Seoul
September 22, 2005
Seoul train station & home of a crazy Korean guy.
Seoul train station & home of a crazy Korean guy.
A hair before 10:00am, I left Osaka, Japan on
Japan Airlines flight #961 and landed in Incheon, Korea a little
before noon. It was a pretty quick flight compared to my last
one. I read Time magazine, had a snack, and boom...I was in
Korea! After going through immigration, and grabbing my
luggage, I bought a bus ticket to Seoul. The bus stops were
right outside of the baggage area, and in less than 5 minutes, I was
on a bus!
The bus ride was pretty quick. We went on a
highway for a while and then through some small towns. Once I
got to Seoul, it started to feel like a big city. Tons of cars
and lots of people. There were a lot of scooters and taxis
driving like maniacs. The bus, thankfully, had a speaker
system that announced each stop in Korean, then in English. I
knew I needed to get off at Seoul Station and listened intently for
that message. It finally came up and I got off the bus.
As the bus driver was about to get my luggage from the luggage
compartment, I looked around and saw that I was at a very small section
of town and I didn't see anything that remotely looked like a train
station.
I pointed to my ticket and said Seoul Station over
& over and he said something in Korean and motioned for me to get
back on the bus. After a few more stops, the announcer lady
message, once again, said Seoul Station next stop. So some
freaking how, there are two Seoul Station stops! Just be
warned if you ever take that bus. I think it was the 601.
I finally arrived at what was definitely a train
station because a crazy man was in front yelling Korean and everyone
was staring at him like he was nuts. Probably because they
couldn't understand him either. I went in and bought a KTX
train ticket to Dongdaegu (which means East Daegu). It's a
bullet train and less than a two hour trip.
On the train ride, my impression of Korea was that
it seemed like a simple and quiet place. It felt like I was in
the deep south of USA. Lots and lots of farms and places that
weren't very developed. A few little towns here and there with
maybe one gas station or so. There were many rolling hills and
lots of green rice patties.
What I learned
today about Korea: 1) There are
tons of cars & scooters and you will die if you get in their way.
2) Most Koreans don't flush their toilet paper. They put it in
a trash can next to the toilet.