The person I want you to meet next is Jeongho. Jeongho became one of my closest friends in Korea, maybe even my best Korean friend.
How I Met Jeongho
The story of How I met Jeongho is not very special: Jeongho is one of Hong’s closest friends. So Hong simply introduced Jeongho to me. Back then Jeongho told me his name was Kim, because he thought his name would be too difficult for me to remember. Who knew that we would become such close friends so soon and his name became my favorite?
Why Jeongho is the an amazing friend
Jeongho is one of the people you feel comfortable with immediately. Always interested in your stories, always telling an interesting story – but most importantly, Jeongho is warmhearted, kind and caring. His talent to make you feel heard and special is just infinite. Not only did he search for Vegetarian restaurants when we first went out with friends, he was always curious about my point of view: about university, about life in Seoul and simply everything that was going on in my life in Germany. But also, Jeongho himself was not afraid to open up at all. Talking about heart breakings, future plans and friendships Jeongho then became a really important friend of mine.
Conversations with him have always been my favorite. He’s great in telling a story but also a great listener. We could talk about one topic for hours. How I miss talking to him!
샘 정호
Jeongho was not only a good friend, he became my tutor, my tour guide and my Korean teacher. One day Jeongho took me and my friend Camille to a real Korean Bar, showed us how to open a Soju bottle and raise your glass like a real Korean. ( It depends on the hierarchy/ age whether to hold the glass above or under the other one’s glass and whether to turn away in order to drink or not. ) Also, Jeongho took us to a small Korean Noraebang (Karaoke) and damn, he can sing! His voice left us speechless <3
Explaining simple Korean words or grammar structures Jeongho became 샘 정호, teacher Jeongho (: Sometimes we even texted in Korean so that I could practice my writing. Of course, he made fun of my spelling most of the time (: but who wouldn’t? Still, he was never tired of correcting me and my mistakes.
In the last weeks Jeongho even introduced me to one of his oldest friend Jongho (yes, similar name but not the same!) What an honor! Together they showed us around in the city where they grew up: Gwangmyeong. We had lunch, compared French, German and Korean table manners, took a big walk around the town and even hit some baseballs (for the first time in my life!).
I wish we could have spend more time together. Actually, Jeongho wanted to come to Hanoi with me. But things didn’t work out so we even missed to say goodbye to each other properly. So here’s a (very late) goodbye:
You’re an amazing human being and I am so indescribably glad we met and started texting and hanging out together. Luckily we still text from time to time so you’re still part of my life here in Germany. I can’t wait for you to come and visit me here or in Vietnam!
많이보고 싶어, 내 아들 ! <3
