Kind Koreans

I got a bit of a late start because I did not get up when the alarm went off. Because we intended to leave by 10, I scrunched my morning routine a little. Instead of my usual exercises, I walked up the 60+ steps behind our quarters. Three times. I also took a bit of a side trip but came back with seed pods stuck all over my legs. I pulled them out before I came in the house. Cecily and Alfred called. Mostly they talked to Chris. I guess they could not hear me. Then we washed up and got dressed for the party. On the way to the front gate, we stopped at the ATM for cash. Then we went to the CU to put more money on our bus cards. Walked towards the bus stop, we saw the bus pull away. We waited a bit for the next one, then hailed a passing taxi. He took us to the bus depot. There we got tickets to Busan and that bus left fairly soon. It took over an hour to get there because it made so many stops along the way. We got off at Hadan, and took the subway to Bumil. From there we walked to Busanjin Market. This was the place that the MWR bus had taken us to buy fabric weeks ago. With Chris following me, I attempted to walk down every aisle and get a good idea of what was there and where the important things were. The building was not rectangular so I was not as successful as I hoped. We investigated the second floor and then the first. And the basement, and then around the perimeter outside. In the process, I gained fabric and webbing for a bag, and ribbon for baby gifts. Then we walked back to the subway. We passed a woman selling eels on a rope; all woven together like garlic. Sadly I did not get a picture. We transferred from the orange line to the green line and rode to Dongbaek. From there we tried to find the Admiral's apartment. It was not near the station and we walked out of our way. My feel and ankles hurt from all the walking. If I had known, I would not have walked up the steps this morning. Anyway, we did find the party, an hour after it started, on the 37th floor. He and his wife had a spread on a table with quite a view. There were drinks in the kitchen and a video of a fireplace on TV. Chris introduced me to several people. The admiral's wife and I got on well. She pointed out from the window how to get to a closer subway station. I found a few things to eat that did not involve sugar. Then we made our farewells. We walked to the subway with no trouble finding the way. I walked slowly because I was exhausted (and hungry). Once we got on the train going west, my back had had enough. We were standing in a crowded car. I sank to my knees to rest my back. A Korean couple jumped up from their seats and insisted that we sit down. I was so embarrassed and yet grateful. We had a long ride, and then another transfer. We found the platform for the orange line, and there was a seat open on the bench. I sank into it and the older lady next to me moved over and indicated that Chris should sit with me. When the train came, it was even more crowded than the last. I wanted a taxi, but we got on the train. The older lady made someone give up their seat and pointed me to it. I was grateful to her, too. It was another long ride to Hadan. By the time we arrived, the train car was almost empty. We walked up to the top, and I sat while Chris bought bus tickets to Jhinhae. The line was really long, but that turned out to be for another bus. When the Jinhae bus arrived, fewer people got on, but still we had to sit separately. But along the way, two seats cleared out and we then sat together. The trip back was shorter for some reason. It was dark when we got off. We were headed to a bus stop when Chris spotted a taxi. We took it back to the base. Then we had to walk uphill to our quarters. I was crying with exhaustion and aches. But when we got in, Chris fixed me some supper. I felt better after eating chicken and kimchi. Then he made me a salad. After checking e-mail and listening to some Cancer Summit audios, we watched an episode of Sharpe's Rifles. Then Chris went to bed while I stayed up to recreate my day through my blog.
* This is the 40+ story building we were in *