Incheon, On-On, and Out

On Sunday, August 27th, I took my last sick day and went with Elana and Renee to Incheon, on the West (Yellow) Sea. We arrived via subway and through the underground mall (where we were followed by a peculiar guy) to an area with lots of restaurants, where we found a place that served dolsotbibimbap, which we’d all been craving. We then walked around the port town, with its Chinatown district, and to Wolmido Promenade, which felt like a Jersey Shore boardwalk. Lots of tourists (mostly Korean), bars, toys, cotton candy, etc. While walking, a guy with his friend was trying to surreptitiously take our photo, and we all simultaneously turned away, covered our face, or took cover behind another one of us. But we hadn’t conferred and we were each discreet—it was totally automatic and completely perplexed them. We howled right afterwards when we realized why they were so befuddled and what had happened. We are sadly accustomed to being a spectacle.

We took the ferry to the main island, Yeongjongdo, where the airport is, and searched in vain for a bathroom. We missed the bus to the other side and had to take a taxi, but got there before our bladders burst and in time for the ferry to another, smaller, island, Muido. We walked around near the port, in search of a reasonable place to spend the night, but none of the minbak (guesthouses) had beds (Renee is fine with the floor, I can deal with it for a night, but Elana needs a real mattress), and all were pricey and small. So we hiked around, and waved at regular intervals to a bus driver who kept passing us. Eventually, after having turned around at the end of a road, we got on, and had the bus to ourselves with Campbell, our English-speaking driver who gave us all kinds of info on our ride around the island. We couldn’t have planned it better! Well, except for the drunk guys who got on at one of the beaches until we returned to the port and wouldn’t leave us alone. Ah, soju. I will not miss the public drunkenness.

We caught the ferry back to Yeongjongdo and headed for Eulwangni beach, on the western shore. After a bit of searching, including being turned away because one place wouldn’t house foreigners, we found a great room for a reasonable price. Dinner proved more of a challenge, as the seaside resort areas tend to specialize in seafood, mostly shellfish. Renee is vegetarian, Elana is fussy, and I don’t have a clue how to order what on those kinds of menus, and most dishes are for more than one person. So we walked around a lot, had ice cream, then found a place with kimchi and tofu stew (sundubujigae), then bought some snacks to bring back to the room.

I woke up at 7:30 and should have gone running, but didn’t muster the oomph. I was really kicking myself by 11, when Renee and Elana woke up. Doh! We got out by checkout time, and went to the beach (which we’d picked because it supposedly isn’t a mudflat at low tide like the others—but it was…okay for lying on the white sand, but gross between the toes walking out to the water—totally unappealing) for a couple of hours, where some teenagers pretended to play with a ball near us so they could gawk, then decided to head to Ilsan, where we could do some shopping and treat ourselves to a predictable menu and meal at Outback.

We took the bus to the airport, where we took advantage of the bathroom with running water and soap (unlike at the beach) to clean up a little before the ride to Ilsan. We had a great meal with a flustered waiter, then bought a bunch of nonsensical English tshirts. We got home that night, and still had Tuesday off before work on Wednesday, which I took full advantage of for packing and planning and running long in the rain.

Wednesday was delightfully quiet at EV, as summer vacations were over and the daytrippers were back in school. The weather was nice and everyone was in a better mood. Anne and I finally had a long-attempted dinner to lament the most recent EV dramas, and share our recent adventures and future plans over 2 ½ bottles of wine.

Thursday was my last day of work, which was indescribably surreal. Again, it was quiet, although I did have one class—and the kids were the best we’d had. I brought cookie dough to Elana’s (she had just bought Anne’s oven), and she, Renee, and I sat around, talked, ate cookies and made fart sounds for the better part of the night.

Friday, I was in the last throes of getting my act together and out (I managed to sell lots of stuff—you’d be amazed at what people want to buy). I went on my last bike ride (apparently Sept. 1 is ‘drive like an idiot' Day in Korea), then took the bike apart and packed it up, with a lot of pedal hassle. I got most of the rest of my stuff packed up, most of my last emails sent, and the apartment mostly ready for one last hoo-haa of eating up all my food and drinking up all my booze. There was dancing with slotted utensils. There were interesting vodka concoctions and appetizers involving peanut butter, olives, cheese and saltines. Don and his friend Dino arrived at around 11pm, and when the comestibles were gone, we headed to the Live café across Heyri for more entertainment…until 3am, when we wobbled home, via the fountain, I believe.

Saturday was the day of departure, before which event I cleaned up and helped Don and Dino pack Don’s car with all my stuff in spite of fierce hangovers. We just barely fit in the car, and we drove to Songtan, while Elana took the train to meet us there. Upon our arrival at the post office, I was dismayed that it was already closed, as I’d asked Don a gazillion times what the Saturday hours were, and he’d not found out. Which left him to send all my stuff after I’d left, which made me uncomfortable a) because I didn’t want to leave him with that huge job and b) because I wanted to get it done myself and know that it was en route. But there was nothing to do about it at that point, so we went on with our day.

Yes, our day, which was to continue on a hash house harriers run through Songtan. I was awarded a special green grass skirt and coconut bra to wear on the hash, in honor of my being a departing runner. It was fun to bring Elana on her first hash, although we weren’t quite ready for the beer…but by the time we all got to Chili’s for dinner, I was psyched for a margarita. And on we went, to the Lion’s Den for pool, then out to a few places on the main drag, then back to Don’s for movies I sort of half-saw…

We slept in on Sunday, then joined Don’s pal Dave for Sunday brunch at the Officer’s Club on base, which was an extravaganza of all things brunchy—I think I was more full than after Chicken Village…is gluttony really such a bad thing? We got me to the bus station, and I bid insufficient adieus before we pulled out, en route to the airport and from Korea.