Halmoni

Last Friday, I found myself standing at a crosswalk waiting for the light, umbrella-less, under a steady and persistent drizzle, getting wetter by the second.

A halmoni (a Korean grandma) with a pink umbrella was waiting at the same crosswalk, a little ways to my left. She glanced over and we made eye contact. Then, with a quick nod, she wordlessly sidled up to me and popped her umbrella up a little higher to shield the both of us.

At first, I demurred, "괜찮아요..." (Kuenchanayo--I’m okay) but she persisted, and asked me where I was going – to the YMCA across the street, perhaps?

No, I’m going to Coffee Bean, pointing to the coffee shop a half block away.

Ah, ok, well I’ll just walk you to the other side then, since I’m going to the YMCA, is what I think she then said.

The light changed, and after brief a false start, I adjusted my pace to hers and we inched our way across the street, both hunched under the tiny pink umbrella.

She said some things – although I may not understand Korean much, I have some experience with “Grandma-speak” – about how I ought not go out without an umbrella, and probably that I was not properly dressed for the weather, and that it was good to go to the YMCA, a nice place, asking me again if I was headed to the YMCA, where she was headed. At this point I had to confess, in one of the few Korean phrases I have learned to say really well, "한국만 잘 못해요...중국사람이 에요...“Actually, I can’t speak Korean well…. I’m not Korean, I’m Chinese.” (I left out the Chinese-American part, since this seems to confuse a lot of older folks)

Ah, she said, and took a closer look at me. Chinese, really?

Yup.

"에쁘다!" (Yeppuda--you're pretty!), she exclaimed grasping my arm. Then she prattled on cheerfully in Korean for a bit more, and I responded “네” (Neh--Yes, maam) after her comments, because no matter what, that is the way one responds to grandmas, both Korean and Chinese. I had no idea what she was saying, but she exuded positive, grandmotherly vibes.

When we reached the other side, I thanked her and we parted ways. But a tiny halmoni and her pink umbrella brightened my rainy Friday.