22.5.08
A Trip to Deokjeokdo
Two weekends ago, Richy and I planned a trip to the island of Deokjeokdo for my birthday weekend/Buddha's Birthday holiday. We had read up about the island a bit in our Lonely Planet guide and planned on leaving Saturday, after my Friday night birthday party. We ended up not going to bed until around 4 am, so of course we got a bit of a late start on Saturday. We weren't really that worried about it because I had read in the Lonely Planet guide (and I think in some random place online) that the 50 minute passenger ferry from Incheon to Deokjeokdo would run until 7:30pm. So we took our sweet time, and by the time we got to the ferry terminal in Incheon it was about 6:30pm. We knew we were in trouble when we walked through the main doors of the terminal, only to find all the lights off and completely deserted except for one confused security guard. So we grabbed some ferry schedules, got out our travel guide, and sat down to try to figure out both where we went wrong and what our next step should be.
Taking the two hour subway/bus trip back home was kind of out of the question, since it was my birthday and I didn't want to spend four hours of it on the subway for no reason. We decided it might be best for us to head back toward downtown Incheon to try to find a motel and somewhere decent to have dinner. Just as we were trying to figure out what time the ferries actually ran another group of foreigners with backpacks on walk in the door. They looked about as bewildered as we probably did, and they asked us:
"Where are you guys going?"
"We were trying to go to Deokjeokdo."
"Us too. Isn't there a 7:30 ferry?"
"Apparently not."
"But Lonely Planet says they run until 7:30."
"Yeah, we know."
Just then, the security guy brought us over some more ferry schedules and shooed us out as he locked the doors. I think he was afraid he was about to be over run by angry foreigners. So Richy and I got back on the bus headed toward downtown Incheon. We wandered around for a few minutes until we saw the first bright 모텔 (motel) sign. Along the way we spotted a rare Turkish restaurant advertising lamb kebabs and falafel, and made a mental note to come back for dinner. The motel was the ubiquitous Korean-style love motel, which can be rented cheaply by the hour or all night. This one was actually pretty nice, with free ice cream provided in the lobby, a big screen HDTV, and a computer in the room. Not to mention several porn channels and all manner of lotions provided (eeew). The sheets looked clean, but we still used our trusty hostel sheets. After chilling out for a few minutes, we headed off to the Turkish restaurant for something that would seem like a nice birthday dinner despite our less-than-well-planned situation.
The first good sign at the restaurant was that it was full of actual Turkish (or at least Middle-Eastern looking) people. We decided to order the set menu, because at a restaurant we've never been to before, we usually assume it will offer the best sampling of dishes. Unfortunately the dishes came out in a strange order, so by the time we got the bread and rice at the end, we had already eaten most of what it would have gone well with. Overall it was good though, and it's always nice to escape the Korean flavor palette for a meal or two. We finished off with a dessert of ice cream at the Baskin Robbins (strangely found almost everywhere in Korea) and spent the rest of the evening wandering the streets of downtown Incheon. At one point a man and his young daughter played a game of following us for several blocks, all the while daring his daughter to practice her English on us. It was obvious they were following us because we were practically walking in cicles. Kinda creepy, but also kind of cute at the same time.
The next morning, we rose early for a breakfast of MacDonalds (usually the only accessible and affordable Western-style breakfast in town) and took the bus back to the ferry terminal. This time the terminal was very much open, alive and bustling, and we caught the 9:30am ferry to Deokjeokdo. When we bought the tickets, the man behind the counter advised us that the only return ferry open for the next day was not until 5:10pm, which was fine with us because we wanted to spend as much time on the island as we could at that point.
When we got to the island, the only two buses there were waiting by the ferry dock. One of them was crammed full of people, and the other was only half full, but the driver seemed to be refusing to let any foreigners on. So we kind of stood around, trying to figure out how to get to the touristy place with the beach and places to stay, which is the perfect demeanor to have if you want to be approached by someone trying to make some money.
An ajumma (middle-aged Korean woman) approached us and asked us if we wanted to go to the beach. We told her yes, we did, and she motioned for us to get into her van. I asked her "Olmai-ay-yo?" (how much?) and she said "Sa man won" (40,000 won, about $40) which is pretty average for a room for two in Korea. So we looked at the van and deliberated for a moment over whether this woman was going to put us in a really shitty room. We decided that there weren't really any other options and got into the van. It made me feel better that there was one other foreigner in the van and several Korean tourists. The room we were provided was less than ideal, but cozy enough and close to the beach.
After dropping off our stuff and getting a bit settled, we headed for the beach. The beach was nice, sandy, and sunny, but the wind blowing off the water was downright cold. In spite of this fact there were several foreigners sunning themselves on the beach in bikinis. This is a very un-Korean behavior since most Korean women hide from the sun at all costs in an effort to keep their skin white and young-looking. Then we wandered around the town, realizing with each turn that about 85% of all the businesses in the little town were closed for the season and that there was really only one open-looking restaurant with Korean food we were familiar with. We realized that since we hadn't come with a large group of friends, weren't camping on the beach and weren't planning on getting drunk that we probably weren't going to have the best time on this island. There's a fine line between relaxing and boring, and this was definitely more boring than relaxing.
The highlights of our time on the island: eating a few meals at the only welcoming restaurant, finding a few shells on the beach, making a small campfire on the beach, and lighting off a roman candle. Other than that we were just cold and wondering what there was to do. The next day, the woman with the van had disappeared, and around 11:00 a woman kicked us out of our room because she wanted to clean it. We were kind of stranded, with six hours to kill. So we wandered up the beach, tried to find a hiking trail that would lead us back in the direction of the ferry dock, and instead found a dead end. We decided just to hike the 7 kilometers back to dock along the winding, hilly road, on which traffic was very infrequent. It took us about 2 hours. Along the way we had a snack on another beach (this one more geared toward the fishing rather than sunbathing crowd). While we were munching, a little Korean boy, all alone, about 4 or 5 came up to me and told me (in Korean) that he hurt his finger. He had a tiny little scratch, and I showed him my sympathy by giving him a little sucker I had in my purse. Richy asked him (in Korean) where his parents were, and he pointed to a nearby building, and Richy told him to go to his mom, and the boy dutifully obeyed. It always amazes me how independent and trusting of strangers small Korean children are. I think it testifies to both the relative safety of Korea and the fear-mongering we embrace for our children in the West.
We finally came to the ferry dock around 3 pm and spent our last few hours on the island waiting for our ferry, reading our books and eavesdropping on the conversations of other foreigners. As more ferries left, the island seemed to become more and more deserted. On board our sparsely filled ferry, which was the last one of the day, we found cozy seats in the top deck first class area. We were looking forward to going home, a little bit anxious to catch our subway because we knew it would be a long trip and we didn't want to get home too late for work the next morning. Of course, just when we seemed well underway, the ferry abruptly stopped dead in the water and a serious-sounding announcement (only in Korean) came over the loud speaker. The only other group of foreigners on the ferry called over to us to see if we understood the message, and when it was apparent that we didn't, they sent one of theirs down to see if the English-speaking concession worker could translate. She found out that apparently there was something caught in the engine, and it was unclear how long it would take. We waited patiently as a few frustrated crewmen ran back and forth between the main cabin and the engine. After a few minutes, we were underway again, only to stop again, start again, stop again. We finally made it to Incheon around 7:00.
Moral of the story: don't go to a remote Korean island unless you go with a lot of friends and plan on getting drunk the whole time. Or, at least go during the summer so there will be more stuff open.
Taking the two hour subway/bus trip back home was kind of out of the question, since it was my birthday and I didn't want to spend four hours of it on the subway for no reason. We decided it might be best for us to head back toward downtown Incheon to try to find a motel and somewhere decent to have dinner. Just as we were trying to figure out what time the ferries actually ran another group of foreigners with backpacks on walk in the door. They looked about as bewildered as we probably did, and they asked us:
"Where are you guys going?"
"We were trying to go to Deokjeokdo."
"Us too. Isn't there a 7:30 ferry?"
"Apparently not."
"But Lonely Planet says they run until 7:30."
"Yeah, we know."
Just then, the security guy brought us over some more ferry schedules and shooed us out as he locked the doors. I think he was afraid he was about to be over run by angry foreigners. So Richy and I got back on the bus headed toward downtown Incheon. We wandered around for a few minutes until we saw the first bright 모텔 (motel) sign. Along the way we spotted a rare Turkish restaurant advertising lamb kebabs and falafel, and made a mental note to come back for dinner. The motel was the ubiquitous Korean-style love motel, which can be rented cheaply by the hour or all night. This one was actually pretty nice, with free ice cream provided in the lobby, a big screen HDTV, and a computer in the room. Not to mention several porn channels and all manner of lotions provided (eeew). The sheets looked clean, but we still used our trusty hostel sheets. After chilling out for a few minutes, we headed off to the Turkish restaurant for something that would seem like a nice birthday dinner despite our less-than-well-planned situation.
The first good sign at the restaurant was that it was full of actual Turkish (or at least Middle-Eastern looking) people. We decided to order the set menu, because at a restaurant we've never been to before, we usually assume it will offer the best sampling of dishes. Unfortunately the dishes came out in a strange order, so by the time we got the bread and rice at the end, we had already eaten most of what it would have gone well with. Overall it was good though, and it's always nice to escape the Korean flavor palette for a meal or two. We finished off with a dessert of ice cream at the Baskin Robbins (strangely found almost everywhere in Korea) and spent the rest of the evening wandering the streets of downtown Incheon. At one point a man and his young daughter played a game of following us for several blocks, all the while daring his daughter to practice her English on us. It was obvious they were following us because we were practically walking in cicles. Kinda creepy, but also kind of cute at the same time.
The next morning, we rose early for a breakfast of MacDonalds (usually the only accessible and affordable Western-style breakfast in town) and took the bus back to the ferry terminal. This time the terminal was very much open, alive and bustling, and we caught the 9:30am ferry to Deokjeokdo. When we bought the tickets, the man behind the counter advised us that the only return ferry open for the next day was not until 5:10pm, which was fine with us because we wanted to spend as much time on the island as we could at that point.
When we got to the island, the only two buses there were waiting by the ferry dock. One of them was crammed full of people, and the other was only half full, but the driver seemed to be refusing to let any foreigners on. So we kind of stood around, trying to figure out how to get to the touristy place with the beach and places to stay, which is the perfect demeanor to have if you want to be approached by someone trying to make some money.
An ajumma (middle-aged Korean woman) approached us and asked us if we wanted to go to the beach. We told her yes, we did, and she motioned for us to get into her van. I asked her "Olmai-ay-yo?" (how much?) and she said "Sa man won" (40,000 won, about $40) which is pretty average for a room for two in Korea. So we looked at the van and deliberated for a moment over whether this woman was going to put us in a really shitty room. We decided that there weren't really any other options and got into the van. It made me feel better that there was one other foreigner in the van and several Korean tourists. The room we were provided was less than ideal, but cozy enough and close to the beach.
After dropping off our stuff and getting a bit settled, we headed for the beach. The beach was nice, sandy, and sunny, but the wind blowing off the water was downright cold. In spite of this fact there were several foreigners sunning themselves on the beach in bikinis. This is a very un-Korean behavior since most Korean women hide from the sun at all costs in an effort to keep their skin white and young-looking. Then we wandered around the town, realizing with each turn that about 85% of all the businesses in the little town were closed for the season and that there was really only one open-looking restaurant with Korean food we were familiar with. We realized that since we hadn't come with a large group of friends, weren't camping on the beach and weren't planning on getting drunk that we probably weren't going to have the best time on this island. There's a fine line between relaxing and boring, and this was definitely more boring than relaxing.
The highlights of our time on the island: eating a few meals at the only welcoming restaurant, finding a few shells on the beach, making a small campfire on the beach, and lighting off a roman candle. Other than that we were just cold and wondering what there was to do. The next day, the woman with the van had disappeared, and around 11:00 a woman kicked us out of our room because she wanted to clean it. We were kind of stranded, with six hours to kill. So we wandered up the beach, tried to find a hiking trail that would lead us back in the direction of the ferry dock, and instead found a dead end. We decided just to hike the 7 kilometers back to dock along the winding, hilly road, on which traffic was very infrequent. It took us about 2 hours. Along the way we had a snack on another beach (this one more geared toward the fishing rather than sunbathing crowd). While we were munching, a little Korean boy, all alone, about 4 or 5 came up to me and told me (in Korean) that he hurt his finger. He had a tiny little scratch, and I showed him my sympathy by giving him a little sucker I had in my purse. Richy asked him (in Korean) where his parents were, and he pointed to a nearby building, and Richy told him to go to his mom, and the boy dutifully obeyed. It always amazes me how independent and trusting of strangers small Korean children are. I think it testifies to both the relative safety of Korea and the fear-mongering we embrace for our children in the West.
We finally came to the ferry dock around 3 pm and spent our last few hours on the island waiting for our ferry, reading our books and eavesdropping on the conversations of other foreigners. As more ferries left, the island seemed to become more and more deserted. On board our sparsely filled ferry, which was the last one of the day, we found cozy seats in the top deck first class area. We were looking forward to going home, a little bit anxious to catch our subway because we knew it would be a long trip and we didn't want to get home too late for work the next morning. Of course, just when we seemed well underway, the ferry abruptly stopped dead in the water and a serious-sounding announcement (only in Korean) came over the loud speaker. The only other group of foreigners on the ferry called over to us to see if we understood the message, and when it was apparent that we didn't, they sent one of theirs down to see if the English-speaking concession worker could translate. She found out that apparently there was something caught in the engine, and it was unclear how long it would take. We waited patiently as a few frustrated crewmen ran back and forth between the main cabin and the engine. After a few minutes, we were underway again, only to stop again, start again, stop again. We finally made it to Incheon around 7:00.
Moral of the story: don't go to a remote Korean island unless you go with a lot of friends and plan on getting drunk the whole time. Or, at least go during the summer so there will be more stuff open.
7.5.08
Seoul Lantern Festival
In honor of Buddhas birthday, each year S.Korean buddhists parade through the streets of seoul from Korea's main buddhist temple, Jogyesa. Buddha's birthday is determined by the lunar calendar, and the lantern festival is always on the preceding sunday. The parade consists of somewhere near 100,000 buddhists, monks, laypeople, armymen, etc. but the highlight of the parade are the giant and colorful lanterns.
The parade was interesting to see. Unfortunately it rained, and all of the umbrellas presented a problem for viewers. But we made our way forward, and the umbrellas, surprisingly, were actually put away when the rain stopped. I managed to get a few good pictures, but by the time my memory card was full, after about 75,000 of the buddhists had passed, I'd had enough. You can only see so many of the same thing before you start to lose your patience.
On an unrelated note, yesterday marked a pointless but symbolic milestone for us: 100 days until we leave.
Regards,
Richy.
The parade was interesting to see. Unfortunately it rained, and all of the umbrellas presented a problem for viewers. But we made our way forward, and the umbrellas, surprisingly, were actually put away when the rain stopped. I managed to get a few good pictures, but by the time my memory card was full, after about 75,000 of the buddhists had passed, I'd had enough. You can only see so many of the same thing before you start to lose your patience.
On an unrelated note, yesterday marked a pointless but symbolic milestone for us: 100 days until we leave.
Regards,
Richy.
24.4.08
The Eve of the Third Third
Today marks our eighth month in the Republic of Korea. That's two-thirds of our contract time. What follows is a description of what's currently on our minds, and a description of what we will be doing before our return to the PNW.
This second semester has gone by quite quickly so far, it's already halfway over, and I'm sure that the rest of our time will go by quickly too. Next week students take their mid-term exams, which for us means three days or so of sitting at our desks with no work to do. Not bad, but boring at times. After mid-terms we have eight weeks until the students take their final exams during the first week of July, and the term ends on July 18th. Between the 18th and when we leave, we have to do a three week English camp. This is the most variable factor in our remaining time, we probably won't know much about the camp until late June. Other than that, we might take a weekend our two out of Seoul, and possibly a three day trip to Japan, though that might be to much of a hassle.
We have our departure date set, we'll be leaving Korea on August 15th, a little more than a week before our contract officially finishes on the 24th because of our remaining vacation time. We also know the date we'll be home, on October 9th, as we've already purchased those tickets. The intervening weeks will be spent on a trek westward around the northern hemisphere across Eurasia.
Our tentative plan is to take a ferry from Seoul to China, where we will spend a few days in Beijing. Unfortunately, this coincides with the 2008 Summer Olympics, which probably means we've chosen the absolute worst time imaginable to visit that city since the Tianemen Square Protests of 1989. We've already run into trouble simply trying to find information about trains from Beijing, reservations have been blocked by the Chinese government for some reason, and you can only get tickets three days in advance. Nevertheless, we've booked rooms (at about 5 times the normal rate) and we plan to buy tickets onward to Ulan Bator, Mongolia when we arrive.
We will be taking the Trans-Mongolian branch of the Trans-Siberian railway, the longest railway in the world. From Beijing we will go to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, spending a few days there. Then on to Irkutsk, Russia, near Lake Baikal, the worlds deepest lake, and the largest by volume of water. From Irkutsk, we will likely stop somewhere on the way to Moscow, or else spend the three-and-a-half days on the train. From Moscow we'll head north to St. Petersburg, then cross over into Finland visiting Helsinki. Then a boat to Stockholm, Sweden, and the train again, south into mainland Europe by way of Denmark, spending some time in Copenhagen.
By the second week of September we'll meet Katie's sister Kim somewhere in western Europe, travel around a bit, and finish up in Munich in time for Oktoberfest. Unfortunately, this means starting and ending our journey during some of the biggest festivals in the world, so we're not exactly planning the most cost-efficient route. In any case, we will be leaving from Düsseldorf, Germany on October 8th and flying into Vancouver, B.C. this route saves us some money, but we'll have to take a bus south into the States.
So, between now and August we'll be pretty busy just trying to figure out all of the details for this trip, if nothing else. Researching, arranging visas, purchasing tickets, reserving rooms, and synchronizing schedules is enough to occupy a lot of our free time. But at least we won't be too bored, twiddling our thumbs while watching the second hand on the clock. It's better to be busy so the time goes by faster.
This second semester has gone by quite quickly so far, it's already halfway over, and I'm sure that the rest of our time will go by quickly too. Next week students take their mid-term exams, which for us means three days or so of sitting at our desks with no work to do. Not bad, but boring at times. After mid-terms we have eight weeks until the students take their final exams during the first week of July, and the term ends on July 18th. Between the 18th and when we leave, we have to do a three week English camp. This is the most variable factor in our remaining time, we probably won't know much about the camp until late June. Other than that, we might take a weekend our two out of Seoul, and possibly a three day trip to Japan, though that might be to much of a hassle.
We have our departure date set, we'll be leaving Korea on August 15th, a little more than a week before our contract officially finishes on the 24th because of our remaining vacation time. We also know the date we'll be home, on October 9th, as we've already purchased those tickets. The intervening weeks will be spent on a trek westward around the northern hemisphere across Eurasia.
Our tentative plan is to take a ferry from Seoul to China, where we will spend a few days in Beijing. Unfortunately, this coincides with the 2008 Summer Olympics, which probably means we've chosen the absolute worst time imaginable to visit that city since the Tianemen Square Protests of 1989. We've already run into trouble simply trying to find information about trains from Beijing, reservations have been blocked by the Chinese government for some reason, and you can only get tickets three days in advance. Nevertheless, we've booked rooms (at about 5 times the normal rate) and we plan to buy tickets onward to Ulan Bator, Mongolia when we arrive.
We will be taking the Trans-Mongolian branch of the Trans-Siberian railway, the longest railway in the world. From Beijing we will go to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, spending a few days there. Then on to Irkutsk, Russia, near Lake Baikal, the worlds deepest lake, and the largest by volume of water. From Irkutsk, we will likely stop somewhere on the way to Moscow, or else spend the three-and-a-half days on the train. From Moscow we'll head north to St. Petersburg, then cross over into Finland visiting Helsinki. Then a boat to Stockholm, Sweden, and the train again, south into mainland Europe by way of Denmark, spending some time in Copenhagen.
By the second week of September we'll meet Katie's sister Kim somewhere in western Europe, travel around a bit, and finish up in Munich in time for Oktoberfest. Unfortunately, this means starting and ending our journey during some of the biggest festivals in the world, so we're not exactly planning the most cost-efficient route. In any case, we will be leaving from Düsseldorf, Germany on October 8th and flying into Vancouver, B.C. this route saves us some money, but we'll have to take a bus south into the States.
So, between now and August we'll be pretty busy just trying to figure out all of the details for this trip, if nothing else. Researching, arranging visas, purchasing tickets, reserving rooms, and synchronizing schedules is enough to occupy a lot of our free time. But at least we won't be too bored, twiddling our thumbs while watching the second hand on the clock. It's better to be busy so the time goes by faster.
10.4.08
Spring is Springing
Yes, it's hard to believe how quickly I went from freezing my face off every time I walked outside to spending a whole weekend without my jacket on. Suddenly the memories of the sweltering Korean summer are rushing back to me and I am considering wearing my Thailand clothes to work. On the way to school, I've started noticing bright green buds of leaves forming on all the ginkgo trees and the huge white magnolias are bringing to my attention shrubs I haven't noticed in months. The weather is beautiful, without a doubt.
Richy and I celebrated the beginning of spring by attending the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival on Korea's south coast. We spent last Saturday afternoon exploring Busan, and on Sunday we took a bus to nearby Jinhae. Busan kind of reminded me of Portland, Oregon with its combination of ugly industrial waterfront juxtaposed with bourgeois cafes and fancy public parks. We wandered around its fusion-style Chinese and Russian foreigner district, and put our toes in the sand and surf at Haeundai Beach while Korean schoolgirls giggled at us and dared each other to practice their English. We stayed at a sketchy little yeogwan, complete with a bottle of "Man Touch" lotion at the bedside (eeew), glad that we could speak and understand enough Korean to book a room. After breakfast at the nearby Starbucks (they actually had bagels), we asked the tourist desk at Busan Station the best way to get to Jinhae by bus. She sent us to the bus terminal across town, even though I could have sworn I read online about a stop closer to where we were staying. So we went to the terminal and got in a shockingly long line of Koreans waiting for the bus to Jinhae. Luckily they had planned for a glut of passengers and buses to Jinhae seemed to pull up every five minutes, so we were able to get on the third bus.
Jinhae is a very small city, which is known as both the home of the Cherry Blossom Festival and the Korean Navy. It was founded by the Japanese during the occupation of Korea, which explains why the city is laid out in a very neat, orderly way. It also explains all the cherry trees and its use as a military base. Unfortunately, all the original cherry trees were cut down after the Japanese occupation ended in the 1940's, but they were replanted soon afterward and are now protected by law. The cherry blossoms are very apparent as you approach the city because suddenly all the hillsides are covered in huge swaths of white blossoms, and when the wind blows it causes a minor flurry of petals. The central street of town leading up to the main hill and city tower was covered in white tents which housed trinket vendors of all kinds and several soju tents serving up spit-roasted pork and Korean squid pancakes. After running into some friends from Seoul who recommended the pork, Richy and I chose a tent and sat down for lunch. We ordered a beer to share, had some roasted pork and some Korean pancake. Typically this kind of meal in Seoul doesn't cost us more than 20-25,000 won. After our meal, we were shocked to find that we were being charged 38,000 won and didn't have enough cash to pay the bill. So I asked for directions to the nearest ATM and the waitress pointed me to the nearby GS 25 convenience store. Richy stayed behind as collateral. Unfortunately the GS 25 cash machine was out of cash. So I called Richy and told him it might take me a little longer to find money. I asked a nearby traffic cop: "Oon-hang o-dee-iss-oyo? (Where is a bank?)" he replied in English: "Go down that way." So I followed where he pointed me. After walking about 5 blocks, I realized I was at the gate of the military base, no bank in sight. So I walked back to the main roundabout and found a bank in directly the opposite direction of where the traffic cop had pointed me. I ran back and paid the ridiculous price for our lunch. Then, Richy and I decided to walk up the main hill in town and went up the tower to see the view. From there, you could see the bay and all the hills around the town. It was quite nice and the breeze was very refreshing. We took lots of photos. Although it was still early, we walked back down the hill, bought some ice cream and headed back toward the bus station.
When we got back to the bus station, we were soon relieved that we had headed back early because the line of people waiting to get on the bus back to Busan was four times longer than the line heading from Busan to Jinhae. Our train was scheduled to leave from Busan to Seoul at 7:05 pm and we couldn't afford to miss it, but we figured we were okay because it was just after 4:00 and it was only supposed to take an hour on the bus. We ended up getting on our bus around 4:30. The bus then got stuck in traffic, so we didn't get out of Jinhae until almost 5:30. I was getting increasingly nervous. Once we got into Busan at about 6:15, the bus stopped and several people got off, and as soon as we pulled away, we realized that that was the bus stop closer to Busan Station that I had read about online. So now it was 6:20 and we were heading AWAY from the train station. When we finally got to the terminal at 6:30, Richy and I ran to the subway station, and then ran to our transfer station. We got out of the subway at Busan station at 6:55, but still had to go get our bags out of the storage lockers. Again, we ran up the escalators, and down to the tracks, finally boarding our train at 7:04, barely one minute before leaving the station. I spent the next 20 minutes catching my breath and hacking the phlegm out of my lungs. I decided need to work out more.
by Katie
Richy and I celebrated the beginning of spring by attending the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival on Korea's south coast. We spent last Saturday afternoon exploring Busan, and on Sunday we took a bus to nearby Jinhae. Busan kind of reminded me of Portland, Oregon with its combination of ugly industrial waterfront juxtaposed with bourgeois cafes and fancy public parks. We wandered around its fusion-style Chinese and Russian foreigner district, and put our toes in the sand and surf at Haeundai Beach while Korean schoolgirls giggled at us and dared each other to practice their English. We stayed at a sketchy little yeogwan, complete with a bottle of "Man Touch" lotion at the bedside (eeew), glad that we could speak and understand enough Korean to book a room. After breakfast at the nearby Starbucks (they actually had bagels), we asked the tourist desk at Busan Station the best way to get to Jinhae by bus. She sent us to the bus terminal across town, even though I could have sworn I read online about a stop closer to where we were staying. So we went to the terminal and got in a shockingly long line of Koreans waiting for the bus to Jinhae. Luckily they had planned for a glut of passengers and buses to Jinhae seemed to pull up every five minutes, so we were able to get on the third bus.
Jinhae is a very small city, which is known as both the home of the Cherry Blossom Festival and the Korean Navy. It was founded by the Japanese during the occupation of Korea, which explains why the city is laid out in a very neat, orderly way. It also explains all the cherry trees and its use as a military base. Unfortunately, all the original cherry trees were cut down after the Japanese occupation ended in the 1940's, but they were replanted soon afterward and are now protected by law. The cherry blossoms are very apparent as you approach the city because suddenly all the hillsides are covered in huge swaths of white blossoms, and when the wind blows it causes a minor flurry of petals. The central street of town leading up to the main hill and city tower was covered in white tents which housed trinket vendors of all kinds and several soju tents serving up spit-roasted pork and Korean squid pancakes. After running into some friends from Seoul who recommended the pork, Richy and I chose a tent and sat down for lunch. We ordered a beer to share, had some roasted pork and some Korean pancake. Typically this kind of meal in Seoul doesn't cost us more than 20-25,000 won. After our meal, we were shocked to find that we were being charged 38,000 won and didn't have enough cash to pay the bill. So I asked for directions to the nearest ATM and the waitress pointed me to the nearby GS 25 convenience store. Richy stayed behind as collateral. Unfortunately the GS 25 cash machine was out of cash. So I called Richy and told him it might take me a little longer to find money. I asked a nearby traffic cop: "Oon-hang o-dee-iss-oyo? (Where is a bank?)" he replied in English: "Go down that way." So I followed where he pointed me. After walking about 5 blocks, I realized I was at the gate of the military base, no bank in sight. So I walked back to the main roundabout and found a bank in directly the opposite direction of where the traffic cop had pointed me. I ran back and paid the ridiculous price for our lunch. Then, Richy and I decided to walk up the main hill in town and went up the tower to see the view. From there, you could see the bay and all the hills around the town. It was quite nice and the breeze was very refreshing. We took lots of photos. Although it was still early, we walked back down the hill, bought some ice cream and headed back toward the bus station.
When we got back to the bus station, we were soon relieved that we had headed back early because the line of people waiting to get on the bus back to Busan was four times longer than the line heading from Busan to Jinhae. Our train was scheduled to leave from Busan to Seoul at 7:05 pm and we couldn't afford to miss it, but we figured we were okay because it was just after 4:00 and it was only supposed to take an hour on the bus. We ended up getting on our bus around 4:30. The bus then got stuck in traffic, so we didn't get out of Jinhae until almost 5:30. I was getting increasingly nervous. Once we got into Busan at about 6:15, the bus stopped and several people got off, and as soon as we pulled away, we realized that that was the bus stop closer to Busan Station that I had read about online. So now it was 6:20 and we were heading AWAY from the train station. When we finally got to the terminal at 6:30, Richy and I ran to the subway station, and then ran to our transfer station. We got out of the subway at Busan station at 6:55, but still had to go get our bags out of the storage lockers. Again, we ran up the escalators, and down to the tracks, finally boarding our train at 7:04, barely one minute before leaving the station. I spent the next 20 minutes catching my breath and hacking the phlegm out of my lungs. I decided need to work out more.
by Katie
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