Back in the hot, humid days of summer when the air itself was sweating on you, I'd often pull up to my apartment after a long, hot ride in the sun and find an old lady or two sitting outside on the ramp with a hand fan. One of them in particular I recognized because she lives on my floor, and I'd run into her here and there. My Korean's not that good, but I guess it's a lot better than what most Koreans expect foreigners to be capable of, so maybe that's how it started - a greeting in the elevator, a hello while passing in the hall, etc. But soon our conversations grew to more impressive chats.
Coming back after an afternoon ride:
Her: "Aren't you hot?"
Me: "Yeah, but it's okay. I like sunny weather."
Her: "It's too hot for you to be riding your bicycle in this weather!"
Me: "But I love riding my bicycle! And when I ride my bicycle, there's always wind."
Coming back late at night:
Her: "Did you just finish work?"
Me: "No, I finished at 7:30, but I went to church, and it's in Jochon-dong, so I got back now."
After a while other old ladies would start to say hello to me and ask me questions in Korean like they knew me. Some of them I'd seen before in passing, so I figured they must live in my apartment building or nearby. But some I'd never seen or met before, so I wondered how they knew me.
Then I remembered those hot summer days when clumps of old women would perch out on the ramp and fan themselves and chat all day. My boss is kind enough to equip all of our apartments with an air conditioner, but it occurred to me that maybe these ladies don't have AC so in the summer months it's cooler for them to go sit outside. Then I realized that they probably talked about me at some point, which is how so many of them know me when I've never talked with them.
So now I say hi to and get greeted by a smattering of cute old women.
The other day I stopped at the new McDonald's on my way home from work and ran into the old lady who lives on my floor while I was locking my bike up.
Her: "You shouldn't bring your bike all the way up here! You should leave it down on the first floor. It's too tiring to bring it up here everyday!"
Me: "It's okay. It's safer here. And since I'm eating McDonald's food, I need the exercise!"
I showed her my takeout bag and she laughed.
Today I came back from running errands and ran into a different woman at the elevator. Tomorrow is Seollal, or Lunar New Year's Day, so everyone is traveling and making food and getting ready for the big event. She stopped me as I was on my way up and told me to take one of the ricecakes she had just freshly made. I did, and it was totally delicious - and not just because it was so tasty, either.
