I walked through the red light district yesterday caring my Korean flash cards in my hand, studying as I walked. I had figured out a good way to meet people in the neighborhood; I would show them my cards and ask them to pronounce the words in Korean. After entering the red light district I saw an older lady moping the front room of one of the more fancy looking brothels. I asked her to help me and showed her one of my cards. She took it and turned it over and over, staring at the word and laughing that I, a foreigner, was actually trying to learn Korean.

After a few moments she started explaining the word to me in a long stream of Korean that I couldn't understand. When I had gotten the idea of the word (mostly from her actions), she grabbed my stack of 50 plus cards and proceeded to go through all of them with me! I listened and nodded and repeated her words. After a half an hour we had gone through the whole stack and she reviewed a few key words with me so I wouldn't forget.

Before I continued on my way, she dashed off to find a paper and pen. I noticed the notebook she brought back to write in had the names of girls with prices written after their names. She tore out a fresh piece of paper and invited me in while she wrote down her name, address and phone number. Most Korean brothels have a long, narrow display room in front where the girls sit like jewelry in a glass case. I was now sitting on the inside of those windows with the madam of the brothel writing down her name and address for me. It felt a little weird. After exchanging information, I continued on my way. The woman, who I now knew as Mrs. Kang, had been happy when I called her my ajuma chingu (woman friend) and invited me to return.

I was elated! I had made my first red light district contact and it was painless. Later that evening Mrs. Kang called me and spoke to me for ten minutes about who-knows-what. After hanging up, I asked a bilingual friend to call her back and translate what she said. Mrs. Kang, my friend said, wanted to know if I had returned home safely as she had been worried that I would get lost in the maze of roads surrounding the red light district. How very sweet of her.

I know some of you at this point may want to remind me to be careful. I can almost hear your voices in my head. Believe me, I will be as careful as humanly possible. But please pray for me. I just got a call from Mrs. Kang and she invited me to meet her tomorrow at 2 pm. I have no idea what to expect at our meeting. She could invite me out to eat, she could take me around town, she could introduce me to her son whom she wants my help in getting him to America.... I have no idea and that makes prayer even more vital.