Busan, Korea

So it’s been another couple of days since I’ve been able to write a blog post. For some reason I’ve been unable to use international data roaming on my phone for internet access, which is probably not such a bad thing considering the cost. I’ve had to wait until I could find a reliable open wireless access point to connect to the internet.

I’m sitting up in the circular shaped bed in this bizarre motel, which, based on past experience, is pretty much normal for the Korean versions of motels. The room is 3-4 metres square, with a small bathroom. It looks fairly old, and the bed is fairly hard, but hey, it beats sleeping on the floor like I’ve been doing since I got to Korea. It’s on the second floor of a mid sized building, with what I imagine to be the owners, an elderly couple, living in what doubles as their office on the ground floor. The only source of heat seems to be the electric blanket, but it isn’t too cold – unlike the weather outside.

I’ve been pretty cold for the last few days – I’m not sure whether that’s because of my cold, or just because the temperature is really low. Tonight I wore five layers: my ski jacket, a hoodie, a jumper, a long sleeved thick tshirt, and finally my thermal undershirt. Along with my neck warmer thing (I’m sure there’s a technical term, but I don’t know it) and my ski gloves, I wasn’t too cold.

We left the ski resort at Yong Pyong yesterday after lunch, then drove to Chong Seong (I’ve no idea on the correct spelling for that). That was an interesting trip to say the least. The hired van in which the 11 of us were travelling wasn’t running properly. After initial consultation with the hire company and a mechanic, it was thought it just needed to warm up more. One hour and some very rough driving later, things hadn’t improved. The diesel powered van seemed to have no power – it would coast fine downhill, but under any sort of load it, for lack of a better term, bunny-hopped along. The sort of driving style one would expect for an inexperienced driver with a manual gearbox, but constantly. The general consensus among the mechanically minded of us was that there was water mixed in with the diesel somehow. Anyway, another visit to another mechanic later, with the fuel filters replaced, the van returned to normal, and we continued our journey.

Like last year, we stopped at Chong Seong overnight, and visited a national park this morning, complete with frozen river and waterfalls. After lunch we continued south to Busan, stopped temporarily at the apartment some of us had been living in for the past 6 weeks or so, before going to the motel. Having organised our accomodation, we went out for dinner. I had a cheesy spaghetti, having eaten Korean food for the past few meals. Korean food, although for the most part edible enough, doesn’t seem to do a great job of satiating my hunger.

After dinner, we handed out some packs of refresher towels, with a sticker advertising the bible seminars here in Busan. It took around 30 minutes to hand out 1,000 of them! We warmed up in the starbucks nearby, before catching the bus back to the motel. The bus driver seemed to think he was driving an amusement park ride, with sudden and aggressive acceleration, braking, and lane changes. It made me very thankful when a seat became available.

And now, time for bed. Tomorrow is certain to be a long day, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to post here again.

A big shout out to Claire, and anyone else who happens to be reading this.