August 6, Encounter

I was at the newly erected emart convenience store buying milk (let’s talk about my dependence on dairy another day) when another strange magical thing happened. Not only did the cashier say more than one word but the friendly older man also spoke English?

You’ll probably read below and think “this is what you mean by speak English?” but when I hear zero English on a daily basis (aside from “ice Americano”) any effort impresses me.

C: 천팔백 원.
C: Eighteen hundred.
A: 카드 괜찮아요? (Card is ok?)
C: mhm. You like milk?
A: um. I like cereal.
C: ah. Mix? [makes stirring hand motion]
A: yes… [confused at what amounts to excessive amount of convenience store friendliness]
C: ah, very hot outside? Hot.
A: 네, 아주 더워요. 덥네요 ㅜㅜ (yes it’s really hot, surprisingly hot)
C: 아 한국어 말해요. 안녕히 가세요! (Oh you speak Korean. Okay have a nice day!)
A: 네, 안녕히 계세요. (Same to you!)