I want back the $50 that might have been mine, that might have been stolen from me. What? "Might have been" yours and "might have been" stolen? That doesn't sound right, does it? Let me explain.

It was a few months ago. You see, I live in Korea. Have for quite a few years now. Sometimes, life can be bizarre here. Strange things happen. It's as if you're in the twighlight zone. I call the experience "kafkorea," after the famed novelist of the surreal. I had such a "kafkorea" experience just recently.

Actually, the evening started out quite calm as I walked to the bus station. I don't walk anywhere all that much anymore. However, this was a pleasant spring day, so pleasant it seemed surreal. I was enthralled by everything I saw. It was as if I wanted to capture every detail of the moment and savor it. I felt as if I were walking in a land of paintings. It was one of the most pleasant walks I've had in years. It was as if I'd been in prison for the past few years and had just been released. I guess I should get out more often.

Anyway, I eventually made it to the bus station and took the bus to meet up with my friend and his party in a city named Chongju. It was about a 30 minute ride on the bus. When I arrived, I walked a little ways more and met up with an acquaintance. He led me to the party. When I entered the restaurant, I began to take off my shoes, as is the tradition almost everywhere you go in Korea. However, the owner of the restaurant motioned that there was no need. The floors were wooden and unpainted, and there were tables with chairs. I was surprised that I didn't have to take off my shoes. This restaurant really was quite western. In the center of the tables were grills. Soon the others arrived and the party began. The waiter brought out all kinds of side dishes along with various parts of pig for grilling. It was all quite tasty.

After a while, a young college student approached our table. She said that she was from Mongolia and was requesting financial assistance. I questioned where she attended school and her mode of transportation every day, just to see if she really was a student. Satisfied with her answers, one of the men at the table gave her W10,000 (about $10) and she gave him three pair of black socks. He gave one pair to me.

Well, that was just the prelude. Shorlty thereafter, a Buddhist monk stopped by to ask for donations. Actually, I was about to donate something but the same man (who had given to the girl) gave W5000 and the Buddhist monk gave him a card. The card appealed to me. I told the man that I thought that my four year old son would like the card. I was just making a comment. I didn't expect him to give it to me but he did. My friend commented, "I don't know if it's true or not, but some people say that the card will bring you good fortune, ten times the amount that was donated." I replied, "But the Buddhist originally gave the card to him. Do you think it will still apply to me?" He answered, "I don't know."

I didn't really think too much about what he said at the time. I just thought that my son would enjoy the cute Buddhist card. We continued with our eating and drinking until the wee hours of the night, and then I caught a cab home and went to sleep. I awoke the next morning with a hangover of course. Didn't have the energy to do much but lay around the apartment wondering why I engage in such stupid conduct at times. I gave the Buddhist card to my son. Sometime later on that evening, I noticed that my son was trying to retrieve something from the crack in the floor between the kitchen and my office. I had never even paid attention to this sliver of a crack before. It was the card. He had lost the card in the crack in the floor.

Well, I didn't think too much about it at the time. The next day, I went about my business. My wife and son were going to Chongju to meet up with one of her friends, and she needed some money. I looked into my wallet and counted W130,000 (about $130). I gave her W30,000 and kept W100,000 for myself. Later on, I went to the fitness center to work out. It's located on campus at the university where I teach English. It was a Sunday evening, so when I arrived, there were only a few people there. Usually, I put my wallet in the glove compartment in my car and lock the car because I can see the car while I'm on the treadmill, so this seemed to be a better solution than leaving it in the locker. However, for some reason, I didn't do that. I felt compelled to take it with me, reasoning that there weren't too many people around, and it would probably be okay to take it with me in the fitness center.

As I was entering the facility, I noticed a student arriving at the same time as me. Even at that time I wondered whether my wallet would be safe in the locker. I could have left it at the front desk but chose not to. After changing clothes, I left my wallet in the locker. Even then, I was asking myself whether this was the best thing to do; then another student arrived just as I was leaving. As I was tying my shoes, I eyed my locker and wondered whether someone could break into it while I was exercising. Then, as I ascended the stairs to go to the fitness area on the second floor, the student just ahead of me, the same one who had arrived right after I did, suddenly turned around and went back into the locker room. I wondered why he did that and the thought ran through my mind that perhaps he went back to steal my wallet.

Yet, it is beyond my comprehension why I failed to react to my instincts. That is, I don't understand why, fully knowing the risk involved, I chose to continue into the exercise area to exercise, all the while wondering whether the person had indeed gone back into the locker room to steal money from my wallet. Sometime later, while exercising, the same student came into the exercise area and was on a machine a few places away from me.

Once I had finished exercising, I went back to the locker room to shower and change clothes. The same student came in at the same time. Yet, I didn't check my wallet at that time. Instead, I showered first and then came back to dress. Only at that time, after the student had left, did I check my wallet and noticed only W50,000. My heart sank. I had been done. What I had feared would happen had happened, and I thought to myself, "How could you be so stupid? All the time you suspected that this would happen, and yet you did nothing to prevent it."

Questions raced through my mind. How could I be sure that money had been stolen? Perhaps I miscalculated the amount that I took with me. Then I began to calculate my expenses for the week. There was certainly something mysterious about all this. When I calculated the expenses for the week, it seemed impossible that I could have had the W100,000 - the amount of money that I thought I had in my wallet. Incredulously, it seemed as if I had W50,000 more than I should have had.

My mind became more confused as I began to consider whether I had been ripped off or whether I had miscalculated the amount of money that I had in my wallet. Yet, I was certain that I had calculated my expenses correctly and yet counted the money correctly as well. "Could it have been the lucky Buddhist card?" I began to wonder, "Did it actually bring me ten times the amount donated as my friend had mentioned? (W5,000 x 10) Then when my son lost the card, the W50,000 disappeared as well? Could I be 100% sure that the student had broken into my locker and stole the money? Perhaps it was the luck of the draw. I drew the lucky card but then lost it. I had been rewarded ten times the amount but then lost it when the card was lost by my son."

My mind grew dizzy with these thoughts. "Was this a Buddhist trick? If one does not have knowledge that a crime has been committed against one's person, then one cannot feel the loss and the violation. Ignorance is bliss. If one cannot be sure that one has been violated against, was a crime actually committed? What would the Buddhists say?"

Needless to say, these questions cannot be answered, so eventually, you have to accept that you don't know what actually happened, and you never will.

Then, a few days later, the card mysteriously reappeared on the kitchen table. I don't know how. Perhaps my son was able to recover it from the crack in the floor though I still don't know how. I didn't question him about it. Somehow, it didn't seem appropriate. I just accepted it as a lesson in fortune, and one doesn't question fortune. I picked it up and stared at it for a moment, then carefully placed it into my wallet.

I carry it around with me everywhere I go now as a reminder; yet now, a month later, I'm not sure what it was I wanted to remind myself of.

Perhaps it was this story about Kafkorea.  

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A few thoughts;

It is obvious this individual is paranoid and has the perception Korean cannot be trusted. It is unfortunate this individual will have this mis-perception while they are in Korea.

As a young soldier during my first tour this was a common believe most foreigners coming to Korea had. A distrust of the people. The fact of the matter is there buddy would rip them off before anyone else.

I remember a case when I was a 1sg in an AIT unit. I received a call early one Sat morning. A solider who was close to graduating had withdrawn $400 from his savings account. He was going to buy the wedding ring that day. Although we had a policy where they were not allowed to have more than $100 cash in the barracks. The soldier discovered someone had stolen the money. As it turned out it was his battle buddy who was also going to be his best man in the wedding.

The point is be cognizant of your surroundings at all times. Do not be quick to point the finger. Only carry as the amount of money you can afford to loose. No one likes to be violated; however, there is always the possibility of loosing what you have. Allow common sense to prevail.

What a story..I read it right through thinking something would happen.

You do know that Soujoo dulls the brain.

Anyway..it did fill in some of my time