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The rest of the trip was terrific. I enjoyed building a wall and digging a trench, filling it in, then digging a second trench. It was nice to glorify the 1980's through song, and sneak out to the bar at night. The old retired folks in the neighborhood who came out to watch us every day were great. Sometimes, one of the old ladies would yell at our supervisor for something that had been done wrong (maybe about the water line we broke 3 times). It was good to share our snacks and drinks with them at break time, and to listen to them babble at us in Korean. The last night was paramount. The neighborhood hosted a small festival for us. A group of drummers walked through the neighborhood, to summon the residents to the event. We sat in the dark, eating rice cakes, while we listened to the drummers sing and work the audience into a frenzy with the drone of the drums. Our group also got to entertain. By the light of a yellow flood light, we sang "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls, and our special rendition of "Brown-Eyed Girl." The crowd loved us, and called for an encore. After that, the drummers began again, and soon worked up the crown enough for the dancing to begin. Soon, nearly everyone was on their feet, twisting their bodies and jumping to beat of the drums. We danced with each other, in a circle, by ourselves. Old women offered paper cups and hard liquor, and a bag full of garlic cloves. We danced until we could dance no more. The perfect end to a great trip. But my trip wasn't quite over yet. The next day, 10 of us were driven to Pusan, where we stayed the night. We got a great deal at a nice hotel, which was right next to the famous fish market and another market. I spent an entire day wandering the market place. It was huge, full of clothes stores and miscellaneous food stalls and such. I was surprised to see only a few foreigners while I was there. Though, I was also surprised not to find gifts for home. It wasn't much of a tourist market, unless the tourist planned to shop only for himself. The main products were clothes. And, can you believe that most stalls, and even stores WITH dressing rooms, wouldn't let us try on the clothes. I was lucky to find a store that let me try on pants and such, but when I went to try on a T-shirt, and told I couldn't. I was shocked and gave an appropriate look, which must have softened them, because the manager changed her mind and let me try on the T-shirt. But my friends weren't so lucky, and came back empty-handed because they couldn't try on anything. In Korea, I think it is important to try on the clothes. I am quite petite, but I was too big for a lot of clothes. Definitely my hips, but even my bust was too big, and my arms too long, though all the pants I tried on were way too long. Another novelty were the print club shops. I am sure everyone knows print club. I have seen the machines in New Zealand and America. You get a sheet of small photos of yourself. Korea also has these machines, but I found print club shops. There were many machines to choose from, with various themes and various prices. Along the wall were hats and wigs to wear for the photo. After your photo shoot, you could choose frames and key chains and such in which to put your photos. The quality was really good. Almost like a real photo. I was in heaven. Though I couldn't figure out how to use the machines, and ended up with really scary print club. Fashion was a bit odd in Korea. In Japan, the Kanto girls wear short skirts and six-inch soled shoes. In Korea, men and women wear really long-toed shoes. At first, it was hard not to laugh. My only thought was, "clown shoes." But they do look a lot like clown shoes. The women also wear very tight jeans. I didn't see many skirts, and definitely no short skirts. Korea is also a terrible place to be caught illegally parking. There was a serious crack down on offenders. Special women and men were on patrol everywhere. It took less than 30 seconds for an offender to be scolded. The patrollers would blow a whistle, then interrogate the offender. Not at all like Japan, where everyone parks illegally on narrow streets, and takes the risk of a $100 fine, but rarely gets caught. Another shocker was store hours. Open until 10:00 pm. Wow. In Japan, I am excited if a store is open until 8:00 pm. It was heaven. One more tidbit that you Illinoians will like. Deborah, the Christian from Seoul, wore very stylish T-shirt, that said, "Chanute Air Force Base Illinois." That base closed about 5 years ago, and is about 30 minutes from my house. So to sum up, I really loved Korea, and recommend it as a travel destination. Valerie Straayer |