A Little Hole in the Wall

Strange Days

So here we are again, I got a medical checkup, if you could call it that, yesterday and that was an experience. The Koreans are so crazy about little 6 oz paper cups that they serve everything in it...they even give you one for your urine test. So I'm trying to walk down this hallway packed full of about 40 little Korean children balancing this paper cup full of pee and they are all so excited to see a white person that they are all pointing a shouting what sounds to me like the ramblings of Chewbacka the wookie. So I get to the blood test part and they stick this needle in me and give me an alcohol swap, tell me to come back in 5 minutes when my arm stops bleeding and throw the swap away...they are so hi-tech and sophisticated that their sanitary disposal is a used ice cream bucket. I think I might need to get another check-up just to see if I caught anything during the first one.

They are also all very concerned about colds and the flu, because about one in five people walk around all day with a surgeons mask on. I guess that's good, but maybe that means that there is just a lot more crap floating around in the air.

I had a splitting headache yesterday and left school on a mission to find some sort of Tylenol or anything to get rid of it. After about three hours of wandering into every store that looked like they might have that sort of thing, I gave up...still no Tylenol. I'm not so sure that they even have it here. I would talk to a shaman but I haven't found one yet and he couldn't understand me anyway.

I still don't have my own electronics working, I bought a power adaptor yesterday, but all that it did was blow up my electric razor. Good thing I didn't plug in my laptop or camera. So I'll be taking pictures but wont have them up until I get that problem fixed. This computer in my office is ancient and I am sure it would explode if I tried to upload photos on it.

The good news is they gave me the choice if having a land line in my domicile or a cell phone, so I'm opting for the latter. They also don't use sheets here and it is a good thing I brought my sleeping bag because I haven't been able to find a blanket for the life of me. Maybe in Seoul.

I'm heading on an adventure this afternoon...going to try my luck at navigating the public transportation system to find Julian. My guess is that it will truly be an adventure, and I'll be lucky to find him.

Beer is expensive for Korean standards, they only sell them individually as far as I can tell, and it's about two dollars a can. The good thing is that you can get twelve ounces of this stuff in a green bottle that is 20.1% alcohol for less than one dollar a bottle.

Well off the try my hand at this teaching thing. Later.

Epic Journey

So after three transfers and three different airplanes, I finally got a window seat for the 2 hour and 13 minutes flight from Tokyo to Incheon International Airport in Seoul. That mass of lights is Tokyo as seen at 490 m.p.h. in a Boeing 777.



Korean money is going to be tricky getting used to--there are just so many zeros to read--this is only about $21 U.S.
This is the Backpacker's hostel located just oustside of Incheon International Airport. I got this place to myself, with four beds and all sorts of random trinkets, plus a ride from the airport for 45,000 won--or $39. Not too shabby. The downside is that Mr. Kwon, the owner/driver, closed my backpack hiking strap in his van door and broke the buckle. I guess I'll have to figure out how to get that fixed.

Apart from the backpack strap blunder, there was also a major issue that I ran into going through customs. There was the equivalent of one of those parking boots strapped onto my hiking pack on the turnstiles so I was a bit concerned. I thought it could be related to the stove or other various camping gear that I packed along. It was my knife. Papa's knife to be specific. The only personal thing that I carry everywhere aside from my Zippo. They told me it was illegal to bring it into Korea because it is over 5.5 cm and it is not a decorative knife. If I hadn't sharpened it right before leaving, I would have been fine, that is just how dull the blade was. So after raising hell about this knife and how much it means to me, they told me I could just pick it up when I was leaving. I asked them "so you are going to hold onto this for a year?" No, just a month and they wouldn't let me mail it or anything. The only way to get it back is if I can find someone that is traveling back to the states and is willing to mail it personally when they get there--in less than a month or it becomes Korean property.


Well, I have been traveling and writing for....a long time now (left Tuesday at 8a.m., its now Wednesday at 11:19p.m.) So I'm out for now. Tomorrow I have to find a guy in a cab at 8a.m. who is supposedly going to drive me to Anseong, just in time for my first day of teaching. I also have to find a currency exchange and a power adaptor because none of my electronics will fit into these weird plugs.