Since I have been in Korea for about…340 or so days now, I have fallen into some routines. One particular routine is my walk from my apartment to the subway/work (they are in the same spot) that I repeat multiple times a day. I know it sounds mundane but I think it is something that I will most likely never forget.

So let’s begin with right after I lock my front door. I look left out the window at the end of the hallway to check the weather (i.e. rain, sun, etc…). Then I take the stairs, since I refuse to take an elevator for 3 floors. As I leave the stairwell I check to see if I have any new mail and then check out the massage chair store to see if the stoic lady who runs the shop to see if she registers me passing by; I walk by that shop everyday and I don’t think she has once looked up to see who is passing by her windows which always struck me as odd. Next, I take a left past the the LG shop and give a casual nod to the guys who have to stand outside and solicit business from the pedestrians, being the first of the many hellos or annyeong haseyos I deliver along my walk. There has been a few times when I changed this up in the case of the guy who really enthusiastically wanted to speak english every time I passed, or the girl who would never smile when I said hello so I slowly escalated the energy of my hellos till I made her smile finally crack.

After that, I pass by an art gallery that shows some absolutely exquisite art. This art gallery seems to have everything from traditional Korean art, to more European styles, then on to styles which are enjoyable but I lack the sophistication in my art knowledge to know how to articulately describe. There has been more times than I can count on both hands that the passing glance I give into the store has resulted in a momentary stall in proceeding to my destination to admire some new piece the gallery has moved in. That brings me to the last point about this gallery; it must be the most successful gallery in Busan by the rate it moves art through its doors. The art in the gallery seems to be rotated out weekly or at least biweekly, which just strikes me as an incredible pace for anything art related (I tend to think the world of art dealing is a slow, careful, and calculated sort of business and not something that would move that fast).

Next, I say hello to an older Korean man that I have dubbed the Happy Ajoshi (ajoshi being the Korean word for older man). This is a man that regardless of the day, weather, or fact that he works from well before sunrise to late after sunset 365 days a year running his little mart seems to be indelibly happy. It may be that he just enjoys his life in that mart that much or the fact that I have seen him cracking open the makkoli at 11am, but I am always thankful for that happy smiling old man face and his “bongawayo”s I receive from him everyday. Something about knowing that no matter what mood I am in when walking down the street I will at one point be greeted by his smiling face seems to always shine a little light on any gloom I’m feeling. On an interesting side note, I once had to go to his shop to by some garlic for some fettuccine alfredo I was making only to find myself stumbling out of his store an hour later after sharing two bottles of makkoli with him.

After parting ways with the Happy Ajoshi, I get to dish out my last regular annyeong haseyo of my normal walk. The last is an ajumma (Korean for older women) that makes these black bean paste filled pastries that are shaped like fish in a street vendor stall she sets up on the corner of an alleyway. She watches me walk back and forth on my walk sometimes up to 8 times a day depending on my days errands; always greeting me with a nod, a smile, or a simple hello in what must be one of the raspiest smokers voices I have ever heard. Sometimes I almost feel embarrassment at what she must be thinking because of how many times I walk by a day, at least it seems to give her a laugh.

The little things such as my walk to work or the subway and the many hellos I pass out to people I see or places that I look at that seem to be some of the most memorable. Slowly my little walk has become something that I look forward to almost everyday even though it is so mundane to think about. It is nice to find such a routine so enjoyable since I so regularly find routines to be tedious and mind numbing. Stole the idea for posting my morning walk from my buddy Heath.