Trip to Yeosu

I was in desperate need for some groceries. Once I get my alien registration card, credit card, and cell phone all setup I will be able to order groceries online, but until then it's a little more challenging. To that end, last week I took my first excursion back to the mainland!

I woke up early on Saturday and boarded the ferry with my coworkers. As I mentioned earlier, we all live in the same dormitory next to the elementary school so it's convenient to meet up with people and carpool together. Everyone had been on the island for a few weeks now and were excited to see the big city again. The ferry was comfortable, almost like an airplane. I passed the 2.5 hour trip reading and watching TV.

Since we arrived on Saturday and would return on Sunday, my first mission was to find a place to stay, so I ventured alone into the city. I've traveled to Korea alone before, so I generally know what I'm doing, but since it was a new area and I still have an injured leg, it was important for me that I find a hotel close to the ferry terminal. A couple blocks hiking down a dingy alley with my luggage, I went into the first hotel that I found. I did a good job negotiating the room with the receptionist until she asked me a question that I didn't understand and I had to look up a word (현금, cash). It's safe to say that I'll never forget that word again after having this experience!

Next, I wanted to get coffee and lunch. I'm an old hand at ordering coffee from last visit ("Americano chooseyo", or "give me an Americano), but I picked up some new phrases recently, such as "make it hot". I also found a nice hotdog stand with $1 sugar-covered corndogs, and afterwards another restaurant with really good kimchi fried rice. Besides a few hiccups I was getting by on my own speaking only Korean.

The one thing I'd been dreading all day was visiting the department store. I generally don't like shopping in busy areas, especially in COVID times, but Korean stores are another level of busy. I caught a taxi to the four story E-mart. This is tiny compared to places in Seoul and Incheon.

When I started this blog, I wrote a list of things that I wish I'd brought ("Nothing yet!"). My only issue so far has been with nicer shirts and pants. While there isn't a strict dress code at school, I want to start dressing a little better, so the first thing on my list was nice pants. I found a cheap pair that I liked and even got to exchange the color using a phrase that my tutor taught me in a shopping dialogue. I even learned that the department store will hem your pants for you right there at the store.

Once I was finished shopping, I headed to the tailor. I was pretty burned out from shopping at this point and I don't think the tailor wanted to deal with an ignorant foreigner, so he was a little short with me. I got confused when he asked for money by saying "3 things" in Korean. I would have understood easily if he'd said "3000 won" but when he said "3 things" I didn't understand. what 3 things? Minutes? Eventually he showed me some bills and I figured it out, but I spent some time afterwards reflecting on the conversation. You may want to help by talking down to someone, but actually end up being more confusing as a result.

After shopping, I took a break at my hotel and then went out to Gwangyang to meet up with some expat friends for a COVID-safe hangout (groups of 4 or less are okay). It was really strange to hang out with native English speakers in-person after being on the island for 2 weeks. We ended up staying out until 3AM so I was completely worn out the next day, but I had eating and singing karaoke. It's good to know that there's people around who I can meet up whenever I'm on the mainland.

We headed back to Geomun-do the next day. It was an exhausting trip, but I feel like I managed to do a lot in 24 short hours. Next time I will try to leave on Friday to give myself more time.

I survived Yeosu!