Transcending time and culture

There are too few times in my life that I can say I felt truly free to follow my heart, with no care in the world except what was happening around me in that moment. I had such a moment of enlightenment as I was biking through the countryside in Gyeongju, South Korea.

It was a perfect autumn day and the best time to visit Gyeongju. The leaves were a vibrant red, it was sunny, and the temperature just right.

All over Gyeongju, you will notice huge grassy mounds. These are the tombs of the kings from the Silla Dynasty before Seoul became the capital. I was armed with a cartoonish looking map I had picked up from a tourist booth and was biking from one tomb to another, when I suddenly realized I didn’t know where I was.

Just at that moment, a small truck drove by and I found myself asking for directions by pointing at the tombs on my cartoonish map. I usually find when I travel, that locals will just smile and point, whether or not they actually know what it is I’m asking or where it is I’m going. But this time, the driver told me to follow him.

I wouldn’t normally do this. But my spidey senses weren’t shooting off any warnings and I felt strangely carefree. So there I was biking behind this truck, just blindly trusting this stranger. It felt novel and exhilarating. I found myself laughing the whole way – which is not usually how I react when I’m lost.

After a while he pointed me in a direction and we parted ways. I still didn’t know where I was, but soon found myself biking through a clearing and into the true countryside. There were acres of farmland as far as the eye could see, with small huts and small billows of smoke from farmers burning crops (I actually have no idea what they were doing!). I saw one or two aged and weathered Korean farmers (who paid no attention to me) in the fields, but otherwise, I was alone.

I felt freer than I have ever felt in my life. I didn’t know where I was, but knew in my heart that I would find my way. I wonder if the kind stranger knew how special this moment would be to me when he pointed me in this direction. He allowed me to glimpse into the heart of Korea, beyond all the skyscrapers, glass, and technology of most Korean cities. I felt like I was floating through a dream, or that I had been transported back in time. I couldn’t help but smile stupidly as I rode through this transcendent moment.