8/25: Suwon, AK Plaza, and Moraksan

Sorry for a bit of radio silence; my (stolen) wifi has been out since Saturday morning. Gift horse...

Friday was pretty standard. We did have a staff meeting during which I found out about my Christmas vacation and that the VP thinks I will be good at choreographing a recital for the fives. Eating and dancing ARE two of my most prized talents. Friday night was rainy and gross, so I had a tall boy with some Koreans on the porch of a convenience store that's connected to my apartment building. 

Luckily, Saturday morning I got in a good, long Skype session with Erica before the internet went down. After our dinner/breakfast date, I started researching travel options for my planned meet-up with my friend Megan from Mizzou. Megan, Erica, and I were all quarantined in Korea during the Swine Flu breakout back in 2009. It's remarkable how many people from that group (and the group I came with in 2011) have returned to teach here.

Anyway, I packed for an afternoon of shopping and shenanigans, then a nice hike in the morning with Megan and her friends. Another teacher had told me which bus to take to Suwon and how to get to the train station there. The bus ride was less than an hour, and finding the station was quite easy since it seemed everyone getting off the bus was headed there. The station is also a huge shopping mall, or a huge shopping mall is also the train station... I'm not sure which. Regardless, there were a ton of people there. The ticket machines had an English option, so finding a train from Suwon to Jeonju was simple enough, but the next train was sold out. Then, when I tried to buy a ticket for a later train, the machine wouldn't take my card. Since I was now going to be arriving in Jeonju around 9 p.m., then turning around on a 3-hour train ride the next afternoon and would have to use all my remaining cash to do so, I decided it wasn't really "giving up" as much as just not working out.

Might as well do some shopping! The shopping center -- called AK Plaza -- was seven stories high and had two Dunkin' Donuts AND two North Face stores. It was mostly name-brand and designer stores like Polo, Lacoste, and Burberry, but there were a few independent booths and stores as well. I was really excited to see an OPI store, but the nail polish was 25,000 won, or about $20, a bottle! (Dad: it's usually only about $8, max.) I bought a few trinkets at an aptly named accessories store -- Open -- and explored a bit. 

After I had my fill of the spoils of debilitating consumerism, I headed outside to figure out how to get home. I had anticipated having a day or so to ask around and have a Korean help me, but my change in plans complicated things a bit. I knew which bus I had to take, and I knew it wouldn't pick me up in the same place since it would be going the opposite direction, but I had no idea where it would pick me up. I finally found an underground sidewalk that took me across the street and to the other bus station. On the way, I grabbed a Vitamin Water from a convenience store and a corn dog from a street food vendor who also had some pretty phallic snacks. Also notice the dreaded ddeokbokki in the top left corner. Gross.

That has to be on purpose, right? 

After having some food and finding my bus stop, I wandered down a few more streets and found my favorite Korean store -- Artbox! It has an entire section dedicated to schedulers and planners. It also has office supplies, stuffed animals, as seen on TV-type stuff, and candy. I could spend all day there. Needless to say, my backpack was a bit heavier when I got back on the bus.

On the way home, I was pooped, but excited thinking about how the list of things I can do and places I can get to is getting longer every day. Knowing my way to and from Suwon opens up a lot of doors; today, I looked it up in my Lonely Planet guide and there is certainly a lot to see and do in the provincial capital city. I'll have to plan a trip there soon.

After a spectacular night's sleep, I was bummed my internet wasn't back up, so I took the opportunity to clean my bathroom and have a traditional spaghetti breakfast. I read a bit on my Kindle, then headed out for a hike. I can see a mountain out my window, and knowing the Korean appetite for exercise, knew there must be some kind of trail. On my way, I found a tennis/badminton court and a basketball court. I also found this sweet weightlifting gazebo.

Oh, Korea.

Eventually, I found the mountain trail and started making my way up. There was a good number of people on the trail, all older men and women decked out in hiking garb -- in Korea, you don't do anything without first buying all the proper equipment. The trail was pretty intense, but those old ladies just kept passing me with their walking sticks (like ski poles) and full-body suits, so I kept on going.

I was rewarded with this view of my city.

The bright green netting close to the center of the photo is an indoor golf range, and my apartment is just a bit past that. The mountains continue in either direction and the result is breathtaking (maybe just because I'm out of shape). I wasn't quite to the top, but I figured I have plenty of time to work my way up there, so I headed back down the mountain, which is actually Morak-san, or Morak Mountain.

On the way down, I stopped at the park to watch some kids play badminton and enjoy the sunshine. There was also a dad there teaching his son how to shoot a basketball, which reminded me of home for obvious reasons.

Neither of them was very good. I probably could've taken them.

Sitting there being nostalgic, a strange thing happened: a Korean said "hey" to me. It was weird to hear the colloquialism, instead of the more common "hello." Turns out, he was actually born in Australia, but moved back and forth a bit growing up. He has been to the U.S. before -- Kansas City, in fact! -- and his mother owns and operates an English kindergarten nearby. He almost immediately offered me a job there, and invited me to his church, so my creepiness radar was going crazy, but he was nice enough and we chatted for a bit. 

I sat for awhile after he left, then went off to Lotte to get some fruit for the coming week. I had some adventures at Lotte, which I think I'll save for another day, and am about to settle in with my Kindle for the night. But not before using my free internet for some inter-continental updates! Now, I'm off to bed, tomorrow's a school day! :)