Because people seemed to enjoy the last one, here’s another fun taxi story.

I was heading home late, it was cold, and the subway can make for a long walk, so I decided to catch a cab. I still get a little nervous doing it; navigating through the neighborhood can be difficult, depending on where I’m coming from. Sometimes it’ll involve u-turns, going through random alleys, sharp rights and lefts, going around buildings and parking lots and other things I frequently forget the names of. And this means I have to do a lot of talking.

“Please take the first right.”

The taxi driver glanced in the rearview mirror. “Oh… where are you from?” Foiled by my speech again. I paused. Maybe it was the kimchi at dinner, maybe it was the Cass we had afterwards, but at that moment, I wasn’t feeling particularly Chinese.

“I’m American.”
“So what brings you to Korea?”
“I’m an English teacher. Turn left here, and then go straight.”
“I see. You know, your Korean is pretty good!”
“But not very good!”
“Your pronunciation is good, but you don’t speak naturally, with confidence. Your directions were okay, but a Korean person might say them a little bit differently.”

He gave me better words with which to deliver each set of instructions, I repeated after him, and he nodded his approval.

“Just keep practicing, and you’ll keep getting better. Work hard.” We arrived at my building, and I thanked him as I handed him 10,000₩. He gave me my change, along with one last piece of advice.

“In Korea, sometimes, if you think someone worked hard and did a good job, you can tell that person ‘sugo hashusseoyo…’”

I had to laugh; certainly, the taxi driver who had provided me with my most pleasant cab ride to date deserved nothing less. I bowed a little as I opened the car door.

“Adjusshi, sugo mani hashusseoyo.”