Coffee with Chin gyu.

I make the same walk to and from work everyday. I'm stoic and mostly focused on the up hill in the mornings, but in the afternoon I'm really a very jovial walker. I try to toss out as many waves and "hello's" as I can. Listen, I'm not above what a novelty I must be to some of the Korean folks in my neighborhood. The comparison to be made, in my opinion, is if a 7-foot man with a 1-foot afro gave me a jolly wave hello whilst I was a child growing up in the burbs. Clearly I am not taller than 6 feet, and my hair is decidedly normal, but hopefully you get the point.

So anyway, there's a few people I try to greet everyday. One is the lady who runs the mart on the corner. Another is the diminutive, flamboyant man who seems to be a seamstress of sorts. The other is a slight man who runs the photo shop on another corner. Him and I have actually met before. He oversaw the photo sessions for my registration card and international drivers license. I'd like to think we hit it off after those encounters, so about three weeks ago I started giving him a smile/wave.

Today was no different... until he summoned me to join him in his shop. He immediately poured me a cup of weak coffee, pulled out a chair, and introduced himself as Chin gyu. He shook my hand firmly, which many Korean men never do. I felt good. At first I thought he might need help with something, but I quickly realized he was just being courteous, and perhaps a little curious as well. There wasn't much to talk about. His English was meager at best. But I think we both jived off each other's excitement to be in such a irregular position. In the end, we discussed the work he did on yearbooks for many of Ulsan's schools. I'm not kidding when I say this man is a layout master. I was quite saddened when he told me that my school did not employ him for theirs. It's your loss Mipo Elementary.

I smiled ear to ear for the rest of my walk home. I must imagine it took balls for Chin gyu to invite me in, as it meant that he had to put his limited english on display. I wish he knew that it wouldn't have mattered to me if we just sat their in silence. Either way, I hope I gave his day as big a jolt as he gave mine.