Kindness is the most important thing.

Life in a strange land is hard, the language barrier and cultural differences make it difficult to be friendly, or even polite. A few people have impressed me and really overcome those to be truly kind to me. One is a young women working in the PC room I frequent, who used an online translator to write me messages, explaining prices and how becoming a member was free but would save me 200 won an hour, and always -always- said hello, thank you, and goodbye to me... in ENGLISH. To me, that is just above and beyond what I would expect from anyone. All of the computers are, of course, set to Korean, and when I can't understand the messages it displays she is more than happy to come over and help me grasp meaning, even through the language barriers. Today, I struggled to log on (since I couldn't actually read the labels for my new member's username and password), and she helped me, then brought me a cup of coffee and told me it was free. After my hour was up, I rushed back home, grabbed a box of chocolates, and hurried back to hand it to her (with both hands, as the Korean custom). She asked me why (in English), and I told her, "you've been the nicest person to me in Korea, it is the least I can do." She was taken back, but processed my hour purchase and waited until I was seated to open the chocolates (once again, Korean custom), some time later she brought me a Lipton can - a flavored iced tea? - and thanked me, because the chocolates were delicious. I waited for her to leave before opening her gift to me, the drink, out of respect for her customs.

I couldn't ask for a better night in Daegu.