Oh great, my first time in Korea and I'm already lost!, this holiday is gonna go so well. I should have accepted the full package from the travel agent, that way I wouldn't be stood here in the airport looking like the most touristy tourist in the world. Oh well, here goes nothing. I start walking to what I can only presume is the tourist information booth, my Korean is so lousy my sweaty anxious palm is grasped onto my little phrasebook. Why is it so hard not to look around when you feel like you stick out like a sore thumb?, it's not just the fact that i'm walking determinedly to the booth as fast as humanly possible with my suitcase wheel adding a steady squeak to the anxiety, it's probably because all the other white tourists seem to have travelled on other days and it feels like i'm the only one in a million mile radius. I finally reach my destination and bring my suitcase to a halt next to me, the smiling woman behind the glass looks at me and greets me in a fluency I feel instantly jealous of, I thumb through my book trying to find the page reserved for greetings and jump as she taps on the glass between us, the fizz of her intecom startling me too as her voice rings through it. "It's ok, I speak English. Welcome to South Korea, how may I help you today?". I hastily put my book into my back pocket and explain I have no idea where to go from here to my Air BnB and listen intently as she explains, whilst pointing to a map where to go. After a short while, I thank her and pay her for the map she recommends, she takes a pen and draws the route I should take on it. I hold the map and make my way to the exit slowly, feeling a little more relaxed and sure of myself.

Getting into a taxi after a shambolic episode of bad broken Korean and equally terrible broken English on the driver's part, I show him the map, with the tourist booth lady's drawing, and climb in, silently cursing that I didn't ask how much the journey would cost. I hear him put my suitcase in the boot and close the door a little heavy handed, seconds later he gets into the driver's seat, closes the door, again heavily and eyes me in the rear view mirror. We pull off and I swear quietly as I realise my camera is in my suitcase, all these sights i've never seen before and they aren't being photographed, it seems a crime but my phone storage is all but full and the battery is showing critical signs. The day becomes gloomy in the course of the journey, I obviously don't know Seoul but I do know one thing, there are so many with the surname 'Kim' that my apartment owner was hard to find. I still don't know what she looks like. It seems like no time at all passes before we arrive in front of an impressive looking apartment building, I pay the driver and get out of the cab, he hands me my change and I pocket it. A friendly looking old man approaches with a smile across his lived-in face and he asks the driver which apartment I need ( I pressume, as I said before, my Korean is bad at best). My suitcase is dumped unceremoniously next to me on the pavement and the driver pulls off moments later. Turning to me, the old man offers to take my case but I wave off his offer politely, he is old after all. We start walking into the building and without saying a word, I get in the lift he presses a button on, he hands me a slip of paper with a code and a door number on it and smiles as he leans in to press the button for the 3rd floor. The doors close just after he moves back and waves me off, I see him hobble back to his booth and chuckle at his politeness as the lift climbs the floors, the little bell chiming as we reach the correct floor.

My eyes flick from the paper to the door numbers as I walk along the corridor looking for number 38, all the doors are the same soft brown wood with individual brass coloured numbers screwed to them, my footsteps echoing and my suitcase wheel squeaking solidly as I walk along the concrete floor, then abruptly stop in front of the apartment I was looking for. I check once again to make sure I have the right door, after confirming that both door and paper numbers match, I slide the panel down on the keypad (I know this is the way it works from many a Kdrama) and key in the code slowly so I don't make a mistake. With a click, the door lock releases and I nudge it open with my free hand as I pull my suitcase inside. The door clicks shut behind me and I realise my mouth is wide open as I look around the living room, I close it just before I see her, in the reflection of the huge window, sunlight surrounding her blonde head like she came from heaven itself. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust and I don't notice my feet have carried me into the room a little more as I stare at her beauty. The wheels of my suitcase betraying my silent wonder as she turns and grins at me, two small dimples showing just below . Her bare feet making no sound as she crosses the carpet and greets me in her soft exciteable sounding voice, her English is good and I smile at the familiarity of it. "Hello, My name is Yongsun Kim. You are my guest?. Sorry for bad English, I am learning.". Every word she says is muffled as I look at her, it feels like the moment you lay back in warm bath water and let your ears below the surface, I knew it must seem rude but it was so hard to bring myself back to reality in time to respond. All I could manage was a nod and a smile. If this was the person I would spend the next month with, how could do anything but fall in love with her? This little ray of sunshine, Kim Yongsun.