Asia

The KTX brings back memories

Today I traveled by train with a colleague to Waiguan (왜관), a town to the west of Daegu.  We took the Korea Train eXpress (KTX) high-speed train from Seoul Station to Dongdaegu Station, then switched to a local train (열차) and backtracked to Waiguan.  The KTX was extremely comfortable (the local train wasn’t too bad either).  We visited an American in Waiguan, and then we went home.  It was an all-day trek for about an hour and a half of work.  At lunchtime, we stopped at a delicious mandu (만두, or Korean dumpling) restaurant not far from the train station.  For some reason, the restaurant’s name is "Pusan Kaya," (부산 가야) a combination of the City of Pusan and the name of a Korean Buddhist temple.  Waiguan is quite far from both places.  I ordered potato noodle soup (감자수쩨비).  The side dishes were fair, but the soup was delicious, a much-needed change from the run-of-the-mill bulgogi and bibimbap restaurant.
 
The entire trip conjured memories of times when I traveled around the world by train.  In my younger days, I traveled through Europe by train, and a few years ago, my wife and I visited Egypt for a couple of weeks.  The KTX portion of Seoul Station reminded me of the Hauptbahnhof in Hamburg, Germany.  I had fun figuring out our train platform on the big electronic board, reminding me of the old days when finding the correct train platform and departure time meant the difference between moving on or being stranded.   As I watched the Korean countryside pass by my window, I was reminded of when I took the bullet train from Tokyo to Narita Airport, Japan, watching the green rice fields and rolling hills fly past.  As the day grew hazy, the air ladened with moisture, I recalled one morning in December 2001 when my wife and I took the overnight train from Cairo to Luxor, Egypt.  The sun had not yet risen on the horizon, and the scene along the verdant Nile River was quite spectacular.  Palm trees intermingled with fields of cotton and other vegetation.  I caught glimpses of that memory from the window of the KTX train today.
 
The town of Waiguan reminded me a bit of Luxor, Egypt.  I’m not sure why, because the two towns really are very different.  As I stepped out of the main entrance of the Waiguan train station and surveyed the square and colorful, diverse buildings lining the main street that led away from the station, I recalled a similar scene in Luxor.  Luxor, ancient capital of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, is famous for its temples and the Valley of the Kings, among other sites.  Yet Luxor is also a modern, mid-sized Egyptian city.  The scene from the Luxor train station is eerily similar to the one that greets you in Waiguan.  Beyond that, the similarities end.  I felt a bit out of place visiting a small Korean city as a Westerner garbed in a business suit.  I late learned that U.S. Forces Korea’s Camp Carroll is not far from Waiguan, and the residents of Waiguan are quite used to cohabitating with the 1,000 or so Americans who live in and around the camp.  Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure that not too many Americans dressed in business attire walk around Waiguan.  It definitely had a different feeling than Seoul–more casual and rural.
 
The KTX train was luxurious.  It’s the first time I’d ridden first class in a train.  As a youth, I bought a railpass and sat and slept wherever I could find space.  I didn’t even bother to rent a coachette, or bunk bed, when I traveled overnight.  Those days are long gone.  Later in life, I rarely rode trains apart from egalitarian subway trains.  Riding first class on the KTX was wonderful.  I sat back and caught some Korean television and laughed when Korail aired "Nightrider," an old NBC television program starring David Hasselhoff and an super-intelligent black Corvette named "Kitt."  Talk about remembering the old days.  The hostess, who served us twice, was very gracious and offered us drinks and freshening towels.  It was much more relaxing than traveling in Korea by car in stop-and-go traffic.  I think that when my family visits Pusan we will take the KTX train.  My son, the train aficionado, would be so excited.

Icheon revisited

Today my family and I traveled to Icheon, the center of Korea’s pottery industry.  If you recall, last April I went to Icheon with a colleague during inclement weather.  Today the weather could not have been better.  I could see the Seoul skyline more clearly than I’ve been able to all summer long.  The 63 Building in Yeoido, the tallest in Korea, dominated the western sky.  The Seoul Tower could be seen from 10 miles away.  The Seoul skyline remained obscured by hazy for most of the summer.  The rainstorm I mentioned in my previous blog entry marked the end of the monsoon season and the start of the Korean fall, a time when Korea is at its most beautiful.  The weather should hopefully be beautiful for about a month and a half before the cold season arrives.  You can already tell that the hot weather is less intense than it was, and in the morning the weather is actually a bit chilly.  The weather reminds me more and more of the Pacific Northwest; balmy and not too hot or cold.  The cicada noise also seemed a bit more subdued than usual.
 
After having been away for two days, I wanted to treat my wife to a nice day of shopping.  I was not very interested in returning to Icheon, but she wanted to go.  I also felt I owed it to her for all she did the past couple of days taking care of our son while I was in absentia.  I’d been to Icheon before, and I’m not really a big fan of shopping.  I think ceramics are beautiful, but it does not matter so much to me whether we buy a kimchi pot or a porcelain vase.  As long as the piece is tastefully decorative and enhances our home, that’s pretty much enough for me (I am by no means an art expert).  For me, the best part of the day was playing with my son.  He was a great kid today.  He got up pretty early, around 6:30 this morning, and was a bit cranky, but once we hit the road, he was great.   While mommy went into ceramics stores to shop, we stayed outside and played.  We found some stairs to climb, a water hose to play with, and some sand piles to dishevel.  He really loves playing with sand.  At home he has a sandbox, and he often plays in it with his toy trucks.  Today he used his feet to plow the sand, occasionally sliding and falling on his keister.  Daddy was there to assist and make sure he didn’t hurt himself. 
 
In the meantime, my wife went through sticker shock while perusing some of the ceramic pieces.  She had read that the Icheon Pottery Village has some of the most affordable ceramics in Korea, but she was shocked to learn that most still cost at least $90 per piece.  She showed me an especially delicate and elegant vase.  At first I thought I heard her say that it cost 3,600 won (about $3.60), but she quickly explained that it cost $3,600.  That’s right, 3,600 U.S. dollars.  That was the cash price!  You’ve got to be kidding.  At that price, who could enjoy a piece like that?  I would probably insure it and put it in a safe deposit box for safe keeping, but that would defeat the purpose of possessing such a gorgeous piece.  We didn’t buy any ceramics today, making it the second time I have been to Icheon and left empty handed.  The only thing we bought in Icheon today was an automatic car wash, which my son thoroughly enjoyed, and some delicious samgyeopsa (삼겹사, or fried pork slabs) and bul nak (불낙, or bulgogi and octopus) at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant.  The waitress there wore a shirt that said, "No Surf No Life."  I asked her in Korean if she enjoyed surfing, but she did not understand what I meant.  I explained and pointed out what her shirt said.  She laughed.  I don’t think too many foreigners visit their restaurant.  They really enjoyed playing with my son and giving him sweets.  Koreans love to give candy to children.  Although they usually give children hard candies, the restaurant owner gave him a small Snickers bar.  He ate the chocolate and deposited chewed peanut remnants into daddy’s hand.  Gee, thanks.  The things parents do for their children!
 
We also headed to nearby Yongin to look for Korean furniture, but we couldn’t find any furniture stores.  My wife had heard that Yongin is known for its furniture, but the furniture stores are apparently well hidden.  The town is a bit more run down than either Icheon or Seoul.  I thought it had a lot of character, though.  The main street was chaotic and lined with small "mom and pop" stores.  This is Korea off the beaten path, I thought.  I much prefer when a place has not been sanitized for tourists.  For example, just a block off Insadong, a clean, orderly, and touristy place in Seoul, you can find the "real" Seoul tucked away in a nondescript section of town.  I actually enjoyed driving through Yongin, even if we didn’t find any furniture stores.  It’s a part of Korea we might never have visited otherwise.  It’s another aspect of Korea that paints a more complete picture of this country.

A successful presentation

Yesterday evening my colleague and I drove to Cheongwon, a city about two hours south of Seoul along Interstate 1.  We went there to speak to a group of teachers hired by the Korean National University of Education to teach English to Korean students at institutes scattered throughout the country.  The drive to Cheongwon was absolutely terrible.  A monsoon rainstorm hit us full force about an hour south of Seoul.  Visibility was extremely low.  Traffic crawled to a near standstill on the freeway, and we fought to stay on the road through the gusting wind and heavy rain.  Dozens of cars lined the freeway shoulder, their drivers reluctant to drive again until weather conditions improved.  A 15 mile stretch of road was especailly precarious to drive.  The road surface was frequently submerged in water, causing our vehicle to hydroplane at times.  Occasionally we coasted through more than a foot of water pooled on the roadway.  I’m positive that if the freeway builders had built the interstate with proper drainage, road conditions would not have been as bad as they were.  It is very difficult for water to drain off the roadway surface when it is surrounded by protective concrete barriers.  The drive felt a bit like being on a jungle boat cruise as our vehicle blazed a trail through the murky, churning water.  We kept on driving, intent upon reaching our destination.  The rainstorm was not about to stop us from meeting with the teachers.  The rain let up a bit just before we arrived at the university.  By the time we finished our visit, the rain had stopped, and we had little difficulty driving back to Seoul.
 
We addressed a group of about 45 English teachers in a cozy auditorium.  The presentation started around 6:15 p.m., and I finished up my portion around 8 p.m.  My Korean colleague spoke for another 20 minutes or so.  I talked about some of the things the teachers may need to know while living and working in Korea and what we can do for them if they are in need of assistance.  I gave them some cultural "do’s and don’ts" in Korea as well as some helpful suggestions on how to have a good experience while in Korea.  I talked a bit about how I went from a quiet suburban life in Seattle to serving overseas.  My presentation was very much as I outlined in Monday’s blog entry entitled "Adjusting to Life in Korea."  I spiced up the presentation with moments of levity.  I could tell by their intermittent laughter that most of them enjoyed it.  I also shared some anecdotes from my own experiences in Korea.  My colleague’s presentation was also well received.  She talked about opportunities available to them to volunteer and share American culture with Koreans.  I hope some of them take the opportunity to volunteer.  
 
They were a great audience.  Considering that the audience attended our presentation late on a Friday night after having sat through an entire day of lectures, I couldn’t be happier with the results.  The audience really seemed to enjoy the presentation.  They asked good questions and seemed to listen intently when I gave examples of what could happen if they run into trouble in Korea.  Examples are always a good way to keep the audience’s interest.  Afterwards, eight members of the audience stayed behind to ask me how I got my job.  I was happy to talk to them about the application process.