It's the small things

A flying weekend in Seoul - just what I needed to get me out of my "F**k you, Korea!" funk. A couple of things that reminded me what I loved about this place:

At a coffee shop I had this conversation with the girl at the counter:

Me:     Can I have steamed milk please? (it was late-ish)
Her:     Would you like that hot or cold?
Me:     Sorry?
Her:     Hot or cold?
Me:     Umm.... hot would be nice, thanks.

And:

Standing at the traffic lights, I heard a siren. Now, in my time here, I've never seen traffic move aside or even slow down for police cars or ambulances so I was surprised when some cars didn't go on a green and others moved aside. "Wow," I thought "I've gotten cynical about Korean drivers. Nuts to me." My hopes were dashed when, through the intersection, sirens blazing, blows a chicken delivery guy on a moped.

And:

Exiting the subway car sometimes proves difficult, what with all the people pushing to get on (it's not as bad as Kuala Lumpur though). I was having trouble doing so this afternoon and the doors were starting to close. In light of the foreigner swine flu outbreak, I decided the quickest way was to start coughing. It was like watching the Red Sea part.

And lastly,

On the train back, an impossibly cute girl who'd escaped from her parents runs up to me, plonks her counting book in my lap and proceeds to count to 10 in English very, very loudly while pointing at the numbers to show me how smart she is. In my opinion, children on long-haul public transport should be stowed away in overhead lockers but she was just so cute and sweet that I couldn't help but play with her for a bit until she got bored with her new toy (me) and ran off.

Oh Korea! This is why I love you! Small things, I know, but I'm easily satisfied.