This Halloween weekend was somewhat of a disaster (losing a phone,
being sick, rain like you wouldn't believe and rediscovering my square
wheels) but also a great time (Halloween, drinks, a nice little hike, an
unexpected laugh attack, getting my phone back and the fireworks
festival).
A lot of bad
things were manageable. A runny nose has never stopped me from going out, even
when it’s raining cats and dogs, just add another layer. For the square wheels
I blame alcohol, arrogance being contagious, and stereotyping girls from
New York as very up front "cut the crap" kind of ladies, especially
when they have a stripper's name. Halloween was the following evening.
Everybody got dressed up, and had a night on the town. Somewhere in between
leaving the bar and getting into a taxi, I managed to lose my phone. I
realized it was gone once I got out of the cab. Either way this event
managed to spring me into a very eventful Sunday.
So here are the
good things. I was super impressed with my Halloween costume. I went as a
crazy homeless man: tin foil hat to prevent the satellites from reading
your mind, sign that states "guvermint konspearacees are real" a
construction site tape for a belt (I couldn't find an extension cord), and
plastic bags for my feet. Because it was all free my costume was completely
disposable, a major plus. The following morning, without my cell phone in a
sweat lodge of an apartment, I figured I would go on a journey to try and find
my phone. I went to both bars I vaguely remember going to, both of which
were closed, but I managed to find the legendary 2hrs of unlimited
beer for 10,000 won.
I continued on my
walk to discover this:
It started at 72
seconds. My mind just continued churning out ways you can cross this
2-lane road and still make it to the other side: rolling, lunging, crawling,
paddling a canoe, or riding a turtle. It's endless. Then I
walked down to Gwangalli Beach, the site of the Fireworks Festival.
Gwangalli Beach is the site of my cover photo, featuring the Gwangalli
Bridge. The site is always very beautiful and because there's plenty of
time in the day, the I-pods pumping some rocking beats I decide I'm going to
walk over to the other side and see what I can discover. Doesn't take
long to see some really cool things, lots of little marinas were scattered
around the shoreline and plenty of fishermen too. When I got to the other side
of the bridge, the music kept rocking so I kept going. I made it up to Igdae
Park which is a hiking trail that goes along the shoreline. The weirdest things
on that 2+km trek were a tree growing out of concrete (talk about hiding your
roots) and rock pathway which was a primitive bed of nails. Each stone was half
buried, or cemented in the ground with pointed tops, most of the
people I saw did it in their socks. I did the same and tried to walk
across the whole thing but, it kills me to say, I only made it half way before
I put my shoes back on. Either way feeling revitalized I took the subway home,
checked facebook to discover that the person with my phone has been calling
people in my phone. Winning - too bad he only spoke Korean. Thankfully, the
kind stranger sent one of them their number.
Today I asked one
of my co-teachers to phone and ask where I can pick it. He explains he's
running an errand by my school and drops it off this afternoon. Because of the
short notice I didn't have time to get him a gift so I tried to hand him 10,000
won, but he refused (pretty much running out of the classroom giving me the X
sign the whole time and shaking his head almost violently). While he was on
the phone with my co-teacher though he explained that he owns a restaurant
that's famous for pig’s feet, the direct translation from Korean is trotters.
Now as payment I have to venture to this restaurant to hopefully
appease the Lost and Found God.
Thinking back to
the last time I lost my phone, I suddenly realize how helpful
and determined Koreans are in comparison to back home. Last time I
lost my phone it slipped out of my pocket in a mall in one of the
poverty-stricken pockets of Toronto. When I realized it was gone I used my
mom's phone, who was my chaperon at the time, to call my phone. Here's how
it went down:
The phone rings
twice.
"Hello?"
"Hi, you have
my phone. Can we-"
"Yeah this is
my phone now."
*Hangs up.
This person was
obviously the one who didn't share in kindergarten. This Korean man, however,
made up for it: phoning tons of people on my contact list
and anyone who was trying to contact me. Despite the language barrier he
kept trying to solve the problem and I totally commend him for it. It's
people like this, in a city so amazing, that make me want to be the best person/teacher
I can be.
After getting home to discover the news that this guy was
consistently trying to solve the problem I went out to the fireworks festival.
And that’s when Korea really blew my mind bringing a completely new meaning to “light
up the sky.” You would think one hour of fireworks could get boring, it doesn't
One x-factor is the people surrounding you, one woman next to us was like a kid
on Christmas morning, waving her hands and clapping, grinning ear to ear the
entire time. Gwangalli beach was packed probably upwards of 40,000 people is my
guess. The pathway home was a long one to say the least. Police and security were
controlling 3 subway stations regulating people at the street entrances and the
turnstiles. Twas a zoo. So much so I kept walking until the next subway
station, half an hour away. Still an amazing night.
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