Yes, Crazy is how I would describe the past few days. Do not get me wrong; I had a fantastic time, but I just about lost my mind. Let’s start at the very beginning.
Day 1: I got to Incheon fine. Carly was there when I got there, so we hoped on the bus and I headed to Cheonan where Korean Nazarene University is. There is very little to say about the first night.
Day 2: I got up fairly early so that Carly could show me around town as she walked to school. Then I did some exploring on my own. As I was walking, I saw a sign for Independence Hall. Carly had mentioned that I should try to go there. I should point out that she did not tell me that I should try to walk there; she just said that I could go there. Anyways, I decided that I would follow the signs and try to find it. So I walked for a very long time. Not really sure how long I walked, but I never found it. I did get to take some cool pictures though. I am thankful that I was in a city where I could just hop in a Taxi and make it “home.”
I spent the rest of the day “working” on school work. When Carly got home we went to a Korean sit on the floor restaurant, which was pretty neat, and the food was good.
Day 3: I decided to get acquainted with the Cheonan bus system. Actually, it wasn’t that hard. I got on the bus, got off at the giant flower, got off the bus, got on the next bus, and rode it to the end. At the end of the bus ride was the world’s largest Buddha. Carly told me that Buddhists have seven pilgrimages that they have to make. Apparently, if Buddhist go to this Buddha, they do not have to go on the other pilgrimages. The mountains were beautiful,and I really enjoyed taking pictures. After I was done walking around the temple area, I went into the woods a bit. Then I found some rocks that made a lovely chair for me. There I sat and journaled. It was wonderful.
When I was done, I took the bus back to the giant flower. I had planned on getting on the bus and going back to KNU, but then I saw some statues, so I followed the trail to an art gallery. I think that Miss. Saxe would be proud of me. At the art gallery, I bought a few postcards and took meandered a bit, looking at the art work.
When I was done, I went to Starbucks to buy my right-of-passage-mug to tell everyone that I had been to Korea. You see I have to try to catch up to my roommate who has at least half a dozen. After buying the next step to increasing my social status in the international community, I went back to KNU to “work” until Carly got home from work.
For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant, which was rather good. After dinner, Carly and Matt help me plan my day trip to Seoul.
Day 4: By far my craziest day. I went to Seoul. Alone. Don’t tell my mother.
I am just kidding. I mean I did go to Seoul alone, but I was perfectly safe except that everything went wrong.
I got the station to buy my tickets, and all the regular train tickets were sold out. Therefore, I had to buy tickets on the fast train, which were more expensive, and I had to make a transfer. Well, I didn't know where I was supposed to go, and the people at the train station pointed me in the right direction, but I was on the wrong side of the track. Therefore, I missed my first train. I was able to get on a second train, but since I missed my first train, I missed my second train. At the second train station, a train came, and I didn’t know if I was supposed to get on it or not, but a Korean woman on the platform told me to get on it so I did. However, it was the wrong train. Now that sounds like bad news, but another wonderful Korean woman, the stewardess of the train, arranged for me to get off at the next stop so that I could transfer to a train that was going to Seoul. In the end, I made it to Seoul only 20 minutes behind schedule.
Next I went to an Italian restaurant because Italian is my favorite food, and I was very hungry. I had a Creamy Risotto with various types of shell fish in it. Both of which I love. However, that day it did not agree with me. I had not even finished my meal before I started feeling sick. I left the restaurant and bought some gum because I thought that the mint would settle my stomach a bit. However, what I thought was mint was apple, and it did nothing to help me. I will not go into the gory details of what happened next, but let’s just say it was unpleasant.
After getting sick, I felt much better, and I am not one to give up, especially after all the trouble, I went through to get there. Onward I went to Geyoungbuk Palace, which I would compare to China’s Forbidden City. It was beautiful, and when I got there, they had some sort of ceremony happening. Men were dressed in colorful robes and they were either playing an instrument or carrying a flag. I am not entirely sure what was happening, but I enjoyed watching it.
After wondering around the palace taking pictures, I found my way to the Korean Folk Museum, which was next door. I had considered leaving and going to the Korean War Museum, but I am so glad that I stayed. There I spent way too much on an adorable magnet, but it was worth it because the museum was free. I really wish that I had longer to explore the museum because I did not even get to see half of it, and I got to learn so much about Korean history and culture. I can’t really say why I enjoyed it so much, but it was like peeling back the layers of an onion and seeing was underneath what I was currently seeing of Korean Culture.
I ran out of time at the museum, and I had to run to the subway, which would take me to the train station, which would then take me home. Yes, you read that sentence correctly, assuming that you are still actually reading this incredibly long blog post, but I digress. I RAN to the train station, and I got on the train seconds before it was about to take off. It was like a scene from a movie except, I couldn’t breathe, and I did not have any water, and I didn’t even know if I was on the right train. Another wonderful Korean person, a man this time, told me that I was on the right train and showed me to my seat.
TAAAAA DAAAAAAA! I made it to the back to the metro station. The only thing that I had left to do was to get on the metro to go back to KNU. However, that took about 40 minutes even though three metros came while I was waiting. They, however, were not taking any more passengers. My cell phone was dead, so I had no way of telling Carly that I had made it there and back, and I was running at least 15-30 minutes later than I had planned. However, I did know where I was, which is more than I can say for most of the rest of the day.
I finally made it home, and Carly and I went out for Korean food with some of her friends. It was lovely, especially because we topped it off with hot fudge Sundays from McDonalds.
Day 4: I would say that the rest of my trip was rather uneventful. The next morning Carly was leaving on a trip at 6 in the morning, so I left at the same time that she did to head to the airport. I got to the airport around 9, and I had a lot of time to kill, so I “worked” on some school work.
I don't need to divulge all the details of my wait at the airport, so I would like to discuss a few observations that I made. 1) I love Korean people. They were so helpful to me, the foreigner, who had no idea what she was doing. They even had free plug adapters at the airport. 2) They have far more western things, restaurants, stores brands etc., but it seemed as though there were far fewer western people. Not sure what this observation means, but I make it nonetheless. 3) I think that most non-Asian westerners look at Asian cultures and see them as being fairly similar. However, I noticed how different Korean and Chinese cultures are. I am not sure that I could pinpoint all the particularities, but I can say that they are very different.
This whole trip was crazy, eye opening, and relaxing. Now you might ask how on earth was it relaxing, but it was because I spent a lot of time by myself (You see Carly had to work during the day). Don’t get me wrong, I love people, but it was so nice to just explore by myself. Although, if I go to Seoul again, I think that I would like to go with someone who knows the train system better than I do. ;)
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