Of the friends I have made here, there is one guy I would like to make particular mention of. His name is Nam-in Cho, or Mr. Cho as I refer to him. If you know anything about me you know that for some odd reason I have a passion for the elderly. Yes, you guessed it… Mr Cho is in his 70’s. I met Mr. Cho randomly one day on the subway. I had previously met a friend for coffee and I was getting ready to catch the subway back to my side of the city. I enter the subway station and as I am waiting for the train to come I notice this elderly guy talking on the payphone. I didn’t pay it much attention and actually didn’t think much of it. About three minutes later I notice the elderly gentleman approaching me. My immediate thoughts were, “Oh great, this guy is going to start speaking to me in Korean and I am not going to have a clue what he is saying and with my finite use of the Korean language I will have to tell him I do not understand him.” About this time I hear, “Excuse me, do you speak English?” At first I thought it was some sort of miraculous transformation taking place, because I had already prepared myself to hear Korean, but I was hearing English. I soon realized he was speaking English and nothing miraculous was taking place at all. HA! The train approached about the same time that he started speaking to me so we boarded the train and continued out conversation. He asked what my name was and what I was doing in Korea. I told him my name was Zack and that I was teaching English. He was overjoyed and commented, “Great! I am thankful for you, Zack. My name is Cho Nam-in” (as they give the family name first here). I wasn’t too sure how to take that, but I humbly said thank you and returned the question, “What do you do?” He laughed and said guess. I was a little taken back by this and my mind was spinning for many reasons. First, I had prepared myself for this man to speak Korean and not English, then he makes a statement that he is so thankful that I am here teaching English, and now when I ask him what he does, he laughs and tells me to guess. Thinking through all of this, I ask him if he is a professor. Reason being is that he is elderly and he knows English pretty well. Most of the older generation does not know the English language unless they are teachers of some sort or in business. He laughs and says, “No, guess again.” Well, honestly I had no idea what he did, so I just told him, “Mr. Cho, I do not know. What do you do?” He informs me that he is a CEO, the president of his own company. I was shocked at first, but then thought, “Hmm, perhaps he is just saying something that is ‘catchy’ to the ear.” He asked if I had a cell phone and if he could have my cell phone number. I gave it to him as he wrote it down on the newspaper he was carrying with him. I figured I’d never hear from him again. After writing it down, he pulls out his cell phone and dials my number. Now I am really confused because when I first saw him, he was on the payphone in the subway station and now he is dialing my number from his cell phone. I’m not sure why he dialed my number immediately, but perhaps he was checking to see if I gave him my real number. Needless to say, we exchanged numbers and within a few stops we parted ways. A few days later I received a call from him asking me to meet he and his wife for lunch one day. I concurred and set the day and time. Since that time a few months ago, Mr. Cho and I (sometime his wife as well) have continued meeting regularly once a week, even sometimes twice a week. We spend time talking about life, topics from newspapers, spirituality, etc. He is a very wise man that I have come to respect gratefully. I have learned much about he, his family, and his business. What interests me the most about Mr. Cho is his Buddhist belief. While on our walks he often asks me how I feel about certain things and even makes numerous references to Christ and asks me what the Bible has to say about certain things. He has made mention on several occasions that he and his wife are devout practicing Buddhist and have invited me to visit temple with them sometime. I have yet to take him up on his offer, but I’m sure I will before too much longer. Their generousity is beyond words. I enjoy spending time with him as he has also made mention to a few times lately that I’m like a son to him. The words are warming to the heart and bring me joy when heard. Please keep this friendship in your thoughts.
