Yesterday, after walking around the area near KDI, we decided to take a taxi back to our dormitory because our legs were already aching from the long walk. When we told the driver to take us to KDI, he could not understand us. Since we could not speak Korean, I had my friend show the driver the instruction given to us about taking the taxi from the airport to the school. Unfortunately, my friend only brought the English instructions, which the driver could not also understand. We tried to give him directions since the way was just very simple. What the driver did was call up the number indicated in the paper we showed him. He talked to Mr. Yoo, the program coordinator, who gave him instructions to take us back to the dormitory. I was very surprised at the way the driver made the call without charging us extra for that extra service. It seems that it’s the way they are here in Korea, service over and above what is expected. It was like that even yesterday when we arrived at the airport. The person who was supposed to pick us up did not arrive yet and we were asking the person behind the tourist information desk about the possible entrances and exits in the airport in case the person picking us up was waiting somewhere else. The girl at the counter asked us what the cellphone number of the person was so that she could call him. Since we did not know, we were unable to give it to her.
I guess Korea is very friendly to tourist. The problem is the language barrier. It would be best to have a basic knowledge of the Korean language because a lot of Koreans, particularly the shopkeepers, restaurant owners, bus and taxi drivers only speak Korean. We’re really having a hard time going around Seoul because of this but of course we didn’t let it stop us 
Our motto is, “If there’s a will, there’s a way.”
