Seoul Trippin'

I'm going to post some pictures and a few short stories about my trip to Seoul and this is the first of them...


On the plane ride to Seoul, I met a Korean woman who lives and works in Yantai. She was flying home to see her family and it was interesting talking with her because her Chinese was not that of a native speaker. I imagine it’s better than mine, but not by much. Part of this opinion is based on the fact that I taught her a word I thought everyone knew around here - “laowai” (which means foreigner). After we landed, she helped me find the bus to the area where Sunny and Jake were staying. This was the first of many times that women would be guiding me over the weekend.

After navigating China for over a year, I figured that getting around Seoul would be fairly easy and it was. A clear-cut sign that I wasn't in China anymore occurred when the airport bus left for downtown. It was about a quarter-full and we did not drive around looking for more passengers. Based on my experiences, this is unheard of in the People's Republic.

All of the bus stops were announced in Korean and English and it took about 40 minutes to get where I had to go. After getting off the bus, I felt a bit unsettled. I knew I was in the right place, but I didn't know where I was in relation to anything except the Sun and I knew that was far away. I showed some people in a coffee shop the address I was looking for and they couldn’t help me. Suddenly, I realize this will be a lot easier if I actually have the address printed in Korean.

So, I hit-up an internet café and, upon exiting, find a couple girls who speak a bit of English and ask them about the address. They're quite kind and walk with me for a few minutes before pointing me in the right direction and wishing me good luck. I would meet up with one of them two days later for dinner.

I walked a few minutes and, for the third time that day, saw someone that looked like Sunny but didn’t really think anything of it. Only, this time, it was Sunny. She was sitting on the steps of her guesthouse and I walked right by her. After I entered the building, I noticed her husband Jake. He’s tall, well-built and white so it’s a bit easier to notice him. That afternoon, we ate at an Outback Steakhouse and it was a glorious experience. If this last sentence seems a bit odd or overstated, spend a few months in Yantai and you'll know what I mean...