It might not have spawned the first Korean hockey star, but the visit did leave an indelible mark nonetheless.
Back in the summer of 2004, we opened our home to a Korean exchange student for three weeks through a Delta school district program. Jaeyong's English wasn't great but we had a lot of fun, including in the evenings when we watched our respective countries battle it out in the Olympic Games in Athens.
While he was here, some folks with the Vancouver Giants introduced Jaeyong to hockey, so along with falling in love with Canada, he became a convert, returning home with skates and a burning desire to star on the ice. Given his late start and lack of opportunities, the hockey career didn't really pan out, but he found a team back home and continued to play, all the while dreaming of coming back to Canada one day.
As fate would have it, he got his chance earlier this year, spending six weeks as a chaperone to a group of Korean students that got to experience what he enjoyed more than a decade ago. This time, the English was significantly better, to the point where he gave as good as he got in our good-natured banter.
His love for, and knowledge of, hockey had also grown and we were able to chat about the sport. He tried to suggest that players were much better nowadays and that Wayne Gretzky would only be average if he played today. I set him straight about The Great One, warning him he'd be kicked out of the country if he ever disrespected Wayne like that again.
He got to experience the Hockey Day in Canada festivities in Ladner last month and we went to a Giants game courtesy of Dale Saip. He couldn't get enough hockey and by the end of his stay, thanks to trips to seven different Winners locations, he was completely outfitted in Team Canada apparel.
At the end of his first visit, as the group gathered to board a bus for the airport, many of the girls started crying because they were sad to be leaving Canada. Within seconds of joking with Jaeyong that the girls must have had better host families, he, too, turned on the waterworks.
This time around, we were going to bid him farewell after he watched one of my son's soccer games. He was scheduled to leave in less than 48 hours but insisted we'd see each other again. After we parted ways, I said to my wife I thought he didn't want to say goodbye because he'd get too emotional about leaving Canada again.
A text the next day confirmed my suspicions.
