Craving a home-like atmosphere, I managed to convince a small group of friends to go explore the nightlife down near Songton Airforce Base. After school on Friday I took a quick run up Chilbo San (I learned the Korean word for mountain) before meeting Brett and his girlfriend Jessica outside of Suwon Station. Within minutes we were exchanging the usual pleasantries on board the Korail bound for Songton. Brett and Jessica are wonderful people, having been in the country about the same period of time as myself, the two hail from Georgia and have been together since high school. We were so deeply entrenched in each others dialogue that we got off at the wrong station, a minor setback.
Matt was hanging out at the main gate when we got to town and after exchanging a brief hello we wasted no time making our way to the closest bar. As much as I love the diverse, strange happenings occurring every day in Korea, there is something comforting about a homey dive bar that plays rock and roll and where fat, bearded men who own the gigantic chrome Harleys leaning out front come to gulp cheap beer and play pool. One cannot stress enough the psychological well being derived from belting corny songs, laughing at bad jokes, and revealing amateur, adolescent exploits in the company of good friends. In our case this managed to be accomplished after only two pitchers of beer. Emerging from the first bar we were taken by the dark Songton evening, cool, arid, and dreamily cascaded in neon. I took a couple nifty pictures of my surroundings before coming across a club called Seven Star. I’m willing to bet that there are at least one or two people reading this that can share the nostalgia this particular club’s name stirred in me.
Eventually we came to an underground club where we were approached by “Juicy Girls,” scantly dressed yet, in my opinion, unattractive escorts who sat at our table and made, what I thought, were attempts at solicitation. I assumed that they were just Filipino prostitutes but Matt insisted that they were only present to lure male patrons into the bar and would not actually have sex with you for money. I honestly think paying for sex is repulsive and the thought of handing over hard-earned cash to copulate with a complete stranger and more than likely contract an STD makes my stomach turn. But if Matt was right, these girls weren’t even full blown hookers...just poor conversationalists with horrible fashion sense and a penchant for latex. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. It’s like seeing a guy wearing a blue uniform, a badge, and carrying a gun but who won’t stop you from robbing a bank. And if these girls weren’t whores than they were really only there to be teases, which strikes be as both insulting and counterproductive (sorry for any suggestive language, I strive to withhold vulgarities from this publication but sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade). They were good for a quick laugh at first but quickly became annoying. I came here to relax with my friends, I kept thinking, not pursue an awkward, barely decipherable verbal exchange with some impoverished girl I have nothing in common with. The Airforce personnel in the club seemed to enjoy the fabricated affection, a girl on each arm, as if the transparent sexual facade somehow justified their manhood. I, on the other hand, just nodded apathetically in time with the Juicy Girl's broken English rambles, occasionally offering a guttural "uh huh" as more of a plead to be left alone with my beer than an actual acknowledgement of her presence. We only stayed in that bar for a few rounds before venturing towards a less obviously dissolute establishment, but not before snapping a sarcastic picture for the blog.
The Juicy Girls were certainly the most blog worthy event of the night but it was far from over. We visited lots of cool pubs in Songton, threw some darts, made some jokes. The night was defined by spontaneous levity. Eventually, Matt and I proceeded to the nearest Jinjibang, Brett and Jessica having returned to Suwon via taxi. The sauna appeared to have been converted from a retired grocery store and was moderately luxurious. Searching for the locker rooms, Matt and I accidentally wound up on the roof where several ferocious canines were chained to a large, derelict neon sign. I wasn’t in a mood to question the reason for keeping mean, undomesticated dogs in such a spontaneous location, so instead I grabbed a quick shower and fell asleep in a spacious, yet humid sleeping room.
On Saturday afternoon I picked up my phone to call Jessica. One of the interesting tid-bits she offered while we imbibed the previous evening was an opportunity to see Gary Sinise in concert at a USO show. It sounded like just the type of material I needed to put together I compelling blog entry. For those of you who don’t know, Gary Sinise played Lieutenant Dan in Forest Gump, amongst other notable acting roles. He travels to USO shows, playing bass guitar in the Lieutenant Dan Band for the purpose of entertaining troops. The show was located on a base called Camp Casey about three hours north near the DMZ. While transferring trains in some open farm town up north an altercation between a locomotive operator and a civilian erupted on the platform. In the two months I’ve been in the country this is the third time I’ve seen grown men angrily lose control in public. Every time this happens it becomes a sort of spectator sport, both foreigners and natives gathering to observe the commotion. I couldn’t tell you what the fight was about and I find that it’s more interesting that way, but I managed to grab a quick video.
Patty was Jessica’s Army friend and our ticket onto a U.S. Military Base. After passing through the security checkpoint I became aware that for the first time in almost ten weeks I was standing on U.S. soil. I know nothing about the geography was different but there was a subtle tingle of familiarity about the place that perked the corners of my mouth into a sly, comforting grin. Only dollars were accepted on the base, which presented a problem when I tried to get a twelve pack at the canteen, but I met some cool soldiers who traded me dollars for my Won. Never anticipated that problem. One cool thing about the base was the American car dealerships where one could drive off with a fully loaded Hemi Challenger for only $21,000…that is of course if you are an active member of the military.
The Lieutenant Dan Band was entertaining. I mean, with a roster of decent 70’s and 80’s cover songs they were by no means a defining impact on the overall evolution of music…but... I was entertained.
I left around 10 p.m. because I wanted to get as close as possible to Seoul before the subway shut down. I made it to Itaewon where I met up with Mark, the coolest thing to ever come out of Nebraska. We knocked back a few before I wandered off and got lost. Unable to find the bar where I had left my friends I just decided to pay the exorbitant fee of 40,000 Won to take a taxi back to my apartment. I suppose it was worth it to sleep in my own bed as opposed to another jinjibang.
Today marked the first day that students had finals and at 12:30 I was told by the higher ups that I could go home early. Awesome! Having a long afternoon I consented to do some hiking, but Chilbo San was getting boring. There was a mountain range on the other side of Suwon that looked like a challenge and that I had been meaning to attempt for quite some time. Ms. Huh informed me that it was called Gwanggu San and was easy to get to on the #13 Bus (where can’t I take the #13 bus?). At the base of the mountain a huge radio installation can be seen perched atop the summit.
As I proceeded up the entranceway to Gwanggu San I passed a deep, grey reservoir. On the opposite side of the dam, in the cool shade of over hanging branches, a school of enormous wild Koi swam lazily back and forth; each one of them much larger than a cat.
The climb was easily four times that of Chilbo San and in the scorching, humid afternoon I was quickly drenched in sweat before even making it a quarter of the way up. I passed some really friendly people who wanted to know if I was a teacher or a soldier. I also passed some ignorant racist jerks that spit at the ground as I walked pass them. Wasn't the first time, won't be the last. Upon reaching the ridge my heart was pounding and my breath was coming in deep, rapid gasps.
I find the geographical layout of the mountain ranges in this country to be fascinating. There seems to be no plateaus or conical projections, but only thin successive ridges, as if the whole country had been squeezed on two sides, forming patterns of narrow wrinkles across the topography. I have yet to see a ridge line that is wider than ten meters before dropping off at either side. The steep trek had brought me to the ridge but I needed to proceed further uphill to get to the peak. Climbing the face of Gwanggu San was steep but relatively unobstructed, where as the ridge was a shallow climb but covered in rocky outcrops…so pick your poison. The view from the top was breathtaking but despite my best efforts I was unable to get a good picture of the cityscape spread out far below. The air was so saturated in moisture that every snapshot resulted in a misty white blur. 
I hiked over to the radio installation, taking some time to ponder how such a massive structure could be erected in the absence of roads but was unable to formulate a hypothesis. Heavy lifting helicopters perhaps? 
I took my time hiking down, listening to birdcalls and watching butterflies hover in and about wildflowers before boarding a bus back home.
As a final note to this incredibly long entry I’d like to say Happy Birthday to my niece Avery Jayne and congratulations to my brother and his wife on becoming parents. I’m sure it’s an exciting time for the family back home and I can’t wait to see the little cutie in person. Someone on the other side of the world loves you guys.
Cool Thing About Korea #15: These pretty little Dragonflies that have taken to hovering near my apartment door and don’t seem to mind posing for pictures.
