Beautiful short encounters

Had an encounter with a Korean girl 2 days ago. She was lost in our neighbourhood, phone battery gone, power bank battery gone, and was looking for directions to the Lion King Musical. Only had a map on her and the name of the station.

She came up to me to ask directions. I had no idea what prompted her to do that. I wasn't looking around. I think I was looking at my phone.

Too bad I didn't subscribe to data so I couldn't check live travel info for me. But I knew how to get there. By bus and tube.

So I went with her, to the station, by tube. I was going to the cathedral, opposite direction.

We talked, mostly about her travel plans. Me with my broken and limited Korean with English, and she with limited English with Korean. It was a beautiful encounter, as the Koreans say. Shared some photos I had in my phone of Prague and Macedonia. Recommended Pellicci to her. I wonder though if she and her friends made their way there?

And then when we changed station and was walking up the stairs, she held my arm. And I realised how touchy they are. Especially when they feel comfortable with you.

I am not a touchy person. Even with my friends, we seldom do hand holding, arm holding, hugs. And some of them will know that I take a while to warm up and give hugs and kisses. I've become more relaxed at touch though since I came to live in this part of the world. I'm more relaxed and forthcoming now with hugs and cheek kisses.

And it warms my heart when 은혜 held my arm by her side. And of course made me feel awkward. I'm not used to it lol. Even when my Erasmus girls did it, I didn't know what to do.

It was as if it's showing me that I'm capable of putting people at ease, contrary to what I think about myself. As if in that moment, I made a friend just like that. But we weren't friends, just some passerby in our lives, who left some fond memories for me, and maybe for her too.

And that's traveling. You meet someone whom you share a connection with, but you're aware that this is in the moment, and you're glad to have those beautiful moments for memory keepsakes. 아쉽지만... You say your goodbyes and then wish the person well on their travels.

And that's it.

Still, it's the moment and the memory that counts.