in korea but is actually 24 anywhere else in the world. like most korean guys his age, he's done his two-year military service. he'll be graduating with some kind of engineering degree in january and has recently been accepted by the software division of samsung. his girlfriend, hyun-ook, has the prettiest brown eyes i've ever seen (apparently a rare kind of beauty in korea) and is an environmental science major. they make a cute couple, spending the late evening hours studying at the library together. last month, they gave me a copy of shel silverstein's the giving tree in korean translation, just so i can practice my hanggukmal.

when i broke my camera at the korea-togo football game, he was the first person i called. he was studying and watching the football game on tv at the time but immediately, he said, "yes, i will help you when i'm free." and true to his promise, he did bring me to technomart last sunday to have my casio exilim repaired. he lives more than an hour away but he was there to meet me at the korea university subway station, looking as always like a woozy 5-year old just up from a nap. but for once, he wasn't carrying a schoolbag.

"today, i am free!" he lisped. he has a funny way of talking, half-lisping in english, and miming like a kindergartner. he had just finished his exams and a final project where he figured a way to use a mobile phone to control the elevator even from your apartment. it's perfect for lazy, perpetually late people living in high-rise apartments or for people who just don't want to waste a single minute or five waiting for an elevator to come up to the 38th floor from the lobby. what a brilliant kid.

his doowomi duties technically ended with spring term but here he is, still helping me. he said he signed up for dowoomi duties again for summer term, and wants us to be buddies again, if that's possible. i doubt if we'd be allowed to do that but it doesn't really matter. we're good friends now.

taken one saturday afternoon in april by mincheol's friend, kelly (can't remember her korean name). that's mincheol, hyun-ook, and my then-new pink fedora. at an italian fusion place somewhere along chamsari-gil, near the anam subway station.

[1] since i arrived in seoul, i've noticed an inordinate use of the tilde among koreans. maybe because it's frillier (and therefore, better) than any other punctuation mark.