d-Wizz Hankuk Travel Diary [2005]
Day 5 (2005-07-31) / Day 6 (2005-08-01) / Day 7 (2005-08-02) 
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Day 6: 2005-08-01 (Monday)
After a rather late Korean breakfast, I packed up most of my luggage in preparation to leave for Sansong in the afternoon. There was too much for me to carry in one go, so I left one suitcase behind at Lauren's place. I told Lauren I would come back to collect it later. I was not due to arrive at Sansong until 1600, so I chatted on MSN for a few hours.
Just before lunch, my friend Dae-Young (조대영: Jo Dae Young) rang and invited me to have lunch with him and his friend Charles (박호철: Park Ho Chul) at Jongno 3. So I bid Lauren farewell and headed out with two full suitcases and a full backpack to meet them. It took me about 80 minutes to get there, and we went into a nearby restaurant to have lunch.
This was the first time I had met Dae Young in Korea. His family had been involved in an accident on the day I arrived in Korea, so he was very busy visiting the hospital to attend to them. This situation had caused a few hiccups in both of our plans for meeting, and also meant that I was unable to stay at Dae Young's place. Dae Young was determined to meet me, so he made special time to do so at this moment. It was very good to catch up with him again and talk about many things. After having lunch at the restaurant, Dae Young suggested we have an ice cream for dessert. We went to the same Lotteria outlet that Mi-Ra and I had visited the previous night.
While we ate the ice creams, we talked at length about what I wanted to do in Korea.
It was time to start travelling to Sansong by this stage, so Dae Young and Charles escorted me back to the subway. I had to change trains to get to Sansong, which is on line 8 (821). On the line 8 train, I talked with a young man who was currently doing his military service. He said that he was planning to visit Australia next year (2006). I asked for his contact details, and I said that I would call him after he completed his time in the army.
When I got off the train, another man offered to help carry one of my suitcases up the many stairs to the surface. Sansong subway station is indeed very deep underground and there are no elevators, just a very long escalator followed by three flights of stairs, each of which are at least one storey's worth in height.
My helper spoke only very basic English, and seemed to understand most of what I said as we talked on the way up. I used very simple words and spoke slowly and clearly. My hand gestures probably assisted him also. When we got to the top, he gave me his business card (which was all written in Hangul), and I took a photo of the both of us with my camera.
Five minutes later, my friend Joo Jin-Oh arrived to collect me. I showed him the business card and he said that my helper was involved in security patrols. Jin-Oh drove to get some petrol (“gas”, as they call it here - remembering Korea uses U.S. English). This was an interesting procedure. It appears that most gas stations are still full service in Korea. The bowsers hang from lines suspended over the driveway, and the attendants simply pull one down and fill your vehicle. Gasoline costs about W1,500 for a litre, which is about double the cost in Australia.
With the car now refilled, Jin-Oh drove back to Sansong and took me to his sister's restaurant to have dinner. Then we went to a hotel behind the restaurant and Jin-Oh checked me in there. He went to collect his wife and daughter while I unpacked and got myself ready to go to his church. About 20 minutes later, we were all on our way. It was only a short drive to the church. We had to climb up a 3-storey flight of stairs and into a room with about 20 people inside.
We were watching the Remnants conference via Internet streaming live from Nagoya, Japan. It was rather interesting. The main language was actually Korean, with both English AND Japanese interpretations. Songs were also sung in all three languages, and there were subtitles on screen for each language. So, I was able to understand most of what was going on. The speaker was a well-known Korean pastor, whose name I don’t remember.
The conference ended at around 2130, and Jin-Oh took me back to the hotel. After my second scatological event, I retired to bed.
Day 5 (2005-07-31) / Day 6 (2005-08-01) / Day 7 (2005-08-02)
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