You will not find some travel tips in this article (although we could probably infer some if you read carefully). This is a story about a boy and a country (and perhaps some of the women in that country as well.) Do not expect to learn something, but you may get some laughs from it.They say that first comes love, then comes the hate, right? Or there can be no hate without love, or something, right? Well, in any case, I think the message is that love comes first. Not in this article.I was near the end of my study abroad experience in Japan, and as I had always wanted to go to Korea (South) and a ticket from Tokyo to Seoul is much cheaper than a ticket to Los Angeles Seoul, I talked a friend from Korea to go with me. It was just a friend and I went to Korea (certain circumstances prevented other friends to accompany us), and she was a single girl of my age, so if you know anything about the conservative Asian culture, you can imagine what it was when she visited her family in Seoul put a man "friend", but that's for later.Have ever visited a place and instantly had the idea that things just were not meant to be for you and the earth? Well, for me, Korea was one of those lands. It is absolutely wrong on our part. My friend and I could not have picked a worse time to go, but again was the most convenient time. In the words of my friend's grandmother, who lives in Seoul (translated from Korean into English by my friend): "This is the coldest winter in decades." Wonderful. Apart from that, the yen had depreciated, so I was very happy when I changed my U.S. dollars for the yen. Not quite the case when I changed yen for the Korean won, which had appreciated in the last week. Doubly wonderful.Night arrival, our shuttle service was late. When we reached the hotel, we realized that something had gone wrong with the reservation, so the hotel was full and my friend and I had no place to stay (at least the attendant thought I was in Korea after who said "yes" in Korean and started talking to me as if I understood every word that came out of his mouth - I'm Chinese, and my friend had taught me a few words in Korean). Finally, they took us to a better hotel at no extra cost. Yay. This country is not so bad. (Now you may think it is easy to confuse one from a Korean Chinese, but Asians can say. It would be a mistake of an Italian French or British, right? What I can say about China from Japanese Korean Vietnamese Filipino Cambodians.) problems so far have discussed only happened both my friend and me. This is where the fun ends and the day of Korea I. Second, we took a train to Incheon (the only international airport in Korea is in this small district outside of Seoul) to Seoul. While in Japan, one of our friends had gotten caught in train doors. Many of us laughed at him and liked him the moment of improbability of something like that actually happening. Well, not that unlikely. At least not when you're with me, and when you're curious Korea.After pulled me from the train doors, we headed to the small Chinatown outside Seoul (and I use "little" very literary, but was and remains Chinatown smallest I've been). You might think that a Chinese man in Chinatown in Seoul would be a sort of divine right to a warm welcome. Sure. I tripped and fell and scraped her hands so bad that the lady in the restaurant, which also thought it was in Korea until he spoke in Mandarin, he ran with the band aids.The day after we went to the World Cup Stadium ( where that girl wearing nothing but Korean national flag attracted international attention at a party in 2002). There was a frozen lake nearby. Not everything was frozen, however. A few words of advice if I may: If it's only December, not quite the middle of winter, however, and you see a frozen lake that you suspect is not entirely frozen, not trying to find out. Luckily, I had both feet on the ice.Since of my feet were soaked, my friend and I decided to go back to the guest house to get me a spare pair of socks to avoid frostbite. Although it was snowing that day, there were still icy patches here and there on many streets. The street leading from the main road from our guesthouse was a street such. I was waiting, for what reason I had to keep my eyes on my land? I only had fired more than once and almost fell in a lake not so frozen. So one of those patches for ice rose to meet my unwary feet, and I scraped and scraped back into my hands, bruising his knee process.I tried to laugh it off, but did not work until we find my family friend, who showed us and treated us with lots of delicious foods. My friend's aunt said my friend, "He is so handsome." When my friend told me later I said, "Maybe I was just being polite." Then my friend said, "But do not even understand Korea! "While drinking with my friend's uncle (man, I love to drink with old guys in Asia), I said," I like you. You and I must stay in touch. "My friend translated, later saying to me in English and Korean guy:" But you do not speak a common language! "And the grandmother of my friend showed me how to wash almost in the huge bucket that brought just for me, as the little American boy did not feel comfortable working bathroom.One Korean style of those days, one of the many crowded trains in Seoul, my friend and I were standing, maintaining balance by holding a stick or handle. Sitting in the seat right in front of me stood a middle-aged Korean lady, well dressed and well-composed and looking through his cell phone. At least I thought I was looking through her cell phone. At one stop, I heard a noise, then the lady left the train. A few seconds later, my friend and I looked at each other, both wondering what the noise was. Shot noise was a youth both in America and Asia are very familiar with: camera phone. "It just took a picture of you?" My friend asked. I shrugged, a little creeped out but also a flattered.When recently went to get my haircut, the stylist asked me two questions fairly. One: "Is your girlfriend?" Two "?. Are you from Korea Korea you see "We as humans always crave a sense of belonging that does not mix well with the desire to travel, that only a curse us, myself included. So for those who travel, one of the greatest joys of all is to be confused with a local. I liked being seen as a Korean, when I was in Korea. It was a great honor. That was some real love.I ll probably visit Korea again someday. But probably not going to go in December. I do not care whether that lake is really frozen or not.