Wise Man

Two profound things have happened to me in the last week. I’ll start with the most important and most recent one: my encounter with a real-life wise man.

It was a cold and windy Korean night and I had just finished teaching 8 classes of rambunctious third graders. My options for the evening were either lesson plan for tomorrow or go to the supercool gym I just joined (profound thing #2–I’ll get to this later). I opted for the gym, but it was a struggle to get out of my cozy apartment and onto the bus, packed like sardines with Hyundai Motors employees returning from work.

After my workout I chose to take a cab home, which is rare, but it was so cold I couldn’t stand at the bus stop any longer. A cab happened to be loitering at a nearby corner, so I hopped in, and was greeted by and enthusiastic “Hellowhereareyoufrom??”

This was no ordinary soap opera-watching, race car-driving cabbie. Daniel, as I soon learned was his English name, had majored in French literature and history from Seoul National University, and spoke perfect English. He also knew an extensive amount about Oregon. We spoke some French together, and then he told me he wanted to move to America for one extremely important reason: a girl.

As soon as he started telling me this story, I could tell his mind had gone from finding my apartment to reliving those glorious days of being in love. His driving slowed, he was gazing off into the distance (which made me a little nervous) and his voice seemed to raise just a notch. Her name was Patricia, and they wrote letters back and forth (remember letters?) for years when they were growing up. Then, when he moved to university, he lost her address, and could only remember that she was from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“My heart died that day”, he told me. “I have loved her for 25 years, and my heart still aches for her every day.”

At this point, we were going the completely wrong direction of my apartment, so he turned off the meter and said he wouldn’t charge me, if he could finish his story. I said, “Of course, this is one of the most romantic things I’ve ever heard.”

He spent years searching for her and waiting to hear from her, but there was nothing. Eventually he fell in love and married a Korean woman, but she died not long into their marriage.

But this is where the story gets exciting. Using the all-knowing powers of the internet,  he tracked her down and learned she is a schoolteacher in Alabama, but for some reason his emails keep being returned. I could tell the anticipation of finally making contact with her, after years and years agonizing over their lost connection, was driving him mad.

“Will you help me?” he asked.

This encounter was unraveling like a scene from a chick flick, so I thought, if this were actually a movie, there’s no way the girl would refuse to help the lonely, love-struck taxi driver. So I decided to dive right in and agree to help him. He gave me her name and all the information he had about her, as well as his contact information, in case I found her and needed to pass on his phone number.

We finally found my apartment, but I sat in the taxi for another 15 minutes listening to him tell me about how life has ups and downs, and how we must cherish the beauty in every moment because we never know when everything might change in an instant.

“If I’d known that losing her address would be the worst mistake I’d ever make, I would’ve tattooed it to my chest.”

So that was my encounter with the wise man. I will never forget him and his lazy driving, romantically tragic life, and thoughtful words to live by. Patricia Kuhn, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, there is a Koran taxi driver who hasn’t stopped loving you for 25 years.

Profound thing #2 is that I have found Korea’s hidden asset: spinning class. Dressed in the provided black gym outfit, I dance on a bike for an hour while sweating bullets. The moves are choreographed and the disco ball has flashing neon strobe lights, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from Korea.  It’s invigorating, and I’ve added it to the list of Korean things I will miss when I leave in two short weeks.

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