We had to take a public bus into the city. Taking the shuttle around campus prepared me a little for the bus ride, but not entirely. I was the last person to board at our stop, and as soon as I had climbed the stairs and paid my fare (1200 won...a little less than a dollar), the driver took off, and I pitched forward so far I almost fell flat on my face. Once I settled into a seat, I stared out the window at the many buildings and cars. I'm still amazed at the ingenuity of these people, who fit so much into so little space. The buildings here shoot up into the air, and are plastered with billboards and advertisements. Cars are parallel parked so snugly that it's a wonder any one can get in or out of their space without hitting another vehicle.
On a side note:
One minor difference that matters in a big way here is traffic and the rules surrounding both drivers and pedestrians. In So Ko, there's no such thing as a rude driver... simply because they are all rude. Drivers weave in and out of lanes, going at break neck speeds, cutting each other off and swerving between lanes like it's second nature. People drive at 140 km (almost 90 mph) on the shoulder, cut other drivers off, make u-turns in the middle of the road, and block the flow of traffic in one direction to make a difficult turn. I was, and still am, appalled at the way they behave behind the wheel. Yet, despite all of this, I have not seen a single accident since arriving. The drivers of So Ko take it all in stride, yielding to others when necessary and never getting impatient or angry. The only time I've heard a car horn honk since being here is when a driver isn't paying attention at a traffic light and does not go when they switch to green.
When Soo-Min and I arrived in Central City yesterday afternoon, I was amazed at the massive amount of bustling men and women weaving around the sidewalks. We shouldered our way across a busy street and into a shopping mall that had more floors than I can recall. We had lunch at a cute little restaurant in the mall, at a table with a hot plate built into it. We walked around a bit in the mall, but most of the department stores were too pricey, so we headed out into the street again, bouncing between tiny shops and bakeries.
The sight and smell, not to mention the sound, of such a large group of people was overwhelming. I could feel myself developing a nasty headache merely from the volume of voices, and the strain to understand something, anything of what they were saying. After a while, I simply had to tune them out, because the hum of their language was dizzying. Don't get me wrong, the Korean language is lovely; it has a rhythm that I find pleasing, even if I don't understand it. But it's like listening to a guitar-- when someone strums it softly, playing specific chords, it's soothing and pleasant. But if you let an inexperienced child play with it, and they strike the chords hard and fast, it hurts your ears.
I was glad when we finally started to head back home; I loved the trip out, but I desperately needed a few moments of quiet.
As for today, we did nothing for most of the afternoon. Soo-Min's father went out early to play golf with his colleagues. Soo-Bin and her mother left early as well to study at the public library nearby. Soo-Min and I laid about in our pajamas until her parents returned.
I was surprised when Soo-Min told me we were going to visit her grandmother. We ended up driving all the way to west Seoul, almost two hours away. I'm not going to go into the details of the visit... nursing homes are not generally exciting or even happy places. I did have the pleasure of meeting two of Soo-Min's aunts, both of whom were happy, talkative women. in their early forties, as well as her grandmother, who despite her advanced age, is still a very pretty woman.
When the visit was over, we stopped off to eat at a very cool little restaurant. The food was... well, they gave us way too much, in my opinion. The two tables that we took up were loaded with food. The coolest part though, was that we cooked the meat ourselves, on little grills built into the center of the table. The whole experience was great.
But, now I'm pooped and need to call my parents. More later!
-B
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