Well that was heartwarming

It's really pouring here. I just got up from my desk to go have some dinner. As far as I know I went to the closest place food is available on Sundays (since the only place I know of which is closer where food is sometimes available was buttoned up tight) but it still wasn't very close. Pretty much the other end of campus, actually, at the bottom of the 78 steps. (The 78 steps are a POSTECH landmark. The name is pretty self explanatory. You can see how, if you had to climb 78 steps every day to get from your dorm to the academic buildings, you'd remember it. I eat pretty much the same thing for every meal (which is to say, every lunch and dinner-- I rarely eat breakfast anywhere) which is a bowl of vegetables with a fried egg on it and some rice.

Anyway, I was on my way out of the building that that cafeteria is in, and some kid says, "excuse me: where are you going?" I suppressed the ex-New Yorker's urge to say "what's it to ya?" and/or get suspicious about the motives of anyone who wants information about me I don't see a reason he needs, and, since I don't know the names of anything, just made a "waaaay over there" gesture towards the top of the 78 steps. He gave a kind of nervous laugh and said something like "sorry." Which didn't make a whole lot of sense, so I just started walking. And he starts kind of following me a little close. So close his umbrella is over me. Which strikes me as a little wierd so I speed up a little. And he speeds up a little and, with some difficulty, manages to keep the umbrella over both of us. At which point I figure out what's going on. The poor kid is trying to do something nice for someone. So I laugh a sheepish laugh and say something like "aw you don't have to do that" but also walk more normally so he will not get himself wet trying to help me stay dry. And he says "I will take you to there." And indicates the corner at the bottom of the 78 steps where the path breaks off to the left. And so we get there and he says "see you" and I say "thank you" in Korean as best I can (it's about the only phrase I can remember, and it sounds awful coming out of me) which is silly given that he's speaking perfect English to me.

So that was heartwarming. Not really necessary (my approach to the rain is to wear a wide brimmed hat and a waterproof jacket that zips up to my chin. At that point I'm safe down to my legs which an umbrella won't help with anyway, and I've got my hands free. ) but heartwarming. Which reminds me that the word "heartwarming" crops up in strange places in Korean English. Like on the plane they were encouraging us to donate our leftover change to UNICEF (I did, all $.04 of it) and the add subtitles said "hungry children need our heartwarming care."