Today I came to Korea.
Now, having never been to Korea before, I was a little lost at what to expect. To be quite honest, up until fairly recently I guess I didn't really believe that Korea was a real place, just some made-up fantasy kingdom out there to the east. The idea of going to Korea felt a little like going to Neverland; it still hasn't really sunk in.
But you'll be pleased to know that Korea did exist, and that it's really not that different to Japan. Enter a shop and the 'keepers all call out a cheery 'Welcome', you press the button on your table to call service and pay at the register at the front of the shop, combinis exist. It's just that all of these things occur in a language I haven't the faintest knowledge of. Well, perhaps not so faint any more; I have a notebook with phrases that might come in handy, and its not so hard to pick out key words from the people that talk at you.
But all is not pleasant and green in this funny country. When I came here this morning... scratch that, yesterday morning, I emptied my Japanese bank account on the belief that I could probably stretch that last 20,000 yen over the week, especially if the accommodation was a mere 3000 yen. Dear, oh dear, oh dear was I wrong. In a horrifying twist, it turns out the quoted price was the cost of the room per day, and that in actual fact the fee took about 90% of my lovely new money away from me. I currently have 2,000 wong to my name, that's about 200 yen, which is about £1.75. Fortunately, I still have 2 friends to mooch off of and the potential for more money to come flooding into the bank as soon as Shinkin get themselves in gear and give it to me.
Y'know, stuff here ain't as cheap as I thought it would be. Vitamin Water is about twice as expensive, for example, though Coke is about the same. Pepsi is actually slightly cheaper than Coke here. Donuts are cheap, mind, about 100 yen each. Pizza Hut (yes, yes. Western food. I'm beyond caring) still set us back about 4000 yen, so it's not all a land of value as I had been told. The people are nice, though, honestly so, and don't shy away from foreigners like the Japanese tend to.
Here's a video.
Airports are the same, you see.
The guest house is real nice. It's just a big house with a bunch of rooms, with the three of us in one of the slightly bigger ones. Everything's a bit faded and peeling slightly, but the atmosphere's genuinely nice. It's a nightmare to find, though. Here's another video to demonstrate:
The whole way we were convinced we were gonna get led down some alleyway and mugged. But we didn't, which was nice. Sometimes friendly gestures are exactly what they seem.
Well, I have a headache now. May not be sleeping for a while, don't feel like it.
Thanks for reading. Praying for better news tomorrow, when we scavenge Seoul for cheap things to do.
*****
問題ある。昨日カイオーガを探して、捕まえて、グラードンをダヤモンドから送った。二匹とオーキド博士のラボを訪ねて、ホウエンの幻のポケモンを見せた。その後、緑の玉をもらって、レックーザを探せるようになるとおもった。でも… 「どちもゴールドかシルバーからのポケモンじゃなければ、続けない」と言われた。
オーキドやろう！！
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