2 Jehovah Witness and Soju-ladden Liver
Trip Start
Aug 30, 2005
1
15
49
Trip End
Aug 29, 2006
Seoul,
Korea Rep.
Tuesday, October 4, 2005
Then Friday came and my Korean co-teachers popped the information on me that I was having a house party. They all came over with absolutely no preparation... and they brought alot of soju. My God, I am talking about alot. Then after they plyed with some soju, they convinced me to goto the singing room (nuri-bang). They coined a name for me that evening - "soju-warrior". First thing about Koreans is that the so called "alcohol metabolism enzyme deficency" in Asians, is an outright lie with these guys. They can pack this stuff away - it is similar to Russians and vodka. I think Koreans are weaned on soju.
So in the morning I woke to my alarm; I think the evening went well, but I did wake up in the morning feeling not so much like a soju-warrior
Freaky Korean Statues
. Now the plot thicken. I told a friend I would meet them at 10AM in Seoul. It was already 10AM. I had slept through (or perhaps passed out is a more accurate term) my alarm. I also had a nuclear disaster zone in my tiny apartment. Bottles splayed across the floor like drunken friends after a cabin party. Food. Cups. You name it. So I needed to clean before I left.SO now my head the size of an watermelon, I head out. Time: 11:00AM. In Canada or Scotland it is an easy remedy for a hang over, either pick up a bottle of Gatorade or Irn-Bru and your done. I didn't know what to do in Korean for a cure. However, like Obi-wan Konobi comes to Luke in Star Wars a vision of one of my co-teachers came to me saying "Use Pocari Sweat, Jeremy". Now Pocari Sweat is a drink supposedly like Gatorade, but me being Jeremy I was a little leery of the "Sweat" in any name. So I picked up a bottle anyways.
Just as I had finished my purchase of Sweat, and pleasantly taken my seat with time being 11:25AM and a 15 minute delay on my 11:25AM train to Seoul. I was approached by a kind looking lady who tried to speak to me in Korean. Of course my Korean is not exactly phenomenal, therefore I only understood "Hello". After hitting this brickwall with me, she produced a pamphlet out of some crevasse in her dress. She turned to a page written in Russian and indicated she wanted me read. I shoke my head. She turned to English. After all this I began to read, and it turned out she was a bloody Jehovah Witness recruiter! Now I really needed the Pocari Sweat, whether or not it actually contains sweat - my head was space shuttle size!
I got on the train to Seoul and was forced to stand for an hour an a half as there were no seats
Korean Painter
. This did not help my head in the least - but fortunately the Pocari Sweat did... it did have a slight aroma of BO.So I arrive in Seoul, time is now 1:15PM. I make my way into the large Seoul station. And a lady comes up to me speaking English and offering to help me - I assume she is a tourist guide employeed by the governement or something. But alas no, never that simple as she produced a cheesy looking pamphlet. Que second Jehovah Witness. Wow 2 in one day! In a foreign country no less! I sure that has to be a record of some kind.
So now I am slight put off. I had no idea where to go, so I called my friend and got some vague directions as to where I needed to be. I then attempted to handle the subway in Seoul and all I could get was a map in Korean. Fortunately I have learned to read the majority of the Korean writing system... that doesn't mean I understand it however. So there I went, spending another hour and a bit navigating through the Korean subway.
I finally reached my destination time is 3:00PM. I meet my friend to get a punch in the shoulder - then we went to eat lunch. We then checked out the town.
Octoberfest ... Sort Of
I did however have enough sense to call the evening short before the soju got flowing in earnest. I actually had a real hot shower for the first time in ages at the hotel. This is one thing I have not told you - showering is not the same as in Canada. So this was a real treat.The next day we endeavoured to find Lotte World amusement park in a car. Second thing about Korea, drivers are insane (but they have a huge commitment to checkstops, which is cool - I have already been through 4) - my friend tried to drive. Not recommended in Seoul. We did find our way after several harrowing encounters.
We did several hours of rides, one of them was Drop-of-Doom-like, one of the others was this crazy spinning ride on which you hangover water and swing back-and-forth. By afternoon on Sunday the wait was too long for many of the rides. So we skipped over to Insa-dong on the metro which took over an hour. We then had some beer and Korean food, and proceeded to check out the Korean stores on the strip. There are many great gifts there so I will head back for some of the Christmas stuff.
Now it being 5PM on Sunday I decided to head back to my hometown. So I timed it perfectly for 7PM, meeting up with one of the Nuns that worked at Jochiwon Girls Middle School so she could show me where the Catholic church is in Jochiwon.
Here I met what I think will be some good Korean friends in the close future.
So all in all, yet another eventful weekend. Peace out all.
