Well, not really...
It all started on the Saturday before Christmas. I was heading to Chuncheon to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. Usually, on Saturdays, the buses are sold out for like an hour or two and I usually end up hanging out near the bus terminal for a bit because of that. I fully intended on doing just that.
When I arrived at the terminal, I went up to the ticket machine and waited behind a family getting their tickets. They then moved away from the machine. I noticed one of my 6th-grade girls. She was there with her mom and her sister. I noticed they didn't buy any tickets, so I tried to indicate that they weren't finished and ask if I could use it.
The mom started to ask me where I was going, and I told her, and suddenly my student grabbed my hand and they said let's go together. We went outside to her car and we headed to Chuncheon.
Thus far, everything that was said was in Korean, so it was a very quiet car ride to the city. Once we got there, I thought that I would thank them for the ride and then we would part ways, but they found out I wasn't meeting anyone and they insisted on me joining them for lunch. During the lunch the mom and I had a conversation (through Papago) about how she envied the freedom foreigners have and that Koreans can't just be on their own, especially not eating meals. This was why she wanted me to stay with them. She didn't want me to be on my own.
Then we went shopping together. While it felt restricting having them with me when I was shopping it was also really sweet that she wanted to take care of me. After a few hours, I found myself in the car again heading back to Hwacheon. I never expected something like this to happen but I will always remember this student and her mom and little sister for being so kind and welcoming me into their day.
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