Wednesday - Getting ready to go :-(

Where I had lunch

I spent the morning packing everything I won't need tonight or tomorrow.

I went out for lunch at about 11:30. It was chilly. I walked up the street behind the hotel, YongJi-Ro. It is really the larger street but the back street I consider to be the front seems to have all the businesses and other hotels, and people hanging out in the evening, so if you come by cab that is the entrance to which he brings you. I was craving a sandwich but knew, short of the International Hotel which would be expensive, I wouldn't find one. Convenience stores have prepared sandwiches but they are not appetizing. I found a small attractive place across the street a few blocks north and went in. I got mil-myun (like nang-myun but with wheat noodles) with donkatsu. (돈까스) which is a breaded pork cutlet.

At Tiamo coffee shop

 After lunch I started back to the hotel looking for a coffee shop. I stopped at “Tiamo” and had an Americano and a blueberry gelato. I tried to buy a mug and was told the price but that she couldn't sell me one now. She'd have to order it. I explained I am leaving tomorrow but she just couldn't sell it. I bought some tooth paste and some iced coffee at the CUs across the back street and came back to the room.

At the sushi restaurant

Geoffrey picked me up after work. I had packed up and we agreed I’d stay at his place that night. We went back to his place to get Yeji but they had their signals crossed and she was at the hotel. We agreed to meet at the restaurant, a sushi place in SangNam-Dong, just south of the dolmen I saw yesterday. It was a nice place and it seemed like the owner was giving us extras. It turned out to be my birthday dinner and Yeji gave me a CD on traditional pansoroi which she got in Seoul. We had a good dinner of sushi, including one dish of cooked beef cut and presented sushi style; not my thing. After dinner Geoffrey went for the car and I waited with Yeji in front of the restaurant while we had a nice "'Dad' and daughter" talk. She put her arm through mine, snuggled up, and told me how she is strange and as an artist sees things differently from other people. Nice.

We picked up my things at the hotel and we all went back to their place in Sarim-Dong where I spent the night, planning an early departure in the morning.

New York City, 7th Avenue from the shuttle

Thursday - We got off by about 6:20 and got to the airport in time. I returned the cell phone and checked in. The rest was uneventful, the flight to Tokyo, then a long one (12 hours) to JFK. Pat was stuck in traffic on the NJ turnpike and I ended up taking two shuttles to Penn station, then Amtrak to Wilmington. Pat was going to pick me up there but was still in north Jersey so I took a cab home.

Tuesday - hanging out II

Mothers with toddlers at lunch at Lotte.

My intention was to go to Lotte Cinema and catch a movie but I didn't see anything on the web page except Korean. When I was here last year there were several English language movies so I thought that if I walked up there I would find one or two when I got there. There weren’t any. I went into the department store section and did find some coffee cups made in England, and when I asked was directed to some made in Korea but with louder designs. I settled on one with a somewhat paisley theme. I went down to the restaurant and had chajangmyun (noodles with black bean paste) while watching the mothers and children and doing a little reading.

When the kid on the left was done eating his mother put him down and he just wandered off. she didn't seem concerned. On the way back he stopped near me and just stood there looking at me. I tried to talk to him and patted the chair next to me in what I thought would be a suggestion he sit there but he just came over and patted it too.

 

Dolmen in downtown Changwon

I left and tried to find a Cafe Bene but couldn't, even with asking directions. I wondered around and did see the dolmen mound I had heard of. It looked like rain (Yeji called this morning to warn me and tell me to take an umbrella) so I came back. 

After a nap I went down stairs to a restaurant in the building (the hotel is on the fifth and sixth floors of an office building with stores and restaurants on the ground floor). I had sangsun gui: two broiled fish about ten inches each head to tail - and yes there were the head and tail. Evidently it doesn't come with rice or side dishes, so I asked for rice because the kkakdugi it does come with needed something to protect the stomach. I went across the street and got a pastry to go with breakfast then went back to the room.

Monday - hanging out I

I went to the International Hotel for breakfast. On the way back I stopped at a drug store and, not knowing the words for constipated or suppository, apologized for my language then described my situation and need in pretty crude terms. He understood. The cost was only W300 and I said cheap (not sure if saoyo has a double, or aspirate 's' or a simple 's' but he understood and laughed. I just looked it up and it is a double 's'). It seems to have done the job.

The medicine Yeji gave me seems to have worked too. My shoulder and back are better, not all better, but better.

Chinese restaurant for lunch

Yeji called just before 12:00. She is in Seoul. I went for a walk and had lunch at a Chinese place on Jungang Daero, then found a cafe and had an iced latte sitting at a sidewalk table. I'm back to reading Kim Young-Ha's Your Republic Is Calling You. I could have found a better place to sit. It adjoined a small parking lot. Feeling some more movement in my bowels I headed back.

Sitting on the corner ...

I took a nap and had a dream in a classroom discussing a religious matter. As I thought I was waking up and was trying to remember it I had another in which I was having trouble breathing and found I would do better with my mouth wide open, but then that didn't help and I went downstairs thinking to call an ambulance and someone asked if I had tried my inhaler. I looked for my green bag and thought it was upstairs and when someone went for it I saw it on a table and took a couple puffs.

A little after 6:00 I went out for dinner and ended up with an unsatisfactory hot dog roll at Paris Baguette. It seems this is not dinner hour and I was turned away at a couple places.

Geoffrey is at work and is going to Seoul later to meet Yeji for their Embassy appointment tomorrow so I'm pretty much on my on, which is fine with me after a week of being in demand.

Sunday - Change of Plans

I took a cab to the church and was shown to a seat in the front, right behind the elders. Again there was a choir of about 100 and a sixteen piece instrumental section: eleven strings, two brass, two woodwinds, and a drum (janggu, nice touch in the midst of a very western setting). The sermon was long and there were several references to Geoffrey's wedding and to his parents. He said I spoke Korean very well to which I vigorously shook my head 'no.' He also said I spoke better than Geoffrey which made me feel bad to have us compared.

 

Yeji was very sick and had thrown up on the way to the church so Geoffrey stayed with Her at lunch while the parents ate at our own table in the basement (or ground floor as there was a door to the outside). Yeji's father drove me back to the city hall circle and I walked back to the hotel from there. I was waylaid by two Jehovah's Witnesses and we chatted. When they came up to me I asked if they were JWs and they asked how I knew and I said by the smell. One pulled up his shirt to smelled it and I laughed. I explained it was their appearance and each carrying a briefcase and that they travel in twos. It was either that or Mormon and Geoffrey told me the JWs were active in Changwon.

 

Geoffrey called later and asked me over for dinner. Yeji's mother had made food for us. Yeji is still sick and Geoffrey said she insists on going to Seoul to get papers translated to take to the Embassy Tuesday. I told his I want to go with her. If she is sick she should not travel alone. I'll have to get up by 4:00 AM and Geoffrey is to talk to Yeji and let me know. He called after I got back to my room and said she would go alone. I said I didn't want to force myself on her and that is OK, but I worry.

 



Saturday: Wedding at Smyrna Church, Changwon (pictures below)

Geoffrey found me drinking Coffee at Paris Baguette.

I had a wake up call at 7:00. Geoffrey called at about a quarter to eight. He had overslept. I was ready for him by 8:20 and he took me back to his place for breakfast. He cooked, eggs and the Korean version of sausage which is just hot dogs (I guess a hot dog is a kind of sausage). I took my white shirt and Sook ironed it.

Sook and I took a cab back to the Hotel International, near where she had to go for makeup and across the street from NamSun Hotel. I had time so went to Paris Baguette for coffee and an apple pastry (not too sweet and my blood sugar is fine). Geoffrey had gone back to the hotel and the maid told him I had gone out so he came looking for me. I was sitting in the window when Geoffrey came across the street. He saw me sitting in the window and waived, then came in and joined me. We then went back to the car and waited for his mom, then he took us to the church.

A Sandy Spring (high school) classmate with Geoffrey's mother.

At the church I bowed to so many people I can't keep them straight. As to the wedding, the pictures tell it all (see below). There was a woman whose job it was, it seems, to take care of Yeji. She held her train when Yeji turned and dabbed her eyes with q-tips when Yeji teared up.

We all went to September restaurant (Gu Wol) for an early dinner. We occupied several rooms and in our room most of us were already seated when Duke came in. He had us move to different places except Young Son (Sook's cousin, a chemistry professor like his father) and his daughter (a senior at Ehwa University where Geoffrey's aunt Young Sook went and who attnded VCU in Richmond for a while) They were ensconced in the corner. Everybody except Yeji's family, me and Geoffrey were drinking beer.

Geoffrey and Yeji

The minister with Geoffrey and Yeji

Front row 2nd from left (grey hair) is Geoffrey's uncle

Geoffrey and Yeji with her parents

Friday - lunch with Geoffrrey's two women



I'm having cheese and crackers and some left over lamb from dinner for breakfast. Yeji called and suggested we have lunch with Geoffrey's mother. I said yes. I went down stairs to wait for them and again encountered the Scot (Devlin is his surname) so sat down while waiting. He borrowed W3000 for cigarettes and gave me a book by Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage. Sook said she heard he is a bar tender but Geoffrey says he is just a bum. When they showed up we left and walked to E-Mart where Sook was told she could get the best rate on an ATM. We had lunch at a buffet upstairs at the Annex of Lotte.










As I walked back I stopped in a bank to change money and Geoffrey came in with Wayne. They were driving by and saw me so they stopped. We said hello and they went on their way.

It seems Geoffrey knows, or knows of, Devlin. I spoke with on Wednesday. I can't help wondering what is his purpose in life. He is a complete hedonist, going from city to city, bar to bar, debauch to debauch. Will he be missed by anyone? I know, 100 years from now there are very few of us who will be remembered, but I hope to have made the world a better place to some extent. Geoffrey tells me Devlin and his buddies supplement drinking at bars by buying beer at convenience stores and drinking out front because it saves money; bars are expensive I am told.

I took a long nap. At about 6:00 Geoffrey showed up and we each got a sandwich at Paris Baguette, then went to his place where we sat around. We took a cab back to the hotel, and he went to Hotel International to have a beer with Wayne.



 

Thursday: Shopping

Note sign for the Peace Office Building between hotel and Lotte

Mothers with kids at crossing near city hall rotary

I woke up early and had breakfast in the room with some stuff I got yesterday at the bakery. After showering I went out and walked to the circle to try to find a hat at Lotte department store. I've been seeing the word SangGa (상가) on a lot of signs and thinking sangga is Sanskrit for a Buddhist congregation I asked a group of men next to the Peace Sanga (picture to right) and was told it means office building. Google tells me it means downtown. Either way it is not Buddhist. I've only seen one monk in Changwon, in Lotte.

I didn't see a hat I wanted and what I did see was expensive. I also looked for a watch but they were all wrist watches and I still want something to wear on my belt loop, so I didn't even check prices. I had a light lunch at the sushi bar and left to check Lotte Mart across the street, and then E-Mart but still nothing. Between Lotte Mart and E-Mart I sat and did some reading and just watched people go by. There were a lot of mothers with kids, some on their backs and some walking along together.

In E-Mart I got a phone call from Yeji asking where I was, and if I had had lunch (yes) and suggesting we meet for coffee. We did, at a coffee shop in one of the stores. She said she hoped their children would have eyes like mine and I started to try to explain gene theory (blue eyes are recessive so it is not possible, as she would not have that gene and both parents would have to have it). I failed and in any case she was speaking poetically and I was speaking scientifically – two different worlds. I felt anxious about this misunderstanding for the rest of the day. She gave me a salve for my sore muscles.

I walked back, and when I arrived I found the maid did the laundry and it was hanging everywhere drying.. I had dinner at an Indian restaurant (lamb), then got pastry for breakfast. I then sat outside on a wall in front of the hotel, watching the world go by. Geoffrey showed up unexpectedly and we went out to look for cuff links. He got dinner from a street vendor. After we returned I went back to my place on the sidewalk to watch the comings and goings at an ex-pats bar across the street. I called Yeji to apologize and explain about eye color and thank her for the medicine.

 

Wednesday the 9th: (Kimchee for breakfast! This must be Korea :-) Today (Wednesday, not the time stamp provided by Blogger which goes by my computer clock still set on North American eastern time) is a holiday in Korea, in commemoration  of Sejong the Great (see http://asiasociety.org/countries/traditions/king-sejong-great).

The storm seems to have passed us by. I woke up at about 1:30 and it was quiet and there was no rain. I at first thought we were in the eye of the storm but at 4:30 it was still quiet. I got up at 5:00. At 6:30 I took my blood sugar and it was 140; high for fasting but not worrisome.

I went over to the Hotel International for the breakfast buffet which Geoffrey suggested. It was expensive but good. A cook prepared eggs to order and I had the recommended kimchee and cheese omelet. Another table had breakfast meats and Korean dishes . I had a little of each of the kimchee, smoked salmon, bacon, sausage, chicken wings, and duck. I also had some bread to buffer the kimchee. I went back for more kimchee and salmon later. As I was eating Duke came through and stoped to chat, then went to the next room to sit with his crew. When I left the hotel a self professed Scot sitting at a sidewalk table drinking beer in front of a "CV" (convenience store) invited me over and we chatted for a while. He wass drinking beer and I'm not sure if he was just getting in or was out early. The guy next to him was asleep, head on table, so I suspect the former. 

I went back to the room and read the "paper." Later I went over to Paris Baguette for lunch, then came back again for a long nap. Geoffrey was to pick me up later in the afternoon but got quite busy preparing for the formal "meeting of the parents" at his apartment and I had told him it would be fine for me to take a taxi, and sure enough that is what I did.

I was still a little early and after chatting a bit stood on the balcony with Geoffrey as he cooked meat, fish and chestnuts. When Yeji's family arrived we went in and talked and looked at the pictures of Geoffrey I had brought and some of hers for the wedding and a book of some of her and her teacher and students. We then exchanged gifts. There was even something for Pat. On the way out I said good-by at the top of the steps and when the others were gone Yeji went down last and almost at the bottom of the first flight turned and asked "Dad, is it alright if next time I hug you? It is not the Korean way." I said "That would be wonderful" then paused and told her in Korean to go on down and started down the steps myself. At the bottom I gave her a hug. She seemed pleased, and Geoffrey confirmed that later. 

 

To see the wedding invitation, click here.

On Sunday the 6th I was ready to go but Pat was feeling sick and couldn't drive me to the airport like we had planned. She suggested I take a cab. The taxi was due at 5:30 in the morning but didn't get here until 6:15 and after several telephone calls. It seems they didn't have a driver and had to call someone at 63^rd and Market who was just getting off duty. If I hadn't kept calling I wonder if anyone would have come at all. Fortunately the plane was an hour delayed so there was no emergency but if I hadn't called he might not have come.

In the confusion I forgot my diabetes injections. I had them in the refrigerator and was waiting until last to pack them so as to keep them cold. I realized I didn't have them when I was about to have breakfast at the airport in Philadelphia. I called American Express as they have a program to help travelers with medical problems. They did a lot of research but couldn't help. They could have helped me transfer my prescription to a drug store in Chicago but I wouldn't have time to get it and still make my flight. I was caught between two imperatives: getting to Korea, and keeping my blood sugar controlled. I checked it regularly and told myself that if it shoots up before I get on the plane I'll go to a hospital, but once I boarded the twelve and a half hour flight to Tokyo I was stuck with whatever I had decided at that point. I did have my Glyset, and was very careful about what I ate, and my blood sugar was only slightly high (always between 116-165) all day.

We crossed the dateline and it is now Monday the 7th. With all the sitting (I got an aisle seat so I can get up from time to time but I am doing a lot of reading (Timeline by Michael Crichton, finished over 300 pages on the tripover) and taking cat naps. I am getting a sore neck and right shoulder, and butt. They checked my passport in Tokyo (Narita) but that is about all. I tried to talk to the agent at the Japan Airlines (JAL) desk in Korean, but of course she is Japanese; I was tired. I explained my mistake by saying that since it is a flight to Korea I thought she might know Korean. I was wheeled all the way to the end of the JAL concourse to wait for the flight to Busan where there was a group of older Korean woman enjoying themselves and joking.

I took a picture of two JAL stewardesses bowing to the waiting passengers as they boarded the plane, all very formal. I was impressed with their safety lecture before the plane took off, done consciously with attention and not carelessly like on the American flight. Japan (and Korea) don't have anti age discrimination laws and they were all young women except for the chief stewardess who may have been forty. On the American Airlines flight one stewardess must have been close to sixty and was almost too fat to fit down the aisle.

Immigration and customs were very perfunctory and I sailed right through. Geoffrey met me at the gate and his mother was outside in the car. She came in and helped me get a rental cell phone and we left. He took me to Changwon Hospital where I got a prescription for Lantus but by the time we got out of the ER the drug store was closed. Geoffrey was concerned but I pointed out I couldn't take insulin anyway right before bed on an empty stomach as it would have nothing to act on and I could get (would probably get) a low blood sugar reaction.

Tuesday, September 8^th, Changwon: Geoffrey called at about 6:45 to make sure I was OK. Right after I showered and had a cup of coffee (actually a bottle Geoffrey got for me last night) I took a cab to get the Lantus, but when I got back I went to Paris Baguette near the hotel for breakfast and found they hadn't given me any needles so I had to go back to the drug store. It was more carbohydrates than I would have eaten if I didn't have the Lantus. I called Pat on the cell phone. She said Geoffrey had called her already. Near the drug store I found a tabang! Tabangs, or tearooms, have been pretty much replaced by Starbucks style coffee shops. I had to go in and have a cup of coffee.

It is raining, Geoffrey said there is a typhoon coming and I guess this is it. Walking on the street near the hospital this morning I have my umbrella still rolled up and a man with his umbrella fully deployed motions for me to open it. By evening when Geoffrey picks me up to go back to his place the wind is quite strong. It is Typhoon Danas and is expected to peak between 9:00 Pm and 9:00 AM tomorrow. Umbrellas are useless and will be destroyed if one opens it in the wind. We did go to Lotte Mart with Sook for dinner and to do some shopping

Geoffrey is getting married

Back to Changwon

My son Geoffrey has been working in Changwon (창원), Korea on an industrial project for the Korean government since May, 2012, and I visited him there in October. In July of this year Pat and I spoke with him on Skype. Early on in the conversation he moved the camera so as to include Yeji in the picture, and introduced her saying they were going to be married in December in the Smyrna Presbyterian Church in Changwon. Before they are married Geoffrey is to be baptized (with water! we have talked about this).

You can see a blog of my last visit, (reverse order with last entry first) at http://koreanjournal2012.blogspot.com/

In the middle of this month (August) Geoffrey informed me of a change of plans. They are to be married October 12th in the church and the legal marriage will follow soon after.

Geoffrey will come home at project's end, probably sometime in November. In December Yeji will get her master's degree in vocal music (opera) from Changwon National University, and will then come to Pennsylvania to join him (or he might stay on until then - plans keep evolving).

Geoffrey will have to find a job and a place to live such that he can continue school at Drexel University in the Saturday Scholars Program (Computer Security). I have tickets to go over on October 6th (arrive on the 7th) to be at the wedding. What with finding a place to live, starting a new job, and returning to school he will be very busy preparing for Yeji's arrival. On arrival she will have much on her plate as well, improving her English and getting used to a new country and culture. Pat and I are looking forward to helping in any way we can.  

Our family has a 60+ year involvement in Korea. My uncle Captain Fred "Bud" Kelley flew C-47s (navigator) during the war, supplying troops behind the lines and evacuating wounded. Just before he was to come home he was shot down and killed. I served with the Peace Corps (평화 봉사단) in 1968-69, living in GongJu (충청남도, 공주), and there met Geoffrey's mother, Kyung-Sook. Now he too will be bringing a bride home with him.