Considering this is a fiction blog, almost everything I put up is fiction, even if it’s written in a realistic way. This post, however, is totally true. It actually happened to me last week and nothing is exaggerated. For those of you who don’t know, I live in the city of Jeonju, South Korea. The conversation below took place in Korean, so what appears here is an approximate translation.
* * *
I was walking through one of the outdoor markets on the way to lunch when a woman grabbed my arm. She was older, with a heavily wrinkled face and sporadic, yellowed teeth. She was dressed up in several coats.
Her first question was where I was from. This is not that unusual; it’s the number one question people ask me. Before I could answer, she asked if I was Mexican (that’s a first). I told her I was Canadian.
Woman: You know America?
Me: Yeah, America.
Woman: I don’t know who the president of Canada is, but the president of America is Bush. I like him. He’s four stars. I wanted him to come to Korea before, but he didn’t come. Here, let me write my name down. Do you have something to write with?
Me: I got a pen.
She wanted something to write on too and dug through her coats (proudly showing me the US Air Force patch on one of them) and pulled out a small day planner. She laboriously wrote down her name and her address and then wrote down “To the American President” I had to tell her how to spell the last syllable of the Korean word for “president” which is the first time I’ve ever helped a Korean spell a Korean word. Then on the side she wrote “I am inviting you”.
Translation: Korea, Mrs. Son Il-Kong, Jeonbuk, Jeonju, Geumam 2dong, Block —, To the American President. I am inviting you.
She gave me the paper and told me to be sure to ask him to come. People passing by were giving us looks as she was writing all that down, but I didn’t care. She told me again to be sure to tell him to come and I said I would, because seriously, what else can you say in a situation like that?
Me: You know, the president now is Obama.
Woman: No, the one before the black president.
Me: Okay. (the woman knew who she wanted)
Woman: Maybe you should take a picture for him to bring.
Me: Sure thing. Let’s do that. (I take her picture.)
Woman: What’s your name?
Me: David.
Woman: Can you write that down? (I write down my name, but not my address.)
I almost laughed when she threw up the peace sign.
At that point, I shook her hand and said good bye. I walked away feeling great; it was such a great experience. You might think she was mentally unbalanced and perhaps she was; I can’t comment, since I don’t know her. All I know is that she really wants to meet President George W. Bush.
P.S. I really did email President Bush and passed on her invitation to come to Korea to meet her. The ball is in his court now.
The Green-Walled Tower 
February 5th, 2013 at 8:42 pm
I absolutely love this. I’m so glad some Korean citizens know about the world. It makes my heart go yonder.
February 5th, 2013 at 8:45 pm
She was an interesting woman. At least now, if I meet her again, I can tell her I passed on her invitation.
February 5th, 2013 at 10:28 pm
What a cute lady and neat story!
February 5th, 2013 at 10:34 pm
She was something else. 🙂
February 6th, 2013 at 5:23 am
Yay! This is classic. A gem. The picture, the invitation. Ohhhh I hope he agrees to come…
February 6th, 2013 at 10:48 am
It’s a long shot, but I’ll be sure to write about it if he does.
February 6th, 2013 at 5:45 am
She might be a few years behind the times, but knows a good man and a good president when she sees one. I would like to meet him myself. 🙂
February 6th, 2013 at 11:24 am
“You know America?” Ahh, I love it. 🙂
February 6th, 2013 at 11:29 am
Yeah, really. “America? No, I’ve never heard of that.” 🙂
February 6th, 2013 at 1:57 pm
Oh my God, that is priceless…. 🙂
February 6th, 2013 at 5:12 pm
Pity she did not say why she wanted Bush to visit – she probably thought he’ll look across the DMZ and yell to that young Kim-o
“Bring it on!”
February 6th, 2013 at 6:14 pm
Yeah, maybe we’d better keep Dubya away from Korea as much as possible. It’s already pretty tense here. 🙂
February 6th, 2013 at 6:02 pm
I love this lady! And I love that you actually sent him the invitation 🙂
February 6th, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Well, I wasn’t going to lie to her. 🙂 I’ve had some interesting people stop me to talk, but she’s probably one of the best.
February 6th, 2013 at 11:43 pm
Bush has a fan!
February 7th, 2013 at 7:07 am
I love this story! How fun!
February 8th, 2013 at 12:24 am
Is that a fur muffler with a hand towel tied to it? What a great, bold character.
February 11th, 2013 at 12:58 pm
Ha! I laughed when I saw her picture with the peace sign. So funny and her expression is priceless. She knows what she wants!
February 11th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
She was something else. Still, I like to meet interesting people.
February 16th, 2013 at 3:53 pm
thats a cute and confident lady 🙂
lets see what bush will do!
February 16th, 2013 at 7:53 pm
I have an update on that. I’ll put it up on Tuesday.
February 19th, 2013 at 1:01 am
[…] to the update. For those of you who missed it, this is an update on the post I wrote a while ago, The Woman Who Wants to Meet Bush. It was about an interesting woman who stopped me in the market near my office and asked me to […]