Burial Mnds, Phrase Books N Tampons over Rice Wine
Trip Start
Dec 01, 1999
1
73
103
Trip End
Aug 31, 2000
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Wando,
Korea Rep.
Saturday, March 25, 2000
What a most awesome couple of days I have had here on Wando Island.
How unexpectedly beautiful is Wando Island!
So here I am, about four hundred kilometers from Seoul city and only a ferry ride from Cheju-do and now I really don't want to go to Cheju-do as it is so beautiful here!
I woke yesterday morning feeling so full of life.
Maybe it was all the Vitamin C powder sticks that I ate along with the fruit!
I headed out into the beautiful world full of blue skies and sunshine. I was going to head straight to the ferry terminal to see about ferry times but then after a short walk I realised where I was. I was in a small fishing village/town and there was no way I was going to leave here with out a few days of exploring, eating and drinking with the locals.
The foreshore area is just beautiful and the little market place is a huge hive of activity.
After an hour spent in the market place eating and walking around I decided to head out of town to see where the little road would take me. After climbing a few hills to grab some beautiful scenic shots I found a heap of burial mounds. Well I believe they are burial mounds as they remind me of the ones in Seoul.
As I was walking listening to my walkman, there they were on the side of a hill.
I stopped and kinda went...what the farrrrrrrk!
After a short walk around them I headed down a dirt road that took me to some sort of little fishing boat port. The poor man who ran the place nearly keeled over and died when he saw me. After he got over the sight of a foreigner being down a dirt road in the middle of Korean
now-where we sat and shared a bottle of beer together before I said my happy good byes.
Does anyone think it's strange that everyone seems to drink no matter what time of day it is?
I bloodywell do!
It gets a little worrisome when saying hello to people. It's like no matter what time of the day it is or no matter where I am, if I say hello some one will pull a bottle of rice wine or beer out and there I find myself sitting and sharing it over smiles and phrase book conversation.
Unbelievable!
I decided it was best not to get myself lost and headed back towards the little town by way of different little roads. Soon I was slowly winding my way down the hills behind the town and making my way back along the foreshore. What an amazing afternoon it was. Soon I was sitting on a little grassy hill reading 'Vanity Fair' which really isn't grabbing me at all. Sadly as I don't have much in the way of reading material I shall continue to make my way through it.
I soon found myself making my way back into the market place for dinner.
Here I met a guy who could speak a little English and I finally got to ask him a few questions that I had wanted to ask. Mainly that of all the fish farming I could see going on around me. If Wando Island was a part of a National Park then why is there so much fish farming happening. His vocabulary seemed to decrease at that time and he decided that simple questions about me and where I had been and where I was going were better questions to ask and answer.
Cool by me as he was buying the drinks!
I decided to call it another early night and after a few more drinks we said our good byes and I headed on home to my little Yoinsuk behind the Post Office. When I arrived home the sweet little old lady who runs the hostel was soon knocking on my door with a tray full of food and tea for me.
I tried to explain that I had already eaten but she wouldn't hear of it.
She showed me my room receipt and it seemed that it included my dinner too.
The meal was awesome but as I lay awake much later in the evening/early morning I wished that it had of included much more alcohol. Out side my window was a Grandfather Clock and this Grandfather Clock really hated me. Each hour upon the hour it stuck that hour and it let you know in a big way what each hour was. I went from counting ten, eleven and twelve dongs to one, two, three etc. Not only was it extremely happy to tell you the hour but it was over the top happy to tell you each and every single second between each hour.
How the fark do people have these things in their homes?
Who the fark created such a stupid disrespectful time piece?
I finally must have slept and awoke to count eight dongs and decided if I had to count nine of them I would go insane. After a shower I found the sweet old lady and told her not to bother with dinner for me as I would have it at the market place. She seemed a bit sad until, I think I told her (through my phrase book) that I could drink beer with the locals at the market place and not eat on my own in my room here at the hostel.
She then smiled and patted me on the back.
I guess she understood!
After that I headed back to the market place to fill myself on little snacks and a bowl of noodles before repeating my actions from the day before. This time I headed in the opposite direction and spent many hours sitting on top of a grassy hill watching the waves and catching up on a few hours sleep and doing my best to get through Vanity Fair.
This really is a Penguin Classic?
HHHHMMMMMMmmmmmmm!
Around dinner time I repeated yesterday's actions and sat with several guys for many beers.
This time though it was phrase book conversation which really seems to get them going. Everyone fights over the book and wants to ask the next crazy question like 'what time is the bus?' or 'I want some anti-diarrhea tablets' or 'do you have tampons?' Soon most of the market place is listening and yelling at the person with the book to obviously ask for a 'box of condoms' etc.
It really is a great time when the phrase book is being passed around.
I guess it give locals the chance to see English and actually ask questions that a foreigner can understand. It doesn't matter if it is a crazy question as that makes it more special as that means WE BOTH understand that it is a crazy question and that it is kind of like, 'a taboo question' ie: tampons.
My answer was yes, with three bottles of rice wine.
That threw them in to hysterics!
Beers N Cheers toya....shane
Accommodation:
Kwangju Yoinsuk
Found in a little alleyway at rear of Post Office
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The soundtrack to this entry was Aussie 'The Cruel Sea'
The album was one of the best Australian albums ever released!
'The Honeymoon Is Over'
Baby!
