Escape from Seoul

I got out of Seoul for my first time last weekend. While I love the city, I had been anxious to experience some of Korea's country side so I jumped at the offer by one of my Korean friends, Banff, to travel to the east coast of the country for two days. The east coast is famous for their beaches, and since it is winter, we got an awesome deal on a 2 bedroom, beach front condo, called a pension. Heres how the trip went:

Banff (actual name Sunphil but he studied in Banff, Canada), myself, my friends Sahar and Phil, and the girl I have been dating, Jenna, left Seoul at 2am Friday night so we could arrive at the coast in time to see the sun rise. The drive was easy enough, almost no traffic or police, but since Korea is one of the most technologically advanced countries on Earth, they have installed speed detection cameras, that actually work, about every 5 miles. So, we'd be going along at a comfortable cruising speed, but then have to abruptly put on the brakes so Banff would avoid getting a speeding ticket in the mail. These cameras have eliminated the need for a lot of police on the expressways, but not the desire to maintain the illusion that they are there. To do this, they literally take the blue and red lights from the top of the cop car, bolt them to a pole, and turn them on. So, in addition to slowing for the cameras, we also had to pop the brakes every time we came around a corner and saw flashing lights, only to pass them and realize there was no car attached.

The drive took a little less than 4 hours and we arrived at a Buddhist temple to watch the sun rise over the ocean. The only problem was that is was cloudy that day, so we only got to see the day get lighter, but no sun. The temple we were at was beautiful though, definitely worth not sleeping for. There were also free noodles to be had if we stayed around until lunch time but we were too cold to stick around.


On the way to the pension, we decided to stop at this place called Unification Park where you could tour a decommissioned ship from the Korean Navy and a captured North Korean submarine. Ive never been one to advocate stopping at roadside attractions, but this was definitely worth the 2 dollars we paid to get in. The ship was huge and almost all of it was open to exploration; there was also a lot of interesting history about the naval conflicts between the North and South. On the other hand, the North's sub was cramped to say the least, we all had to wear hard hats because it was not possible to fully stand up. Either the North are all midgets or the people who served on the sub were being punished because there was barely room for two people to walk side by side.


After that, we made it to our pension, which was great except it was 'ondol' style meaning there werent any beds. There were pads though, and it is common for Koreans to sleep on the floor because their heating system is designed to rise from the floor and fill the room. So, it would have been tolerable, except the heat stopped working a few hours after we got there. It actually wasnt that bad since we had a lot of blankets, but obviously would have been nice to have heat. Once there, we just relaxed, walked on the beach, grilled out, and jumped in the ocean. When I found out we would be on the beach, I vowed to get in the water one time. I originally thought Id be the only one, but it turned out I wouldnt be the only bad ass on the trip. In the end, it was me, Banff, Phil, and Sahar that froze for those few seconds of glory in the water.

The highlight of the trip had to be Saturday night, where Banff put on a display to rival any Valentine's day decorations in the history of the holiday. No, it wasnt Valentine's day, but heres what happened (Let me first say that all Koreans are extremely over the top when it comes to showing affection towards friends, what would seem strange to us is normal for them, as you will see): After dinner, Banff left to use the phone, but was gone for close to an hour. When Sahar went to look for him, Jenna said not to interrupt, he was on an important call. Ok, we thought, we were drinking beer so we let it slip to the back of our minds once again. A little later, Jenna gets a text and says lets go find Banff, so we walk outside and Banff has set up about 100 candles on the beach in a heart design. In the middle of the heart was a stuffed bear and two plastic hearts, each about the size a fist; the hearts had the words "From Banff" and "I love you (in Korean)" printed on them. I didnt know what to say, but if I was a single girl, I certainly would have fallen in love with Banff that night. He proceeded to say how much he appreciated us coming and even though hadnt known any of us that long, he was really glad we were all friends. It was really nice, but definitely over the top considering the circumstances. Still, the highlight of the weekend for me.


We left the next day and made it back to Seoul in time for a well deserved nap before my language exchange. Thats right, Im learning Korean and on track to be the first trilingual person you know, more on this to come.

One more thing before I end this - Korean rest stops are incredible. Aside from being stared at like you are the only white person they will see this year, they were really enjoyable and had everything from gas to a food court to batting cages.