and I thought just traveling on planes was tiring enough. How about 3 subway lines (in three different cities) 3 taxi rides, two express buses, two country buses (yes, because I kind of live in the country), and two high speed trains. All of that was done in a 38 hour span, I believe. At least I can say I accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished this weekend. I'll post more later, but I should be getting back to sleep.
So here we go. . . . . .
So it's kind of hard when I wake up around 11-12 during the week for work, then expect myself to wake up around 7 or 8 in the morning on Saturday and Sunday. Somehow this was accomplished on Saturday, I still think I was moving at a horridly slow pace though. Since Gongju doesn't have a train system, I had to walk about twenty minutes (because taxis are a little rare) to the bus terminal, so I could go to Daejon (the fifth biggest city in Korea), then take a taxi for about ten minutes to the KTX station. KTX trains are the super fast trains that get up to about 300 km per hour.
I guess I arrived in Daegu about 10:40-ish, so I could get to my "hood" as I like to call it. Momma Koo was in the bathhouse office, so I sat down with her and told her about everything that was going on, as best as I could in Korean. I purposely didn't take a shower that morning, so I could use the bathhouse and be spoiled for a little while. I also had some clothes at the Koo house, which I needed to take back with me on Sunday to Gongju.
Once I got cleaned up and into some different clothes, I went to downtown Daegu to meet my friend Greer, (WSHS Grad as well). Greer's friend Melissa had delivered some stuff to my mom's house back in Memphis when I was there, to deliver to Greer, when I came back to Korea. So, I loaded up the bag as well, and took it downtown with me. Greer had no idea what some of the stuff was in there, so she was pretty excited to see it all. In exchange for the delivery Greer bought me one of my favorite Korean meals. Then as a really nice favor to me, she helped me get a cell phone, since I currently am without a foreigner ID card. Hopefully in the next three months I will be the proud owner of that ID card, so I can go to the doc, and other things.
I should mention the whole cell phone deal was carried out in all Korean. Somehow the two of us put our knowledge of the language together and got things accomplished. When that was all over I went over to the visit my old work place (weekend work place that is) -- The Young Falcons of Daegu -- young kids who learn about planes, and eventually want to be in the Air Force as well. The kids were actually studying instruments in a cockpit when I got there, via computer of course. Some of them will be flying a plane next weekend, at a local airport near Seoul.
When I finished with that, I took the subway back to the house and hung out with Grandma Koo in the bathhouse office for a little while. We actually had a fairly good conversation in Korean, which I was proud of. I explained why I wasn't working with the college in Pohang, and told her I would be in Gongju for the next few months. Basically we just got caught up on things. Momma and Poppa Koo came home a little while later and we all had dinner together at the house. Brother Wooyeup is gone to the Army now, and Little Sis Eun Bi was gone to a member training deal at the college she will be attending in the city of Gyeongju.
When dinner was over, we sat and chatted for a few minutes and I prepared some blankets on the floor for sleeping. Sad to say, but I was asleep by about 9:30. Once 3:30 am rolled around though, I was sleeping off and on until about 8:30 am, I think. Then it was shower time, before breakfast was served. Grandma was rushing me to get all dressed and ready to get to the train station. I was to meet Miss Nicole in Seoul, but before that I had to get my butt back to Gongju, to pick up some stuff that her mom gave me to deliver to her. So, back to the KTX station in Daegu, then on to the subway because I was going to the opposite side of town this time, to get onto the "country" bus, as it's called. Luckily, the bus was getting ready to leave right after I bought my ticket.
Not realizing how big Gongju actually was, I got off on the wrong side of town, and had to catch a taxi to get me to the correct side. The guy had no idea where I was directing him, but somehow we made it to the building that I live in, just fine. So I got stuff packed in my duffel bag, and started walking to the bus station, again. This time I found a taxi as I was halfway to the station. I got to the station at 2:27, and there was a bus to Seoul, but the person in front of me got that ticket, so I took a 2:45 bus to the South Seoul bus terminal, which had me arriving in the area just a little before 4:30. Since I had to use the bathroom pretty bad, I just took the subway to get me to the Itaewon area, where I met Miss Nicole at Gecko's.
She was pretty excited to get all the stuff that her mom sent to her. It was kind of fun to watch the lady open all the stuff that was in it. Seeing her smile grow larger and larger made it worth the while to bring everything so far. I told her all I wanted in return was to her smile when she saw everything, so it worked out just fine. We only got to hang out for about 2 1/2 hours, but I enjoyed every moment of it.
Then I had another 90 minute bus ride back to Gongju, and got home about 10:15 or so I think.
Anyway, I'm a little tired from hopping around on buses, trains, subways, and taxis for now. I'm gonna get a quick nap in before work. Time for my first full week of work for now.
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