추석대 버스 있세요?

I slept later than normal today, which left me drowsy during church. After the service I was talking with Shelly when John came up and practically dragged me away because of where his car was parked. Okay, okay, I'm coming. We had lunch at Shinbok--the biggest bowl of seaweed soup I'd ever seen, cucumber kimchi, what looked like seasoned hot dog cut up into bite-sized pieces (good despite me not usually liking hot dogs), and of course a big blob of rice. The seaweed soup, though slimy, was much better than what I'd had before. Today it was warm and well-seasoned with pieces of something floating in it (good somethings!) while in the past I had cold soup with strictly seaweed and water. It provided me with enough iron to last at least a month or two!

Five boys came today, one toting a horn that sounded like a kazoo but looked like a homemade plastic french horn. One boy is doing much better at reading. He still gets confused creases across his forehead as he reads, but he's nearly as good as the other kids now.

Instead of driving me home like normal, I asked Octavia to drop me at the main road so I could take the bus to the Taehwa Rotary. I was thinking about walking the hour, but didn't want to tell her that because she might feel obligated to drive me there. Well, she offered to drive me there--sure, great. I figured I'd feel better if I checked for myself about whether the airport bus runs on Chuseok rather than having someone at work call and ask about it. Octavia said she'd wait for me to drive me home. I replied that I was going downtown next so could walk across the bridge from there. She said she could drive me there; I insisted that it wasn't necessary. She insisted right back that she had free time so would drive me. Great for me if you don't mind doing it!

The older lady at the ticket booth understood my Korean better than most people do, especially in the older generation who don't seem to tolerate mispronunciations. The older man just sat with his jaw resting on his chest and stared at the foreigner speaking Korean. I don't do particles and such, and I rarely make complete sentences. What's the big deal about verbs, anyway?! I make myself understood some of the time. I didn't use the more respectful form of speech that I should have with an older person; instead I used the everyday, semi-respectful form. Our conversation went like this (I can't spell or type well in Korean, by the way):

안녕하세요, 추석대 버스 있세요? Hello, is there a bus on Chuseok Day?

네, 있세요. Yes, there is (a bus).

시간 무엇을 입니까? What time is it (does the bus run)?

She got a 3X4 sheet of paper to give to me, noting that the first bus wasn't running. 5:30 AM? No problem there!

I asked, 추석대 시간 도가타? Chuseok Day also the same time?

네. Yes.

고맙습니다. Thank you (very much?)

네. Yes (of course, you're welcome, etc.)

She seemed pleased by the exchange, and I was happy that she understood without me having to repeat myself or resort to gestures.

Octavia then dropped me in downtown where I had 맥빙수 at McDonald's. Probably the last time I'll have that summer snack/dessert, so it was extra good. To get to Wal-mart I walked down the "fish road" which they've finally finished repaving. They've also installed huge iron arches over the street which I assume they'll turn into another covered walkway like on the other pedestrian street. I see what they're trying to do--make downtown a little more sophisticated looking or Seoul-like. However, how will that work with all the raw fish being sold? The smell is bad enough without closing the area in!

Ulsan is not by any stretch Seoul or a big or sophisticated city. Until the 1970's it was purely a farming and fishing village and now its claim as the industrial capital of Korea is due to Hyundai and the factories that followed. I don't see Ulsan ever being sophisticated like the new downtown development tries to make it. The smelly fish all over the place, the eels being skinned live, the red peppers and anchovies out drying in the sun, the 4-year-old girl trying to figure out how to pull up her pants after using the bathroom on a vacant lot (with no parent nearby), the toothless old women squatting by whatever they might be selling, etc.

The Wal-mart trip was short and easy and the bus had plenty of room on the way back. When I got home I took out the trash and recyclables and put away the groceries before settling in to do nothing particularly productive for the rest of the evening.

Today this site was loaded for the 1000th time (since May 20) by someone in Paducah, Kentucky. It's nothing compared to the big guys with more than that in one day (one hour?), but it's a milestone nonetheless.