Jim's Version

Here is Jim's version of Seoul, Day 1. Compare it to mine. He's so mellow. Could anything stress him out? If this didn't, I don't think anything would. I guess you could say we are like fire and ice, I explode and he's just chill.

"This story is one for the journal. We landed in Seoul on January 2nd 2008 for me to start my new job at SKK GSB. We arrived very tired after a long 20+ hour no sleep trip with James and Margaret quite sick. We finally made it to Shad and Mindy Morris’ house where we were staying for the next few days until we could get our stuff out of customs and get settled in our own place.
I met our office admin the morning of the 3rd so that we could go to the immigration office and get my resident card (the magic card that allows us to get a bank account, get insurance, etc.). I watched as the conversation between the office admin and the government worker turned from bad to worse. Despite being told that I could get the E-1 visa for visiting professors while here in Seoul, it became clear (in spite of the language barrier) that this was not the case. I now needed to fly out of the country to apply for the visa. The office admin decided Japan was good enough and called me an hour later with this information, “when you land take the Nanki train to the Namba station. Then take a cab to the Nikko Hotel but don’t stay there, find a cheap hotel right by the Nikko. The Korean consul is very close. To get to the airport in Inchon, take the bus down the street from your place to the airport.” I scribbled these instructions down. I knew that these key words would be all I had to get me where I needed to be in yet another foreign country. When my wife found out about this abrupt change of plans, she fell apart. Nevertheless, I grabbed my paperwork, a pair of underwear, a toothbrush and my wallet and got on the bus. At the airport, I handed my passport to the check-in clerk. It was then that I found out I was going to Osaka Japan. After an hour and a half plane ride, I landed in Osaka. There I followed the little train icons through the airport to a train station. I bought a train ticket to Namba (just like my scratch piece of paper told me to) and climbed aboard. The soft rocking of the train quickly lulled me to a sleep which I was trying to fight off for fear that I would miss my stop. Fortunately, I didn’t miss it. I got off the train, walked through a cavernous underground mall, found an exit and got in a cab. The driver milked me for $10 for what I found out the next day was a 5 min walk. I got out at the Nikko and walked away from the busy road. I asked a young man if he knew a cheap hotel. He pointed off in the distance and said something I did not understand. I started walking in the direction he pointed. I turned around and asked the next person I saw coming my way the same question. It turned out to be the same guy this time on his bike. He took out a fancy cell phone and looked up the prices of hotels in the area (cell phones are much more advanced than US technology). He points again in the same direction this time actually at the hotel.
I bargain the price down from $85 to $60. The room is very small but very clean. I quickly fall asleep. Waking up early I get ready and hurry down to the desk asking directions to the Korean consulate. It is just down the street. I walk there and ask guards what time it opens. They say 9 Am. I scouted the walking route to the train station to be ready for my return trip. I wait for 9 AM. New guards now say it opens at 10. I wait and walk some more. New guards say it opens at 11 Am. I wait and walk some more. As the metal gate opens I run down and luckily get the 1st number. I hand in the form and the lady says to come back in 2 days. At this point I was desperate, I tell her that I need to get it done today; I had a return flight at 5 PM and a wife and five kids waiting for me in Korea. She says if she is not busy she will try to get it done and to come back at 3 PM. I find a seat and wait and watch. I pray that it will not be busy. There a hundreds of people but very few applying for visas. At 1:30 she waves me down and gives me my visa. Yes. I run to the train, ride to the airport to try to get an earlier flight. The only flight out does not leave for 2 hours so I get a bowl of beef curry (my favorite dish I ate in Japan when I traveled there with my family when I was 14 years old.) It was great.
Plane to bus and finally home (or at least where my family is)."