I travel not just to see beautiful scenery or nature, but to find something human and interesting.
Whenever we travel on land, my husband and I often end up fighting, saying things like “I’m never going on another trip with you!” We come back exhausted and annoyed. That’s why we’ve come to enjoy cruises — they give us some space and peace. Even though it’s a bit of a stretch financially, we’ve taken another cruise because it’s just more comfortable and relaxing.
At dinner one night, we were enjoying the kind of clean, nicely presented food that we don’t usually get at home. As my stomach filled, I started to hear the conversation at a nearby table — two Asian women speaking English. When I looked over, I guessed they weren’t Korean. One woman, who mostly listened, had a clear American accent, and the older one, who talked nonstop, didn’t sound Korean or like a native speaker of English.
When we travel and see other Asians nearby, my husband and I usually stop speaking Korean until they’ve passed. Thinking they were Chinese, we kept talking. But suddenly, the two women stood up and came over to us and asked in English, “Are you Korean?” They looked so excited to meet us! The younger woman was especially friendly and sweet, and since she didn’t leave, we had no choice but to invite them to sit with us.
On cruises, conversations often start with, “Where are you from?” We said we were from New York. They said they were from Minnesota. Both of their husbands were American. Because they’d lived with American husbands for a long time, their English and even their appearance had a certain brightness — it wasn’t immediately clear they were Korean.
Since we saw each other almost every day at the dining area, the younger woman pulled my arm one day and said, “Let’s hang out, just us girls.” My husband, who usually followed me around the ship unwillingly, seemed happy to disappear on his own.
Although the women spoke Korean well, they often used English too — maybe out of habit. Their American husbands, always attentive and kind to their wives, unlike my husband, who preferred to be alone. The younger woman wanted to spend time with me, but my husband didn’t want any part of it. So I always ended up sitting in the middle, with their couples on either side of me.
At first, I was excited — it had been a while since I met other Korean women on a cruise. I wanted to share stories and learn about their different lives. But convincing my husband to be part of the group was impossible. Eventually, I couldn’t keep meeting them as a group of three women and two husbands.
So, we changed our dining time and looked for other places to eat, trying to avoid them. They looked for me, and I tried to hide. Maybe they eventually noticed and stopped looking — I don’t know. But I felt like I was playing hide-and-seek all by myself, like I had done something wrong. Sigh… I’m too old for this — sneaking around a cruise ship, playing hide-and-seek like a guilty kid!