Last day in Korea
I'm spending my last few days relaxing as much as possible before tomorrow's flight to Hong Kong. So far this has been going well. Yesterday I spent a few hours on the beach doing a spot of reading and not much else, although using the public transport spiced up the day a bit. Having successfully found the bus stop for the beach, no mean feat I should add, I got on the bus to be greeted by a irritated bus driver who remained irritated until he pulls up outside the bus filling station and orders everyone off. We all stand there and fortunately after about ten minutes another bus arrives to take us onwards. The return journey was no less colourful as I was asked where I was going. I told them I wanted to go to "Airport Town Square" which is a new development near the airport, however clearly of the three words I said to the bus driver the only word understood was "airport" and that's where I ended up. It wasn't all bad though as it gave me the chance to have a look around the place, which is modern and rather impressive and I was able to enjoy a restaurant with an English menu and indulged in an only somewhat overpriced Japanese dinner. Life was grand! Getting back to the hotel from the airport was rather more straightforward and given the absence of CNN in the hotel I spent the evening browsing the Korean channels that were showing any manner of English language TV shows and movies. The problem is that programmes don't seem to start at particularly regularly times, so in the vast majority of cases I miss the beginning, but it's entertaining enough. One programme I've discovered is "Boston Legal" which seems to be shown quite regularly on one of the channels and whose cast includes the glorious wooden acting efforts of fat boy Shatner. What more could you ask for?
Today has proven even less strenuous thus far. I sleep in and leave my hotel room just before 2pm which is the time when the cleaner starts rattling around outside. I wander around the area which is essentially Korea in microcosm; a selection of chain shops, restaurants, bars and shops you'd find in any centre but crammed into just a few blocks. Given that I generally haven't taken very many photos of downtown city scenes while in Korea I could do worse than take my camera around here. There are plenty of Hofs (Korean pubs), PC Bangs (Internet cafes, from one of which I type this now) and all the neon you could wish for. It's a scene which is unfamiliar on the surface, but interspersed with familiar brands (Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts) and names which are unfamiliar but contents which are thoroughly Westernised such as Paris Croissant where I enjoyed pastries and an Orangina for lunch. Not very Korean but it was one of the few places with English signage and some familiar food doesn't go amiss now and again, not least when the pickled Kimchi and extra spicy food so favoured here isn't exactly to my taste.
Having spent the last few days wandering around on my own I've encountered Koreans a little more than I had previously. I was accosted on a street corner a few days ago by a group of school girls on a homework assignment. Similarly to those in Japan they'd be tasked with tracking down some foreigners and asking them some questions in English. Well given they were in Itaewon, the part of town stuffed full with Westerners they were certainly in the right place. I couldn't turn them down of course and on agreeing to help I was greeted by an enthusiastic round of applause. It was the usual questions: country of origin, name (my surname I had to write for them). I was asked my favourite and least favourite bits of Korea. I couldn't think of a favourite in particular so I lied and said the food although for the least favourite I was entirely honest in identifying the traffic as my biggest annoyance. For location I thought I'd make it easy for them and offered "near Manchester". Right on queue they responded with "ooh! Manchester United! Wayne Rooney!" Aah, isn't it nice when those stereotypes prove to be bang on the money sometimes?
Yesterday I was both helped and hindered by the the locals. Having been cast off the bus at the natural gas filling station it was only by the kind help of some of my fellow castaways that I was to follow them in reaching the beach, whereas in contrast it was the bus driver's attempts to work out where I wanted to go that ensured I was never to get there, at least directly!
Compared to Japan where I was able to some idea of the main themes influencing the modern culture and direction of the country, in Korea I've not been able to get anywhere as far into understanding what makes people tick and why they do the things they do. Broad themes are not so much in evidence and there's a great inexplicable mix of youngsters gaming in PC Bangs to the older generation spending seemingly their entire lives sitting around on the streets and gossiping. No, I feel I will leave here having experienced Korea but not having really understood it all. However as you may have gathered from reading this blog the country hasn't struck me or enticed me as others have and so I'm not going to leave feeling that I've missed out on anything.
Hong Kong and China come next and I've just realised that this may make keeping in touch more difficult than it has done as I've read that blogger.com where this blog is hosted is generally blocked in China and I'm unsure about access to Hotmail or other services I use. On the plus side I should at last be able to use my mobile again, having had it out of use for over two months now. I'm guessing internet access won't be blocked in Hong Kong but since there are no certainties I thought I'd better say now that if my blog entries thin out from this point for a while you'll know why at least.
Today has proven even less strenuous thus far. I sleep in and leave my hotel room just before 2pm which is the time when the cleaner starts rattling around outside. I wander around the area which is essentially Korea in microcosm; a selection of chain shops, restaurants, bars and shops you'd find in any centre but crammed into just a few blocks. Given that I generally haven't taken very many photos of downtown city scenes while in Korea I could do worse than take my camera around here. There are plenty of Hofs (Korean pubs), PC Bangs (Internet cafes, from one of which I type this now) and all the neon you could wish for. It's a scene which is unfamiliar on the surface, but interspersed with familiar brands (Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts) and names which are unfamiliar but contents which are thoroughly Westernised such as Paris Croissant where I enjoyed pastries and an Orangina for lunch. Not very Korean but it was one of the few places with English signage and some familiar food doesn't go amiss now and again, not least when the pickled Kimchi and extra spicy food so favoured here isn't exactly to my taste.
Having spent the last few days wandering around on my own I've encountered Koreans a little more than I had previously. I was accosted on a street corner a few days ago by a group of school girls on a homework assignment. Similarly to those in Japan they'd be tasked with tracking down some foreigners and asking them some questions in English. Well given they were in Itaewon, the part of town stuffed full with Westerners they were certainly in the right place. I couldn't turn them down of course and on agreeing to help I was greeted by an enthusiastic round of applause. It was the usual questions: country of origin, name (my surname I had to write for them). I was asked my favourite and least favourite bits of Korea. I couldn't think of a favourite in particular so I lied and said the food although for the least favourite I was entirely honest in identifying the traffic as my biggest annoyance. For location I thought I'd make it easy for them and offered "near Manchester". Right on queue they responded with "ooh! Manchester United! Wayne Rooney!" Aah, isn't it nice when those stereotypes prove to be bang on the money sometimes?
Yesterday I was both helped and hindered by the the locals. Having been cast off the bus at the natural gas filling station it was only by the kind help of some of my fellow castaways that I was to follow them in reaching the beach, whereas in contrast it was the bus driver's attempts to work out where I wanted to go that ensured I was never to get there, at least directly!
Compared to Japan where I was able to some idea of the main themes influencing the modern culture and direction of the country, in Korea I've not been able to get anywhere as far into understanding what makes people tick and why they do the things they do. Broad themes are not so much in evidence and there's a great inexplicable mix of youngsters gaming in PC Bangs to the older generation spending seemingly their entire lives sitting around on the streets and gossiping. No, I feel I will leave here having experienced Korea but not having really understood it all. However as you may have gathered from reading this blog the country hasn't struck me or enticed me as others have and so I'm not going to leave feeling that I've missed out on anything.
Hong Kong and China come next and I've just realised that this may make keeping in touch more difficult than it has done as I've read that blogger.com where this blog is hosted is generally blocked in China and I'm unsure about access to Hotmail or other services I use. On the plus side I should at last be able to use my mobile again, having had it out of use for over two months now. I'm guessing internet access won't be blocked in Hong Kong but since there are no certainties I thought I'd better say now that if my blog entries thin out from this point for a while you'll know why at least.
posted by Daniel at 5:27 am
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