d-Wizz Hankuk Travel Diary [2005]
Day 30 (2005-08-25) / Day 31 (2005-08-26) / Day 32 (2005-08-27) 
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Day 31: 2005-08-26 (Friday)
My last day in Korea!
I shared breakfast with Jamie again, after which I gave another small container of honey to his father and took a photo of Jamie with his father and nephew.
I put all my luggage into Jamie’s car and we went to the post office so I could send the snare drum away. When I was told the postage would be W86,000, I decided against it, because that price was far too expensive for me.
Jamie went to pick up Insu, and then we went to Chonan railway station, arriving there at 1015. I bought my ticket, and led Jamie and Insu onto the platform to wait for the train. We took our final photos of each other, and promised to keep in touch often. When the train arrived, Jamie helped put my luggage on board. We hugged for the last time, and I waved to Jamie and Insu as the train left Chonan bound for Busan, 4 hours away.
On the train, I sent messages to a few of the people I had visited during my trip. Some of them replied to me. I tried to talk with two people who sat next to me, but they were not interested. After the train had left Daegu, a young man came and sat next to me, so I tried a third time to have a chat:
“Do you know English?”
“...little bit”
“OK. Are you going to Busan?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going there too. It’s my last day in Korea. I’ve been here for one month, but now I am going to Japan.”
The “little bit” of English he knew was in reality quite a lot more, and we began to introduce ourselves. He told me his name was Yoo-Soo (신유수: Shin Yoo-Soo), and he was on his way to meet his girlfriend who was flying from Japan to Kim-hae airport, near Busan. He explained that neither of them could understand the other’s language, so they had to use English to communicate between themselves. We both found this rather amusing. I told Yoo-Soo about some of the things I had done during my time in Korea, and about my music interests. He indicated that he was also interested in music, but could not play a musical instrument. I showed him the cover of “Fav Trax” (the CDs were in my luggage and it was too much bother to get one out), and he was immediately interested, so I told him about my music, how I write my own songs and recorded them myself in my room in Brisbane.
This led on to how I made the MP3s from my own CD collection and later from vinyl and cassettes as well, resulting in the huge catalogue I had on DVD and my computer’s hard drive. Yoo-Soo listened with interest, and his happy personality really warmed me to him. I very briefly explained that I needed some help to find the ferry terminal at Busan, and he said he would be glad to assist me with my luggage as well, because his girlfriend was not due to arrive until 2030. He said we could spend the afternoon together in Busan, to which I happily agreed. I took a photo of Yoo-Soo in the train as he wrote his contact details in my notebook, and I told him I would send him something after I arrived back in Australia.
The train arrived at Busan, and Yoo-Soo helped me get my luggage off the train. I had asked my sister the night before if she knew anybody in Busan who could help me with the logistics of getting from the train to the ferry. She had called Tae-Gun (이태근: Lee Tae-Gun), who had said he could probably meet the train, but would only be able to help me for about 40 minutes, because he had an appointment at 1530. I did not cancel this arrangement after Yoo-Soo had offered his assistance, so he and I waited outside Busan station to meet Tae-Gun. He arrived after about ten minutes, and apologised for not being able to help me more. I said it was OK, and introduced him to Yoo-Soo. We took photos of each other in front of Busan station in the forecourt, and then we decided to take a taxi to the ferry terminal. When we arrived there, my two Korean helpers unloaded my luggage, and we went inside to check in, even though the check in period didn’t officially begin for another 4 hours.
My brother in Japan had sent some money to my Australian bank account the previous night, but it had not arrived yet, so I did not have enough cash to pay for the ferry ticket right then. I was not concerned, however, as I knew this money would arrive at about 1800 local time, so I would be able to buy the ticket before the scheduled departure time. I had explained to Yoo-Soo that I only intended to check-in now, and pay when I returned later, after the money had arrived in my account.
Yoo-Soo had an idea. He pulled out his wallet and gave me W70,000 so I could pay for the ferry right then. I asked him if he was sure that he wanted to do this, assuring him that I would pay him back in about 3 hours. He confirmed his intention to loan me the money, so I accepted his assistance with thanks, and my ticket was fully paid for and issued. We then went to check my luggage in.
The three of us walked back to the subway at 중앙동 (Jung-ang-dong), where Tae-Gun said he had to leave us to go to his appointment, as he was going the other way. Yoo-Soo and I rode the subway a few stations into the centre of Busan. He led the way to a restaurant where we had lunch together. While we were having lunch, an older man came to me and asked if I was from Australia. He said he had visited Queensland many times, and spoke about how he had enjoyed his time there. It was interesting for me to hear about that. Unfortunately, I did not get any details for me to contact him again.
When we had satisfied our hunger, I asked Yoo-Soo if we could find a PC bar, as I wanted to show him some of my music. This proved to be a rather difficult undertaking at first. As we walked along, we came to a foreign exchange centre. I said that I would like to go inside and change some of my foreign currency, so I changed $SIN64 into yen. The clerk apparently converted the Singapore dollars into won first, then changed the won to yen. I received a freshly minted W1,000 note with my exchanged yen.
The search for a PC bar continued as we walked the other way along the street. After about ten minutes, we saw a sign directing us to one, but further investigation revealed that it had closed down. We didn’t have to look much further though, as there was another one just around the corner, and it was open, so we went in there.
I connected my headphones and USB key to the computer, and selected a few CDs to show Yoo-Soo. I had packed my bag very tightly with clothes, and I had to take them out to access the CDs further down.
For about one hour, I played some of my music to Yoo-Soo. He was impressed and enjoyed it. He also enjoyed listening to some of the MP3s I had made from my CDS and vinyl record collection. I showed him some of the photos Jamie had put on my USB key.
We left the PC bar and I asked Yoo-Soo to help me find a place to buy some soju, as I wanted to bring some back to Australia with me. I had no idea how much it would cost, or how big it would be, so I did not really know how much I would be able to buy or carry. I followed Yoo-Soo to a supermarket, not dissimilar to one in Australia, with the exception that it was on two levels, and on the back wall of the top level there was a rather large shelf full of soju, in many different sizes. I looked at the smallest bottles; 200mL for W850 (about $A1.10) each. I noticed there were two types of soju on the shelf, so I asked Yoo-Soo what the difference was. He explained that in Busan, there is a special local type of soju which is different to the original soju drunk all over Korea. The Busan soju was only W10 more. I decided to buy five bottles, as they were only small, so I could fit them all into my luggage – somewhere, somehow! The problem was, I only had W2,000 in cash, so I asked Yoo-Soo if he had another W2,000. He said he did not, as he had loaned all his cash to me at the ferry terminal. I changed my decision to buy one bottle of each type of soju, and we left the supermarket.
I then went to find an ATM, as the money from my brother had arrived in my account. I had checked the balance while we were in the PC bar earlier. Yoo-Soo easily found one which accepted my card, and I withdrew W150,000. I paid Yoo-Soo the W70,000 he had lent to me and thanked him for his help and his trust in me.
There was still a little time before I was due to check in at the ferry, so I went back to the supermarket and bought three more bottles of sojo, and also a couple of ramyun to eat on the ferry.
As I was putting these into my bag, I noticed that I my clothes were missing. I had probably left them under the table when I took them out to get the CDs out of my bag at the PC bar. I alerted Yoo-Soo to this situation, and said we should hurry back to see if they were still there. We had to be quick, because the PC bar was in the opposite direction to the subway station, and I was due at the ferry in just 40 minutes.
We both power walked back to the PC bar and Yoo-Soo explained to the attendant behind the counter what had happened. I went to the computer we had been using and looked for my clothes, but they were not there. After about five frantic minutes trying to work out where they might be, I had to give up and resign myself to the fact that they were lost and I would not be getting them back. So we hurried back to the subway station and caught a train back to Jung-ang-dong, and the ferry terminal.
Inside the terminal, I took a few last photos of myself and Yoo-Soo before we said goodbye and I went through immigration and onto the ferry.
I had no problems getting onto the ferry, or finding my room. I was allocated to Room 432, which had 11 compartments, although I think there were only 7 people travelling at this time. Each compartment had a pillow, blanket and small mattress, which unfolded onto the floor.
My brother Keith called me while I was on the ferry, and we discussed a few logistical arrangements in Japan. We were talking for a long time, and the battery in the phone went flat.
The ferry was scheduled to depart at 2000, but 3 hours later, we had not yet left Busan. I was hoping to see the trip, but I was getting too tired, so I went to bed.
Day 30 (2005-08-25) / Day 31 (2005-08-26) / Day 32 (2005-08-27)
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