PERSONAL: Train Ride

We're having a sleep-over tonight. Four of us teachers from the main institute are visiting August this weekend. We're pleased. August and Angela are cooking. I'm pleased.

I was alone--the three ladies had left earlier in the day. This guy makes eye contact with me on the train. The man next to him offers to put my pack in a storage cubby hole. It's Chusok (Thanksgiving) here, and everything is packed. Everything = taxis, buses, subways, trains, planes, and automobiles. It's a great Exodus as everyone heads home for a 3-day weekend. Nobody is actually from Seoul; they must all go back to where they're from.

So how crowded is the train? This guy making eye contact is about 4 feet away, or 10 people away, depending on how you calculate distance. Train tickets were sold out, so hundreds of us are on the train with "standing" tickets. And we happen to be standing in front of the bathrooms between railcars, the only space left.

Just the usual questions--Where are you from? Where are you going? Why in the name of all that is good and right are you traveling during this holiday?

"Where do you work?" he asks.
"SDA Language Institute. Have you heard of it?"
"So you're an SDA?"
"Right. Do you know about SDAs?"
"I studied until Level 4, then I went to the U.S. to study. So you're going to transfer to get to Chungju?"
"What?" My eyes open further in a show of concern.
"This train doesn't go there."
"Um... Well... I thought that..."
odee imnika jusayeo kamsamnida ologa (2 Korean gentlemen talking)
"I'm sorry. You are on the right train. Your stop is coming soon. I'm on the wrong train, so I have to transfer."

And so my travels ended smoothly. I didn't have to transfer, but my new friend did. He said he'll look me up; "Jeff at Hoegi institute. OK."

I finished reading Ghengis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World this morning. Very interesting. I'll add some quotes later. But for now let me tell you that this guy's army definitely knew how to pack light. I brought more on this weekend trip than half the Mongol army lugged through Asia, and I haven't exactly conquered a continent since noon. Henceforth, sherpa, pack light.