ANOTHER CULTURE SHOCK AWAITS

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Just when i thought i got it all figured out...bang...welcome to Korea. Let me backtrack a bit. Left Chaing Mai on Monday nite train...thought i'd be ok with just a fan...mistake. Not as great a train ride as the first time. Oh well..i slept most of the trip. Get into BKK. and i feel like a pro..I know exactly where i'm going to stay for the next several hrs., how to get there, how much the taxis and tuk tuks should charge me...ya...i'm cool. After a nice cold shower i head out for a coffee and a bite to eat..a bit of window shopping then back to to guesthouse for yet another shower before going to pick up my luggage at the train station. Get a taxi to the airport...and the waiting begins. First off...i used up all my Thai Baht so i wouldn't get stuck with it..ha ha...find out at the airport that i need to pay a 500 baht passenger service fee..head to the ATM machine..So..get that taken care of...the line up is insane..glad i got there early. Finally board the plane...1 a.m. tired tired tired. Only a 4 hr flight so i slept most of it. Now we're in Korea...
KOREA...now this is way different than Thailand. Thailand is simple...basic...easy to ask people questions..they love to talk to tourist..things are written in english....BUT KOREA...totally different. Most people don't or won't speak english, nothing is in english, it definitely is a rich country...certainly compared to Thailand...and...and...and....you can put toilet paper in the toilet here and flush. That's weird so weird after 5 weeks of using a ..pardon the crude expression...bum washer...and putting the toilet paper in the garbage. So yes it is much more modern here. Clean...very clean altho i didn't mind the fact that Thailand is not very clean. You adjust..here I feel like a grub..in Thailand i fit right in!.
At the airport here i have no Korean currency..so i go to an ATM machine...of course..everything is in Korean...i ask a lady to help me..and the machine won't let me access my card. SHIT. Finally she figures out that we must use the machine for foreigners...ok so that worked. Next i have to find a hotel...in Thailand as soon as you step off the train, or bus or plane you get swarmed with taxis or tuk tuks wanting to take you to your destination or if you have no destination...they'll come up with all sorts of places. Here only 1 taxi approaches me and i find out that it takes one and half hrs to get into Seoul. So i decided to find a hotel close to the airport. They have a hotel info desk and the woman was very helpful...spoke english so that was especially helpful..and she recommended the June Hotel..so it's more than I would pay for a guesthouse in Thailand..way more..but what the heck...i need a clean quiet place to rest cause i still have 3 flights before i get home. Free shuttle to and from the hotel, free internet in the room, free coffee, i don't have to check out till i'm ready to go back to the airport.... the room is amazing..jacuzzi, shower, nice asian decor...ya..this is GOOD. So i'm gonna chill in this room , watch t.v., shower, read, sleep. There's nowhere to go shopping...
I went for lunch in the restaraunt here...the smorg consisted of rice, kimchee, sweet n sour hotdog (!) mac and cheese,fries, chicken nuggets coleslaw, watermelon and apple and juice and coffee. What a bizarre spread. Especially since everyone in there was Asian..i was the only non Asian person. And not only that...it cost 16$ a far cry from the meals in Thailand..for $3 i could eat a really decent meal. Oh Well..i can't wait to get home and eat Canadian food..really after eating out for 5 weeks..the novelty wears off. So that's it for now..tomorrow i leave Asia at 6:20...

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