Seoul-searching and Korea-moves

Hey,
Thought it was about time I told you about Korea. I wanted to wait a bit, and allow the people who I owe letters to to get a head start on the news, but I`m addicted to checking my emails and procrastination, so here I am.

I guess I should start with my first day. The first day was basically packing my bag and travelling to the airport. It was interesting seeing Japan from the road, rather than from a train. I saw everything from a different distance, than what I had in the train.

No drama`s getting on the plane etc. When I got to Korea it was interesting. Kind of sad coming out of the arrival lounge and not having anyone to meet me, but then I should be used to that - thanks to Nova! Well technically there were people in Korea waiting for me - dodgy pushy taxi drivers. Thankfully I was smarter than that and told them to give up. I got the bus for 10% of the price of a taxi, and got to my hotel.

My hotel was surprisingly flash for the $36NZD a night that I was paying for it. I had seen a Burger King from the bus just before my hotel, so I decided that would be my dinner for the night. However that first night there was another guy in the room, a Japanese guy from Kagoshima, who`s english was not too bad, so we had talked for a while, and it ended up that BK was closed by the time I made it down there (however I made up for it in the subsequent days). Anyhow I had a bit of an explore of the near environs, and sampled the local cuisine (albeit rather spicy).
The next day (Friday) I slept in. A bit disappointing, but I was worn out from all the working 6 day weeks leading up to it, and also the fact that I hadn't slept so well due to not being used to a real bed again. Basically I decided my goal for that day was simply to ensure I got a tour to the DMZ (Border with North Korea) while I was there, and to sample the Seoul nightlife.
The Seoul night life was interesting, I had to go to Itaewon before it started to make sense. Itaewon is the foreigners part of Seoul, where they have an American base. One of the first things that surprised me was the US Military police coming into the bars to check on their soldiers. I was tempted to tell them that Osama was in the next bar, or yell out GI Joe! but I decided against it, considering they had guns. I experienced Korean hospitality - there were several normal looking bars that you would walk into, and be greeted by a group of ladies. Basically one was assigned to you, and was your company for as long as you kept buying her drinks. Drinks for yourself were normal price, however I worked out that her drinks were the equivalent price of a whole bottle of alcohol in New Zealand. So needless to say I went to several of those bars before I gave in and bought a girl a drink. Eventually I did buy a girl a drink, but she soon got greedy so I told her to jump, kidding, I said have a nice night, I`m going home.

The next day was the DMZ. That was an interesting experience. The first time I had seen a border. Along the highway up to the border you could see watchtowers every few kms or so. We had to go through a check-point, where a South Korea army man came aboard the bus to check our passports.
The first stop was bridge where 1000's of people escaped to freedom when the Korean war ended.
Next we saw a tunnel that the North Koreans had dug under the border in order to attack the South (in 1978).
Then we went to the observatory where you can look into North Korea, but it has various rules, such as no photos from inside, or in front of a certain line - basically hindering any attempt of a decent photo.
The last stop was Dorasan station - a train station ready to be joined up to North Korea (and then the trans-Siberian line) connecting South Korea to the rest of the world (when peace allows it). For the $70NZD it cost, it was rather good value. They took me back to Seoul, and part of the cost was free entry to the Imperial palace. After the Palace I went to a famous street market - which wasnt all that cheap. I got soaked when it started to pour. Eventually I found a train station, but got off a stop too early. After wandering around for ages I eventually found a taxi that would take me where I wanted to go (home). I was so tired I just watched TV (they have American TV for the G.I.s there) and fell asleep.

The next day (Sunday) I had to go to the Olympic Museum, rather than save it for Monday (which would have been much more convenient) because like Japan, things are closed on Mondays. Following that I went to the war memorial. That was quite cool - lots of tanks and planes etc. Since Itaewon was nearby, I went back there, because I knew there was a subway sandwich shop there. I did a little shopping, because I felt bad that in my haste on the way I had told a street vendor to go FH because I was confused about the prices - let me explain - in Japan 1000yen is roughly $10NZD or more like $12, in Korea however, 1000won is about $1.20NZD so I thought he was trying to sell me something on the street for normal retail price, combined with the fact they go "Large sizes, large sizes" which was fair enough, but didn't make me want to buy from them. If anything my regret about Korea was not doing more shopping.

From Itaewon I went to the Seoul tower, and was going to head back to Itaewon after gathering more cash from my hotel, but it would have been a $30NZD+ round trip, so I avoided temptation and went to bed.

Monday was a waste of a day. I had saved the Olympic park for Monday, not realising how big it was. After walking around it, I tried to go to an electronics market, but the trains took forever, especially after I took a wrong one. So I had to give up. Anyhow, I headed back to the hotel to catch the bus to the airport. Made it home safe, had a beer with Kevin, and went to bed and worked the next day.