Advertisement
After a delicious traditional Korean Christmas dinner of kim-chi-guk, pa-jeon and ho-bak-juk (see pics) cooked by yours truly and some appropriately festive reggaeton and hip hop music provided by my friends and myself- it was time to set off on a very memorable journey that I will never forget. Christmas in Korea is very different from back home- which often consists of family time, gift exchanges and big tasty turkey dinners. Not so in Korea, where this holiday is commonly spent with friends and a night out on the town- or in my case- a night out in my box sized studio apartment. Overall, a great night and I was happy to spend it with those I consider my family away from home.
The plan- set off on my bicycle with no proper destination over the course of the week long vacation in order to explore the Korean countryside and practice my survival Korean skills (very few people in the countryside outside of Seoul speak English- which means I would be forced to get my point across in the very difficult language I have been studying so hard). No map. No public transit. Just me, my bike and layers of
warm clothes!!
This trip was inspired by a day long bicycle trip to Il-san several months prior which took me 40 KM out of Jamsil- the place I call home. Over the course of 14 hours I managed to travel along the Han-River into the countryside of Ilsan and eat a don-ka-suh while somehow finding my way to my Korean class at Sookmyeong Women's University and back home after asking everyone on the street directions to my destination. This made the idea of using a bicycle as a mode of longer term travel a reality and inspired me to undertake this adventure of mine when more free time arose- unfortunately the time was now- December with the weather at subzero temperatures. My thinking- I'm from Michigan- time to man up!!
I have to admit I was a bit nervous before setting off but once I hit the road I felt an intense rush of liberation and freedom. I was on a mission that I knew would push me to grow physically, mentally and linguistically. The first day I made it to a sauna and slept there for 5000 korean won in the Seoul satellite outskirts (about $5 USD).
The Korean bathhouses are like a godsend when you set to undertake a task such as ride your bicycle for over 8 hours per day in the cold. One of the greatest feelings I have ever had was stepping into a pool of 40 degree (celcius) water after a long day of bicycling with cold wind hitting your face!!
The second day consisted of much frustration. I got a solid start at 9A and felt very good after 10 solid hours of sleep and a nice warm bath in the AM. After a bit I hit the countryside and was outside of the mammouth of a city I now call my home. OOPPS. After riding my bike for several hours I came to a point where I could either turn back or cycle on the freeway. Safety first- without a shadow of doubt in my head I chose the former. How frustrating!! I came all this way and now it was time to turn back!! After retracing my cycling path I made it to another sauna- this time in yeoung-jin. I ate some hae-jan-guk and was thinking that I should have asked more people instead of solely relying on
my compass to head southbound in search of some incrementally warmer climate I envisioned. Lesson learned- the locals know best- ask them whenever in doubt and practice Korean!!
The following day was much better. I made it to the town of Oh-san for lunch and upon explaining the best I could what I was attempting to undertake the owner kept on feeding me more and more rice with my soup and also gave me 6 oranges for extra vitamin C. Through Korean skills acquired through months of study and by means of much nonverbal communication I found a road that took me directly southbound that was pretty decent for cycling. I made it to the US military station town of Peong-Tek around 5. HMM- what to do? Do I sleep in Peong-Tek where I know there are plenty of warm jim-jil-bangs waiting for my cold tired body or keep going for the remaining hour of daylight? I chose the latter and ended up in quite a unique situation. It kept on getting darker as I rode on with no signs of life- I had entered the country and the chances of finding a sauna or hotel grew grimmer and
grimmer. Finally I found myself riding in the pitch black darkness along a narrow two lane- two way highway with very little shoulder room. Cars kept zooming past me in the darkness and I knew I had to get off the road soon before a Hyundai turned me into Korean roadkill to be served alongside the next kim-chi-bok-um dish. There have been few times in my life where I felt like I was in great danger and this was definitely one of them!! I needed to get off that highway ASAP. A gas station popped up and the worker said there was a bathhouse 5 KM down the highway. I carefully kept on peddling and after a few KMs came upon two men- one urinating outside a small village and the other speaking with a drunken, speech slurred Korean accent. I asked them where the sauna was and they said I was very close. Stating the obvious they slurred with their foul soju breath "you look cold, do you want to stay in a Korean house? Where are you from?" Upon telling them I was from the United States they became very enthused "mi-guk, han-guk, ka-jji (USA, Korea, together)" Next
they began to argue over which one of them would have the pleasure of having me sleep in their house. Finally, after much arguing and nearly throwing fists they decided which house I would stay at. Upon entering the house- the man who invited me in was bowing and telling me to come in while offering me rice and ramen. However, his roommate did not look so enthused to see a big white foreign man twice his size with a thick shadow of a beard that had found its way on my face after cycling in the cold. The only way to describe the look on his roommate's face was half terror and half confusion once finding out I would be sleeping in their small but comfortable house. After some time the terrified roommate came to the conclusion himself that I was not an ax murderer and set up some blankets for me on his soju loving friend's room.
Then it began- the longest drunken Korean monologue I have ever heard. While drinking tea and nearly passing out as a result of an arduous day full bike riding and Korean overload the man just kept talking and talking for
hours on end. All I could say was "neh" while nodding my head at his rapid fire country-drunken sa-tu-ri (accent). As I fought to stay awake through his endless speech, I thought to myself "after studying this language for so long I still have no clue in the world what this man is talking about." Finally he said the magic word that was music to my ears "cha" (sleep). Sleep I did on that warm, hard bedroom floor. As I awoke from my slumber I saw him awake sitting with a very defensive posture that was much different from the previous night.
"Good morning" I said to him.
"Good morning" he returned with an expression of fear in his eyes.
"Did you sleep well?" I asked him.
"Yes" he replied sharply.
"Would you like an orange?" I offered the only food I had in my bag.
"No" he responded.
"Ok thank you for everything last night I should be going now" I said graciously.
"OK" he replied again in a manner quite different from the night prior.
As I rode off it hit me that he had no idea who the big, white, scruffy looking foreign guy sleeping on
his floor was. All the soju and beer he had consumed the previous night resulted in cloudy memories and no recollection of his hospitable invitation and drunken monologue. I rode off laughing to myself at the situation I found myself in and enjoyed a nutritious breakfast of rice, hae-jan-guk and ban-chon.
I was ready to hit the road- and quite a day it was. The snow started to fall from the sky as I rode along roads that seemed never to end as I watched the signs to Daejon slowly drop in distance- 60KM, 50KM, 35KM... until I finally saw a the sign I was waiting for "Welcome To Daejon." As I stood in front of the World Cup Stadium I knew this would be my final destination and was in disbelief that I actually made it to this city halfway down the peninsula in a matter of days on my bicycle. That evening I ate the best nak-ji-bok-um of my life. The recipe had been passed down from the generations at the restaurant I ate at that night. What a great feeling it was to jump into the sauna whirlpools that night and sleep in a crowded room
full of Koreans outside of the jim-jil-bang rooms. There were few times in my life where I have slept so soundly and I must have prevented anyone within a 50 foot radius from sleeping due to my monstrous snoring.
The next morning I had some Sha-bu-sha-bu before finding the bus station back to Seoul. Luckily I was able to store my bike down in the bus storage compartment while I covered the same ground in 2 hours that I traveled in a matter of several very eventful and unforgettable days. I made it back to my room that night and was ready for New Years Eve in Seoul which consisted of a night spent with friends in jong-gag where there was the famous yearly bell ringing and a scene similar to Times Square in New York. I have never seen such crowds of people before- it was hard to walk anywhere until after midnight. After the crowd cleared we enjoyed music and dancing in the street with some traditional dancers and I had my first street "ttuk-bu-ki" of 2009. What a way to finish off 2008!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.071s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0369s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Jean Keskitalo
non-member comment
OMG George
Dear George, Boy are you brave. Your sense of adventure amazes me. Are you letting your mother read the blog???? We miss you. When are you coming for a visit? Aunt Jeanie