Korea: Re-cap summary

Many of the Korean words/names I have put phonetically, although I know even those aren’t entirely accurate.

Arrived Friday, 6/19: Mr. Kim picked me up at the airport (w/ wife). We weren't exactly sure how we were going to meet up. Kelly said he might be holding a sign with my name on it... Anyway, I didn't see him anywhere. Went to wash hands in the bathroom, and a Korean man was drying his own. He asked me a few questions, and then we realized that HE was Mr. Kim, and I was Kelly’s friend, Jesse! Drove to Changwon and met Kelly and Hyo-song. Walked to someplace and sat outside and shared a pitcher and some chicken. Walked to WA Bar and had a beer and talked for a while. Took cab to the lake. Went into a convenience store and then shared some Gimbop while sitting at the lake for a while. Walked to Kelly’s car and drove home.

Saturday, 6/20: Rented a car. Road trip. Lunch @ a little old-fashioned place with private dining rooms. Ate “bo som” and tofu. Stopped at a couple of rest stops. Spent the night at a Minbahk (little cabin).

Sunday, 6/21: Road trip. East Sea shore. Skipped rocks, watched windsurfers. Waded. Kept driving back to Changwon. Met up with Justin at a little restaurant. Walked around the city. Bought a beer at a convenience store and sat down out in front of it and drank our beer and talked.

Monday, 6/22: Lots of rain. Turned rental car back in. Walked around town, going into different stores and looking around. Coffee, cinnamon roll. Walk around more. Sat in on Kelly’s 6:30, 7:30, and 8:30 classes.

Tuesday, 6/23: met up with Liz and hiked at Jinhae. We all went to RottiBoy after. Went to City Seven and ate at Quizno’s. While Kelly taught the 6:30 class, I walked around the local area and browsed. Bought a beer and a candy bar (Crunky) at a GS25 store. Sat in on 7:30 and 8:30 classes.

Wednesday, 6/24: tennis. Market. Ate at restaurant Hwong Jon Goon (“General Hwong”). Hung out with Minsoo (while Kelly was teaching): shopped, walked around: E-mart, Lotte. Went to Minsoo’s house (he drove), met his mother. Sat on living room floor and was served water, apples, and plums. Minsoo and I went to City Seven and ate at Quizno’s (his mom paid for), then played a game of Tekken 6 at an arcade. Brought Kelly a sandwich. Sat in on 8:30 class. Jennie gave Kelly a rose and me 2 caramels. I gave her a candy bar. After class, gave a caramel to Cindy and a caramel to Hee-Jin (at front desk). Played basketball (outdoor) with Minsoo, his brother, friend and another guy. Came home and went to bed.

Thursday, 6/25: after Kelly’s morning classes, we drove to Masan, which involved driving over the highest bridge in the world (according to a Korean Kelly knew, but it was misinformation). Walked around, went into shops. Ate at “Buffalo Chicken”. Ice cream. More walking around, looking at things. Drove to Jinhae Ru. Had a beer and snack while sitting by the beach. Windy. Evening classes. Low-key night at Kelly’s.

Friday, 6/26: After a.m. classes, went down to the lake, walked around town. Chicken soup lunch. Drove to the academy. Evening classes. Went out with the “Nuclear Boys” (Chuck, Jason, and “Dragon”) and brought Min-Soo and Hyo-Song. Hee-Jin and Hya-Na met up with us, too. BBQ pork, beer, soju. Sans nuclear boys, we all walked to “I.P.”, which has more western rock music. Min-Soo’s brother arrived. Hung out. Took taxis to a Noray-Bahng, where you get a private room for your group to do karaoke. Very nice. Group dissipated. Kelly and Hyo-Song and I had a long walk back to Kelly’s. Hyo-Song continued on to his own home. Bed.

Saturday, 6/27: Slept in. Taxi to bus station, bus to Busan. Subway to appropriate area. Walked around street markets. Ate street market food. More walking/browsing. Went in to a place to eat snow crab and other things. Subway to area by the beachfront. Walked along beach. Walked on a boardwalk that went up and down and through trees, over to a lighthouse on the point. Two awesome views of two different areas of Busan. Walked back to beach, and then to subway. Subway to other area of Busan. Walked around small area of city. Got a hot dog from a street vendor. A beer from convenience store. We were on the lookout for a bar with live music, but live music is extremely rare in Korea for some reason. Met 3 other white guys (San Diego; West-of-Sussex (England); and Scotland). All went to “Ol’ 55”, but didn’t stay too long. The two Europeans were pretty funny. K and I then went to “Vinyl Underground”, and they went elsewhere. Met a Canadian from Edmonton (AB). Interesting fellow. Took taxi to cheap motel. Bed.

Sunday, 6/28: Rode subway. Walked around, browsing. Subway again, to bus station. Took bus back to Changwon. Went to City-7 and ate Quizno’s with Justin, Mini (Min-Hee), JJ (1.5 yrs old), and Krista. Went to arcade briefly. K, Justin, and I then met up with Hyo-Song and went to the university to play Jokku (combination of soccer and volleyball). We all played Jokku for a couple hours with some guys we met near the court.

Monday, 6/29: After a.m. classes, relaxed, Kelly starting packing, more relaxing, listening to music. Later, we went out with some of Kelly’s adult students (included going to “I.P.”, walking, and a Noray-Bahng).

Tuesday, 6/30: Fly out @ 11:30am. Arrive in SeaTac a 9:20am (still on Tuesday!).

Some Korean words/phrases learned:

Utto-kay: what will I do??? / Woe is me

Cahmsahm-nee-dah: Thank you

Go-mopsim-nee-dah: Thank you

Bah-lee-joo-say-yo: Hurry please

Mo-lah-yo: I don’t know / I don’t understand

Gee-up-duh: cute

Yo-gee-yo: here (or just “yo-gee”)

Cho-gee: there

The follwing “ding” terms are kind of slang:

Cho-ding: Elementary student

Joong-ding: Middle School student

Go-ding: HS student

Day-ding: College student

Ah-guh-shee: Younger, unmarried woman

Ah-juh-shee: Man

Ah-joo-mah: Woman over 40 or so

Thus concludes the blog entries about my trip to Korea to visit Kelly. + Jesse +