I am from Seoul, Korea, and for the past five years I have worked as receptionist at the Dorchester hotel in London. I came to London nine years ago, when I was 26 - 27 in Korean years. The question I get asked most is "What part of China are you from?" I don't mind. I have travelled all over Europe but I still cannot tell if someone is from France or Spain. Before I came to London, I lived with my parents in Seoul, working at a Korean fashion chain. I had never been abroad and my parents didn't want me to go. So, one day I just said: "I have paid the school fees to learn English and booked my flight to London and if I cancel, I can't get a refund." I cried for two weeks when I got here - I missed my parents. So many things seemed so different at first. Take, for example, the train delays in London. In Korea, if a train is late people think there must have been a disaster because they are never late, ever. A 20-minute delay is unheard of.
Because it was so expensive here, I had to get a job quickly. A Korean friend taught me how to say, "Do you have any vacancies?" A Japanese snack bar took me as a waitress. The Japanese girls there were really helpful and after one week I could say, "Would you like something to drink?" After three months, I took my CV around and got a job as a receptionist at the Grange hotel near Marble Arch. To be a good receptionist, you need to be happy. If you're not happy you can't make the guest happy. At the Grange, there was a management trainee on reception who complained all the time. "Oh, when am going to finish?... How am I going to do all this?" So, I thought, I will do the exactly the opposite of everything she does. What I like very much about Britain is that people are individuals. Eccentric individuals, sometimes. One day, we had some guests check in after their mother's funeral. In the evening, they came to reception and the woman said: "We are going out but we can't leave our mum all lonely in our room. So we want to leave her with you." My colleague said, "OK ... er, where is she?" The woman put a plastic carrier bag on the desk. Inside was a canister and in it her mum's ashes. My colleague said, "We will put her in the safe for you." The woman said, "Thank you, that's great. Mum will be nice and cosy in there." The worst part of the job is when clients complain and don't listen. Asian people are easier guests as they don't complain like westerners, who speak out if they don't like something.