Korea - Day 10 - Heading Home?

I woke up at 4:30am, enjoying the relative quiet of the morning as the sun rose over Tokyo. I caught up on emails and other paperwork, showered and packed. By 9:00am I was in my brother's room talking about yesterday's game and the injury toll on the team. There are a number of bumps and bruises to be sure, and only an X-ray will determine the presence of fractures. Hopefully he and the others heal up and rest before their final game on Friday against Korea. The game is in Dubai, and while the thought of showing up for that one has crossed my mind, I think I would really like to get back home and see my family.

I had to leave for the airport by 9:30am. And so, with a big hug I bid my brother goodbye. It's hard enough that we live on opposite sides of the planet. It would be so much nicer if we could pop in on weekends to visit with each other. Alas, I like Michigan as much as he likes Dubai - I guess it will be this way for a while longer yet.

The flight back to Korea was leaving from Narita airport. This main international airport is over an hour east of downtown Tokyo - by express train. By contrast Haneda airport was a short 20-minute monorail ride to the downtown area. I walked from the hotel to the subway station and caught a train to Otamachi, a stop within walking distance of Tokyo Station. As I made that walk I noticed that I was not only feeling out of place in Tokyo, but I was looking forward to getting back to Korea.

Don't get me wrong - Tokyo is a beautiful city. There is much to commend it. I think that my feelings stem from the facts that traffic in Tokyo is on the left, prices are a bit more expensive and that I'm figuring out how to read Korean (more on that later). All together it makes me feel just that much more out of place, let alone I'm over 6 feet tall and not Asian.

I strolled into Tokyo Station and looked at the board to buy my next train ticket. For 1280 yen (about $15 US) I could continue the subway adventure, but I would have to make two or three transfers. The trip might take 90 minutes or more. There was a direct train, the Narita Express, which would only make one stop in Chiba and have me at the airport in about 60 minutes. I went to the Japan Rail office to purchase a ticket. Because they only accept debit cards issued by Japanese banks, I had to pay cash. The problem was the ticket was 2940 yen and I only had 2200 yen left. I asked whether he would take US dollars or Korean won, but he wanted yen. So off I went in search of yen.

I found an ATM machine, but it too would not accept my non-Japanese card. I asked about whether a bank was open, but being Sunday I was hardly optimistic. Finally I discovered that there was a money exchanger - on the other side of the turnstiles. So I bought the cheapest subway fare (170 yen) and made my way through the station until I found the money changer. There I bought enough yen for the ticket and made my way back to another ticket counter, where I was given credit for the subway fare I had already paid. Ticket in hand I went down to the platform and waited to board the train.

The ride to Narita was pleasant and uneventful. We passed through the city and the outer suburbs before going through some open country. An hour later I was at the airport, checking in for the flight to Busan. I chose to fly back to Busan because it is much closer to Daegu than is Seoul.

The flight left Narita at about 2:00pm and arrived in Busan just before 4:00pm. I made my way through Passport Control and headed for the Bus Stop. I was determined to make my way back to the hotel in Daegu without using a taxi. Nothing against taxis; I just wanted the challenge of making my way around Korea using more public transportation.

At the bus stop I identified the correct bus that would take me to Gupo Station, from where I could connect with the KTX high-speed train to Daegu. Proudly I boarded the bus and made my way to the back. As I watched the bus stops go by I realized I forgot to count how many bus stops it would be before I had to get off. Scrambling I began reading the names of the bus stops and matching them to the map in the bus. To my surprise I realized that while I was on the right bus, it was heading the opposite direction!

Great, I thought. I could always bail and have a taxi get me to the train station. But I decided to hold out as the bus stop line ended at a subway station. I made my way down to the subway, and come to find out that this subway would take me right to Busan Station, where I could pick up the KTX.

Pleased by this turn of events I boarded the subway and exited at Busan Station. Once there I bought my train ticket and boarded my train. The first stop was Gupo Station, my original goal. As we approached Gupo I began to realize how far away it was. Had I tried to get there by bus it would have been a much longer trip. Smiling that getting lost was getting me back more quickly, I settled back into my seat for the remainder of the one-hour trip.

Once we arrived at the Dongdaegu Station (The "Dong" prefix means "East") I asked for help to select a bus that would get me to my hotel. A friendly young man told me that any one of four buses would get me to within a block of the hotel. Pleased by this I waited for one of those buses to show up. Twenty minutes later I was checked into my hotel room and ready to sleep for the night.

Now that I'm back in Korea I feel like I've come home. Having bonded with the country over the past week, learning some of the culture, language and customs, I feel very comfortable here. This is the first time that I have been in a country where I have absolutely no ability to meet the native people close to halfway in communicating with them. Yet somehow, through their kindness and willingness to be patient with me along with the occasional English speaker, we've been able to connect.

It feels good to be back on home turf.