Hanguk: First Blood

Hanguk = Korea

So for better or worse, I am now residing in Seoul, the bustling capital city of South Korea. What a different experience it is arriving in Korea compared to Japan. When i arrived in Japan, i was embarrassed because of my insufficient language ability. When i entered Korea, i was immediately struck by my SUPREME LACK of language ability. Compared to a feeling of powerlessness or inferiority in Japan, knowing none of the spoken language is instead a horrifying affair. I realized i didn't even know how to say "yes" or "no." Yes, i should've prepared by learning the basics, but who has the time or the patience? I will write down the Korean alphabet (hangul) after i write this blog and study it meticulously until i can chant the words off a restaurant menu flawlessly, naturally being entirely ignorant as to its meaning. Much like reading from a siddur. Or having a bar mitzvah. Except instead of money from relatives you get a plate of kimchee.

I spent yesterday in Tokyo, and it was a pretty typical traveling day for me. Instead of taking the ordinary path and going to see the city sights or stroll in the city center, i decided to lug my bags around town looking for a locker to store them in for a week, only to find out the limit was 3 days, and then lugged them back to the hostel. I brought my megaton black luggage case and a plastic bag with a ceramic bowl i made to Tokyo Station, which is across town on the subway, and the route features a number of flights of stairs. So there i was, dragging a heavy bag on wheels and carrying a ceramic bowl in a plastic bag in the other hand, for about 3 or so hours all around Tokyo. I finished off the day by buying a small bag of "Flavors of the Sea" peanuts, and sat on the train home eating them as Japanese sneered at me for eating in public. I did learn a lesson though: there is nothing like "Flavors of the Sea" peanuts to make one's breath attractive.

I left the hostel this morning (with the megaton luggage and the ceramic bowl) and was speeding off towards the station when, quite characteristically of me, i realized that i wasn't quite sure which of the two Tokyo airports i was departing from. I rushed into the nearest internet cafe, and after begging the guy to use the net for 2 minutes for free, grudgingly paid the 200 yen and discovered it was just as i thought: Narita airport, not Haneda. I conveniently planned my trip so that i would be sampling all of the airports in Seoul and Tokyo, leaving from Narita, arriving in Incheon, leaving from Gimpo, arriving in Haneda. In reality, i bought the cheapest ticket, and now i must suffer through not two, but four airports in 7 days. I think i unconsciously make traveling hard on myself because i like to kvetch in blogs.

I plan to go out and get something to eat, hopeful soaked in kimchee whatever it is, and then take a stroll around town or something (without luggage for once). More later.