How NOT to grocery shop in Korea

I went to the local grocery store a few days ago. It is about six blocks from our hotel. I loaded up my basket (no carts anywhere) with quite a few heavy things like the large, one liter size, bottled water, and other things. I used my debit card and that went through no problem. They also charge five cents per plastic bag. I didn't realize until I picked up the bag how heavy it was. How was I ever going to walk back to hotel with it???

I started the journey home. I was about one block from the store which is located in the Suwon Station when a young Korean guy came up to me and asked, "How long to get to station?" I replied, "Suwon Station?" He said, "Yeah, yeah." I looked over my shoulder and said, "It's right there, about 2 minutes." He said, "5 minutes, 10 minutes?" I gave him a real puzzled look and then he said that he wanted to practice his English.

So a light bulb went off in my head! I said to him, "You carry my bag to my hotel and you can practice your English on me." He agreed, took my bag and off we went. He asked all the usual direct questions: Why are you in Korea? How old are you? Where in the United States do you live? Are you married?...

We made it back to my hotel. I thanked him and off he went towards the Suwon Station, probably his original destination. I was happy, he was happy. Life is good.

Now, I go grocery shopping just about every day. I make sure it isn't too heavy and I'm working on building up those biceps.

My husband thought this was a great story.