Seoul Revisted

Its been a few weeks since I last wrote it seems. The biggest news is that I took a rather spontaneous trip to Seoul. It was the most unprepared I have ever been for any trip. I had a business trip on Friday and returned just in time for a friend's farewell party. At 3 am, I threw some things in a bag for the next morning's Seoul trip.

Saturday morning, we were leaving the apartment when my cell phone rang and I had to dump all the things out of my handbag to find it... Of course I arrived in Taoyuan (the airport) only to find that I didn't have my ticket. It must have been the one irrelevant item I didn't cram back into my bag after using the cell phone. Thai Airlines didn't have any staff working on Saturday and the other companies couldn't help me in any other way than to sell me a new ticket for double what I paid. However, the lady at the airport said I might be able to make it if I went home to get the ticket and returned to the airport before 12:30 -note boarding was scheduled for 12:20 (it was already 11:10). It took over 40 minutes to get home at TOP SPEED by taxi (usually an hour+ ride), so there appeared to be no way to make it. But then on the way back, the driver got the bright idea of driving on the shoulder of the road. I arrived at 12:40; the plane had already boarded, but somehow (with the airport staff tag-team relay-racing me to the gate) I made it! Anywhere but Taipei, I don't think you could make an international flight arriving only 10 minutes before the plane needs to taxi down the runway.

Anyway, the flight was short, but the ride into Seoul wasn't. Seoul has moved too farther away from the ariport than it used to be (or rather the airport has moved farther away from Seoul)... and I must say the traffic on a Saturday night is horrendous- 6+ lanes jam packed with cars barely inching along. We got in late and starving. Anna met us for dinner in Chamshil and we went for a traditional type meal seated on the heated floor and served by women in "hanboks". You sould have seen Tommy and Peter's faces the first time they tried real kimchi (not the mild kind made for export) and makoli (a slightly sour milky-looking fermented rice wine). It was priceless. Anyway, that was just the start of many firsts for them. I think it was also the first time for both guys to share a room in a love hotel (a lovely place named Eros located in the Shincheon University district - they were on a tight budget)! The room on one side of them was occupied by a bunch of studnets having a party.... and the one on the other side, by a group of Korean transvestites. (I could have taken a couple of useful make-up tips. They were VERY pretty).

Overall, the trip was rushed and I didn't get to meet any of the Korean teachers I had hoped to catch up with... but I did get to spend some time with friends from my Korea era... Anna (who never left Korea) and Heather (who is there again).

On the way back, I had another airport incident when the bag of "omiyage" for Taiwanese friends broke and the bottle of "baeksaeju" (100 years wine) went crashing to it's demise on the escalator between arrivals and departures. Oh, well... Charlie will have to wait for the longevity liquor till my next trip to Korea. he is likely to live to 100 years without it anyway.