d-Wizz Hankuk Travel Diary [2005]
Contents / Preface / Introduction 
Preface
It is my great pleasure and joy to share my story with my friends, who themselves are a big part of it. My first trip overseas was an unforgettable experience for me, and I always intended to write about it. The magnitude of this volume has exceeded my expectations, but I want to tell the whole story, exactly as it happened.
In doing this, I have often gone into detail about some events, and I have mentioned occurrences which some of my readers may consider trivial. These are included because they really happened, and whether they are “trivial” or not is up to each reader to decide. While I have not written about absolutely everything I did to the nth degree, I have tried to tell the story as accurately as possible, including those things which are a part of everyday life.
One such aspect is scatology, which also is one of the 6 subjects I enjoy studying. Many of my readers will not know scatology by name, but everybody is an expert at its practise. Upon learning the details of the subject, many people may get defensive or take offence at my drawing attention to and detailed descriptions of scatological events. For the benefit and convenience of these people (the “scatologically intolerant”), I have identified scatological passages in my story by placing them in italics on a shaded background, with a notice preceding the passage, which reads:
"Scatology Alert: This section contains a detailed scatological account. If you are scatologically intolerant, you should skip this section. You have been warned, so please don’t take offence if you continue.”
End of scatological section
It is not my intention to alienate any of my readers by the scatological references contained in my story. I have included them for the benefit of myself and my many scatologically tolerant friends who will enjoy reading about these things, which are just as much part of the story as all the rest. If any offence is taken by a reader, I apologise, and ask for understanding. It is OK to skip these sections if you wish – this is why I have made them easily identifiable.
Scatology is briefly mentioned in the main text, including references to the detailed scatological sections. I have tried to keep the references to a minimum, but in telling things as they happened, some indications are necessary.
There is an exhaustive list of acknowledgements on page 132 of this book, but there are some credits which I feel must be mentioned now. Most of the photographs were taken myself, with some of the Asan pictures courtesy of my good friend Jamie, and those in Odai, Japan from my brother Keith. The Hangul in this book (along with the English romanisations) has been checked for accuracy by many Koreans, but most notably Dave (임동욱: Lim Dong Wook) and Darren (김인수: Kim Insu) and also by my sister Caroline.
Spike (이건웅: Lee Keon Woong) in Gwangju, Jimmy (장진우: Jang Jin Woo) in Daegu and Jamie (최창석: Choi Chang Seok) in Asan helped with identifying some people, places and foods in the photos. Dave also helped in this area.
My sincere thanks to all these special people for helping to make this book such a high quality publication. My Korean skills are gradually improving!
Above all, I thank God for the blessing of many Korean and international friends, and for providing the opportunity for me to undertake this trip. There were many spiritual experiences for me during the trip, but I have not explicitly written about them, preferring to mention them in a generic context. The presence of God was very evident everywhere I went.
The “Hankuk Travel Diary” project has been an enjoyable labour of love for me, as I have relived my trip over and over while I wrote the text and edited the photographs. I hope it will also find a special place in your heart as you remember me. I present my story to you, with grace and love and happy memories of Korea and Japan.
With love, respect, laughter and friendship,
David "d-Wizz" BARKER
info@d-wizz.com http://www.d-wizz.com
Phone: +61 7 3257 1304 (h), +61 4 0259 9170 (m)
P.O. Box 1890 TOOWONG QLD 4066 AUSTRALIA
2005-11-04
Contents / Preface / Introduction