Open the communication sky - Korea Trip Nice and friendly, No words can express the appreciation
(The Original Header is : The Dressing Up Wild Oxen)
by Batpig
The original was announced on YHA (Youth Hostel Association) Bulletin vol. 94, April 1998.
The original header was 'The Dressing Up Wild Oxen', it was my first impression on Korean and the impression was built in my first Korean trip; neat tuxedo and shined shoes, passing on the road with sound 'clock lock, clock lock', walking fast and rising up the dust to make you cough. Even they bumped you down, they would not turn to see you were life or death; it just like many and many Tibet Wild Oxen ran around you and rose up much and much dust and soil.
The below is my new impression on Korean. I got the impression on my second Korean trip after gain their help in my self-directed trip. During the trip, both my partners and I knew more about Korean and we felt that there was no words could express our appreciation. We were grateful to the YHA managers for all that they had done and wrote the below letter to Hong Kong YHA. We placed our hope on this letter for it would show a positive and new impression on Korean, at the same time the letter included other two intentions. Offer our heartfelt thanks to the Korean YHA managers, it was our first intention and the second was encourage more YHA members to take their self-directed trip in Korean cities other than Seoul even if they carried only their mother language (Cantonese). Maybe, language is a bridge in communication but the bridge may not English or any other language; we learned this from the helpful Poland people (refer to dog's vision 'Communication and Help') and hope to share the experience with others through this letter and the Korean trip.
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Thank you for Youth Hostels Association; it gives us a strong hand to enjoy our self-directed travels. It make me have chance to rebuild the impression on Korean.
About ten years before, I toke a tour to visit Korea. At the trip, I felt Koreans were rude and impolite. At the same time, I disappointed that the trip was too short and it caused that I had not enough time to visit other Korean cities except Seoul. This year, the Korean currency dropped to an attractive rate so I determined to visit Korea again.
We must agree that language is an important bridge of communication, but friendly and smiling is the best equipment for self-directed tourist. This experience came from our Easter Europe trip. During the new Korea trip, we were lucky to meet a lot of Korean who were willing to help, nice and friendly, no matter in the hot spring town, YuSong, or in the prosperous city, Seoul.
Before the trip, we had a good start and it was given by the Chief Manager of YuSong YH. In order to avoid the language gap and make the road/trip become smooth; especially we hoped to avoid on the first day of Chinese New Year (a homeward and family day) "none of tile to cover the/our head" (without a place to sleep and rest, feel lonely and cold); we determined to make room reservation for our first point. Out of expectation, the manager sent us a fax to respond, it was detail and careful. He told us that they had enough room to serve us and he gave us more other information about the view, the environment, the equipment and the bus number, the taxi charge and fare. It was out of our expectation but it was worth for us.
YuSong was our first step, the young manager arranged the room for us and he was very patient man. He marked the bus number for us to make sure that we would get the right ways to reach our destination and he found most tourist information for us. These information were written in both English, Han Character and Korean. The Korea Youth Hostels Hand Book was an important tool of us. (Showing the photo to Korean and asking them how could we get the hostels, it would help us to escape from the communication problem). When the manager got off duty, a senior staff made three times or four times call to another staff in order to clarify our questions and solve our problems. We were sorry for making such troubles to them (when it was their Chinese New Year holiday). Out of Hostels, no matter in bus stops or on the bus, Koreans were willing to help us; even they could not solve our problem, they would ask other persons to help and would not leave before your problem was solved.
Turn to Pusan, the Hostel could not serve us, but the Manager asked two young men to find other cheaper room for us. They guided us to walk around main street and small path. They asked price for us and bargained with the motel operators. One day, when we wanted to send a fax to Seoul Olympic for making reservation, a lady wasted her lunch hours on helping us.
Back to Seoul, citizens were busy than the Koreans in YuSong and Pusan, but they were still willing to help. A businessman missed two or three stops for requesting the bus driver to send us to a subway station. He made this request with the hope that we needed not to change from one line to the other (In Seoul, the subway has seven lines). About the bus driver, he stopped the bus beside the subway station to let us enter the station directly, but the location was not a bus stop.
Before the trip, we got some bad impression on Korean for the rough actions of the students and workers in the famous university and on some main streets. During the trip, we found the fact. They would give seat to senior; they would put their baggage or luggage or handbags and files on the luggage carrier to let them free (Korea is a security country). They have better manner than those Hong Kong citizens in our MTR (the subway in Hong Kong).
Having a holiday in a strange place, getting help from and taking care by strange persons, it is a great present to tourist from God. Maybe, it is the other kind of pleasure in tourism, except food, drink, view and entertainment. But, have we let our tourist feel good, being help and being care in their Hong Kong trip?
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