Pathetic, but it worked.

I have a hearing problem that results in my being unable to understand anything said in a noisy environment. It happens in all languages. Knowing this, I prepped for my train ticket purchase by writing down the particulars. The ticket agent was kind. Without too much difficulty, the ticket was purchased. He gave me 45 minutes to change trains at Seoul Station. That's what I wanted/needed. I definitely did not want the itinerary where you only have five minutes to change trains.

I know myself too well. And I know how many times in this life I've ended up in exactly the wrong place at exactly the right time. It's a speciality of mine. I think it's something about my brain, much like my prosopagnosia (face blindness), which frustrates you your entire life, only easing up when you finally realize what is actually going on. Thank you Oliver Sacks and recently Brad Pitt for going public. 

Here's my note for the ticket agent below. I hope my original Korean language teacher, Ms. Kim, is proud of me. I only looked up one word, 혼란스러운 / confused, used in the phrase "confused old foreign guy." It could be the right word, or it could be a word that no Korean person would ever use like this. I have some memory of the word from before, but not for this kind of usage. The note is chock-full of grammar and spelling errors. I salute myself for not going OCD on it. What's written is exactly what I still retain after these many years.

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