February 25, 2010
My first night in Korea.
I have to say that we actually have to go way back in order to get this story started up correctly. I would say maybe 1.5 to 2 months ago. This was when a buddy of mine from the EPOK (Exchange Program OKAYAMA) said, “I really want to go to OSAKA.”
Now, I understand that OSAKA is not Korea, but bear with me a bit. All good stories have beginnings that capture… Doesn’t that capture you? Anyhow, his name is Ben Flavell (England, even though it is a French last name). He has been a student of Japanese for the last two years, and has been dabbling in Korean.
Well, back to OSAKA. So, we were drinking that night and I said that I would really like to go to OSAKA too. Well, after debating a little while over the OSAKA trip, Ben asked what I thought to Korea. I said that it is an awesome place and I would like to go, except that I don’t speak a lick of Korean. His reply was something along the lines of “Don’t worry about it, he doesn’t know enough to get around either.”
Being drunk at the time, that logic actually made sense. We both started planning a trip to Korea. Other people joined in on the venture too, but soon we found ourselves back alone. Reason for the drop-outs, being that the cost were just too high. Ben and I were fortunate enough to get tickets/rooms at a reasonable price. There was only one problem….
It seems that the date that he selected ended up being a date that I wanted to do something else… The Naked Man Festival (はだか祭り). [There will be a post on the naked man festival later, it already happened and was AWESOME!] Well, I opted to show up to Korea later then Ben did, and he was meeting a buddy of his anyways. Well, this is where all the drop-outs happened. So people were split along the lines of which was more important. They couldn’t decide whether they wanted to go to the festival or Korea.
Being that I decided late, I had to actually show up 4 days after Ben, rather than the 2 days, that was planned. Other people who waited had to pay an incremental amount of money in order to still make it on a similar day as me. For example; I paid ￥3,5000 for my tickets and anyone else would have had to paid: ￥7,0000 – 8,0000. Anger and confusion occurred from that, and then on it was just Ben and I going to Korea.
Now, I spent the last couple of weeks planning out what I was going to do in Korea. I have maps marked, places that I want to visit, and even foods that I want to eat. On February 24, 2010 I was packing, and had a bit of a hiccup. The company canceled my hotel that was booked for Busan. I was flabbergasted. I spent the rest of the night looking for a new hotel, and hoping that they wouldn’t cancel at the last minute as well.
Finally, to the morning of February 25, 2010. I was late waking up and was rushing to get out the door. I took out the trash, and ran/walked quickly to the bus stop that I was suppose to be at. Getting stuck at the train tracks for two cargo trains to go by added to the pressure. I made it to the bus stop, as they were looking for me. Funny thing happened too, because I had a friend, Sakino, purchase the tickets, they were yelling her name instead of mine. I did respond accordingly though.
I cannot say too much about the bus trip though. The reason being, I was asleep for most of the way. The only exception being, I woke up and realized I was in KOBE, and I was wondering why I was in KOBE. We just drove right through….. weird Japanese roadways/highways. We arrived at the airport and I had about one hour before I had to get onto the plane.
To say that I was worried would have been an understatement. This meant that I had to check-in, go through customs, go through security, and then board the plane. All this within an hour? Here begins Mission Impossible. After grabbing my bag from under the bus, I run to the info counter and ask for an ANA counter for international flights to Korea. I get a question back of when is the flight? I tell the lady that it is in an hour. She looks on the computer and tells me that there are no flights to Korea via ANA within the next hour.
I am bewildered. How can that be? My e-Ticket says that I have a flight! She asked for the print out (Thank whoever you believe in, that I printed out and brought). She said that it was for ASIANA Air. STUPID ME! I mixed up my flight info. In about two weeks I’m going to SAPPORO, JAPAN. [More on that when the time comes!] Now, that I have the right airline made out, she points me in the right direction!
Hurling myself into the counter, I check in. The guy at the counter was totally scared of me, and asked me as little questions as possible, only telling me the flight info, and that I had an aisle seat. Thanking him, I ran to security.
Since, I was young I have always carried a small pocketknife with me. It is about an inch long blade. I usually pack it in stow away when I am flying, but I was in a rush, and forgot the knife on my key chain. OOPS!
So, you probably guessed, the knife and keys went through the x-ray machine, and I was pulled over to the side with all my stuff. Just my luck! The officer asked me if that was my tray, and I said, “Yes, is there a problem?” Now, I knew full well what the dam problem was, but I wasn’t going to say, “I brought a knife with me, and maybe I will let you know about the bomb that is underneath the plane!” The guard announced the knife to me, and I told him to go ahead and keep it. It was a cheap knife anyways, but now I don’t have a multi-tool.
So after that fiasco, I went to customs. Luckily, there was nobody else there yet. I ran to the Customs Officer and got told to fill out some paperwork. I forgot/didn’t know that I had forms that I needed to fill out. The guy at the Foreign Affairs office who gave me the forms told me to fill out before landing…. Didn’t that mean either on your way back, or in Korea?
Well, after filling out the 10 lines of information about me, I went back to find a GIGANTIC LINE! Nice! So I had to wait for everyone to get through, and finally had my chance! Now, I check the time to see how much time before we start boarding and notice that I have 20 minutes to spare. I have to say I was quite shocked. I didn’t think that I would have that much time to lounge around. So, I went to the KANSAI Int’l Airport STARBUCKS!
40 minutes later I was in the air, and didn’t even realize it. The trip was very short. Actually comically, tomorrow I will be going to Busan and it will take me 3 hours about to get there from Seoul. The flight from OSAKA to Seoul, which flew over Busan, only took 1.25 hours. I didn’t even get to finish any of the in flight movies, it was so quick. I don’t even know how we had time to have lunch.
The flight again was uneventful, and very pleasant. There was the occasional turbulence, but it was short and not as violent as I would have expected. The thing that was eventful was the landing. Incheon had rain, violent winds and a thick fog covering the runways.
So, we were diverted to Seoul Gimpo International airport. I was not really that happy about this, even though we were supposedly closer, because I drew directions in a notebook on how to get to the hostel that I would be staying at from Incheon.
Therefore, that was out the window. We landed at Gimpo, and were stuck on the tarmac for 30 – 40 minutes. Finally, a step truck and a bus came and loaded us up and we went to the airport. Customs and luggage was really quick! I got to the doors of the airport, and then realized something.
I had no idea where I was suppose to go. From Incheon there was a bus that went to a university that was right in front of my hostel. The only saving grace is that on the map that I had there was the university marked, and I found that there was a subway station near by. The name of that station is: Hyehwa. This was my first experience with the Korean Rail systems, or Korail.
The train trip took what seemed to be hours. Finally, I got to my destination after one train change and about one hour. The thing that was bad about the whole situation was, even though I go to the station, I couldn’t find my way to the hostel.
I was walking around in circles, until I ran into an American English teacher and his Korean girlfriend. He was from Washington state, and that is about all I got from him. After showing him the address, he asked his girlfriend about it, and she told us to go to a police station and ask. We got to the little station and asked and the policeman that was on duty told me that he would take me to the hostel!
What luck! So after about saying my thanks and farewells to my saviors, I got into the back of a small Daewoo police car and rode for about two minutes to the hostel. Admittedly, I would have never found the place.
I must have walked by the street it was on 20 – 30 times. The sign was tiny, and the actual Hostel was tucked away in a nook. The police officer was kind enough to lead me into the Hostel and actually check me in. The officer spoke to the landlady who ended up not speaking any Japanese or English.
She took one of my bags, the smaller one, because she was old and I wouldn’t let her carry the larger bag and started walking out of the hostel with it. Not knowing what was going on I just followed her patiently. We ended up inside an apartment complex and then into some random persons apartment. This is where the photos start, by the way. I am kind of discombobulated (always wanted to write that) now. The old lady pulls out a cell phone, dials in a number, and hands it to me.
I grab the cell phone, and a person is speaking to me in Japanese. I responded in Japanese, and find out that my rented room was still in use, and that I would be staying in her house. Being that it was only for one night, I didn’t care. I just hope that the same doesn’t happen when I come back two days from now. She apologized, and said that she would give me some money back. I told her that I didn’t mind, and that I was going to go out for a little.
Before I went out, I turned on my laptop to see what was going on with the Busan situation. I needed to make sure that I had a place to stay and was kind of worried about that. Looking in on it, everything was okay! Success! I was able to get my hotel in order, and respond to a few emails, one of the emails from Ben who was asking if I was in Seoul yet.
After finding out the good news, I made my way out towards the city. I decided that today I would keep things short and sweet. I was traveling just around the general vicinity. It was to become accustomed to the surroundings so when I get back I will know what to deal with. I was in for a surprise! Unlike Japan, there is barely any English written anywhere. It was a very difficult feat to just get around!
I started with something silly. I went to STARBUCKS coffee and had me a mocha latte and a sausage scone. There is a STARBUCKS everywhere around here. It is like SAN FRANCISCO! When I finished with my snack, I made my way around to the shops around here. It was a very intriguing experience. I tried to get lost, and was successful, until I ran into a street that was familiar again. Knowing this part of the city made me feel great, especially I understood only the music that some stalls/shops where playing.
So, 20:30 is rolling on up, and I’m getting hungry. No problem right? OMG! I don’t know how to read a dam thing around here. I don’t know the difference between a hair salon and a flower shop. What am I going to do? Just wander around aimlessly looking for photos that showed what a place served. Finally, I walked by a restaurant whose name I do not know. All I can see is that there is in English written under the sign said, “Korean Cuisine served since 1981.” Good enough for me. Even if it was expensive, it is worth it.
I went upstairs to the restaurant and was immediately greeted. I gave a blank look. “Hello?” The server gave me a weird look. Then held up 1 finger and said something in Korean. I said, “Ne, il.” This meaning: “Yes, One.” At least to my crappy knowledge of Korean. Note to self: “Next time buy Japanese to Korean dictionary at the very least!” I’m stuck with a notebook full of notes of English to Korean, but this definitely will not be enough.
Ordering was easy though. He brought me a romanized Korean menu with pictures, and I pointed to what I wanted. The server then asked me if I like kimchi and I told him I did. He started to serve me the kimchi and asked whether I liked spicy or not. I told him spicy was fine, and he started serving the spicy stuff. I thought that the meal was expensive, but actually it was really cheap. I ordered enough food for 2 people, thinking that the portions were like Japan! My mistake. The waiter didn’t say anything either, probably thinking that I’m a big eater.
I only finished 1/3 of the meal. I felt bad too, because the food was DELICIOUS! I also ate a TON of the kimchi! He asked if I wanted to wrap it, and I told him yes, even though I leave tomorrow before I would be able to eat it. Maybe the landlady will like it? Then came back home to meet the real landlady. When I came in, there were now two little dogs barking at me. I looked surprised, and the landlady greeted me warmly. She took off in Japanese. I was again surprised. She gave me some money back and then cut me a piece of cake and made me a cup of olive tea.
So, I don’t know where you are from, but where I’m from this is extremely nice/weird. It was cool though, and she was able to ask me a TON of questions about: where I’m from, why I used a Japanese website to make my reservations, when I’m not Japanese. Things along that line…. I answered all the questions patiently and finished my cake then hopped on my laptop. I was hopping to get back out into the mix of things, but that is pretty much where the night ended. Hopefully, tomorrow will be more eventful!~ Charlee
More photos are available if you click on the title or HERE!
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