A Trip to the Toilet

Whilst many of us go to the toilet on a regular basis, I can only count on one hand, the number of individuals that have ended up sleeping there. Before flying off to China, I had recently spent a few months in South Korea, off on my usual adventures...

It was the first weekend after commencing my teaching contract and I was wide-eyed and eager to explore. Whilst most might have heard of or occasionally seen pictures of the beautiful cherry blossoms that greet the Korean and Japanese Spring each year, very few might have seen the white plum blossoms that Korea is also famous for. In fact, South Korea has the largest, natural arrangement of these beautiful specimens, in the world. You can guess who wasn't about to miss this once in a life-time spectacle.

The Korean Winter and early Spring, for those who don't know, is blistering cold, with temperatures in the winter going into the negative teens. Nevertheless, I was ready to go! I had my tekkies, socks, joggers, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a red K-Way jacket. There was one problem though - the plum blossom festival was on the other side of the country, which meant I had to transfer 3 buses in order to get to the mountain village of Maehwa. Everything was going well, until the last bus...It was 4 hours late and had only picked me up at 7:00pm. From there, it was another 2 hours to Maehwa. Eventually, at 9:00pm, I arrived and guess what I saw? (***all (Afrikaans swearword)). It was pitch black, absolutely freezing and the festival had closed for the night. At that moment, it struck me... I had not booked a place to stay! 

Luckily, Korea has 'love motels' so I decided that I would just walk up to one and ask to book in. I had found 6 in the tiny mountain village and all were fully booked! It was -4 degrees and 11:30pm. I was stranded and I remember feeling  so small and alone, just like Sheru was in the movie, Lion. This poor, little Indian boy wondering the streets - In my family, we call such a person a 'bechari'. But then, out of the side of my eye, a GS24 (Korean convenience store) appeared and I had an amazing brainwave. I decided to play the 'bechari' and oh boy, I played the part. I mean Oliver Twist asking for more had absolutely nothing on this lost looking, soul drained, hungry Indian boy that I had become.

I remember putting on a face of dismay, eyebrows raised, eyes looking into the unknown, mouth slightly drooping and shoulders hunched over as I entered the store. I then asked the cashier to please charge my phone, which would buy me at least 30 minutes in the heated convenience store. Then I sat in the corner and looked at the wall as I silently hoped to be offered food. The cashier made eye contact with me (hooked, now it's time to reel in) I then rubbed my tummy and opened my mouth as if I had been trekking through the Sahara for week. Within seconds, the lady offered me a cream bun and told me to choose a milk from the store. I took out money to pay her (I had no intentions of paying her), but she refused (how could she take from the homeless) and tried to converse with me in Korean, but unfortunately it ended up being a game of Sherades more than anything. Still, I remember just feeling warm, trying to converse with her and even though, we never understood each other, I had felt extremely welcomed. Eventually, my phone had charged and I had to leave.

I kept walking until I found a bridge over a massive river, it was about 01:00am and if I remember correctly, -6 degrees. I decided to rough it out - I found a piece of cardboard and took it with me under the bridge. In that moment,  I remembered telling my mom that one day, I would like to live as the beggars back home did so that I could better understand what they were going through. I guess this was my chance, so I laid down for the night. It was too cold, I couldn't sleep after an hour and a half of trying to. Eventually, I decided to make my move to find a better place to sleep. Cardboard in hand, I set off across the  river and found something.

A public toilet - not even the close calls of nature I had had in the past could explain how relieved I was to see one. I went it, locked the door and went into the disabled cubicle where I laid down my  bedding. Something you should know about Korean toilets is that they do not flush down their used toilet paper, instead, they wipe and place it in a little bin next to the toilet. What this means is that the toilets always smell of shit! I don't get it, they are a first world country and have bathrooms that play music every time you enter and toilets that that will wash, blow and dry your ass, but they can't flush down their shit paper! Nevertheless, I was so cold, I couldn't smell properly. I remember taking off my socks and placing them over my hands as mittens and then sitting under the hand drier so that it could blow hot air on me. 

Insignificant is word that comes close to how I felt in the few hours before I fell asleep. I sat there thinking about my life or lack thereof. A quote from the Great Gatsby sums it up very well, 'I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.' I mean, everything in my life, nature and nurture, had lead me to this point. I was a graduate, from the best university of Africa and I was sitting next to a pile of the lowest product of human creation - SHIT! but yet, I had never felt so privileged and appreciative to be living. For me, this was a brief moment in my relatively short life, but for some, it's their daily way and all they know. I couldn't understand what they go through because our contexts are different - I was aware of the fact that a better life exists and I had lived it, but how many of them are? That being said, I was also aware of the struggles and stresses that that so called 'better life' came with, something that many homeless wouldn't grasp. However, I did feel a sense immense freedom.

The sun started to rise, so I woke and made my way to the mountain. I was the first to be among the beautiful blossoms and I was reminded that it is only after the harshness of Winter that we can blossom in the Spring.