There are a lot of cool perks that come with surviving the first 5 months of living and teaching in South Korea. The coffee shop lady knows who I am now (maybe not my name but she definitely knows my order–Mexican hot chocolate with a shot of espresso), students undoubtedly know I am the master of Mario Kart, and coolest of all: I know my bus drivers.
You see, there’s a certain seat on the bus that goes unfavored by other passengers, but it’s the seat I always choose. It’s right behind the driver and gives me a perfect view of the road in front and beside me so I don’t get motion sickness. Because I always sit closest to the front, I’ve had the unique pleasure of getting to know the bus drivers!
And each driver gives my every ride to school a special…uh, flavor. I may not know their actual names, but that doesn’t matter because I’ve given them each a super secret special one. And all together, they are The Four Bus Drivers!
The Raccoon Guy
Bus Driver #1. He looks like a raccoon–and I don’t mean it as an insult. See, raccoons can be charming and chill with anything. And that is exactly what this grey-haired, bushy-eyebrowed, short bus driver is like. He is so chill, I know when I step on the bus and see The Raccoon Guy that I will be 1) Late, or 2) Very late. He also doesn’t say a word so maybe he could be a raccoon disguised as a bus driver.
The Guy With a Full Head of Hair
This guy has–you guessed it–a full head of hair (implying that all the rest don’t measure up to his hairsomeness.) Guy With a FHoH drives so slowly and gently, so impassively monotonous, that I could probably count every tree we pass if I weren’t spacing out into the next dimension. Guy with FHoH defies all Korean Bus Driver stereotypes.
The Bat Out of Hell Guy
The Bat Out of Hell Guy is the culmination of all Korean Bus Driver stereotypes. He’s the reason I have to show up at the bus stop 10 minutes early because he’ll show up 9 minutes early and take off like a bat out of hell, which earned him his super secret special name. He swears at everyone on the road that can’t measure up to his formidable need for speed (or anyone that can), and will yell at any young man that meanders onto his bus instead of leaping for the door before he Tokyo Drifts out of the bus stop.
The thing about Bat Out of Hell Guy is that he’s actually a big softy on the inside, making him one of my favorite out of team The Four Bus Drivers. The first time he picked me up at the bus stop, he tried his best English to ask me if I was the new English Teacher. Then he became a tour guide on our first route, telling me about the Imjin River, the American military base, and the Joint-Security Area. When I missed the bus once and stood outside in the freezing cold for 45 minutes (would’ve been an hour but he’s Bat Out of Hell Guy), he verbally felt sorry for me. When the military asked me to get off the bus (twice) because of some ID discrepancies, this bus driver was ready to fight the soldiers if he could use more than his fiery words. One time he whispered something and turned around quickly in his seat to sneak me a hand warmer (he didn’t want the other passengers to see!) and sometimes he’ll give me coffee. How could I be afraid of a guy like that?
So yeah, Bat Out of Hell Guy may swear and drive around like a scene out of Mad Max, but he’s just a big ol’ softy on the inside.
The Guy in the Puffer Vest
I saved the best for last, for The Guy in the Puffer Vest is my favorite bus driver–and I’ve told him so using my handy dandy translator app. For a month now, any time it’s just the two of us on the bus on my way to work, he’ll use a stop light or bus stop to grab his travel mug and pour me a tiny paper cup of his own coffee. Then he’ll drive gently until I finish it! He’s done this so many times that by now I basically anticipate it (except when there’s someone else on the bus. He doesn’t want to show his favoritism, hehe.) One time I had a cold and tried to suppress my coughs but he asked me, “Teacher! Cold??” I nodded, and he gave me a pack of cough syrup.
Another time, he attempted English to give me a heads up that one of the bus drivers was sick so there would be no bus to take me home that week. If he hadn’t done that, I would’ve waited outside in the cold for an hour before the next bus would come.
He’s “just a bus driver,” but he’s the best dang bus driver Korea’s got. He’s a quiet guy and doesn’t say a lot, but he’s kind to every passenger, never swears at other people on the road, and even drives with a calm level-headedness when the bus is slipping around from snow and ice.
So…that’s team The Four Bus Drivers, whom I’ve gotten to know over the last 5 months. When they show me an act of kindness, I remember the language barrier can’t isolate me from every good thing. In fact, I think that it makes kindness that much more extravagant.
There’s more stories like that I have to share! Ones that give me warm, fuzzy feelings and a fondness for the people of Korea. Please look forward to it 🙂
Signed,
Allison the Adventurer
