Adventures in Airports

South Korea: a place that was completely shrouded in mystery and not chart-able on any map, at least according to my geographic insights (or lack thereof) until my best friend moved there for a job designing video games. When he emailed demanding that I fly at least 13 hours around the world to come and visit him, thereby completely wrecking my sleeping, eating, and existing habits, I decided that he would be entirely responsible for my itinerary and therefore, my enjoyment. On my first day in Seoul, he decided to introduce me to South Korean culture by taking me to a jjimjilbang (aka, Korean bath house). I figured the worst that could happen was I would accidentally expose my white, Midwestern flesh to a building full of people I’d never see again (not realizing just how many people can be packed into a single building). When we arrived, I was overwhelmed and sticking out in the way that the only non-Korean, Western woman in a bath house full of Koreans can stick out. Seeing how discombobulated I was, my friend suggested we head straight for the arcade (loud noises and flashing lights are, apparently, soothing to him and so he thought he’d be doing me a favor). When we walked into the arcade, my eyes went directly to basketball game; the game where you shoot as many baskets in 60 seconds as you can. Yahtzee! My discomfort was about to be relieved in a very big way since basketball is the only thing in life I have ever and will ever understand. I challenged my friend and it quickly grew competitive. An hour quickly slipped by. When we finally called it quits and turned away from the game, I turned to face a crowd of 30 Koreans starring mouth agape at me. The crowd started to clap. I blushed since I blush when I am embarrassed, or just when I’m breathing, and shot a few “Anyangseyo”s at the crowd, which only made them clap harder and start laughing. A man, who was leaning against another machine next to our game looked me in the eye, smiled, and nodded his head in approval. Sir, I may not speak your language but the “you’ve got game, girl” grin-and-nod is universal (or at least it looks exactly the same in the United States).