Naked Gun

I woke up this morning wondering why nothing that I had plugged in had charged during the night…of course! it was because I had to shut off the electricity in order to turn off the TV.  I managed to get that sorted out, and get myself organized before Youngik came to pick me up.  Hotel rooms in Korea typically come with water and juice, as well as a complete array of hair and skin care products.  What I still find strange is, in a moderately priced hotel, it is all in big, partially used bottles, just like at home.  Since I don’t read Korean, I’m not always sure what they are – but this time shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, hair tonic (I think), hairspray, condoms and makeup remover.  And also strange – the grape juice is white.

It seems that here a hotel is a big fancy one, generally a North American or global chain: from Holiday Inn to Hilton.  A motel is a cheaper one, still clean, but no breakfast, and no well known name.  Cheaper than that is a yogwan – no breakfast, and not necessarily clean.  Unlike North America, motel doesn’t imply that you are arriving by car.

We decided to get a cup of coffee and a pastry for breakfast.  There are at least  two coffee shops per block in this part of Gwangju.  The pastry part was easy and very good, but the coffee was a challenge.  In spite of the fact that the menu offered drip coffee, it wasn’t possible.  They didn’t have anything to make it with — the barista recommended that we should have Americanos…which were quite a bit more expensive.  We gave in because we needed coffee, but the Americanos turned out to be dark brown lukewarm water  It seems that almost no one drinks plain black coffee here, and I’m not entirely sure that coffee shop employees know how to make it.

I went to the tailor to drop off some fabric that I had brought from Canada.  As usual we had a spirited discussion, this time translated by Youngik.  He didn’t know much about women’s clothing, so there was a lot of laughter, and I suspect, some mistranslations.  I have been going to the same tailor for 10 years, and I feel like we are friends of a sort even though we still only have about 10 words in common.  Chung Ah told us that she had watched a travel show on TV about Canada, and that she found it particularly interesting since she knew that clothes that she had made were living there.

We walked along the river to Yangdong Market to buy some things for home.  Yangdong is one of the largest markets in this part of Korea, and still remains traditional.   Along one side are the vendors selling dishes, along another side those selling quilts and drapes.  In the middle you can wander up and down among rows of dressmakers making hanboks, booths selling cheap clothes, herbalists, fishmongers and lots and lots of vegetables. I was surprised to see a bank right in the middle of the market.  Youngik told   me that the staff went out from vendor to vendor collecting their bank deposits.  That way they don’t have to leave their stalls alone in order to go to the bank.  Sounds like good service to me.

I spent the evening in The Alleyway – my favourite bar in the world.  They still have a large picture of Michael hanging behind the bar, so it feels like a good place to be.  I still have quite a few friends in Gwangju, so there was lots of company, lots of laughing and catching up, and a chance to watch Naked Gun at the same time.