Chapter 10: Small town living, big life lesson

I have always been drawn to the big cities. The bustling metropolises and the frantic city life was an exciting invitation to someone who spent a good portion of his life in the suburbs, reading about the concrete jungles from socialites who roamed the city like some predator traversing the jungle with ease. I had decided at an early age that the city life was for me, I liked the chaos. I liked the nonstop nature. I was going to live there one day. It was only a matter of time.

This love affair continued, as I grew older. I was lucky enough to spend two summers in Tokyo, Japan, one of the largest and busiest metropolises in the world. It was a city that never stopped moving and always had something to do. Tokyo solidified my love of the big city. I was convinced that I was going to live here for a very long time.

Events occurred and eventually the option of Tokyo was no longer a viable one. Like a love that was never meant to be, Tokyo was a city that I loved dearly, but knew in my heart at the time, was something that would just not work out.

I turned my sights to Korea, once again aiming to work in a big city, and immerse myself in the bustle and breakneck speed of daily city life. Again, it was not meant to be as, my location chosen for me was not the sprawling city that I had envisioned, but rather the town nestled in the center of Korea. A town called Gimcheon.

Gimcheon at one point had actually been the second largest city in the Gyeongbuk province of Korea. Eventually however, its industry and economy slowed down and the once bustling metropolis became a slow paced shell of its former self.

My initial reaction was one of slight disappointment. Despite being one of the largest districts in Korea, a majority of it was farm land. The actual city portion could be walked within an hour. It was a city in name only; to me it was a town, a town just like the one I grew up in my entire life. It seemed that no matter where 

I went, the small town life was set to follow me.

Many weekends were spent outside of Gimcheon. I used the weekend opportunity to travel to the bigger cities around Korea as often as possible, not a difficult feat due to Korea’s excellent transportation system that could you get you from one side of the country to the other in a matter of minutes. Sprawling cities like Seoul, Incheon and Daegu were my homes away from home on the weekend. Sundays were always looked at with slight apprehension, the adventure of the city would have to wait until next weekend, and my small town needed me back again.

The past weekend was out of character for me. I had spent a majority of my weekends trying to get away from Gimcheon and explore but this weekend I had felt compelled to stay. Perhaps it was my mind telling me to take a break from exploring. Perhaps it was a need to become more accustomed with my own area of residence. Nevertheless I didn’t purchase tickets out of town like normal. I didn’t pack for the weekend Thursday night. I simply went home on Friday and stayed in.

I awoke Saturday morning feeling refreshed and optimistic. Saturday mornings were usually met with a few seconds of apprehension as traveling and working the night before would usually leave me exhausted. This was one of the first times I had slept in my own bed on a weekend. It felt good, it felt comfortable, it felt uncharacteristically inviting compared to the hard floors and stiff mattresses of hotels and jimjobangs I had become accustomed to.

That afternoon I received a call from some other foreign teachers in Gimcheon. They were planning on spending a night out in Gimcheon and I was invited along. These were people that I knew fairly well, but not as well as other people I traveled to visit. They were acquaintances in my town that I enjoyed being around, but never spent more than a few hours with.

I met up with the group of friends and after a nice dinner, we ended up walking around the middle of downtown. The sidewalks were filled with people and couples happily going about their business. The small shops were lit with bright lights and loud music. School children, free from the burden of school and studying ran in the street, some of them with ice cream in hands all of them laughing and seemingly happy to be free of the pressures of school if only for a day. As I continued to walk and observe the other people a sense of comfort and content begin to come over me. I was walking with good company, on a warm and breezy Saturday night. The sky was clear; the streets were brightly lit and bustling. It was an idyllic evening in my town of Gimcheon. Never before has a town looked more peaceful and happy. Never before did I feel more at home while being so far away.

I still love the big city. I love the busy lifestyle. I doubt that I will ever fall out of love with it. However, that night time stroll in my little town made me fall in love with a different kind of living, a life less frantic, but one more comfortable. Life doesn’t always need to move fast, and this is the town that told me that. 

Chapter 5: Last Stop in a Little Town

I was jolted awake by the sudden lurch and stop of the bus. As I opened my eyes and looked out my window I could see that the bus had come to a stop and was parked next to the other busses traveling in the region. We had come to a rest stop.

I stepped off the bus to see a mass of other teachers standing in groups. Soon the leader of bus made an announcement that we had two hours of resting and lunch before heading back on the bus and finally going our separate ways. A majority of the group walked towards a small restaurant. It was close to noon. It was lunch time.

I entered the restaurant, a building not much larger than a dorm room that somehow was able to accommodate the nearly 80 teachers wanting a quick bite to eat. I found Moise already ready to sit down and eat. He was right; we did find each other again.

We ate our lunch mostly in silence. I had little to say at this point. When there was little to say or comment on I was known to go silent and not say a word. A trait most commonly mistaken for apathy or anger but instead was neither. It was appreciation. It was absorbing the moment and burning it into my brain. It was moments like these, the quiet little moment that I appreciated most and was something that I never wanted to loose that memory of.

After finishing my meal, I headed outside along with Moise. With a little over an hour to spare, walking around the little town was the best option and time killer.

The town was quaint and kitschy with souvenir shops, small convenience stores and cheap looking motels making up most of the landscape. In the backgrounds loomed massive mountains stretching into the cloud lined sky. It was beautiful, a small but perfect looking little town taken from a time long ago, the quiet nature and sounds of nature a departure from the hustle and noise of the city. This was a place that progress and time had forgotten, with  people seeming content with it.

During our short walk around, we ran into Hannah and another person we met during orientation, Jessica. As we continued to walk around the town we poked fun at the residents, went exploring in the nooks and crannies and talked about how small it was. I wondered if my town would look like this, small and isolated from the modern world. I wasn’t sure if I liked that idea. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to live so far removed from everyone else.

The hour passed and we were instructed to get back on the bus. The ride to meet out co teachers would only be a few minutes away.

We left the small town behind and only five minutes later, reached the parking lot where our co teacher waited for us. Once the bus stopped it was a rush and mass of people as we all gathered around trying to find our teachers and our bags.

My teacher found me quickly, the hastily drawn sign containing my name in black magic marker letting me know who I needed to be with and where I needed to go.

Not wanting to keep him waiting, I found Moise and Hannah in the crowd to give them a quick goodbye.

“Stay safe, see you around one day,” said Moise as he gave me a hug.

“See you around, talk to you on Facebook. Don’t be a stranger,” I said.

I gave Hannah a hug and told her I would see her soon.

“We’ll see each other again, in Jeju or somewhere nice,” she said with a smile on her face.

I walked towards my co teacher and took one look back as everyone scrambled to gather their belongings and find their partner. I was finally ready to head out on my own. This was the moment over a year in the making.

Dragging my bags behind me I headed back towards my co teacher.