“Let’s Go Downtown…”

Were the words I heard. Sang Jae was so excited, unusually energetic, that I agreed, even though I would have preferred to stay inside on this cold, rainy evening. “Your last weekend Daegu! Let’s go downtown!” I donned my pink raincoat and we headed to the door.

We stood in the cold drizzle, unsuccessfully trying to hail a taxi. Surprisingly, there weren’t many on the road, and the ones that were out were occupied. To add insult to injury, as we were about to get into the one taxi that did stop, four ajumma elbowed us out of the way and took our cab. I sighed. I hoped this wasn’t a harbinger of the impending evening.

The 407 bus approached. Run! I shouted, grabbing Sang Jae’s arm. We arrived just as the bus slowed to a stop. On the ride downtown I stared out the window, as if seeing everything on this route I had taken dozens of times for the first time. The abundance of wedding halls. The signs. Everywhere there are signs. The entire front of a building covered by long, rectangular signs. The never in my life have I seen such wide road intersections. The maniac drivers, weaving in and out of traffic.

Sang Jae sniffed. In my peripheral vision I could see a tear slowly rolling down his cheek. I dug through my purse till I found a tissue, then handed it to him as I continued to stare out the window. A couple of minutes later he handed a wet tissue back to me. “Thanks.”

We got off downtown and followed the underground maze of tunnels to the XN Milano movie theaters. We stood in line, watching the brightly lit marquis above us flashing the movie name, time and status of tickets (available, almost sold out, sold out). We had already seen Minority Report. How about Men In Black II? We moved a couple of spaces in line. We glanced up. Men In Black II – sold out. Oh. Okay then, how about The Sum of All Fears? We moved another couple of people closer. Just as we got to the window, The Sum of All Fears – sold out. I shrugged my shoulders. It’s no big deal. We’ll do something else.

“Let’s go Gypsy Rock!” I was surprised. I had only been there once, during the World Cup. To enter, you have to descend 22 stairs, the loudness and smoke becoming more dense with each step. The crowd there tends to be mostly foreigners, not really Sang Jae’s scene. Reluctantly, I agreed and we began to weave our way through the small alleys until we reached Gypsy Rock. We went down the stairs and sat down in the dark, smokey room. As our beers arrived, I saw Sang Jae scanning the room. What are you looking for? I yelled across the graffitied wooden table. “The dancing. Where the dancing?” Sang Jae, there’s not dancing here. It’s a bar. “Last time, dancing.” I remembered back to the last time we were here. Right after Korea defeated Spain in the World Cup. We had stayed only 5 minutes due to the wall to wall people, many dancing on the bar and tables, celebrating Korea’s victory. Oh, Sang Jae, there was dancing then because of the World Cup, but not normally. He looked around. “I don’t like. Let’s leave.” We finished our beers and went back into the rain.

“Let’s go nightclub. I want to dance.” Okay, but where? He smiled. “My favorite, Athens.” We hailed a taxi and made the trip back across town. To enter Athens, you descend a huge marble Southern plantation-esque staircase, then enter a huge cavernous room, the entire interior filled with sofas and coffee tables, a large stage at the front. A lone, lonely dj was spinning loud tunes up on the stage. Lonely because, except for the impeccably tuxedoed waiters, he was the only person in the vacuous establishment. We looked around. We actually sat down. We exchanged knowing glances. “Let’s go.” Okay. And we were gone.

As we waited for a taxi once again, Sang Jae complained, “Why it so hard?” I looked at him in amazement. Yes, it was hard. This is how I’ve felt my entire time in Korea. Obstacles greeting me at every turn. I had attributed most of my frustration to language barriers. I wasn’t competent because I couldn’t communicate my needs. But here was a native speaker, frustrated as well.

As defeated as I felt, as disappointed as I was that the night had not gone as planned, I felt just the slightest bit victorious. A bond, a solace, it wasn’t just me.