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On The Ground: The Winter Games

Korean Friendliness, Hospitality Has Made Games Easy, Enjoyable

Ben Fischer

The Olympics are a long slog, and even the most cheerful among us can be forgiven if we turn surly for an hour or two.

But that doesn’t seem to apply to the Korean service industry, which has become the talk of the Games for its resilient good cheer. They want to help, are eager to build bonds with Olympic guests and don’t let a little thing like a language barrier get in the way.

Just last night, I was at dinner with Olympic bid consultant Terrence Burns and his co-worker at a Korean barbecue restaurant. It was not exactly on the beaten path, and we were worried about hailing a cab.

We shouldn’t have been. The proprietor did the heavy lifting, and during the wait, entertained us with his stories of visiting the U.S. and his love of the New York Yankees.

Earlier, on my way to dinner, a group of Koreans stopped me on the street. They were public relations workers for a human rights group, and they noticed my press badge. As I tried to explain to them that I wasn’t interested in their pitch, they helped me hail my own cab! (I owe them the courtesy of at least reading their email now.)

Freeskier Tom Wallisch, a board member at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, said he’s been taking cabs everywhere in the mountain venue cluster because the spectator bus system is slow. After many days of repeating the same arduous task of getting a driver to know where you’re going without speaking the language, he said he’d understand a little guff from the drivers. “I’m surprised everyone is in such good spirits,” Wallisch said. “I know they’re making money, but everyday they’re dealing with people who don’t speak your language, pointing at a map. It’s got to be stressful for them.”

Tuesday night, my wife Mandy had a lovely experience at a small restaurant outside of the Phoenix Snow Park venue. Just before close, she sat down at a table and ordered a spicy soup. She expected to spend the meal reading the news on her phone, but the woman in her 60s who owned the restaurant initiated conversation through an app. “We are taking pictures of all of our Olympics guests and are going to put them on our wall,” she said. Mandy told her, again via Google Translate: “This has been my best dinner yet.”

One last point to make: There’s zero tipping here. The price is the price, and our Korean guests seem to be motivated by nothing more than pride in good service and sincere friendship. I’ll miss that when I’m back in New York.

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