Seoul sisters

On Saturday I planned to go to Seoul with Martie, Cor, Kuyng Jung and their Australian friend Georgia. Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men fall before 200 dawdling high school girls being loaded into and out of the bus on the way. Suddenly the time of the bus journey doubled. And Jenni missed her train to Seoul. Sad Jenni.

Rather than go home, and plot the murder of high school girls everywhere, I managed to buy " a ticket, any ticket!" on a later train to Seoul. 5 brownie points for me for making it to Seoul on my ace. There I met Cara and we took the Seoul subway (its like a black hole.. you could stay in there forever) to Insadong. Finally meeting up with my original crew, we did some window shopping in the street markets and then had organic coffee at a coffee shop. I love the little winding streets and pretty restaurants and of course, its an awesome place to buy Korean gifts for friends; ornate chopsticks, silks, fans and such like.

We then went to Itaewon and booked into a semi-dodgy, but cheap motel. Itaewon is called "the foreigner ghetto" with good reason. Its the only place in Korea that has so many white, brown and black skins! Jenni from the Shingeri hamlet (foreigner population: 3) stares at the foreigners more than the Koreans do. (Do I really look as strange?) Whether you're being checked out by the Pakistanis, or accosted by the street vendors trying to sell you a suit, or ducking out of the way of the African-American basketball players (in full uniform, nogal), Itaewon is great for international food and the fruitiest foreigners to even populate a single suburb.

So next was a house party at Cor's German friend Andrea. She has this sweet roof on her apartment overlooking Seoul. We made it just in time for sunset. It was a clear day, and the view was spectacular. The German food (lots of potatoes!) and Soju-punch were just what the doctor ordered. Got to meet lots of new German and Austrian people, which is pretty easy for us South Africans to relate to. They drink a lot, eat similar food and we can even understand each other's language. And Martin brought his grandfather's homemade Schnapps. (Lumka! You can get drunk just from inhaling the fumes!)

Then it was out on the town in Itaewon. We visited the most liberal street in Korea, first for some Humus and pita and then for some beer at the Queen bar. The street was packed with all sorts of men, women and men-pretending-to-be-women doing things that most of conservative Koreans would really frown on. Luckily I'm not a really conservative Korean.

Slept for a good four hours in the motel before being woken up by some Korean men returning at daybreak and announcing it to the world! So I Seoul'd out and took the early train back to Cheonan, making it in time for church. A night on the town and praising God in church the next morning...just shows you: you can do it all, with a little luck and liberal use of eye drops...