Nowadays, French high school students also come to South Korea on school trips quite often. It is similar to how Japanese students used to visit Korea in large numbers in the past. Most of them come from the capital city of Paris, but the students who arrived this time came from a region equivalent to Korea's Gyeonggi Province. Visiting Busan for the first time, the female students cheered, saying, "We have finally arrived in the Korea of our dreams." They came with a group of 20 friends, but they mentioned that they had split off to have a separate meal because they preferred halal food.

I gave them gifts that French girls would likely appreciate: postcards, abalone shells, and sikhye (traditional sweet rice drink). Upon seeing the abalone shells, one of the girls welled up with tears. She kept marveling, saying, "I've never seen anything like this in my life. How can something be so beautiful?" Seeing such a reaction makes all the effort of acquiring, washing, drying, and storing abalone shells worth it. Touched by my gift, one of the female students wiped away her tears and said she wanted to give me something in return.

One of the girls pulled out a crumpled banknote. "I want to give you at least this as a keepsake," she said, handing me a 10,000-won bill. Another girl gave me a biscuit she had brought all the way from France. I gave this biscuit to our part-time worker. Lately, France has been suffering from protests and cities burning down. However, these students are traveling in Korea. This is how the world turns.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]