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Yeongeo halsuisseumnikka
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Your guess is as good as mine as to how to pronounce that. I thought the Latins ran their words together. It means Do you speak English. Invariably, the answer is "anyo" or "ani" which mean no. And of course, Ne, means yes. Confused enuf yet? I sure am. Man, I've been to places where very few people speak English, Chinese or Spanish, but this has to be the hardest place to get around. Ordering food is an adventure in and of itself. Finding the right bus to take, nearly impossible! Fortunately, there are a few toursit information centers where the people do seem to speak some engrish.
I've been in Incheon for the past couple days and it's freakin' cold! Like negative degrees cold (C). Incheon is pretty much an uninteresting port/industrial city. Sorry, if this is your hometown. Of course, everything written here is just from my perspective. There's not really much to see or do here besides the Incehon Landing Memorial Hall. They have a nice collection of tanks, guns and a Sabre Jet outside along with a memorial to the soldiers that helped save the R.O.K. from communist rule. Inside they have a count of all the soldiers that were killed, injured or missing from each of the participating countries. The sheer number of KIAs was a bit shocking, especially the number of Americans in relation to all other UN nations. We also visited the "Incheon Total Fish Market" where we saw all kinds of sea life for sale in various states of life and death. After walking around town all day, we decided to stop by a hot sea water bath to soak our aching muscles away. It was a bit interesting and a little... let's say gross. Oh... what I would have given for a pair of sandals on the slimy wet floor of the bath house. I have to say it was very relaxing after I got over the slimy floor. The whole experience was worth it when I saw a father try to dunk his child into the cold water bath to cool him off from the 110 degree baths. I've never seen a child climb his father so quickly or scream so loud as his "boys" approached the freezing cold water, especially since I had just had a similar debate in my mind before I dove in. Incheon is full of very nice, friendly, potentially helpful people, but only if they would have understood Cantonese, Mandarin, English or even Spanish.
Seoul Civilization
After a couple days of gesticulating wildly trying to communicate and pointing at food that we thought would be edible, we're off to Seoul. My guidebook actually had a very useful phrase that says, "I'll have what they're having". Sometimes, that worked well. Others.... Eeuuuuggghhhh ala Bart Simpson. We took almost a 2 hour subway ride from Incheon to Seoul. It's kinda surprising that it took so long seeing as General MacArthur was able to cover the 22 miles and retake the capital in just a few days after the successful Incehon Landing. Well, it's nice to be back in civilization. How great it is to get a solid knowing response of "It's down the hall to the left" in clear Engrish. Seoul is a bustling town with a large complex of hotels, shopping malls and convention centers. We're back in "super deluxe" (Korean Star rating 5) digs at the Intercontinental Hotel in the middle of this interconnected world where we don't have to go outside into the cold to get food, do business, buy stuff... I really have to say, I'm getting too old for this backpacker shit. I like staying in nice hotels with fluffy pillows, warm comforters, clean sheets and powerful hot showers. Although I have to make an observation that I find sorta puzzling. You can pay $190/night for a hotel not get free internet access, but when you pay only $25/night for a "motel" you get high speed internet included. I just checked the price for 24hrs of internet access here and it's $25. I almost feel like renting a "motel" just to get free internet LOL.
I can't wait to get to the DMZ and step foot in North Korea. I'd throw a rock in there, but I might get shot as a hostile act. There are very strict rules on visiting the DMZ including a dress code that even prohibits jeans. I hear it's a very sobering place as N and S Korea are still at war and I'm sure I'll have a different perspective when I get back.
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