ABSTRACT
Seoul is full of universities - it must have more than any city in the world. So it was a lucky coincidence that I was headed for the same university as Liesl. She took me under her wing, suggesting we meet in the lobby of I-House at 8:00 in the morning, to ride the bus together. Liesl had been in Korea for a mere three weeks, but she had already mastered riding the buses - no mean feat for a non-Korean speaker. There are so many buses, and such crowds. I found it daunting. You have to cross the street, find the right bus stop, push your way onto the bus when it comes, offer a ticket marked “hakseng,” meaning student, and ride the bus to the end of the line. Then you have to change to another bus that goes into the campus. Coming back, you have to know the right bus stop on campus and which bus to board, and most important of all, where to get off. The stops are as much as ten blocks apart, making a hefty walk back if you stay on the bus too long. Liesl’s European background made her an experienced bus rider, but I, who always drove everywhere back home, had to learn the skills.
