wanju-u

Returning to Seoul, I opted for a pit-stop in a college town on the way. Not that there's much chance I will take advantage of the areas party scene, assuming I can find it. I was up at 4:30 am this morn, so as soon as the adrenalin subsides, I'm getting under the covers somewhere. prolly not the night for me to find a karaoke bar with "it's not unusual" or "love shack".

I awoke after a short snooze at the brand spanking new bus station in this city of 300,000. An example of when Koreans totally get the knack of minimalist chic. The bathroom feels more like the standard hotel than a greyhound station. Why is it that in other countries, multiple story shopping malls are built around the bus depot, it's thousands of passengers providing a steady stream of shoppers needing everything from snacks to internet cafes, florists, shoemakers and better retailers. Meanwhile, US bus stations ive been to have had to resort to all kinds of security features, not even geared to possible terrorist attacks, but to just keep the lowly bunch of riders stay in check. Especially now that all internet savvy budget seeking travelers; the last vestige of normals, students, and Dutch au pairs have have switched to Chinatown busses, inner city bus depots resemble plasma centers.

Ask at the bus stop until I find a San-chin University student who speaks a few words in English. I follow him hoping to find a larger concentration of english practicing students and youth oriented businesses around the school. While this system usually works, it's obviously not fool proof. Settle into a chicken restaurant I've seen in other cities. In other words, I'm dining at the equivalent of poppeyes, or maybe koo-koo-roo. U really cant use the, "it's full of locals, so it must be good" method of choosing where to go.

Their main dishes are hot pepper red, and the waitress talks me out of ordering what looks like the best dish, conveying with body language that it's just too hot. I don't argue and order something less dramatic. It comes with a bowl of daichon floating in sweet pickling juice, and a bowl of the local equivalent of potato chips-some kind of rice rings. Hardly the spread of a more than a dozen side dishes that accompanied last notes dinner, but how can u eat that much on a regular basis? The plan is to come home healthier/thinner.

So much for finding it easier to find communicate in a youth-centric area. Could not for the life of me get the waitress to understand my simple request that i wanted a drink to accompany my dinner. Are my charade skills so awful, or does the international sign for guzzling a bottle not convey the desired hoppy beverage?