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So I guess it’s been a good week now since my last update so there’s a whole lotta crackin yarns to share. I will stick to the best of the bunch, and slot away the rest for my return to NZ so that I still have some things to talk about..
First of all I have to tell you about ‘Denny’. So earlier I’ve told you about my newfound friends from Ireland. Well one of them, whose house I frequent at most Sunday nights on my way back home from Seoul (You swell my heart Timlin, you really do…) lives opposite a small 7/11 type store identical to any of the Indian corner dairies found in Wellington and all around NZ. Her hometown (Mayo, Ireland) local dairy owner is named Denny, so she calls her Korean local man Denny too.
Now I first met Denny a couple of weeks ago and he has proved to be one of the most helpful and interesting contacts I have made here so far. His full name is Kim Young San, Kim being the family name and Young San his first name. Mr Kim is around 60+ years old, has a grandly-handsome and happy face, worked in Korean government for 40 odd years before retiring and buying the dairy, has a wife of nearly as long, two middle aged son’s, and has travelled ALL around the world, including to New Zealand (which he boasts of very proudly…). His English is impeccable, if only a little slow in understanding mine, and although the details above picture an ideal, cruisy Korean life, he has not had it all easy…
Mr Kim was not born in South Korea, he was born in North Korea prior to the 1950-53/4 Korean War (Wikipedia has the best link for info on the war - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War). Kim refers to it as the 6-2-5 War, as explained in the above article. Exactly where in N.K. I cannot recall. He left his birthtown around the time the war started, at the age of around 5 or 6 years old. He found a new life in Seoul, progressed his way through university, a good job and career in government administration and is happy to be where he is today. I asked him if he had ever returned to his hometown in North Korea but I cannot recall his answer. I was so honoured and humblised (in the humble not the humvee sense…) to be in his presence and hearing his stories.
When we first met I asked him about his family and he was happy to oblige. His first son, Kim Tae Ill is a TV Reporter/journalist for Arirang TV News - the Korean TV channel that broadcasts in English and teaches me Korean via the show ”Let’s Speak Korean” as per my earlier posts. ”Wow!” I told him, ”that is sooooooo sweet!”. His second son, Kim Tae Won, owns a prestigious hotel in the middle of Seoul whose name I can’t remember at present. NB: I may have their name spelling’s incorrect so ”sorry Denny” if that’s the case!
ps. I now call him ‘Sun San Kim’ in person, which means ‘Teacher Kim’. He doesn’t like the honorificness of the title but he always smiles at the play on words…
After speaking to him last weekend, Hyun and I walked around the corner to a local fried chicken & beer restaurant. They call it ‘Hoff’ dining, which is dining coupled with a variety of beers. I don’t know the entymology of ‘hoff’ but my guess is it originates from Sir David HHoff’s well documented afflicition for beer and chicken….
So at the Hoff restaurant the owners niece was celebrating her 10 year birthday together with a few family members. I said hello, I’m from NZ, happy birthday and congratulations to her in Korean, and she replied with a bit of 10 year old small talk in English (ie. thank you, my name is__, I am 10 years old, it is my birthday…etc). Later, when she cut her cake, she brought over a slice for Hyun and I to share. I don’t know if she realised the connection of the kiwifruit slices on top of the cake to my homeland, but it was a very cute and sweet thing to do (no doubt prompted by her uncle and aunt). So as per traditional Korean birthday custom, I asked her to shake hands so that I could say thank you, and slipped a 10,000won note into her hand super-quick. That’s when the renowned Korean child shyness kicked in and she ran back to her table blushing and giggling with excitement, holding up the note to her family. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside…Hyun called me a pedo…..
MORE TO COME… PS. Anyone reading this today (Thursday) check out Campble Live tonight - my cousin is on it…
chigim ching-gu kang kim myong san sang nim kang birthday girl chicken kang ireland etish kang weekend wijungbu kang microbrewery kang paua fnc etish hanguk e businesses. Think NZ has social problems? Check out this article from Korea’s Number One English Newspaper, the Korean Herald, on gaming addiction in this country…
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/03/05/201003050039.asp
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