Steamed Octopus to Friendships

Travelling in Seoul allowed me to meet other foreigners who were just as lost as we were about directions. While struggling to scan my card on the Seoul subway, I met a super friendly Estonian girl who had only been in Seoul for about two weeks teaching English. We immediately started chatting about being foreigners and our experiences so far in Seoul; she even tried to help us find a karaoke place, so called Noraebang in Korean.

The last day in Seoul, Riham and I decided to be adventurous and go to Itaewon to eat and catch a bit of Seoul’s nightlife. As we exited the subway station, we picked a random restaurant that appeared to be an authentic Korean restaurant. We were seated in between two tables and we ordered steamed octopus, dumplings, noodles, and chestnut wine. We were being a little adventurous with the steamed octopus and had way too much for the two of us, so we offered some to the girls sitting to the left of us. Then they offered their dish what I believe was vegetarian pancakes. When I asked if they liked the steamed octopus dish, both of the girls said no immediately which I thought was amusing. There was a slight language barrier but we used hand signals in times of crisis. During our exchange of foods and drinks, one of the girls, Heejoo Kim, said that she wanted to be friends when she saw us because she knew we were foreign. After dinner, the two girls showed us around Itaewon to make sure we had fun during our last night in Seoul. Overall the city is full with people who are beyond friendly to foreigners. You can basically ask anyone for help and they will even if they don’t speak English.

The two Korean girls and I are now facebook friends, so I guess you could say offering food can possibly guarantee a friendship.