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9月30日 Goodbye Korea. Hello JapanWell, I've added a few more photos to the Korea gallery - specifically ones of Heea at her university and the little project we worked on one night.
I know I said I would give a more detailed explanation of Korea, but now that I am in Japan, I don't feel like writing about Korea, perhaps when I return next week.
I'm now currently in Japan. Fortunately, I got a pretty good priced ticket and so was able to come here. I blitzed through the airport at Seoul - due to being late, they put me in the fast lane through to the aeroplane. However, I can't say the same for Osaka. It took 2 hours from when the plane landed to when I got out into the outer concourse. If it takes the Japanese that long to move people internationally, it's no wonder they lost the war.
I ended up taking the shinkansen to Okayama, which I didn't want to do because of the price, but the other option was going to get my in Okayama after midnight.
It is a strange feeling to be back in a place that is so familiar, but I didn't ever expect to return to. Nothing much has changed either, Japans still as quirky as ever. I've already met most of the people I knew from before who are still here. I've created a gallery for Japan, and I'll add a few more photos later. I return to Korea on tuesday. 9月25日 So long SuwonOk, a bit of a recap of the last few days.
I've been staying in Suwon since wednesday. Heea has been very busy with her university studies. In fact, I helped her and her classmates with one of their projects friday night - I have photos which I will attach later - I don't have my camera at the moment. I've been staying with one of her friends.
On saturday I went to Seoul for the night. A big and fun night - quite expensive though.
I'm off to Seoul again today, and I'm also trying to organise a plane ticket, without it costing an arm and a leg.
I'll give a more detailed explanation when I put the photos up. 9月21日 Happy SuwonEven with the first 5 days going from overcast to buckets of rain and more wind than required to fire pottery in a Dutch oven, due to the typhoon, I had a lovely time in Jeju. It is easy to understand why Koreans love it there.
 I spent the first few days around Jeju city, Also visiting a pretty neat crater (somewhere around the 1112 mark on the above map). Which had a poor fellow mowing a huge field with a hand mower - talk about picking the short straw.
The summer camp we stayed at, which currently doesn't have any residents, sits somewhere between 1112, 1118 and 1119 - not sure exactly where though.
The photos of Alice's hometown (the temple in the mountain) is from Mt Sanbansan (south west of the island). Had a great day down there - Climbing around the rocky peninsular and being out in the sun.
On monday (18th) Eunyoung arrived, she had arranged accommodation at a resort near Pyoseon (south east). It really was a luxury resort, I don't think I've ever been in a place like it - very nice.
I've now arrived in Suwon, where I will spend the next couple of days (It's just south of Seoul). The "Happy Suwon" is obviously the cities catchphrase as it's on signs all over the place.
A number of photos have been added to the Korea gallery, so make sure you check them out. 9月15日 JejuWell, as you are likely aware, I am now on Jeju Island. It is the rather large island just south of Korea - check your maps - no, it's not Taiwan...
This is a nice place and it would be my choice of place in Korea to live.
I spent the last night at a summer camp place (currently empty) after a day of sightseeing. I've got some photos which I will post when I get back to the apartment. In fact I'll talk about it more when I get on another computer as this keyboard is really trying my patience.
Unfortunately the weather is a bit average, no doubt due to the oncoming typhoon, which will most likely make the weekend a bit rough. 9月14日 HangoversAlthough it is the standard solution for hangovers in Australia, I don't think anyone actually believes heavy, greasy food is the best option. In Korea, they have a few dishes designed specifically for hangovers, and shops that only sell hangover foods. A popular one is a bean sprout soup which does wonders for settling the stomach and calming the head. I've also have a tofu, rice and egg soup thing which worked quite well as well. I've not had any of the others. In guess these were necessary for a culture that generally drinks daily.
I have now arrived in Jeju island. It has quite a different feel from the mainland Korea, a much slower pace, and more resorty feel. The flight time was only 35 minutes, and I noticed on the flight map, I just travelled 1/3 of the way to Shanghai - I see some possibilities....
To Donny who suggested I change my flight as he was sure I was going to miss it - something about me being a few hours from my flight departure and still having to travel through two cities to get to the airport - after a bus, subway, another bus and a shuttle I made it to the airport with numorous seconds to spare.
Unless I missed it, domestic Korean flights don't appear to allow you to put luggage in the planes hold. So onto the plane I went with my backpack - bit of an issue squeezing it into the overhead lockers - I could've used some of the guys that push the passengers onto the subway cars.
Whilst I am here in Jeju, I am staying in Alice's apartment, who has vacated herself and her sister for the duration of my stay. Jeju will be a nice relaxing week I'm sure. Jeju is a popular, if not the most popular, Korean holiday destination. 9月10日 Thyme for an updateWell, as of this moment I've been in Korea for over one week, and I've managed to work with my AU$200 per week. $210 actually, though I've still got a bit left over. The main reason I've been able to achieve this, whilst going out each night/day, is the wonderful Korean culture (for a young tourist) which basically dictates the oldest person should pay, and guests should not. When most of the people I'm hanging around with are around 30, this really works to a 24 year old's advantage. And whilst it doesn't work with Donny (The guy I mainly came to Pohang for) I'm meeting new people daily, such as 2 teachers today that I met via Donny's girlfriend.
The two teachers that took me out today (Jinsil and Hyojung). I've gotten around to having a large variety of Korean food. I will snap some photos soon, as it will likely interest you as to what makes up a standard Korean meal. I do try and limit the spice, although last nights meal left a hole in the bottom of my mouth that took a long time to heal - made it difficult to clean my teeth as the toothpaste kept going on my shirt. Apart from this afternoon, I've generally been sleeping on the floor, which is taking a bit of getting used to, as it consists of basically a blanket on the floor - however, this makes rolling out of bed convenient, as you don't even notice. My bed I mentioned the Korean driving ability in the first post, and quite a bit when I was here last year, but I just love it - the controlled chaos. It is not as chaotic as south east asia, or south america, but hardly calm. Cars drive through red lights, park wherever they want (hazard lights are used at least once per journey, and it is fine to take up a lane of traffic, for parking). Parking is something that has to be seen to be believed (I feel another photo coming on). People just open the doors into the cars beside, and we had to push a car out of the way that had double-parked us in, but we couldn't move the truck that it hit, so we had to get a taxi instead. As you can probably imagine this causes a lot of accidents, after talking to one of the girls today, who has had 2 crashes in her 6 months of driving, she says most people have at least that. Anyway, I've booked my flight to Jeju for wednesday evening (arriving at 5pm), I just have to work out what I'm going to do until then. 9月9日 Chillin'Well, I'm still staying at Donny's place. Planning to leave Pohang on tuesday.
Been having some big nights out, got home at 7:00am the other day. Big night out. Interesting.
Engrish
Compared to Japan, Korea doesn't have as many errors with its use of english, however, a few things have caught my attention.
Last night we met up with Yunjeoung, and for those that don't know, she is getting married next month. I'm about to walk out now, so I'll finish this up tomorrow or something. I've also started taking a few photos, so expect them soon. 9月6日 Food for thoughtWell, I'm still here in Pohang with Donny (my korean housemate). Although, I'm actually staying at his friends house - who doesn't speak any english, fortunately after changing hand signals and accentuating certain words, we're managing some form of communication. However, as of tomorrow I'm moving to Donny's house, as his mother is apparently worried I'm not eating well... mothers.
Of interest here are things called coffee girls. Basically, you ring up and this girl brings coffee around to your house. Whilst they're there you can also get them to run out and get you food, beer - whatever you want, like a personal delivery service. The best part is it costs just under $5.
Donny took me to an english club last night, so that I could speak to some other people, although it started of slowly, it ended up being a good night. Met a Canadian guy and Korean girl, who are going to Brisbane shortly, who seem cool, so I'll meet up with them when I'm back.
I saw a performance on the beach a couple of days ago - apparently some kind of comedy show - though it basically just consisted of a guy walking around burping into a microphone and pretending to piss on the audience. And they say I'm not funny...
I'd like to think I'm catching up on some sleep, but it's not really happening, I'd also like to think I'm getting used to living on the floor again, but again, it's not really happening.
I have now eaten a fish that is quite possibly the worst thing I've ever encountered on a plate. It has such a strong smell, that the best description of eating it would be to imagine pouring mentholated spirits down your nose. It is apparently only popular in one area of Korea, with the majority of Koreans disliking it. Makes my eyes water just thinking about it. 9月4日 Pohanging alongWell, after a slight change of plans I'm now in Pohang, with Donny. I might spend about a week here, then go via Taegu and Busan to Jeju (an island down south), which I might spend about a week down there, before returning to Seoul.
As far as racial generalisations go, regarding money, I think Mel Gibsons's got it all wrong. The taxi drivers actually push their cars along the taxi rank so they don't have to turn on the engine. Looks quite funny when about 7 people are doing it at the same time.
[Update: 06/09]
I've added a map of what my destinations are for the next couple of weeks. After Suwon, there will be a few places, such as Bundang, Andong, the DMZ etc. But I haven't planned that far ahead. The Beagle has landedFor those of you who guessed I'd be packing sunday morning, you'd be right. After 2 hours sleep I managed to pack most of it up in the 45 minutes before I left. I say most, as all my underwear, socks, jeans etc. were still wet out on the line. However, easy enough to fix, a quick stop to a laundromat on the way to the airport and i was set - well, at least I seem to be - I haven't actually gone through what I packed yet.
The airport was uneventful, except for panicking about packing all my insulin into my main bag which had already been checked. After about a minute or two searching through the front pouch of my bag, I realised I had 6 months worth in the other section of the bag... nice one.
I was surprised to see Minhyoung waiting for me at the airport, as he wasn't meant to be there. Although, this was far more pleasant than last time, when he was meant to be there, but didn't realise I was coming that day.
Fortunately customs in Korea seem as effective as in Australia. I checked two boxes for declarations - for both the medications and having purchased too much duty free. The girl just asked what type of medicine, she seemed to understand 'insulin' and waived me through. Didn't care about having too much alcohol, which was fortunate as I was feeling a bit guilty that I would be responsible for a customs officer's hangover tomorrow morning.
Great to see the Korean drivers in full swing again.
Well, it's now 2am Australian time, which makes 5.5 hours sleep in the last 72 odd hours. Time for a sleep.... 9月2日 The traveller starts againWhy must a journey always start with being tired and hungover?
At some point within the next 4 hours I assume I will pack for the trip. However, this time I'll use a checklist:
Although there's no problem flying to Korea, I am not 100% sure about the flight to the U.S. If for some reason they don't let me in with all my insulin, my alternate plan is to travel in Asia somewhere. Well, I imagine the next post with be from some point north of here, so until that time, I'll bid on a jew. |
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