remember when I went to Korea?

day 6 (wherein we took the bus)

Jason’s uncle basically drove us around all day every day in his taxi, and then worked in his taxi at night, so we knew he needed a break. 

Today we used the bus. 

our bus stop was next to the town fridge-cemetary

I didn’t find anything particularly unusual about the bus. You pay 1000 won cash, it takes you on a route, stand if the seats are taken. No surprises there. However, we found that if you were not standing in the street, won in hand, with one foot up ready to step on, you weren’t getting on. I saw this, more than once, happen to people who clearly intended to board the bus. “you snooze, you lose, ajumma.” Similarly, you need to be ready to jump off the bus, and get out of the way immediately if you ever wanted to stop your endless route. We took the bus to Pyeongtaek, where there were errands to do.

First we paid a visit to Jakun Sahmchon’s wife where she works at a shopping mall. This was like being inside JC Penney, but each area selling a different brand is it’s own store. In that way, it’s sort of like the concourse of a mall, but there are no walls between American Eagle and the Gap… and it looked like the inside of JC Penney. I was, along with Jason’s mom, sort of surprised to find that the clothes fit me, as I’m six feet tall, and tower over everyone in Asia. Halmeoni was kind in buying gifts of clothing for me and Jenny.

We went to the train station so that Halmeoni could buy a ticket for Young Min ee to return to where the military is. I could just feel breakdancers in my presence, and sure enough:

you’re hereby served.

Remember on day 1, when an elderly man mysteriously shook mine and Jason’s hands without saying a word, and then walked away? This happened again at the train station!

We had to go to the market, where Jason, his dad, and I looked for free wireless on our phones. 

Allow me to discuss the family dog, Dajungi. She lives in the fenced-in yard, in her little dog house. When we first met her, we were told she was pregnant. Later, Halmeoni told us she wasn’t, and that she was just fat. Apparently she has a boyfriend dog, who we never saw, who lives a short walk away, and brings her meat in the morning. Meat! No wonder she dumped that loser dog who constantly sat, heartbroken, outside the fence. Anyway, Dajungi knows what she likes, and demonstrates this when greeting you by promptly rolling on her back so you can scratch her belly. The exception to this is when you’re holding a video camera, and ONLY in that situation.

UGH!

It was the most frustrating thing. I literally have half a dozen video clips of this exact situation with her. 

But on this day, I snuck a shot of her greeting Jason. 

I win, dog.

There was a chore that needed to be done at the Army base, so we took this opportunity to eat pizza and ice cream. Like Dunkin Donuts, you can find a Baskin-Robbins on most street corners in Korea. So it was no shock to find a BAskin -Robbins in the Camp Humphreys food court.