Seoul Searching
Trip Start
Aug 30, 2005
1
19
49
Trip End
Aug 29, 2006
Seoul,
Korea Rep.
Monday, November 7, 2005
So this week was a bit of a battle as I had to contend with GI issue that I have been having. I consulted with one of the pharmacist about the odd pills I recieved. I even worked in a pharmacy for 5 years! She didn't know either. This is because they give you your pills in a cocaine like baggy. Just a random number of multi-coloured pills. Fortunately they do give you instructions on how to take them. However the issue seems to be resolving itself. Enough of the whole "too much information" section.
Aside from the GI issues, the week was a full slate of work and not much play as I was paralysed by pain at night. When Friday rolled around I abandoned my piles of laundry and some much needed lesson planning, for a last minute (suprise, suprise!) get together in Cheonan
East Gate
. However it was a suprise, it was a bunch of non-koreans planning - apparently some are taking to the not planning ahead style here though. Just north of Jochiwon and 20 minute by train it was an easy decision - I needed to get the party on. Even though I planned to go to Seoul on Saturday afternoon. So there I went.I arrived in Cheonan, got myself a cab. My taxi driver was out for a Sunday afternoon jaunt through Cheonan whereas I had other plans - Mario Andretti-esque plans. I was late. So here I am big white man, sweating like a pig trundeling across the street with a pack. I am late. I buy a ticket for the movie they are supposed to see "Yu Ryoung Shin Bu" or the Corpse Bride for the non-Koreans. I can't see a damn thing but figure they are in the theatre. I watch the movie. The movie finishes, the credits roll. No foreigners in the theatre. What the hell?! I confirm my suspicions that they couldn't have snuck out.
So here I am like a big ass. Looking around for people to bail me out. No such luck. I wandered at around the theatre for a bit - still no sign. I think about checking out the original meeting point. There is a large group of non-Koreans loitering around the area that look vaguely familiar - from the beginning of the year, the cultural experience
Jeremy & Nam San
. I wasn't aware we were ALL meeting. So apparently my 8:30PM is an hour ahead of the others 8:30PM. Then to my horror we all collected and went to see the same damn movie I just saw. I kept my mouth shut and didn't let on, in order to salvage what self-dignity I had.I felt better after we headed out to the bar. It was foreigner bar though, and a bit of a foreigner overload for a smalltown country teacher. Foreigner are rare, but this is a big city. It was still weird though; Hawaii might be a huge trip if a small bar does this. Then we crashed.
Alright, back to where I left off:
Saturday I went to lunch at TGIF with the other teachers. Then exchanged some note with the teachers at one of their houses'. I went back to Jochiwon to get some items, then sprang for Seoul. Unfortunately by the time I got to Seoul it was dark and some of the markets I was aiming to get to were closed. So I spent the night in Seoul.
Sunday I spent sightseeing; I went to the tallest point in Seoul called Nam San. I also had this weird but delicious soup for lunch at this famous place in Nam San. Then I went searching out gifts for christmas, birthdays and weddings (of course :)
By the time I got back to Jochiwon I was exhausted. Great weekedn of relaxation, eh? Oh well.
